Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Social Affairs,
Science and Technology
Subcommittee on Post-Secondary education
Issue 14 - Interim Report of the Committee
MEMBERSHIP
The Subcommittee on Post-Secondary education:
The Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell, Chairman
The Honourable Thérèse Lavoie-Roux, Deputy Chair
and
The Honourable Senators:
A. Raynell Andreychuk, M. Lorne Bonnell, Mabel M. DeWare, * Joyce Fairbairn, P.C. (or B. Alasdair Graham), Jean B. Forest, Thérèse Lavoie-Roux, Rose-Marie Losier-Cool, Raymond J. Perrault, P.C., * John Lynch-Staunton (or Noël A. Kinsella)
* Ex officio members
The Honourable Senators Berntson, Carney, Cools, Gigantès, Hervieux-Payette, Jessiman, Mercier, Moore, Rompkey and Sparrow also served on the subcommittee at various stages of this study.
Staff from the Research Branch of the Library of Parliament: Mr. Grant Purves, Political and Social Affairs Division.
Jill Anne Joseph
Clerk of the Subcommittee
INTERIM REPORT
The Senate Subcommittee on Post-Secondary education has the honour to present its INTERIM REPORT.
The Subcommittee on Post-Secondary education in Canada was established by the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology on August 6, 1996 to consider and report on the following Order of Reference adopted by the Senate:
That, while respecting provincial constitutional responsibilities, the Committee be authorized to examine and report upon the state of Post-Secondary education in Canada, including the review of:
(a) the national, regional, provincial and local goals of the Canadian Post-Secondary education system;
(b) the social, cultural, economic and political importance of post-secondary EDUCATION to Canada;
(c) the roles of the federal, provincial and territorial governments;
(d) the ability of Canadian universities and colleges to respond to the new, emerging EDUCATIONal marketplace including the changing curriculum and new technologies, distance, continuing and cooperative EDUCATION, and adult and part-time EDUCATION; and
(e) the Canada Student Loans Program and the different provincial and territorial student financial assistance programs as well as the growing concern over student indebtedness; and to identify areas of greater cooperation between all levels of government, the private sector and EDUCATIONal institutions.
In discharge of this mandate, the Subcommittee has held intensive hearings in Ottawa, Vancouver, Regina and Halifax. It has taken evidence and received briefs from almost 200 individuals and groups representing university and college students, faculty, administrators and associations as well as government departments and agencies, and organizations representing aboriginal peoples and the disabled. (For a list of witnesses, see appendix A.)
Having heard witnesses as late as April 17, 1997, the members of the subcommittee have not had sufficient time to fully analyze and digest the mass of information and material they have received and heard in the past six months, or to reflect on the many issues that have been raised. The subcommittee was convinced that a long-term vision of Post-Secondary education is necessary but was mindful of the fact that if there was to be a focus on a national system for Post-Secondary education, respect for provincial jurisdiction is mandatory. A priority concern was noted indicating that as federal financial contributions to Post-Secondary education are withdrawn at the same time as manpower and vocational training is being divested to the provinces, issues such as student and labour mobility could take on different dimensions.
The subcommittee is convinced that the quality of Canada's post-secondary EDUCATION and training systems will have a fundamental impact on its ability to stay competitive; hence, helping to ensure the continuing excellence of our post-secondary institutions must become a priority. The following list of issues has been raised and it is intended to be illustrative but not exclusive:
Funding
What have been the consequences of more than a decade of federal and provincial funding freezes and cuts? The impact on the physical infrastructure of the colleges and universities can sometimes be obvious, but the impact on standards and excellence is much more difficult to determine.
Student Assistance
The issues of student assistance are made much more complex by the disagreement between statistical and academic experts in the field of student loans and student debt, and student representatives and financial aid administrators. The Subcommittee must evaluate a wide range of possible initiatives to assist students, particularly those most in need.
Research and Development
The subcommittee has found a continuing preoccupation with the lack of funding of post-secondary research, with the decline of the research infrastructure, and with Canada's research effort relative to that of its major trading partners.
Internationalization
A major focus of the Subcommittee has been to assess the EDUCATION system in an increasingly global context. Like the economy, EDUCATION is becoming increasingly international, but Canada's efforts have been criticized as being uncoordinated among the provinces and even among federal departments. EDUCATIONal goods and services have become "big business" on international markets, but this raises the question of to what degree commercial considerations should be allowed to influence EDUCATIONal policy.
Subjects Requiring Further Study
The Subcommittee needs additional time to obtain more information on a number of important subjects such as:
Technology and its impact on teaching and teaching methods. Some testimony suggests that technology-mediated EDUCATION is the wave of the future, other testimony suggests that its usefulness, while real, is overrated and that it is expensive and takes away from human interaction.
Post-Secondary education and minorities:
- aboriginal groups
- francophone communities outside Quebec
- the anglophone community within Quebec, and
- the disabled.
