Finance committee  As I said, our goal is not to attack the funding of the research infrastructure, on the contrary. We are simply saying that we are not satisfied with this structure, namely the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, as it is currently organized. One of the traditional demands of th

Finance committee  In fact, we are not asking that funding be reduced in other areas of study, on the contrary. To put it simply, we had to make a choice from the many things we want on our list. In our opinion, the problem is basically that the Canadian Foundation for Innovation is a private foun

Finance committee  We do not consult with the other granting councils before we make our own recommendations.

Finance committee  I understand that people might get the impression from our presentation that we want to take the money earmarked for research organizations and give it to the social sciences and humanities sector, but I can assure you that that is not at all the case. We simply want the money, w

Finance committee  Currently, the latest figures show that if you combine the funding given by Quebec and federal granting councils, approximately 30% of graduate students will be affected to varying degrees. Therefore, yes, they are affected by those programs.

Finance committee  What you need to know is how many students there are in each sector--sciences de la nature, sciences humaines. I know that in Canada, approximately 54% of full-time graduate students are enrolled in social sciences and humanities programs. That gives you a sense of the breakdown

Finance committee  In fact, our position with regard to that is fairly straightforward: we have to make it as easy as possible for graduate students to stay here if they so wish. That basically sums up our position. However, at the same time, we cannot be too aggressive in that regard, because the

Finance committee  Generally speaking, we believe that the provinces are in the best position to manage everything related to education, even though Mr. Charest has not really given us very serious guarantees as to being qualified in that regard. Nevertheless, the principle remains. Provinces alo

Finance committee  Yes, obviously. Even though tuition fees are low, people still have to pay their living costs while they are studying. We should not have to deal with $20,000 or $30,000 of debt, which will hinder post-education projects, whether to start up a business, establish a family or buy

Finance committee  If tuition fees are frozen, accessibility is pretty well guaranteed, particularly if there is an adequate financial assistance program. The additional transfer from the federal government...

Finance committee  With regard to the quantitative measures taken as a result of the underfunding of our universities, I can tell you that the number of professors has remained unchanged since 1994, whereas the student population has increased by about one-third. For about the same number of profes

Finance committee  We are well aware that there are reasons other than purely financial reasons that may prevent people from signing up for postsecondary education. However, we are virtually convinced that the low cost of tuition or the perception that tuition is low compared to the benefits a per

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would like to thank honourable members for giving us an opportunity today to present the recommendations of the Conseil national des cycles supérieurs of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec regarding the government's budget for 2008-2009.