Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for your presentations. It is interesting to be here in Halifax, a city I quite like.
I would like to continue speaking about the field of post-secondary education, because three of the organizations from the labour and student organizations here are all going in about the same direction.
The national higher education act poses a slight problem for me. First of all, since education is under exclusive provincial jurisdiction, I do not see why there would be a federal act, and further, a federal Department of Education.
Next, reference is often made to the Canadian Health Act. This act did not prevent the federal government form unilaterally cutting transfers for health. In the 1990s, Mr. Martindid not hesitate to do so. Now, we are slowly getting back to the 25% suggested by the Romanow Commission report, but we still aren't there.
Would it not be better to have a Canadian act to ensure a certain level of funding for post-secondary education? I am interested in your recommendation that funding be made per student and not according to the proportion of the population represented by the province.
Actually, shouldn't the federal government's primary obligation be to take its financial responsibility rather than create new standards that do not always take into consideration the specific reality of the Atlantic Provinces, of Quebec, which has a very particular education system, of Ontario, of the Western provinces, of British Columbia? This is not its primary responsibility.
My question is for the three witnesses.