8 National News The Cadre ¢ 17November 1998 Leaders address Quebec education as election campaign heats up By PIERRE SAUVE MONTREAL (CUP) -- With only three weeks leftuntil pro- vincial election day, Liberal leader Jean Charest and Pre- mier Lucien Bouchard have begun fighting it out for the often ignored but always im- portant student vote. After weeks of virtual silence on post-secondary is- sues, Charest announced he would shield universities from the government’s planned $125-million education cut- backs for the 1998-1999 fiscal year. ' “It is unacceptable to con- stantly submit colleges and uni- versities to these cutbacks,” Charest said. “The government thinks it is profiting from the cuts, but in fact, it is thedevelopment of Quebec society that suffers.” But Charest also said earlier in the race that ifelected premier, he would lift Que- bec’s much-loved tuition freeze. Bouchard has vowed to maintain the current tuition freeze if re-elected. He also says he’d like to progressively reduce parental contribution to student loans and increase the government’s contribution. Quebec students receiv- ing loans are automatically assumed to bereceiving money from their parents. The PQ, which reduced the minimum parental contribution during its current mandate, would re- duce it by a further 10 percent if re-elected. Student loans have be- come a hot issue in the cam- paign. The PQ government recently changed the interest- free grace period following graduation for repaying the loans, reducing it from six months to one. Quebec’s Ministry of Education is currently faced with a class action lawsuit be- cause of the changes. Charest has said that, if elected, his government will restore the six-month grace period. But while the Liberals and PQare finally talking about post-secondary education, only the third-party Action Democratique, with six per cent of popular support, is calling for a cash injection into Que- bec’s under-funded universi- ties. Party leader Mario Dumont says he’d like to see changes to the way university: programs are financed. He wants to increase the funding of university programs that have a superior employment average by 130 per cent, and by 70 per cent for programs that are below the employ- ment average. His platform also calls for additional fiscal incentives for private companies to help finance Quebec universities and colleges. The largest student group in Quebec says it is skeptical Bouchard can alleviate the fi- nancial dire straits of students in the province a situation it says his government contrib- uted to. But Nikolas Ducharmes, F IN bi Find a part of yourself you never knew existed in the Naval Reserve. That's president of the Fédération Etudiante Universitaire du Québec, also says his group welcomes the PQs election promises. “All those measures are interesting and positive be- cause they help students,” he said. Ducharmesalso supports Charest’s pledge to cancel the planned cutbacks, but deplores hisplanto lift thetuition freeze. Other student leaders are less eager to believe the elec- tion promises of either the Lib- erals or the PQ. “Both Charest and Bouchard are the same,” said Mistie Mullarkey, presidentof the Quebec component of the Canadian Federation of Stu- dents. “They won’t give us nearly what we want.” Mullarkey says all three parties have largely ignored the issues the group’s call for a national system of grants and zero tuition. KEYIN COLLEGE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WEEK Keyin Coll OPEN HOUSE extends an invitation to the general y ic to visit our state-of-the-art acility iy yg Information Technology training at i Nov. 23" & 24% where you work selected evenings and Mon: ¢6 PM" Tues: 2-4 PM weekends, meeting challenges. leaming Full Time Programs with hands-on experience and earning e Computer Science ° Computer Electronics & Network Support Evening Programs: Introduction to Graphic Design Introduction to HTML Introduction to the Internet Introduction to Mss Excel Introduction to MS Word ‘97 STRENGTH extra income. Find the strength to do something exciting and different. Join the Naval Reserve. IN RESERVE For more information, come and see us or call us at: HMCS QUEEN CHARLOTTE 10 Water Steet Pkwy, Charlottetown, P.E.I. 368-0414 (ext. 242/223) or 1-800-856-8488 (www.dnd.ca) pots t18i0 sti) \ _ ' | Introduction to Windows ‘95 11 4! | Visual Basic Nationa! Oétense PON cesses” nema FMD YE YOURSELF IN THE ARMED FORCES RESERVE For Further information please contact: Keyin College 500 Queen St. Charlottetown, PE C1A 8K9 Tel: (902) 566-2345 Fax: (902) 566-2145 Member of | dtop Join the Cadre