A busy year on the government relations front

 

In May 2005, the Provincial Budget unveiled the McGuinty Reaching Higher Plan for Postsecondary Education, establishing higher education as the government’s signature area of priority.

While some might think the task of government relations suddenly became much easier with last year’s announcement, it in fact signaled the beginning of a process of discussion and advocacy between the government and postsecondary institutions to determine how the new funds would be spent and allocated among Ontario’s universities and colleges.

In these discussions, Western has pursued a number of initiatives successfully and continues to pursue others with the hope of more positive outcomes for our campus community and other Ontario universities. Among these successful and ongoing initiatives are:

  • Resolving the issue of unfunded students – This was Western’s highest priority, as we had a disproportionately large share of student enrolment that had gone unfunded by the operating grants formula from 2000-01 to 2005-06. The Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Chris Bentley, has announced that the students will be fully funded by 2007-08, and our operating grants for 2005-06 included a first installment of $4.5 million against the total steady-state grant of $13.5 million.

  • Securing matched funding for private donations to the Ontario Trust for Student Support (OTSS) – Western has been extraordinarily successful in securing private donations for student aid, to the extent that our donations rapidly outpaced the scheduled flow of matching funds from the Province. After extended discussions with the Ministry, there was a special year-end allocation of $6.5 million to the OTSS program, of which $4.3 million went to Western.

  • Special accessibility initiatives – Western submitted two successful applications for funding: one for the Aboriginal Access Initiative in Health Sciences ($115,000), and one for the Lake Huron Learning Cooperative ($100,000) to promote access for ‘first generation’ university students.

  • Accountability – Western encouraged the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) to promote the Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange, the National Student Survey on Engagement and the Graduate and Professional Student Survey as accountability measures to the provincial government. The COU has accepted our advice, and the Ministry has in turn accepted the advice of the COU.

  • Graduate capacity – This matter is under discussion and Western is advocating that institutions be allowed a greater degree of freedom in choosing the appropriate balance between Masters and PhD enrolments. Currently, the government plan allocates a very large fraction of the growth to Masters students, which would not permit Western to realize its aspirations for growth at the PhD level.

  • Student Aid – Western has been selected as a site for the Ministry to examine best practice in student aid policies as it explores ways of more effectively combining provincial and institutional student aid programs.

On the federal relations front our advocacy efforts have focused on working with the new Harper government to advance several important issues related to postsecondary education and research.

The federal Conservatives campaigned on a set of five priorities and have set out to maintain this focus in government. Beyond their five priorities, however, they have made commitments to increase funding for university research and education. The government’s first budget, tabled May 2, contained some important steps forward:

  • Research – Western's top priority will continue to be increased federal investment in research in three key areas: the indirect costs of research, the granting councils (SSHRC, NSERC and CIHR), and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The May budget contained a $100-million investment in these areas, which is a positive first step; however, additional funding will be required if Canadian universities are to remain competitive in the area of research.

  • Infrastructure – The issue of facilities renewal is a top federal government relations priority for Western. More funding is required to address deferred maintenance problems on our campus as well as to provide the quality of space we need to expand graduate programs. The Harper government’s first budget provided a $1-billion infrastructure fund for the postsecondary sector, and we will be working with our federal and provincial partners to establish priorities and allocation for these new resources.

  • Support for charities – Under the leadership of alumnus Don Johnson (MBA’63), and with the support of our Vice-President (External), Ted Garrard, Western has pressed the federal government to eliminate the capital gains tax on donations of listed securities to public charities. While many factors influence the donation of listed securities, this legislative change is estimated to support approximately $300 million in annual donations, which is good news for the fund development activities of all universities and the broader charitable sector as a whole.

  • Fiscal imbalance and higher education – Western has been a lead member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s government relations committee for more than a decade. The most significant element of the AUCC’s advocacy efforts during this time has been the call for adequate, stable and long-term funding for postsecondary education from the federal government. During their election campaign, the Conservatives committed to negotiating a dedicated education transfer to the provinces, separate from the Canada Social Transfer. Although the Harper government did not address this specific commitment in their May budget, they did announce that, as part of their broader consultation on the fiscal imbalance, they would work with the provinces and territories on future directions for postsecondary education. Western has already stressed to Prime Minister Harper that this consultation should aim to develop a roadmap for a federal-provincial partnership that will support excellence in higher education in Canada. We will be actively engaged with the AUCC and the COU on effective advocacy efforts to support achieving this goal.