Volume 7, Number 22

The Student Voice of University of Prince Edward Island adi .

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Wilson Axe Falls On Education

OTTAWA | (CUP) — Michael Wilson has let his budget axe fall on university funding.

In his Feb. 20. bud- get, the federal finance min- ister announced that $2.5 billion will be slashed from federal transfer payments, which the provinces use to help pay for post-secondary education and health care.

While Canadian business leaders lauded Wilson’s “no new taxes” budget, students across the country couldn’t help but worry about its consequences.

The cutbacks — $869 mil- lion this year and $1.5 bil- lion next year — could mean higher tuition, lower qual- ity education and an un- derfunding crisis in Cana- dian universities, according to student leaders and uni- versity administrators.

Whichever way you look at it, the effects of the heavy- handed cutbacks will sooner or later trickle down to students, according to Jane Arnold, chair of the Canadian Federation of Stu- dents.

She estimates that over the next five years, provinces will have $3 billion less in federal money to pump into the country’s universi- ties and colleges.

“Provincial governments now have to decide where they’re going to get the money to make up for these cuts,” Arnold said. “I’m 100 per cent positive tuition will

go up.

“There’s no way the provinces are going raise taxes to make up for the cuts. And as fees skyrocket,

we'll see a decrease in acces- sibility.”

Arnold said students have plenty to com- plain about when it comes to the Mulroney government.

It was announced _ re- cently that federal summer job-creation programs for 1990 will be cut by $41 mil- lion, which according to the CFS will mean 24,000 fewer jobs for students this year.

Also, late last year the government announced a new three per cent tax on student loans. And the new the goods and services tax will increase the cost of books, supplies, food, clothes, and transportation by seven per cent.

Arnold said Wilson’s budget sets a dan- gerous precedent — and she’s worried the slashing will continue as the Tory gov- ernment becomes increas- ingly obsessed by the federal deficit.

“Post-secondary educa- tion is headed down a dan- gerous path,” Arnold said. “We as students realize what- the deficit is — we’re the ones who are going to inherit it.

“But as we head into the 21st century, we should also be thinking of the future of the country. In the long run, higher education will be what makes us more com- petitive. :

“What’s happening to education is a result of short-term thinking.”

According to the Associa- tion of Universities and Col- leges of Canada, the fed- eral government’s contribu- tion to funding as a percent- age of gross national product

has decreased by 20 per cent over the past 12 years. Dur- ing the same period, enrol- ment increased 35 per cent.

The 1990 budget cut- backs continue that trend.

“Post-secondary education and health care are carrying the burden of two-thirds of the reductions announced by the govern- ment in the budget,” said AUCC president Claude La- jeunesse.

“That’s exaggerated and unfair.”

Lajeunesse said Canadi- ans are getting a “confusing message” form a hypocriti- cal federal government that

has proclaimed post- sec- ondary education a priority.

“In spite of the promises and the importance assigned to post-secondary educa- tion, it has been singled out for most of the cuts.”

He wondered about the timing of the cuts, just months after Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced the creation of a national task force on what it calls “human resource develop- ment.”

The task force — proposed by Mulroney at last Novem- ber’s first ministers confer- ence — will look into prob- lems in education.

Mulroney has been on the education bandwagon for over a year now. In speech after speech, he talks of the importance of edu- cation. “The competitive- ness of nations in the global market will be determined by the quality of their ed-

ucation systems,” Mulroney said in August 1989.

But Lajeunesse questions the government’s committ- ment to education.

“How can they create this task force and at the same time cut back on trans- fer payments?” Lajeunesse asked.

That point was echoed by Chris Axworthy, the New Democratic Party’s post- secondary education critic.

“Mulroney can’t have it both ways - first he says education is a priority and then he makes these signifi- cant cuts.”

“What we’re seeing is Mr. Mulroney reneging on his committment to first-class

education for Canadian stu- dents,” Axworthy said.

Instead of slashing trans- fer payments — which will cause major problems for poorer provinces — the gov- ernment should be “equal- izing accessibility across the country,” according to Ax- worthy.

“Wilson’s budget is an attack on the poor provinces, students — and the future of Canada.”

Axworthy predicts tough times for students in the fu- ture.

“What I think we'll see is university presidents saying *we don’t want to see a de- crease in quality,’ and there will be further pressure on student fees.”

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Thursday, March 1, 1990

Axworthy said Wilson’s budget proves the govern- ment is not committed to the future of Canada. He pointed to other cutbacks, including a $39 million re- duction in spending on sci- ence and development pro- grams over the next two years.

“Research and develop- ment is one of the vehi- cles we can use to make ourselves more competitive in the world market, some- thing this government is always talking about,” he said. “The cuts are more than short-sighted, they’re stupid.”

“Nobody in their right mind will refuse to invest in the future — and that’s ex- actly what the government is doing.” a