No, you wouldn’t, and neither should tax payers or students.

It is simple. Where there are public funds involved, there needs to be accountability and transparency.

And there is no way to deny it—universities are provided with public funds.

The Postsecondary Review, a committee created by the provincial government to review post-secondary education, reports on its website that in 2002-03, of Ontario universities’ total expendable funds, 36 per cent came from Ontario grants and contracts and 11 per cent came from federal grants.

That means that $2.4 billion is coming from the provincial government and over $700 million is being provided to universities from the federal government.

With students’ money representing another 30 per cent of Ontario universities’ total expendable funds, or $2 billion, students should want to ensure that university administrators are spending their money and the taxpayers’ money in ways that represent their interests.

Students and tax payers have a right to know where this money is being allocated. They should demand to know.

So, do you want to know exactly where the public funds and tuition money is being allocated?

If you live in Newfoundland, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or British Columbia, you could find out. But if you live in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, or Ontario, you don’t get to.

The Freedom of Information Act was created to provide access to information that should be made available to the public. Since universities are publicly funded, there clearly needs to be an assurance of accountability from these institutions (see full story on page 5).

But in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Ontario, universities are exempted from the Freedom of Information Act and therefore, there can be no public scrutiny.

Since Ontario universities are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, they are also out of the reach of public enquiry and responsibility.

Does this make any sense? Almost 50 per cent of university funding in Ontario comes from the tax payers, 30 per cent comes from students’ pockets, and yet there is no level of transparency or general accountability to either students or tax payers.

In the June 16, 2004, issue of the Globe and Mail, Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian stated that she believed that Ontario’s freedom-of-information legislation should be expanded to include universities.

If the Ontario government agrees to amend the act to include universities, it could mean that, upon request, universities in Ontario would have to provide documents to the public and to students.

It is important that the public be aware of how universities in Ontario construct their budgets and allocate funding—because it is public funding and students’ money. Universities need to be open and accountable with regards to their operations.

The bottom line: Ontario universities need to be included under the Freedom of Information Act.

It’s public money. It’s students’ money. We have a right to know how it is being spent, and students have the right to know that their tuition money isn’t being wasted.