In Newfoundland and Labrador, we are caught in time of uncertainty: spring is not arriving, the unemployment rate is not decreasing, and students are not being prioritized. The recent federal and provincial budgets, which should have been filled with hope for students, were reminders that in times when we should be reinvesting in the future through high-quality and accessible education, our politicians favour the status-quo. Unfortunately, when the government does not reinvest in post-secondary education it is not just students who lose, it is all residents, the labour market, and the economy.
In a province that faces a shrinking and aging demographic, we need to be providing the necessary supports for youth to stay here, or move here for opportunities. Make no mistake, it is not the sprawling coastline or occasional puffin sighting that encourages youth to come to this province, it is the low cost of tuition.
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There is no more room for platitudes. The only way to ensure the highest quality at our public institutions is for government to increase operation funding to the College of the North Atlantic, and Memorial University. It is impossible to recoup the funding cuts through increasing tuition fees as some have suggested. Tuition fees in Newfoundland and Labrador are far below the national average, but that is only because the national average is far too high. The idea that fees can rise to the national average is reckless and short-sighted. Students from outside the province will no longer come here for their education if the tuition fee advantage in the province is eroded, leading to a decrease in enrollment and dissolution of proposed tuition gains.
Furthermore, a properly funded system of post-secondary education hinges on financial resources available to the students. Many students do not have the financial means to put themselves through school, and many more do not have families with the ability to support them while they study. These students should not be punished for not having financial stability, instead we should be building a system without barriers.
Newfoundland and Labrador has long been able to boast about having the most accessible system of post-secondary education in the country. However, the strides towards having the most accessible and affordable post-secondary education in Canada began to unravel under the previous Tory government. The current Liberal government has continued to undo this work by demonstrating a lack of willingness or understanding to maintain a system of high-quality post-secondary education.
With the impending implementation of a 30 per cent differential fee for out-of-province students and the ancillary fees, the average fees in N.L. are already comparable to other provinces. In fact, international students will see the largest tuition increase in Canada. For a government who has focused on immigration as a way forward, neglecting international students is not only counter-intuitive but counter-productive.
Speaking of counter-productive, recently the Liberal government announced plans to further research a fixed link to Labrador which will cost a further $20 million. If there is one thing everyone could agree on, it is that instead of another costly study on a project that is 15 years in the making, governments should reinvest those millions into our crumbling campuses. This move illustrates a concerning trend of misspending by provincial governments: when the rest of the world moves away from oil, we double-down; when a megaproject epically fails, we spend millions on another; when we face a demographic collapse, we cut funding to the most promising youth-recruiter, our post-secondary institutions. How many more missteps can we afford?
In a time of fiscal and societal uncertainty we cannot afford to lose any students. Every person in this province is somehow connected through our post-secondary institutions whether that means through a family member, a doctor or teacher who graduated from Memorial, or the carpenter building your home who graduated from one of our College of the North Atlantic campuses. Therefore, governments must prioritize funding for our post-secondary institutions and in turn, these institutions must use funding to put the needs of students above profit, research above corporatization, and high-quality learning above exorbitant salaries and benefits packages.
We all have a shared responsibility to ensure our public post-secondary institutions continue to act as beacons for progress because quite frankly, our future depends on it.
Sofia Descalzi
Chairperson, Canadian Federation of Students- NL
