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Category: Politics

Global McGill

Welcome back, everyone.  Let’s jump in. You will recall that last fall the Legault government, reeling from a by-election loss to a suddenly resurgent Parti Québécois, decided to parade its nationalist bona fides by giving an unprovoked kicking to some major anglophone institutions: to wit, McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s.  This kicking – which was imposed on all universities but clearly had a disproportionate impact on the three anglo schools – consisted of two separate policies. Imposing a minimum $17,000/year tuition

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January 8, 2024 3 Comments

What’s in Ontario’s Blue Ribbon Panel Report?

The province decided to release the report of its Blue Ribbon Panel on Post-Secondary Education Financial Sustainability last Wednesday.  Remember, this was a report commissioned by the provincial government in response to a pair of reports from the Auditor-General, one on Laurentian University and another on other smaller institutions in November 2022.  It’s not what I would call an ambitious document; the panel’s terms of reference instructed that any recommendations “be considered through the lens of fiscally responsible and affordable

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November 20, 2023 1 Comment

The Math at McGill

I’ve been asked a few times for more details on the funding effects of the CAQ’s policies on Quebec Anglo institutions.  Unfortunately, it’s a bit difficult to do because neither Bishop’s nor Concordia publish quite enough data to make it possible to do most of the relevant calculations.  As a result, what I will be doing today is to flesh out how I see all this playing out for McGill.  Some of it will apply at a high level to

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November 15, 2023 2 Comments

Reconstruction?

Something on a lot of people’s minds in higher education– at least, among the more internationally-minded types – is how higher education institutions in North America and Europe can contribute to the rebuilding of Ukrainian higher education.  North American responses to the Ukraine crisis have mostly about sheltering individuals and – in the short-term – providing access to higher education at concessionary rates.  But over in Europe, more attention is being paid to helping institutions survive and rebuild.  The European

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November 13, 2023 No Comments

Crowding Out

In previous blogs, I discussed how Canadian colleges and universities are generating bad vibes by exacerbating various housing crises.  This has been bad for pretty much the entire sector.  These strategies have contributed to the impression that the leaders of our post-secondary sector are putting their own institutional interests ahead of the communities they inhabit.  It’s not a good look, but for the moment, I think it is survivable from a credibility/responsible neighbour point of view, if only because federal

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November 8, 2023 2 Comments

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One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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