MONTRÉAL (CUP) — The Québec government’s latest proposal concerning how to make up the $103 million it cut from the province’s bursary program has divided the three main student groups involved in the negotiation process.
Under the terms of the proposed agreement, the total amount of money available to Québec university students in the form of bursaries would be $70 million in 2006, increasing to $103 million by 2007. None of the money cut from the 2004-2005 academic year would be recouped.
Of the $70 million in the first year of the agreement, the provincial government would not contribute any more than the $41.5 million it pledged in its initial proposal on Mar. 15, which students rejected. The additional $30 million will come from federal funds through the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation and the Canada student loans program, a recent addition in the Liberals’ 2004 budget.
Québec’s contribution to the program would increase slightly to $50 million in 2006-2007; the difference would be made up by a $50 million contribution of federal tax dollars. By 2009-2010, the provincial contribution to the program would increase to $95.5 million, allowing federal contributions to drop to $7.5 million.
The proposal has split the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec and Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec, which brokered the deal Apr. 1. FEUQ is recommending its 140,000 members accept the deal and put an end to the student strike. Some students have been on strike since Feb. 24.
FECQ is remaining neutral on the proposal. It represents only 14 of the 34 CÉGEPs still on strike and is not making any recommendations to its members as to whether or not to accept the proposal.
General assemblies are planned across the province this week for student associations represented by the FEUQ and FECQ to vote yes or no to the proposal.
At the other end of the political spectrum is the Coalition de l’assemblée pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante élargie, which represents 55,000 striking students and the remaining 20 of the 34 CÉGEP student associations still on strike.
CASSEE spokesperson Héloise Moysan-Lapointe called the latest proposal completely unacceptable and said her organization is recommending its students remain on strike until all of their demands are met. The CASSEE has called for full re-instatement of the $103 million cut from the bursary program, an end to student debt and free tuition for all Québec post-secondary students.
Canadian Federation of Students Québec chair Tim McSorley is wary of the proposal. He said it relies too heavily on federal funding that might not always be there; $40 million of the five-year $140-million contribution is part of a Millennium Scholarship Foundation pilot project designed to distribute needs-based bursaries in Québec and British Columbia. It’s not known how long the pilot project is intended to continue.
“We have to be careful not to absolve the provincial government of its post-secondary funding responsibilities,” he said. “The provincial government should re-instate the $103 million using provincial tax dollars and use the extra federal funding to provide even greater financial aid to Québec students.”
