We believe the choice is quite clear. Earlier, we talked about productivity issues. Obviously education, especially higher education, is a significant factor in improving a given country's productivity. In our view, there is no doubt we should opt for reinvesting in education.
That is why we are asking for the fiscal imbalance to be remedied. Education is under provincial jurisdiction. If the federal government were to inject more money into the provinces, the provinces would be able to fulfill their educational responsibilities properly.
With respect to education spending, in 1977 the federal government covered 25% of costs through transfer payments. Today, with social assistance and other factors taken into account, that figure has dropped to 11.5%. It is half of what it was.
Even if we were to ask for $3.4 billion or $3.9 billion to correct the fiscal imbalance, we would not be asking the federal government to go back to its 1977 spending levels, but just to its 1994 or 1995 spending levels, which were 18 or 19%.
In our view, that must be the top priority. The government has been bringing the debt down for several years now. Nonetheless, we believe it would have been preferable to put more money into the provinces and enable the provinces to cover their education costs better. That would have been much more productive, both socially and economically.