Mind telling to full story before starting a personal crusade ?
No crusade here man, just responding to a bullcrap assertion that was made. (for the record, I am a proud Canadian and Quebecker, my family history in Quebec started in 1642 and I truly have no claim to being from anywhere else)
Anyhoo, short version...
The province of Quebec (CANADA), struggling under a
massive debt load, has recently enacted legislation which is intended to recover more of the costs associated with providing higher learning at the Post-Secondary level.
As proposed, the provincial government wishes to increase tuition on a very gradual basis (40% over 7 years as recently negotiated, which works out to approximately 400 dollars per year) in order to provide greater capital, infrastructural improvement, increase retention of professor's and essentially make student's more responsible for the costs of receiving a high quality education.
The problem in Quebec resides mostly with the fact that this "higher education" is not actually resulting in any long term benefit to the Quebec economy (let alone that of Canada). Quebec's GDP is dropping, wages are decreasing and student's are not applying their studies to relevant fields of employment. (eg: pursuit of degree's for personal satisfaction like getting a master's in poetry so you can work in a coffee shop)
personal anecdote: Doctors in Quebec are so short staffed that retirement is not even an option. In Laval (suburb of Montreal) ,where my family is, my grandparent's doctor at the age of 68 is still practicing because his children (who are both doctor's) both enjoyed 100% subsidized education in Quebec and then moved to New York and Saskatchewan to make more money and work less. While only 1 example, this does speak volumes of the reality that Quebec faces.
With a downward demographic trend (in terms of population), this situation is becoming increasingly severe as costs rise to provide education to a dwindling population that is not returning a significant economic benefit to the province itself.
As a direct comparison, after all tuition increases, Quebec student's will still enjoy the lowest rates in North America and will tend to graduate with extremely low debt associated with their education. On top of this, Quebec has a low cost of living and provides decent social services, yet these student's will raise hell about paying a little more to enjoy a privilege that can not be shared amongst all Canadian's.
this issue has been pervasive for decades as the Quebec population has fostered a sense of entitlement that far exceeds their means. For too long, the previous generations of Quebecker's have burdened their offspring with major debts and it has now reached the point of no return. If no action is taken immediately, there will be no CEGEP (post secondary system) for future generation's.
essentially, Quebec is to Canada as Greece is to the European Union. While somewhat rhetorical in my statement, the economic reality of Quebec is becoming increasingly dire. Without action now, the economic future of Quebec is unsustainable and will result in even more draconian measures that will be even further widespread amongst the entire population of Quebec.
I fully support universal access to education but only on the grounds that the education is relevant to the needs of the population and within Quebec there is virtually no application of this basic concept. I know many of you are resident's of the Nordic countries but it must be understood that certain constructs are not easily translated across borders and social values. With the expectation of social values, there is a tandem responsibility to act accordingly social but the general sentiment in North America (let alone Quebec) is that every man must earn his keep and not be expected to provide for others'.
Additionally, there are certain economies of scale that the European countries can employ that are not available within a large country like Canada (let alone the massive taxation that is incurred in order to provide this "free education")
Quebec student's own Ipod's, brand new Mac computers, have high speed internet, and drive around in their car but resent paying a little more for not only their own future, but the future well-being of the province that they claim to love.
This story will play out like every other social transition in Quebec's history. the calamity will die once this current generation gets privileges that they will not give to their very own children.
Nuff said, Sheikyerbouti out "Je me souviens"