Federal involvement in Canadian post-secondary education : certain social, economic and political considerations with particular reference to the years 1950 to 1967.
Date
1970
Authors
Killough, Edward Arthur
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Abstract
The dilemma of federal government involvement in education, particularly at the post-secondary school level, is one which has elicited much debate and considerable division within Canada since 1867. Interest in and concern for this matter have increased appreciably during the past twenty years, since many provincial governments have experienced difficulty in providing, within the fiscal resources available to them, that amount of revenue popularized as crucial to adequate quantitative and qualitative post-secondary education. Understandably, there has been a tendency to view the larger fiscal resources possessed by the federal government as a source of additional, if not alternative, financing for post-secondary education within the provinces. Does such fiscal involvement on the part of the central government infringe upon basic constitutional provisions whereunder the subordinate government is granted responsibility for education in and for that province?
This thesis provides an historical account of the means whereby the federal government became involved in Canadian post-secondary education, and of the nature and extent of its commitment. The study also attempt a general appraisal of the significance of central government involvement in post-secondary education. On the basis of data reviewed, the study establishes there was little federal government involvement in higher education during the initial seventy-five years following Confederation. Nevertheless, a number of programs and policies inaugurated in the period prior to the Second World War established important precedents subsequently drawn upon when providing very significant federal financial assistance to post-secondary education, particularly to the universities and colleges, throughout the period 1950 to 1966. The more important of these programs and policies are documented and appraised in considerable detail relative to major social, economic, and political considerations extant during that era of centralization in Canadian government.
The thesis then seeks to establish that the federal-provincial fiscal arrangements, manpower and adult training policies and agreements introduced after 1965 are evidence of a very important change and maturation in attitude and approach, not only in regard to federal involvement in post-secondary education, but also in relation to a more functional confederation agreement. The study concludes with an appraisal of the significance of the new policy and political philosophy in enabling realization of inter-provincial, intra-provincial, and national objectives in Canadian post-secondary education.