<p>It is regrettable that PSU has to endure this reduction when government money is used to bail out speculators, but that is another discussion.</p>
<p>I partially agree with your comments on Quebec tuition, McGill needs to make up the budget shortfalls somehow. The problem with increasing the Quebec tuition, is that there isn’t really any free lunch, the difference is paid for by taxes.</p>
<p>Let’s say we have two students, one at UofT and one at McGill. Both graduate and get jobs locally paying C$ 50,000 per year. The McGill graduate in Quebec will pay an income tax of roughly 30%, whereas the Toronto grad in Ontario will pay about 24%. Therefore the McGill grad now pays $3000 more in taxes, seems awfully close to that difference between McGill’s tuition and the oft-mentioned “Canadian average” tuition.</p>
<p>I realize this argument overly simplifies things in a gross manner, but as a recent grad, your biggest concern beyond getting a job is probably paying your student debt. In the case of the Quebec graduate and (new) worker, it seems that debt is at least partially deferred to taxation post-graduation.</p>
<p>Once McGill charges the same as UofT or UBC, it will also experience a reverse effect where Quebec students might decide to study elsewhere, since there is now little financial incentive to do it in Quebec.</p>