e centres of excellence." The Association cites egreat proliferation of~ ﬂiocre‘nsian studies pr— wms as an example,

git also feels that in— ﬂicient,research into dpﬂﬁl needs takes place that more and better' Search‘institures should Created "with the supp— tnecessary to foster .St—class achievements." But the association is be- iwed to be‘afraid that any age the government makes \ in a funding arrangement -ht cost the universities so Oliver is expect— to ask Trudeau not to do‘ yaﬁng major for the next 0 years n . ., r The brief will be discus— dwith Premier Campbell on nuary 22nd.

Soc (D

"<

v

gher Tuition?

Meanwhile, CAUT takes a war stand, insisting that wincial governments be by— med and funds be provided 'ramly to the universities mlottawa.

CAUT points out the pro- ms of provincialization ‘ ﬂar to the ones AUCG ntioned. W n, ’

mm CAUT in its brief goes yam thelrequest for direct dual aid for university Hating expenses.' It says Ments should be required pay higher fees.

CAUT claims costs of ru—

ng universities have incr— saigreatly in recent years He tuition fees remain st— k.

'We conclude that the fee mmnent should, at a minimum atistable in the mix of

(

phes annual cost—of-living ﬁwtments to the fee compon- . To this extent, we suf Wt increased students es‘ . .H Um CAUT position parallels at0f a secretive federal- mdncial task force on st— an aid, which has been wo- lngsince June 1974 on a oﬂﬂm to ammend the Canada udmm Loans Act. ‘- Nm task force has been ﬁdering a large—scale . §¥e 0f the loan system, lchwould force students to amuch greater percentage Umir education costs, and aythe government with in- eaSEdloan obligations. Stldents-have been excl- ufr?m participating di- n? 1n the task—force lon‘making, even though yare the people who will

Wt affected by the

lsIons.

Sigdents also are being _ed from the debate on lscal Arrangements Act.

rr

nmmial resources, and this

nt In putf‘ws‘ M U‘ST‘ ACT NOW . To

{divini-

‘0

'NUS:Ppoies- Without- Program.

An official in the secret— ary of state department, which~ administers the act, said pol— icy officials consider submi— ssions from AUCC andCAUT im- portant in forming their own recommendations to their mi— nister, Hugh Faulkner.

He neglected to mention

the National Union of Students.

When asked about the omi- ssion, the official noted that "NUS represents a lot less than 100 percent of students' .in Canada." He later clari—i fied his remarks by saying NUS has made a submission to‘ his department'and that the submission is being consid- ered.

NUS executive secretary Dan O'Connor admitted the organization hasn't pursued with maximum vigour its presentations on the Fiscal Arrangements Act, pointing out the organization's ex- ecutive has been occupied with the Student loan plan controversies. . ' .

O'Connor also said the person who was researching the fiscal arrangements iss- ue and prepared recommenda— tions for the fall NUS con— ference in Fredericton, is now in Argentina.

The NUS recommendations sent to the secretary of st—

'ate department without deta-

iled explanations, include the

organization's insistance that tuition fees be abolish- ed. c

not be considered part of the financial sources for post- secondary education and that the fiscal transfers be con— ditional on the abolition of tuition fees."

NUS also approved motions asking that all moneys granted tp‘provinces through the act should be used for post—sec— ondary education, and joined with CAUT and the AUCC is asking the 15 percent annual limit on funding increases be .eliminated.

NUS also suggested that the present Fiscal Arrangements Act creates difficulties for poorer provinces.' A spokes— man stated that "sinCe the federal goVernment matches every provincial dollar, the richer provinces get more because they can afford to put up more themselves."

Further NUS says that the Act provides an incentive to the provinces to increase tuition fees. For each do— llar of tuition the student pays,the government, under the Act, gives the provinces a dollar.

Uphill Battle With High Stakes

But NUS faces an uphill battle in getting its points across. » “

Both the AUCC and CAUT want

. . ary policy making. NUS asks that"tuition fees

,The Cadre, January 20, 1975, page 7

Stop Tuition Increase

O

for- 4‘?

'Lu

the federal government to tak a greater role in post-second That is appealing to the federal government, which might see an opportunity to get some“ tangible political returns for the money it spends.

It may also result in a constitutional battle bet— ween the provincial and federal governments, since_ the British North America‘ Act clearly specifies the provinces have jurisdict- ion over education.

But while the provinces and the federal government have the resources to press their self—interests, the

-position of students and

the NUS is leSs than per— feet.

The proposal by CAUT that students be required to pay greater tuition fees has obvious appeal to the provinces and fed— eral government. The-AUCC also is believed to support increased tuition fees, although it has not yet mu- stered the courage to state its opinion publicly.

And NUS so far has been unable to mobilize massive enough support to convince the federal and provincial bureaucrats, university administrators and teachers of the merits of its posi- tion.

It remains to be seen what that failure will mean for students ' pocketbooks and accessibility to post- secondary education.