Last month’s Speech from the Throne made only superficial references to higher education and research, while unmistakably heralding the intent of the federal government to proceed with changes to copyright law.

“The bedrock of our workforce is middle-class Canadians and their families. These families worry about the rising costs of higher education,” said Governor General Michaëlle Jean, in delivering Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Throne Speech. She did not elaborate further.

CAUT president Greg Allain said he was dismayed by the omission.

“Governments around the world are beginning to recognize that investing in post-secondary education and research is critical for economic and social development,” he said. “Our government seems to be one of the few that hasn’t learned this lesson.”

But elsewhere in the speech, a single sentence on copyright spoke volumes: “Our government will improve the protection of cultural and intellectual property rights in Canada, including copyright reform.”

Copyright experts and pundits point to such an unwavering statement as a clear message the Conservative government intends to prioritize copyright reform.

The office of Industry Minister Jim Prentice has since confirmed there will be new legislation in the next few months, but declined to provide details of what would appear.

A bill to reform the Copyright Act tabled by the Liberal government in 2005 failed. Copyright reform is an important issue for the university community because of implications in the classroom and the exploding popularity of digital media. Of particular concern is the difficulty in balancing protection for creators versus access to the public domain of information.

The Throne Speech as a matter of confidence could have toppled Harper’s Conservative minority government, but drew reluctant support from the Liberals, allowing Parliament’s fall session to continue.