It's time for Canada to implement Universal Post-Secondary | An Op-Ed
Photo Credit: (The Charlatan / Google Images)
Written by: Shelby Prokop-Millar
With the rise of the WE Charity scandal expanded from a $900 million grant proposal, by the Liberal government, to distributed by WE, it is time for us Canadians to seriously think about the prospects of Universal Post-Secondary, or, more widely known as, free tuition for university and college to be established here in Canada.
Nearing the end of June, it was announced that the charity WE would be distributing Canada’s, Canadian Student Service Grant (CSSG), intended to pay students for volunteer work. There was something fishy form the start, considering that the $900 million CSSG could have easily been distributed by the government and not a third-party source. But as the days went by dirt came up about Trudeau’s family connections to the charity, starting with the Prime Ministers wife, Sophie Trudeau. It turned out that Sophie was both a podcast host and an “ambassador and ally” at WE, showing some conflict of interest within the charity and the Prime Ministers decision to partner with WE to distribute the CSSG. More and more came up throughout the weeks, uncovering,
that both Margaret Trudeau, the Prime Ministers mother, and Alexandre Trudeau, the Prime Ministers brother, had been paid $250,000 (Margaret) and $32,000 (Alexandre) to attend WE events,
that WE was provided with a $19.5 million contract by the government to distribute the grant,
that the Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, was given $41,000 in “travel expense”, with one of Morneau’s own daughters having ties to the charity as well via employment,
and that the contract was actually not with the WE charity itself, as the Prime Minister had stated, but rather with the WE Charity Foundation, that is utilized for the charities real estate holdings (an estimated “tens of millions”, by Global News).
It also came out that the CSSG would pay student workers less than minimum wage, which was apparently a decision made by the Liberal government; $10 an hour. Another point, that is highly unknown, that was discussed in David Doel’s show The Rational National, with guest Greg Sibley of the Don’t Forget Students Movement, is that in some instances students would be paid far less than minimum wage, between $4 - $5 an hour.
This is absolutely unacceptable, and with the average undergraduate student paying $6,463 in tuition, and the average graduate student paying $7,056, with an average student debt of $26,000, it is time for Canadian students to realize that we don’t have to live in a society where Canadians can barely afford to go to school or be left with a future full of crippling debt. That there are other countries, such as Germany and Norway, who offer tuition free university to all.
It is time for Canada to evaluate Senator Bernie Sanders, and then presidential hopeful, proposal for College for All, which stated that all public universities, colleges, trade schools, apprenticeships and tribal schools should be tuition free. Providing greater opportunity to low income and middle-class families. I would also add that the government should then provide grants, based on income, to students, to help them with living expenses, books, meals, etc.
Bernie Sanders proposal also included cancelling student debt, which is estimated to be $28 billion (among all levels of government) here in Canada in 2018. This could be used as an economic stimulus package here in Canada during the COVID-19 economic recession, as said by Stephanie Kelton, through modern monetary theory, it is more stable to have debt within the government sector than within the private sector (Canadians). Thereby giving Canadians more monetary resources to spend within the economy, helping to re-stabilize and stimulate it.
Germany is often looked upon for their universal post-secondary system, that is completely tuition free for both domestic and international students if they attend public institutions, with many programs taught in English. However, new laws came in somewhat restricting international students ability to seek free education. It is important to note, as well, that Germany had experienced some issues with the legalisation, such as increased taxes and universities been over stretched. That is why it is important if Canada were to move to universal post-secondary, that other legislation would be passed along within it, such as a wealth tax, Bay St. transaction tax, higher corporate tax, etc., in order to shift the weight of the tax “burden” away from the average Canadian family and ensure that the universities are fairly compensated.
There are many ways universal post-secondary can be paid for,
Universal post-secondary could pay for itself, via the tax revenue generated from the jobs it would create; also, according to economist Stephanie Kelton, education is considered to be one of the most reliable investments a government can make.
A wealth tax upon those who have $20 million in wealth, resulting in $5.6 billion a year in revenue.
A Bay Street Transaction Tax. A tax system, which was proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders in both his 2016 and 2019 presidential campaign, which would impose a 0.1 per cent tax on bonds and a 0.5 per cent on stocks within trades made on Bay Street. According to the Tax Policy Centre, it predicted that the tax would produce $400 billion within a decade. Obviously, the tax revenue would be different here in Canada, but this estimate gives us an idea of how much a possible tax could earn especially if we increased the percentages.
It also must be noted, the during the New Democratic Party (NDP) convention Universal-Post Secondary was voted to be taken as a serious platform idea, which failed to be implemented during their 2019 election run.
But as we still fight on for our right to a free tuition education, the organization Don’t Forget Students, the organization behind the fight for the Canadian Emergency Student Benefit (CESB), is back out with another petition, which you can sign here, asking the government for the following:
Raise the CESB compensation to $2000, for all students.
Extend the CESB for another 3 months.
Include international students and all graduates who graduates in the Fall 2019 semester.
It is important for Canadian students to realize, that Canada can have so much more. That we don’t have to put up with corruption scandals occurring over mediocre policy, that we can afford and deserve the right to a universal post-secondary education, that provides all Canadians with the opportunity for a higher education. Students must rally together and push the government to pass such legislation, that works for all Canadians.
Relevant link for international students applying for aid.
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