Conservatives Force Provincial Governments to go it Alone

The Conservative government is failing Canadians and our post secondary education system, forcing provinces to go it alone and abandoning students across the country, said Geoff Regan, Liberal Human Resources and Skills critic and MP for Halifax West.

“The Conservative government’s failure to make post secondary education a priority is forcing the Québec government to act alone to finance post-secondary education,” said Mr. Regan. “It is only a matter of time before other provinces are forced to follow in Québec’s foot steps.”

In a weekend speech, Québec Premier Jean Charest revealed that his government would move ahead with his commitment to post secondary education despite the lack of federal transfer funding. Québec’s Minister of Education Jean-Marc Fournier announced on Tuesday a $320-million commitment over 3 years going to universities and cégeps.

“The Liberal Opposition is disappointed that the Conservatives are continuously dragging their feet on this issue,” said Lucienne Robillard, MP for Westmount-Ville-Marie. ”Canada’s economy depends on a strong post-secondary education system.”

Prior to the Conservatives forcing an election last fall, the Liberals made significant commitments in the November 2005 Fiscal Update including $4.1 billion towards post-secondary education.

The Conservatives, on the other hand, have been silent on this topic since taking office. They set the tone for dealing with the provinces on post secondary education in February by not sending a Minister to the Council of the Federation’s summit on Post Secondary Education and Skills Training.