News briefs
Quebec budget calls for tuition fee increases, new health care fee
MONTREAL (CUP) – UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN Quebec will see new tuition fee increases in 2012 as part of the province’s plan to return to a balanced budget. But how much tuition will rise is still an open question—the province says it is planning to meet with “education partners to flesh out the details of the increase.” The announcement came as part of the provincial budget, released March 30.
The budget also includes a new health care fee, which would be paid by most adults in the province with their income tax. The fee would start at $25 in 2010 but increase to $200 per year by 2012. As well, the provincial sales tax will increase by one per cent on Jan. 1, 2012.
Quebec’s finance minister Raymond Bachand is projecting a $4.5-billion deficit for 2010–11, after a $4.3 billion deficit in 2009–10. The government, currently facing a debt of over $150 billion, is hoping to reach a balanced budget by 2013–14.
—Jacob Serebrin, Quebec Bureau Chief
McGill grads vote to leave CFS
MONTREAL (CUP) – GRADUATE STUDENTS AT McGill University voted to leave the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) earlier this month. Following a four-day referendum that ended April 1, the results showed that 86 per cent of voters wanted to terminate their membership in the group.
The CFS is Canada’s largest student lobby group, representing close to 80 student associations across the country. Thirteen associations distributed petitions last fall to hold membership referendums, but only two were approved: the Alberta College of Art and Design Students’ Association and the McGill Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS).
Students at the Concordia Student Union voted in an unapproved CFS membership referendum in late March, with 72 per cent of voters pushing to leave the national federation. The results will likely not be considered binding by the national organization. Graduate students at the University of Calgary who voted to leave the national federation in March are in the same position.
Despite receiving CFS approval to hold a referendum, the results of the McGill PGSS plebiscite have not yet been recognized by the organization.
—Niko Block, The McGill Daily
