Over half of Canadians believe that tuition fees should be lowered, and almost 60 per cent believe tuition fees should be eliminated over time, according to a Harris Decima poll commissioned by CAUT and the Canadian Federation of Students.
Support for eliminating fees is strongest in the Atlantic provinces, where more than 70 per cent of respondents said tuition fees should be abolished.
The poll also revealed that Canadians want more accountability over how federal education dollars are spent by the provinces, with more than 60 per cent of respondents saying conditions should be attached to federal transfers intended for universities and colleges.
When it comes to dealing with the economic crisis, most polled said the government should introduce stimulus measures that focus on direct job creation, with 43 per cent choosing investing in infrastructure to create jobs as the single most important measure. Investing in education and research came second, chosen by 25 per cent of respondents, while 19 per cent chose tax cuts as the best way of providing benefit to the economy.
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The Harris/Decima poll results are based on a sample of 2,036 adult Canadians interviewed between Nov. 6 and Nov. 16, 2008, and are considered accurate within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times in 20.