A clear majority of Canadians say a newly elected federal government's first priority should be to use the bulging surplus to increase spending on social programs like health care and education, shows a poll released this month by CAUT.

Nearly 52 per cent of Canadians say Ottawa should boost social spending. Only 21 per cent say the surplus should first be used to cut taxes while 24 per cent say it should be used to pay the debt. Support for reinvesting the surplus was highest in Atlantic Canada (69 per cent), and among women (61 per cent) and 18-to-24 year-olds (58 per cent).

"These results show there's a big gap in the current election campaign between the two leading parties' focus on tax cuts and what Canadians really want from their government," said CAUT president Tom Booth.

The October poll by Decima Research also shows nearly 70 per cent of Canadians are concerned rising university and college tuition fees are making it more difficult for people to obtain a degree.

The Liberal government received a poor grade for its handling of post-secondary education. Seventy-eight per cent of those polled say Ottawa should be doing more to make sure all qualified students can get a university or college education.

"Clearly, Canadians are looking to the federal government for action on improving accessibility to post-secondary education," said CAUT executive director Jim Turk.

When asked to choose the two highest priorities of the next federal government, 70 per cent of respondents picked health care and 46 per cent identified education. Twenty-six per cent said reducing taxes and 27 per cent said lowering the debt should be high priorities.

"Education is showing up along with health care as the two biggest issues for Canadians," Turk added."What's striking is that the two leading parties have put forward plans that would see the bulk of the surplus spent on tax cuts when that's clearly not what the majority of Canadians want."

The poll also reveals that 43 per cent of Canadians think the federal government should take the lead in ensuring universities and colleges have the resources to provide Canadians with the education and skills they need. Thirty per cent identified the provinces and 19 per cent said businesses. The primary role for the federal government was the dominant response in all regions of the country.

"Education is a provincial jurisdiction," Booth noted, "but Canadians feel there needs to be a strong federal role."

He added that these results support CAUT's view that Ottawa must take a more active role in funding the country's universities and colleges. CAUT is urging the federal government and the provinces to cooperate in establishing a national post-secondary education act.

Such an act would be modelled on the Canada Health Act, explained Booth, and would set out "common principles for the provision of post-secondary education" while reforming how Ottawa transfers funding to the provinces to ensure greater accountability for how federal contributions are spent.

The Decima poll results are based on a telephone survey of more than 2,000 adults across the country and are considered accurate within ±2%, 19 times out of 20.