Hard on the heels of the federal budget, the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada (CMEC) has just released its "Report on Public Expectations of Postsecondary Education in Canada." Two years in the making, it is the first time the education ministers have agreed on a uniform set of principles for post-secondary education across Canada.

The key areas of expectations outlined in the policy are quality, accessibility, mobility and portability, relevance and responsiveness, research and scholarship, and accountability. These are described in general terms in the report.

But the ministers sidestep the crucial element of implementation. Their report states "This document is not concerned with how to achieve the expectations nor with what level of public funding is allocated in what manner. These are important issues, but they fall within the purview of individual provinces and territories."

CAUT has called for the introduction of a post-secondary education fund governed by a Canada Post-Secondary Education Act which could establish and implement national standards and principles for higher education in Canada.

"Accessibility cannot be achieved with the present, and growing, levels of student debt," said CAUT President Bill Graham. "Quality in research and scholarship cannot be achieved without greatly enhanced core funding of universities for salaries and infrastructure."

CAUT believes that a federal post-secondary education fund should be set at the 1993-94 level of federal cash transfers for post-secondary education to the provinces and should grow with the economy. A Canada Post-Secondary Education Act would ensure that funds transferred to the provinces for post-secondary education would actually be spent on post-secondary education.

Without a massive reinvestment by federal and provincial governments, the ministers' desired outcomes for higher education will become nothing more than pious platitudes.