It now seems increasingly possible that the work of the subcommittee will be terminated by the dissolution of the 35th Parliament before the members of the subcommittee can finish the work outlined above and submit a final report. The members of the subcommittee have found that there is a tremendous interest in and support for their work. They have every intention of completing the study as soon as possible, even if this means seeking the re-establishment of the subcommittee in the next Parliament and having the testimony already heard made a part of its record.
The members of the subcommittee want to take this opportunity to thank the witnesses, and particularly the students among them, for taking the time to prepare briefs and to give testimony.
The Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell
Chairman of the Subcommittee
The Honourable Thérèse Lavoie-Roux
Deputy Chair of the Subcommittee
APPENDIX A / ANNEXE A
WITNESSES
Thursday, October 3, 1996
Department of Human Resources Development Canada
Department of Finance Canada
Department of Industry Canada
Thursday, October 22, 1996
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Thursday, October 31, 1996
Statistics Canada
Thursday, November 7, 1996
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Tuesday, November 26, 1996
National Graduate Council
Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
Canadian Federation of Students
Thursday, November 28, 1996
Canadian Association of Financial Aid Administrators
CIBC Finance Inc.
Bank of Montreal
Thursday, December 5, 1996
National Business and EDUCATION Centre, Conference Board of Canada
National Union of Public and General Employees
Canadian Union of Public Employees
Thursday, February 6, 1997
Department of Human Resources Development
Canadian Association of University Teachers
Association of Canadian Community Colleges
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Canadian Consortium for Research
The Royal Society of Canada
Monday, February 10, 1997 -- Vancouver, B.C.
College Institute educators' Association of British Columbia
Advanced EDUCATION Council of British Columbia
FuturEd Associates
The University President's Council of British Columbia
Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations
Council of Presidents (Public Colleges and Technical Institutes of Alberta)
Canadian Association for Cooperative EDUCATION
Tuesday, February 11, 1997 -- Vancouver, B.C.
Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia
The Asia Pacific Management Cooperative Program at Capilano College
Treaty Seven Tribal Council
Corporate Higher EDUCATION Forum
Canadian Federation of Students -- British Columbia Component
Wednesday, February 12, 1997 -- Regina, Saskatchewan
Dan Perrins, Deputy Minister, Saskatchewan Ministry of Post-Secondary education and Skills Training
Council of Western Canadian University Presidents
Alberta College and Technical Institute, Student Executive Council
Alberta College -- Institutes Faculties Association
Provincial Alliance for EDUCATION
Thursday, February 13, 1997 -- Regina, Saskatchewan
Canadian Federation of Students, Manitoba
Council of Alberta Students' Union
Canadian Federation of Students, Saskatchewan Component
Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations
Lloyd Barber, Ph.D., Individual
Tuesday, February 18, 1997 -- Halifax, Nova Scotia
Metro Halifax Universities Consortium
The New Brunswick Student Alliance
Canadian Federation of Students -- Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia League for Equal Opportunities
Atlantic Centre of Research, Access and Support for Disabled Students, St. Mary's University
PANEL: College Systems in Atlantic Canada
Nova Scotia Community College
Holland College (PEI)
New Brunswick Community College
Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial College
Collège de l'Acadie
Wednesday, February 19, 1997 -- Halifax, Nova Scotia
Maritime Provinces Higher EDUCATION Commission
National EDUCATION Organizations Committee
Nova Scotia Confederation of University Faculty Associations
Regroupement des universités de la Francophonie hors Québec
Federation of New Brunswick Faculty Associations
Association of Atlantic Universities
Nova Scotia Council on Higher EDUCATION
Students' Union of Nova Scotia
Thursday, March 6, 1997
Canadian International Development Agency
Thursday, March 13, 1997
Medical Research Council
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Canadian Bureau for International EDUCATION
Thursday, March 20, 1997
Canadian Labour Force Development Board
Assembly of First Nations
Thursday, April 10, 1997
Roundtable
Students' Society of McGill University
Bishop's University Students' Representative Council
Concordia Student Union
Canadian Association for French-Language EDUCATION
Independent College Federation
Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec
Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec
Fédération nationale des enseignants et enseignantes du Québec
Wednesday, April 16, 1997
Professor David Stager, University of Toronto
Roundtable
Canadian Federation of Students (Ontario)
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
Ontario Community College Student Parliamentary Association
Council of Ontario Universities
Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations
Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario
Terence Young, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister, Ontario Ministry of EDUCATION and Training
David Smith, Ph.D., Ontario Advisory Panel on Higher EDUCATION
Thursday, April 17, 1997
The Honourable Robert W. Mitchell, Q.C., Minister, Saskatchewan Ministry of Post-Secondary education and Skills Training
Professors Ross Finnie and Saul Schwartz, Carleton University
National EDUCATIONal Association of Disabled Students