With word that Jean Charest’s government in Quebec was set to pass legislation that would restrict student demonstrations outside of university and college buildings, negotiations to end the 15-week long student strike seem unlikely to end any time soon.
Despite the high profile of the incident, there has been little public opinion research done in Canada. Nevertheless, these series of events highlight a growing trend in Canadian public affairs: generational angst and divide between Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) and their parents, the Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964).
For the sake of disclosure, Abacus Data’s clients include student groups in Ontario and a coalition of faculty and student groups in Alberta. However, no group or organization paid for this research. This was completed out of my own curiosity.
Our past research for our clients found that the public in Ontario and Alberta believe that post-secondary education is critical to the long-term prosperity of their provinces. Most people in these provinces also believe that the cost of education is a barrier to accessing an advanced education.
The protests in Quebec have put another spotlight on the cost of post-secondary education and the inter-provincial differences in tuition and other fees charged by universities and colleges.
No doubt, Quebec students, along with their cousins in Newfoundland and Labrador pay the lowest comparative tuition fees in Canada. And this variation between the cost of tuition in Quebec and other provinces has been a key point in the argument to raise fees: if students outside of Quebec can pay more, why can’t Quebec students?
But public opinion on the issue is complicated and not so black and white. Last week, Abacus Data conducted a national public opinion survey and asked Canadians what they thought about the protests in Quebec.
We found that the level of awareness of the protests was nearly universal. Over eight in ten respondents (87%) said they were aware of the protests occurring in Quebec with 99% of Quebec respondents saying they were aware. Awareness was lowest in Alberta (78%) and in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (79%).
However, sharp divisions appear over whether Canadians have a favourable impression of the protests and whose side, the Quebec Government’s or the students’, they most support.
After being given some information about the protests and the Quebec government’s policies, 36% of respondents across Canada said they had either a very or somewhat favourable impression of the student strike in Quebec compared with 50% who viewed the protests unfavourably. There was little regional variation on impressions with favourable opinions hovering around one in three in Quebec (33%), Ontario (38%), and Atlantic Canada (32%).
However, when asked which side of the debate they are most likely to support, opinion was split almost evenly between students and the Government of Quebec. Overall, 54% of Canadians surveyed said they sided with the students while 46% sided with the Quebec government. Only in Quebec did a majority of respondents side with the government (57%) while majorities in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C. sided with students.
Another point to keep in mind is that 50% of Canadians we surveyed believed that tuition fees in their province are too high, while 32% said they were about right, and 10% believed they were too low. Only in Quebec did a small minority of respondents (20%) believe their fees were too high while 44% believed they were about right and 31% believed they were too low. This may explain some of the empathy Canadians outside of Quebec have for students and the lack of empathy in Quebec.
However, the apparent contradiction in public opinion does seem odd. On the one hand Canadians generally disapprove of the protests yet a majority side with students. This is not unlike what surveys told us about the Occupy Movement last year. While Canadians did not approve of the tactics used by occupiers, their message strongly resonated with a majority of the public. The same seems to be true of the protests in Quebec.
What is clear from our research is that this issue divides Canadian generations. Most young Canadians view the protests favourably. Almost one in two Canadians aged 18 to 29 (46%) said they had a favourable impression of the student strike compared with 33% of Canadians aged 30 and over. More striking is the finding that among those aged 60 and over, only 21% have a favourable impression of the student strike.
Moreover, when asked which side they are most likely to support, two thirds of young Canadians (68%) said they sided with the students compared with 51% of Canadians over the age of 30. Among those 60 and over, 36% sided with students compared with 64% who supported the Government of Quebec’s position. Young and old cannot be farther apart of this issue.
The generational gap in opinion is not surprising. Tuition is most likely to affect my generation and many of us who are not in school are still paying off our student debt. Yet, I continually hear from older generations that young people today are entitled, and spoiled.
I take a different view on this. Consider the outcry by Baby Boomers over the federal government’s recent increase of the eligibility age for OAS. Just as Baby Boomers expected to be able to retire at 65, students in Quebec expected to pay around $3,000 for tuition. There was an implicit social contract between government and the citizen that was breached when the plan to raise tuition fees was passed by the National Assembly in Quebec.
It’s not just Generation Y or Millennials who are entitled; it’s our entire society. Yet differences do exist in how generations engage in politics and public affairs: Boomers vote and Millennials don’t.
