FEUQ challenges CREPUQ report on Quebec university underfunding

The Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ) has dismissed a new Conference of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities (CREPUQ) report on provincial university underfunding as being based on outdated data. "They didn't evaluate the needs, they just made a comparison," says FEUQ president Martine Desjardins of the report, which indicated an $850-million university funding gap between Quebec and the rest of Canada. "Underfunding isn't a religion. We need concrete proof and we need an external commission to look into the numbers." In a new brief, FEUQ demands that an independent body be created to study and oversee university financing. Michel Patry, an executive committee member of CREPUQ and director of HEC Montréal, says the funding gap doesn't even take into account the $124-million cut the province announced last month for the current fiscal year. He says the students' interpretation of university financing is misguided and appears to ignore budgetary rules the institutions must follow. FEUQ News Release (in French) | Montreal Gazette | CBC | FEUQ Brief (in French)