tte “pai

HIS is the final article in our
series on the cost of uni-
versity education. In it we

will try to find a possible solu-
tion to the educational crisis
through which we are now pas-

sing.
It is not a simple question of
providing free education — of

spending ,less on the defense
budget and more on the depart-
ment of education — there are
some very real complications,
and the question goes much far-
ther than mere tuition. At the
same time, Canada is quite cap-
able of providing immediate free
education, and the reason why
it has not already ‘been provided
is simply. negligence’or hostility
on the part of governments.

In a society such as ours to-
day, university must be regard-
ed as a right and a social neces-

sity, not as a privilege and a |

social convenience. A right, be-
cause we call ourselves a demo-
cracy; and what sort of demo-

cracy is it where the rich have.

33 times more chance of obtain-

do the poor? A social necessity,
because if estimates of the pro-
portion of industrial growth
which can be attributed to edu-
cation run as high as 40 percent,
obviously to regard it as only
peripherally important is insane.

Various proposals have been
put forward which would dis-
tribute the cost of education be-
tween government, student and
private donations. In this con-
text, student is almost synony-
mous with parents, but this is

the source which discriminates -

most between rich and poor.
In fact, no matter where the
money seems to come from,
originally it will have come from
the only available source, the
people as a whole, and it would
be far more just to make it come

from graduated taxes than from ©

a private market of educational
opportunities. : ;
To ask that the university be

. financed by private donations is

to ask it to get on its knees and
beg at the tables of the great

‘raised in vain.
ing a university education than ~

‘ financial interests. It also means

that the universities are afraid
to. offend those financial inter-
ests. This is not to say the fin-
nacial cannot be made to pay,
but they should be made to pay
by corporation taxes, not begged
to pay by bankrupt university
administrations.

As things are today, the high-
est bodies of universities con-
sist exclusively of members of
local and pan-Canadian business
communities interspersed with
clerics. If universities were fin-

‘anced only by the government,

this would no longer be. neces-
sary. :
The fact that it would no

_longer be necessary, does not,

however, mean it would no long-
er happen. In fact, more than
anyone else Canadian govern-
ments responsible for university

appointments have shown a ten-

dency to appoint businessmen,
This is one of the griefs which
current student discontent has
raised. To date, it has been

Businessmen are the most un-
representative group in the popu-
lation. Even if the boards of
governors at Canadian univer-
sities were made up entirely of

government officials, the people -

would at least have some repre-
sentation. Students have shown
an understandable fear of this,
especially after the claims of
Prime Minister Stanfield of
Nova Scotia, who feels he is en-
titled to decide unilaterally what
will or will not be taught.

The people have in the past
and will in the future pay for
our universities. This being the
case, it seems reasonable to ask

that the leaders of the people— ©

leaders of unions and coopera-

. tives—be given seats on boards

of governors.

Students and faculty also go
unrepresented at the apex of
university power. This is a ridi-
culous situation, and, in the in-
terests of academic freedom at
least, should be changed.

These two sections of the

“The third and final article in a Tribune series on the problem of Ca

university fees.

By DAVE DENT

é

*Qu'il grandisse l'enfant Avenir qu'il grandisse.
Et s'éléve en sa voix d'éphébe le plain-chant
De ce qu'on étouffa dans le profond jadis

Et que noya la mer avec ses villes d'Ys

Et la grande douleur qu'il y eut en l'archant"

~

community — and there may be
more — together with govern-

- ment should replace the finan-

cial elite on the boards of uni-
versities across Canada, thus
maximizing the chance of demo-
cratic administration and min-
imizing the chance of suppres-
sing academic freedom.

In English Canada, the lion’s
share of the responsibility for
financing university education
should go to the federal govern-
ment. The federal government
has the tax rights, and it has
the money to engage in such in-
anities as subsidizing its own
competitor — Canadian Pacific.
If it is left to the provinces with
a per capita grant from the fede-
ral government, the poor prov-
incés will still be unable to cope.

|

“

Prime Minister Joey Smallwood

recently announced there would
be free education in Newfound-
land, which shows where there
is a will there is a way, but it
is an undedniable strain which
the pooret provinces should not
be asked to undergo. It is also
true that Newfoundland facili-
ties are minimal compared
with the other Maritime prov-
inces. ,

The Maritimes have already
found the need for some inte-
gration of the cost of education
and the federal government
could do the same thing for Eng-
lish Canada as a whole.

Quebec is entirely different.
It is the home of the French
Canadian nation, and any nation
will find its culture reflected in,

|

It is not a simple question of free educa-
tion; there are some real complications.

October 29, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE

Education
is a right —

parasite, but someone

i

not to say dependent 0
cational system. As a f®
cation is one of the fi
which Quebec has mt
strongest demand for 5”
mination, What Quebe¢?
neither federal resp?
nor federal grants, but
to collect its own taxé>
it can finance its own W
system.

Tuition is not, how
greatest problem, Mot
Canadians have thei! —
destroyed in slum ho®
-age 10 than by lack of
at age 18. This is anothé
lem, but it is one W
students and those wh?
cerned about the avail@,
education should be ©”

More within the scop®
article is the question
salaries. Apart from
nomic necessity, they at
a whole philosophy of if
dent. If the student #8
full member of the s0°
he must be treated as

The Union Generale |,
diants du Quebec has
him as a young industs®,
er. As such, he is a ©
to society, not priv}?
availing himself a righ

ing a service to the s0°
means he should be Fi,
a charity, but like any 4
of society fulfilling a f
society.

From this premise, !
syndicalist approach
special than the orga?
miners or civil serval™:)
that the things for W
dents fight are in © |
things which are m®
tant to those who aré
from university thal.
who are already at ual

The opening of univ’
those who are not @ |
there, will in turn ©"
very nature of student
involvement, and W!" 4
bring an end to any |.
from a situation in
dents were wedded t?
interests of a minoril

t