legault is giving english universities the cold shoulder: mcgill and concordia
the two universities say they have been trying in vain to speak to the government since late november.
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with the clock ticking toward student application deadlines, the legault government continues to ghost quebec’s english universities on tuition, concordia and mcgill said tuesday.
the province has yet to officially respond to the alternative proposal they made on nov. 6, nor to an amended version they put forward on saturday, the two universities told the montreal gazette. bishop’s, quebec’s third english university, did not respond to a request for comment.
concordia, mcgill and bishop’s hope their suggestions will prompt premier françois legault to backtrack on a plan, announced oct. 13, to almost double tuition for students from the rest of canada.
the english universities say the hike will scare off most students from other provinces, leading to a catastrophic drop in revenue. bishop’s has indicated it might not survive.
the government’s foot-dragging is harming english universities, said the quebec community groups network, which represents 40 anglophone groups.
“there have already been severe consequences as the result of this ill-thought-out policy proposal — even before it has been put into its final form,” qcgn spokesperson rita legault told the gazette on tuesday.
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“even the discussion of this outrageous tuition increase has provoked significant budget cuts at mcgill and concordia, as well as hiring freezes and the possibility of weakened credit ratings that would boost the cost of their borrowing.”
mcgill and concordia have seen declines of 15 to 20 per cent in applications from other provinces, she noted. concordia has reported a 32-per-cent drop in international applications.
application deadlines depend on the program and where students are from. at mcgill, for example, feb. 1 is the undergraduate deadline for high school graduates from other provinces.
the declines in applications are “catastrophic” and “support the thesis that the sharp hikes in tuition will backfire and that funnelling extra revenue to the french sector is a pipe dream,” the qcgn spokesperson said.
the coalition avenir québec government says the tuition hike will help protect the french language and boost french universities. it wants to reduce the number of non-french-speaking students from the rest of canada.
on friday, the premier said his government’s tuition plan is “reasonable” because “we have to stop seeing french going down in montreal.” he said higher education minister pascale déry “continues discussions with mcgill and concordia.”
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however, mcgill says it has been trying in vain to reach déry since late november. concordia also said it has had no direct contact with the minister since the end of last month.
spokespeople for the premier and déry did not respond to requests for comment from the gazette. eric girard, the minister responsible for relations with the anglophone community, had no comment, a spokesperson said.
last week, mcgill principal deep saini did not rule out the possibility of moving some of his university’s operations to or setting up a new branch in another province such as ontario, if quebec does not reverse course on tuition.
mcgill already has a medical campus in outaouais, a few kilometres from ottawa.
in their nov. 6 proposal, the universities offered to significantly improve the teaching of french to students from the rest of canada, including mandatory french courses.
in late november, déry said the english universities’ alternative proposal does not go far enough. she said she wants their plan to include “targets” and “goals,” adding that the government will disclose its final decision “in due time.”
with no official response to their appeal, the english universities presented an updated proposal on saturday, suggesting out-of-province students should pay different amounts depending on the program they’re in.
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students from the rest of canada now pay $8,992 per year to study in quebec. the province is planning to hike it to $17,000 as of fall 2024.
la presse, the first to report the tuition hike was coming, reported the government is considering setting the rate at $12,000. but english universities and quebec’s largest employer’s group, the conseil du patronat, say this will still be too high.
premier legault has indicated he may be open to exempting bishop’s, the smallest english university, from the hike, given that it’s located in sherbrooke, where he says the french language is not in danger.
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