Lie#1-TutionTruth.ca, the Web site launched by Max Silverman the Students' Society to fight for "accessible education" is a harmless advocacy Web site, dedicated to educating students on the truth about tuition policy.
Fact-The SSMU-authored Web site TuitionTruth.ca is a hornets nest of lies, half-truths and normative statements. It's appalling that Society fees fund such an ideologically charged Web outlet, complete with anti-tuition propaganda. The site is rife with fabrications, statistical deceitfulness and shoddy oversimplifications that are passed off onto unsuspecting students under the labels "fact" and "truth."
Lie #2-The Web site states that it's a myth that "low tuition fees are a subsidy to the rich." In fact, "every fee hike means less students finish their degrees."
Fact-This simply is not true. In Canada, data shows that high tuition does not correlate with low university attendance. In fact, quite the opposite is true-provinces with higher tuition have far better rates of university attendance, and degree completion. Even if cultural reasons or other factors are responsible for this discrepancy, the statement, "every fee hike means that [fewer] students finish their degree" is an outright lie that becomes apparent in the face of cold, hard data.
Lie #3-"Canada used to have the highest Human Development Index," says TuitionTruth. "Then, we hiked university tuition. The result was we dropped to sixth place. Of the five countries that passed us, four have completely free education from elementary school to university. Coincidence?"
Fact-Trying to equate Canada's drop in HDI rankings to high tuition is a logical fallacy-as first year philosophy students know, correlation does not automatically imply causation. In fact, it would take years, if not decades, for Canada's overall standard of living to undergo measurable systemic changes due to a single tuition hike. Further, Canadian education has never been free, yet Canada long held the top spot in the HDI index, even while charging students tuition for post-secondary education. Shoddy logical reasoning allows the Web site authors to pass this one off as fact, but don't be fooled by such simplistic sophistry. The real logical conclusion is that tuition never played a part in Canada's drop in the UN measure.
Lie #4-According to TuitionTruth, "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms all say that Education is a Right!" "Hiking tuition," the Web site concludes, "is thus an illicit act."
Fact-First, the UN Declaration of Human Rights is a non-binding advisory declaration and Canada has openly ignored other mandates from the International Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights in the past. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not even widely recognized in Quebec and is subject to constant invocation of the notwithstanding clause. Further, there is no method of enforcement of supra-state agreements on sovereign states. No framework of international law has ever been widely accepted to replace Westphalian sovereignty-thus Canada's education policy still falls within its own jurisdiction, not the jurisdiction of outside entities. The UN Declaration of Human Rights also outlines that people have a "right" to "food, clothing [and] housing," however that does not mean that these services should be offered without charge, merely that states should not deny equal and fair access to them. Lastly, the idea that education is a right is a normative statement-a statement over values, which cannot be passed off as an objective "truth," as TuitionTruth would have us believe.
Lie #5-The tuition hike doesn't just cost a beer a week. Rather, "it's a beer a week more per year, compounded. This means that in five years it will be five beers a week, 260 beers a year, or $500 more per year."
Fact-First of all, it's unhelpful and sophomoric to frame the tuition hike's financial impact through beer. Rather, a better frame of reference is that the tuition hike will cost less than one week's salary post-graduation. The Institut de la statistique du Québec reports that the average weekly salary in Quebec in 2006 was $697.15. If the province is willing to subsidize the education of its residents, isn't it only fair to ask them to contribute less than one week's worth of their future income for their education?
Lie #6-Adam Conter's performance in the SSMU-run television campaign to promote the Web site is charming, jovial and convincing.
Fact-He should really get a new gig.
2008 Woodie Awards
Be the first to comment on this story