Students fear no justice from Iacobucci

17 May 2006

Ontario students were disappointed to learn yesterday that the government's new Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) will shut students out of the oversight process. The Canadian Federation of Students expressed concern at the Premier's appointment of a Council Chair who is known for his past public support for a two-tiered model of higher education, based on high fees and high student debt.

The Council, conceived as an independent agency to set and oversee performance targets for Ontario's post-secondary institutions, was launched yesterday with an expanded mandate to monitor financial access as well. "For this Council to be an authority on post-secondary education, students and faculty need to be sitting at the table," said Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. "It makes no sense to evaluate accessibility and quality without the benefit of direct experience from the classroom."

With the launch, the government announced the appointment of former University of Toronto interim President and Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci to head the Council; a decision that raised concerns for students. "Justice Iacobucci has written publicly and candidly 'in praise of elitism' in the Globe and Mail and has a track record of support for the University of Toronto vision of ever-increasing tuition fees and student debt," said Greener.

"Given that the Council is funded directly by government and the chair was selected by the Premier, students have a hard time imagining that this agency will ever say anything critical about government policy," said Greener. "It is not arm's length when the arm is holding a rubber stamp."

Iacobucci's review of financial barriers to college and university is set to begin after the Ontario government has announced a framework for tuition fee increases that will see average undergraduate fees rise by more than 20% over four years. "It's a little late in the day for the government to be asking itself about the negative impact of its tuition fee announcement," said Greener.

"The past two government consultations on access were staged to help launch and promote the government's plans," said Greener. "To students this Council has the look and feel of another taxpayer-funded PR campaign for McGuinty's 'Reaching Higher' plan to increase tuition fees."

The Canadian Federation of Students, Canada's national student organisation, unites more than 500,000 students from coast to coast, with over 250,000 in Ontario.

For further information: Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson, (416) 925-3825 or cell, (416) 301-5747; Joel Duff, Ontario Organiser, (416) 925-3825 or cell, (416) 707-0349

Source: newswire

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