QUEBEC – Unrelenting student protests did not persuade the provincial government to back down on planned tuition hikes, with the $325-a-year increase right there in black and white in the new budget tabled on Tuesday.
While the government’s uncompromising stance on tuition fees may offer some relief to struggling universities, it is guaranteed to spark even more unrest among angry students who have vowed not to let up their pressure tactics until the government backs down from the increase.
Finance Minister Raymond Bachand said he is determined to introduce previously announced tuition hikes of 75 per cent over the next five years.
“Some students are opposed to it and it’s their right, but we’ve taken our decision and it’s irrevocable,” Bachand said.
The hike will amount to an extra fee of $325 a year – bringing university tuition to $3,793 from $2,168.
“We believe students need to pay their fair share,” the minister said, noting they are going to account for 17 per cent of the cost of a post-secondary education.
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Although students had been expecting it, the bad-news budget just seemed to bolster their resolve.
“It’s disappointing and frustrating and embarrassing that there could be such a massive public outcry and their position doesn’t change,” said Lex Gill, president of the Concordia Student Union. “But we will win.”
Martine Desjardins, president of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, said students were looking for some show of good faith.
“But there was nothing for us at all,” she said. “There are over 220,000 students with a strike mandate and the government still considers us second-class citizens.”
She said students are not going back to class and have plans for more demonstrations and a campaign targeting Liberal MNAs.
Stéfanie Tougas, secretary general of the student association at the Université de Montréal, said despite historic support from students, the government is just “closing the door on us.”
Tuesday’s budget provides for an additional funding of $967 million for Quebec universities over the next five years, up from the initial plan of $850 million because of an increase of clientele.
Quebec will add $493 million under that plan, with $141 million from other sources and $54 million in corporate funding. The tuition hike will account for $279 million of the total.
Over the weekend, student associations asked the government to examine how money is spent before making students pay more for post-secondary education.
But Bachand dismissed their request, saying there is no point discussing with students because they are unwilling to make compromises.
“It’s hard to sit down with someone who says: ‘I want a freeze and nothing else’,” Bachand said.
The government has said 5 per cent of the additional money raised in tuition would be returned to students now eligible for loans and bursaries, making the impact on students from lower-income families neutral.
The tuition increase, set to go into effect this fall, was first announced in last year’s budget.
Universities, which had lobbied for an increase of $500 a year, called the hike timid, while students immediately denounced it.
The student revolt against the tuition hike has been escalating at a furious pace recently, bringing hoards of students into the streets on a daily basis that has caused traffic chaos and growing impatience among local citizens.
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