Friday, October 27, 2006
It’s time for federal leadership on post-secondary education: NDP - Tuesday October 24, 2006
HALIFAX – NDP MP and Post-Secondary Education Advocate Denise Savoie (Victoria) joined the Nova Scotia NDP and the St. Mary’s University Students’ Association in calling for more accessible tuition in Nova Scotia, and renewed her call for a substantial increase in core funding for post-secondary education from the federal government.
“Nowhere in Canada is the abdication of federal leadership on access to post-secondary education more stark than in Nova Scotia. The discrepancy in tuition levels across Canada is appalling,” said Savoie.
Nova Scotia’s average undergraduate tuition now exceeds $6,500 – over $2,200 above the national average and almost four times higher than tuition in Quebec. Average student debt in Nova Scotia is $6,000 above the national average.
“The federal government is supposed to protect the social rights and equity of all Canadians,” argued Savoie. “Access to quality education should not be determined by where you grow up, how much money your parents have, or your province of study.”
The NDP argues that post-secondary education is a public good that must be accessible and high-quality for ALL Canadians, in contrast with the Liberal-Conservative view that it is a private good for which students must pay an ever-increasing amount of the costs through high tuition and debt.
Savoie, along with NDP Leader Jack Layton and other NDP MPs, are visiting college and university campuses across Canada this fall to highlight the need for accessible, high-quality post-secondary education, and to collect the input of Canada’s students on key federal policy issues, such as climate change, the war in Afghanistan, and the worsening student debt crisis.
“The NDP is uniting progressives to form the next government of Canada, and the post-secondary campus is among our departure points,” said Savoie. “Much of the sharpest and most progressive debate on public policy happens on university and college campuses, and we’re here to join in.”
# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 1:40 PM 
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