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Montreal, December 13, 2006 - CREPUQ is pleased with the announcement by the Quebec Premier, in conjunction with the Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports (MELS), that the universities and the MELS have agreed on the distribution of a recurring investment of $60 million and a nonrecurring investment of $30 million over two years.

According to Michel Pigeon, President of CREPUQ and Rector of Université Laval, “we must admit, however, that much remains to be done to restore the financial health of our universities as they have been operating for many years with resources that are clearly insufficient; underfunding has been estimated at several hundred million dollars per year”.

The short-term focus is on next Friday’s meeting of the provincial and federal finance ministers where one of the topics of discussion will be the fiscal imbalance. In this context, Quebec’s universities will continue to support the Quebec government in its efforts to obtain more money from the federal government regardless of the source (transfers, equalization, taxation, or other sources). It is important that the federal government should play its full role in funding postsecondary education, while respecting provincial jurisdiction.

“The chronic underfunding at Quebec universities jeopardizes the very future of society because it impacts their ability to compete quantitatively and qualitatively with the training and the research and innovation facilities available in other countries. It is therefore important to maintain our focus on the ultimate goal so that Quebec can continue to enjoy a university system that is commensurate with its ambitions”, concluded Mr. Pigeon.

For information:

Jacques Bordeleau

Director General

(514) 288-8524, ext. 201