Letter from the PEN-REP members

July 14, 2006

The Honourable Rodney MacDonald
Premier of Nova Scotia
Office of the Premier
PO Box 726
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 2T3.

Dear Premier MacDonald:

The Public Education Network (PEN) is made up of academic and general staff unions and student organizations in Canada and Quebec. The Network’s goal is to promote quality public education.

The members of the Public Education Network listed below urge you to take the opportunity of the Council of the Federation meeting later this month to reaffirm your commitment to increased transfers for post-secondary education. In our view a $4.9 billion increase in federal transfers for postsecondary education is necessary to meet pressing needs in the area of accessibility and quality. Furthermore, we agree that the upcoming negotiations on the fiscal imbalance are an ideal opportunity to deliver on this issue.

Throughout the 1990s the federal government sharply reduced transfers to finance postsecondary education programs offered by the provinces. Since 1996, this reduction is close to $6 billion if we factor in inflation, despite large budgetary surpluses that gave Ottawa the means to correct the situation.

In the context of a growing demand for training and education throughout Canada, inadequate funding for colleges and universities has led to the deterioration of study and working conditions in institutions where hundreds of thousands of students pursue their studies. Moreover, this situation has caused a significant slowdown in the renewal of university faculty, an increase in the number of students in lecture rooms, a reduction in the number of different programs offered and in the budgets granted to libraries and laboratories, which are increasingly under-equipped.  

It follows that these growing pressures on financing for universities and colleges lead the boards and administrations of these institutions to find other sources of funding. We should note that some of the most disturbing signs of this phenomenon are an increasing and unceasing commercialization of research and an unjustifiable increase in tuition fees, a particularly serious problem in some provinces. From this perspective, the Public Education Network is deeply concerned about the pernicious impact that these many years of budgetary cuts is having on the quality and accessibility of postsecondary education across Canada. Correcting this situation and improving levels of financing are an urgent necessity.      

It is essential that the federal government agree to increase federal transfers for post-secondary education by at least $4.9 billion. The increased amount, if provided through a dedicated transfer for post-secondary education, without conditions for Quebec, would enable the provinces to better fulfill their responsibilities in the field of education.

To enable the provinces to meet the objectives of improved financing for postsecondary education, funding must be used to promote universal accessibility for young people and adults. We are asking premiers to publicly commit that increased public funding be directed to support the following objectives:

Facilitate accessibility to postsecondary education for all qualified individuals, without financial or geographical barriers;
Promote quality teaching;
Offer a wide range of programs of study;
Foster academic freedom, which encourages the pedagogical and intellectual independence of teachers and supports free and independent research;
Support collegial governance and the public administration of institutions.

We remind you that you and your fellow premiers have already called for an immediate increase in post-secondary transfers. Given the urgency of this matter, it must be resolved without delay and should be treated as a priority in the progressive fixing of the fiscal imbalance that will begin this autumn. We therefore invite you and your fellow premiers to remain vigilant and to remind the Prime Minister of his promise to fix the fiscal imbalance, which must necessarily imply an increase in transfers for postsecondary education by $4.9 billion.

Yours sincerely,

Greg Allain, President
Canadian Association of University Teachers

Amanda Aziz, National Chairperson
Canadian Federation of Students 

Christian Bélair, président
Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec

Larry Brown, National Secretary-Treasurer
National Union of Public and General Employees

Barbara Byers, Executive Vice-President
Canadian Labour Congress

Claudette Carbonneau, présidente
Confédération des syndicats nationaux

Paul Moist, National President
Canadian Union of Public Employees

Réjean Parent, président
Centrale des syndicats du Québec

Cécile Sabourin, présidente
Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d’université