Tax revenue, not tuition, is still the most effective way to fund Ontario's 22 universities, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations told a blue-ribbon panel looking at the future of post-secondary education in Ontario.

There is a new reality on the Ottawa lobby scene which seems to be having a positive impact. CAUT, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and the National Consortium (NCSES) have been working together to propose specific initiatives to the federal government in support of the shell-shocked research community.

The September issue of the Bulletin carried a report entitled "Power Grab in Manitoba" which assessed the implications of Manitoba's Bill 32. It was noted in the report that the proposed legislation would, in effect, transfer control of universities from senates and boards of governors to the Minister of Education and a handpicked Council of 11 government appointees.

Earlier this year the Liberal government tabled legislation to amend the Copyright Act. This honoured a long-standing promise of both the Conservatives and the Liberals, dating back to 1988, to bring in amendments to provide for the needs of researchers, educators and libraries.

On Sept. 16, 1995, the CAUT Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (the "CAUT AF&T Committee") considered a recommendation from Don Savage, Executive Director of CAUT, that a Committee of Inquiry be established to investigate Professor Westhues' complaint that he had been treated unfairly by the Chair of his Department, two internal University committees, and the University of Waterloo ("UW") administration. After long debate, the committee instead decided to prepare its own report from the documentation on hand. In coming to this decision, the committee was influenced by the consideration that it was unlikely that any new information would emerge to inform the work of a Committee of Inquiry, given the vast amount of material already available. Moreover, it seemed likely that a Committee of Inquiry would itself take considerable time to conclude its investigations -- extending the already protracted period of time that had been consumed in this matter -- and that the process would involve the many parties to the dispute in time-consuming and distressing, but ultimately redundant repetitions of the claims and counter claims, defences and rebuttals which were amply evidenced in the growing files of the committee.

The Grievance Hearing Committee Resumes

In my September editorial I argued that Canadian university teachers must offer a persuasive new outlook on the value of public post-secondary education. Not only that, we must attract broad support for that outlook.