Our recommendations take into account some of what you are suggesting. Currently, the federal government is involved in the student financial assistance system. This is a good example of cooperation with the provincial governments. In most provinces, the federal government is responsible for 60% of the student financial assistance system and the provincial government, the remaining 40%.
Even though post-secondary education is a provincial matter, I think that the federal government has a clear responsibility in terms of post-secondary funding. For nearly 50 years, the federal government has been involved by transferring funds for post-secondary education. But we see that a certain measure of control is needed. For example, the federal government announced that the government of British Columbia's share would be $110 million—I think that was in 2007—but a few weeks later, university funding was cut by $50 million.
Basically, without legislation or a federal initiative, the many inequalities between the provinces will persist, and the funding will not necessarily get to the students and their families.