A statement on public financing

Concordia University’s students, faculty, staff and administration speak with one voice to ask the Government of Quebec to reverse a series of damaging cuts and move towards adequate levels of public financing through progressive fiscal measures as early as 2016-17.

A healthy higher education sector plays a key role in developing the next generation of engaged citizens. Like all universities, Concordia strives, every day and at every level, to fulfill its mission of teaching and research to improve lives, so that our society will be enriched — in every sense. Higher education must be at the top of every progressive, forward-thinking society’s list of priorities.

Since 2012, the already underfunded Quebec universities have been subjected to large cuts in funding. Concordia has seen its operating budget reduced by $36.6 million, or 9.3 per cent. While we have gone to great lengths to protect the integrity of our academic mission, we have reached a point where without a reinvestment, it will become extremely difficult to maintain, let alone improve, the quality of the education we offer our students.

As planning for the 2016-17 budget evolves, we request that the Government outline a clear plan for higher education policy and budgeting for the length of its mandate. We request that this plan be anchored in the principles that higher education is a public good, a responsibility and a key investment in future generations rather than just a cost, and that establishing long-term, stable funding for our universities and our students is essential for our society’s future success.
 

• The Concordia University Senate
• The Concordia Student Union
• The Concordia Graduate Students Association
• The Concordia Inter-union Council