DisAdvantage New Brunswick:

Responding to the Report of the Commission on Post Secondary Education

When the Commission on Post-Secondary Education (CPSE) in New Brunswick finally released its much-leaked report (pdf) on September 14, one of the Commissioners stressed repeatedly that acceptance of its recommendations was an “all or nothing” proposition. They advised Premier Shawn Graham of the same in their letter transmitting the report. They also urged readers, before reacting, to spend “time understanding the dynamics and relevance of the issues raised".

Having done so, AUNBT concludes that the recommendations of the CPSE are so flawed that we must urge the government of New Brunswick to reject the report in the main. Like UNB, we favour change in higher education but the change proposed by this report would betray the interests of New Brunswick and its citizens.

The report is misleading and contradictory. For example, it claims to give "first priority" to the needs of students (p. 1); yet it recommends that institutions be free to raise tuition as they see fit (pp. 37, 49) and that university education in some communities be replaced by polytechnic training (pp. 16-22). It suggests that the proposed "New Brunswick polytechnics" will be comparable to "MIT" and "Caltech" (pp. 17-18); yet these are among the world's premiere universities with programs in the humanities and social sciences, as well as science and engineering, and their faculty members have full academic freedom. It urges the province to "expand its productivity in graduate education and research" (p. 28); yet it recommends a radical reduction in the size and capacity of UNB (pp. 19, 20, 24), New Brunswick's main generator of research, technology transfer and graduates with higher degrees. Further, the PSEC report;

• proposes downgrading the university senates, from academic governing bodies to mere advisory councils
• fails to mention academic freedom, the defining characteristic of university research and teaching
• recommends the extinction of UNB Saint John.

Aggrandizing its vision, the CPSE compares itself to the Deutsch Commission (pp. 1, 16). The 1962 Deutsch report was central to the vision of Premier Louis-J. Robichaud - that all citizens should have equal opportunity to participate fully in society. If implemented, the 2007 Report's recommendations would erode the advances of the last forty years in education and research. The consequence for the province would be an erosion in equality of opportunity generally.

Responses to the Action Plan to Transform Post-Secondary Education (pdf)
University Autonomy on the Line, July 2008(AUNBT)

Responses to the Commission's Report (pdf)
CAUT's Letter to Shawn Graham, November 2007
Letter to Shawn Graham, November 2007 (George Luste, U of T Faculty Association)
Speaking Plainly: The Post-Secondary Education Report, October 2007 (Thomas Condon)
Comments on the PSE Report, October 2007 (AUNBT)
Disadvantage New Brunswick, October 2007 (AUNBT)

Get the Facts!: CAUT Debunks Myths from the CPSE Report
Separating Fact From Fiction (pdf), October 2007

For more information on the fight to ensure access to education in Saint John, visit
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