February 18, 1997

The Panther Prints

McGill Students to Challenge Quebec Government in Court

By RACHEL FUREY MONTREAL (CUP) — Stu- dents at McGill University are planing tosue the Quebec gov- ernment over a recent deci- sion to charge higher tuition fees for out-of-province stu- dents.

Quebec boasts the low- est tuition fees in Canada, but in November, Education Min- ister Pauline Marois announced that fees for students from outside the province will be raised to the national average.

At McGill University this means full-time under- graduates who come from Quebec will pay the current fee of $1,668 per year, while fees for the 31 per cent of the student body who come from other provinces will jump to $2,800.

Don McGowan, the fourth year law student who is

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leading the charge against the government, says this is sim- ply unacceptable.

“Incentives to stay in Quebec are good, but it’s an- other thing to take away the welcome mat,” said McGowan, a vice president of the university’s student coun- cil.

It has not been deter- mined whether the suit will be filed by the entire student body oran individual student.

Christianne Miville Deschenes, spokesperson for the minister of education, is aware that the McGill students are planning to sue but she says the government won’t commenton the situation until the case is filed.

She defends the govern- ment’s decision to introduce differential fees. “It’s fair that fees for students living in Que- bec and paying taxes in Que-

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bec should be lower than the fees of other students.”

But McGillanthropology professor Bruce Trigger disa- grees. He says the govern- ment’s argument is a weak one because students who come from other provinces also put money into the Quebec economy.

Trigger studied the issue in the early 80s with a group of professors who concluded that even if out-of-province stu- dents didn’t pay tuition fees they wouldn’t be a burden on the Quebec economy because the money they spend on food, clothing and books would ex- ceed the amount of their tui- tion fees.

“This is a very short sighted argument (on the part of the Quebec government),” said Trigger.

McGowan expects other provinces to follow Quebec’s

lead and start charging higher tuition for out-of-province stu- dents if the Quebec govern- ment’s decision isn’t chal- lenged.

“T see this as the thin edge of the wedge. If it can fly in Quebec, governments in other provinces will probably try it.” he said. “(Charging dif- ferential fees) is not in the best interest of Canadian students.”

Already British Colum- bia, Alberta and Saskatch- ewan limit provincial student loans to those studying outside their home provinces. The Quebec government has also announced its plans to adopt a similar policy.

McGowan said they won’t sue the government for amonetary amount, rather they will use the case to try and force the government not to implement the differential fee structure. McGowan says he

has consulted lawyers who be- lieve the students havea strong case against the government.

Joseph Magnet, a con- stitutional law professor at the University of Ottawa, agrees that out-of-province students have acredible bases for chal- lenging the Quebec govern- ment in court.

Magnet says the students could use a section of the con- stitution that refers to mobility rights and equality rights to attempt to prove they are be- ing discriminated against on the bases of their province of origin.

“(The Quebec govern- ment) would have to show that the limits (it has placed on tuition fees) are necessary ina democratic society,” said Mag- net.

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