Maybe that’s the lesson in the student protests. Instead of hitting the streets, maybe Millennials should hit the ballot box.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: David Coletto
Despite the high profile of the incident, there has been little public opinion research done in Canada. Nevertheless, these series of events highlight a growing trend in Canadian public affairs: generational angst and divide between Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) and their parents, the Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964).
For the sake of disclosure, Abacus Data’s clients include student groups in Ontario and a coalition of faculty and student groups in Alberta. However, no group or organization paid for this research. This was completed out of my own curiosity.
Our past research for our clients found that the public in Ontario and Alberta believe that post-secondary education is critical to the long-term prosperity of their provinces. Most people in these provinces also believe that the cost of education is a barrier to accessing an advanced education.
The protests in Quebec have put another spotlight on the cost of post-secondary education and the inter-provincial differences in tuition and other fees charged by universities and colleges.
No doubt, Quebec students, along with their cousins in Newfoundland and Labrador pay the lowest comparative tuition fees in Canada. And this variation between the cost of tuition in Quebec and other provinces has been a key point in the argument to raise fees: if students outside of Quebec can pay more, why can’t Quebec students?
But public opinion on the issue is complicated and not so black and white. Last week, Abacus Data conducted a national public opinion survey and asked Canadians what they thought about the protests in Quebec.
We found that the level of awareness of the protests was nearly universal. Over eight in ten respondents (87%) said they were aware of the protests occurring in Quebec with 99% of Quebec respondents saying they were aware. Awareness was lowest in Alberta (78%) and in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (79%).
However, sharp divisions appear over whether Canadians have a favourable impression of the protests and whose side, the Quebec Government’s or the students’, they most support.
After being given some information about the protests and the Quebec government’s policies, 36% of respondents across Canada said they had either a very or somewhat favourable impression of the student strike in Quebec compared with 50% who viewed the protests unfavourably. There was little regional variation on impressions with favourable opinions hovering around one in three in Quebec (33%), Ontario (38%), and Atlantic Canada (32%).
However, when asked which side of the debate they are most likely to support, opinion was split almost evenly between students and the Government of Quebec. Overall, 54% of Canadians surveyed said they sided with the students while 46% sided with the Quebec government. Only in Quebec did a majority of respondents side with the government (57%) while majorities in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C. sided with students.
Another point to keep in mind is that 50% of Canadians we surveyed believed that tuition fees in their province are too high, while 32% said they were about right, and 10% believed they were too low. Only in Quebec did a small minority of respondents (20%) believe their fees were too high while 44% believed they were about right and 31% believed they were too low. This may explain some of the empathy Canadians outside of Quebec have for students and the lack of empathy in Quebec.
However, the apparent contradiction in public opinion does seem odd. On the one hand Canadians generally disapprove of the protests yet a majority side with students. This is not unlike what surveys told us about the Occupy Movement last year. While Canadians did not approve of the tactics used by occupiers, their message strongly resonated with a majority of the public. The same seems to be true of the protests in Quebec.
What is clear from our research is that this issue divides Canadian generations. Most young Canadians view the protests favourably. Almost one in two Canadians aged 18 to 29 (46%) said they had a favourable impression of the student strike compared with 33% of Canadians aged 30 and over. More striking is the finding that among those aged 60 and over, only 21% have a favourable impression of the student strike.
Moreover, when asked which side they are most likely to support, two thirds of young Canadians (68%) said they sided with the students compared with 51% of Canadians over the age of 30. Among those 60 and over, 36% sided with students compared with 64% who supported the Government of Quebec’s position. Young and old cannot be farther apart of this issue.
The generational gap in opinion is not surprising. Tuition is most likely to affect my generation and many of us who are not in school are still paying off our student debt. Yet, I continually hear from older generations that young people today are entitled, and spoiled.
I take a different view on this. Consider the outcry by Baby Boomers over the federal government’s recent increase of the eligibility age for OAS. Just as Baby Boomers expected to be able to retire at 65, students in Quebec expected to pay around $3,000 for tuition. There was an implicit social contract between government and the citizen that was breached when the plan to raise tuition fees was passed by the National Assembly in Quebec.
It’s not just Generation Y or Millennials who are entitled; it’s our entire society. Yet differences do exist in how generations engage in politics and public affairs: Boomers vote and Millennials don’t.
Maybe that’s the lesson in the student protests. Instead of hitting the streets, maybe Millennials should hit the ballot box.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: David Coletto
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