Most Canadians want to see the federal government focus its priorities on renewed social spending, shows a new public opinion poll commissioned by CAUT.

The poll, released last month, reports that six out of 10 Canadians say the major priority for the next federal budget should be to boost spending on social programs like health care and education. Less than 17 per cent favour more tax cuts and less than 10 per cent feel reducing the public debt should come first. Support for devoting more resources to fighting terrorism is favoured by fewer than 3 per cent of Canadians.

The September poll by Decima Research also shows growing dissatisfaction with the Liberal government's handling of post-secondary education. More than one in three Canadians believe Ottawa has done a poor job in making sure a college or university education is affordable, and a further 36 per cent give the government only a fair rating.

"Post-secondary education is an issue that the Liberals are potentially vulnerable on," says CAUT president Victor Catano.

The poll also reveals that most Canadian parents with children under the age of 17 are concerned the high cost of post-secondary education could mean their children will not be able to go on to college or university. Nearly two-thirds cite the high cost of tuition as the reason why their children won't get a post-secondary degree.

"There's a lot of anxiety out there about the ability of families to pay for an education for their children," Catano said. "When there are this many parents saying they don't think their children can afford to go on to university or college, we really are seeing the emergence of a crisis in accessibility in this country."

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

Complete poll results available at http://www.caut.ca/english/member/DecimaSummary0902.pdf.