“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.”
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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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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.
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.”
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 .
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