ctvmontreal.ca | 25 September 2009

Some students are up in arms after McGill decided to raise the annual fees for its MBA program from $1,600 to nearly $30,000.

Don Melville, Director of MBA and Masters Programs at McGill, says he’s excited about next year’s hike and that it’s necessary to “ensure that we’re the top program in Canada and one of the best in the world.”

The program gets rave reviews from its students but not everyone shares in Melville’s excitement about the fee hike.

“That’s a huge hike. That’s incredibly high,” one student told CTV News on Thursday.

Another said: “Personally, I don’t support it.”

The change means Canadian and international students will all pay the same tuition.

Quebec residents previously paid a lower rate than people from the rest of Canada who in turn were charged less than foreigners.

Melville calls the new pricing scheme a “self-funded model”.

“What that means is that we will not be receiving any subsidies from the government and we’ll be working off the tuition that we receive as well as donations from people,” he said.

Still a bargain?

McGill insists the new tuition levels are still lower than most of its major competitors in Canada, though Concordia’s John Molson School of Business down the street would be one glaring exception.

Quebec MBA students at John Molson pay roughly $3,300 a year and some McGill students say their school is asking too much.

“It’s unfair to us students because tuitions fees are so high and we want to get an education,” said one woman.

But Allison Aab, president of the McGill MBA Student Association, said it’s not unreasonable to pay fees nearly nine times higher than those at Concordia.

“It’s a sacrifice that you make to come out with advantages that an MBA provides you, which will hopefully last you the rest of your life.”

Minister cautious

Quebec’s education minister tells CTV News that McGill’s tuition-hike proposal is not a done deal.

“They need approval for that and honestly…it’s a big gap,” said Michelle Courchesne.

Originally published on CTV.ca Montreal: http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090925/mtl_mcgill_fee_hike090926/20090925/?hub=MontrealHome

The money and power behind Concordia’s Board of Governors

by Justin Giovannetti | 8 September 2009

They control Canada’s largest bank and oil company. They control half the country’s newspapers and television stations. They have links to spy agencies. They control our largest crown corporations. They control food and biotech firms across the country and they sit on boards of international media, energy and neo-liberal lobby groups.

They are the Concordia Board of Governors.

The Board is comprised of 22 people from the community who hold the real power at Concordia University. The board members’ names are nearly unknown to the students whose studies and funding they determine.

All told, these governors, selected to represent “the community-at-large,” have nearly $189.31 billion worth of yearly revenue at their disposal.
You did not elect them, they elected themselves.

This unelected and unaccountable group decides how much you pay to go to school and what you can study and where.

This is a short profile of the power behind each of them.

Peter Kruyt

The chair of Concordia’s Board, Peter Kruyt is a vice-president of the Power Corporation of Canada, a multibillion dollar conglomerate that controls vast tracts of Canada’s financial and media landscape—including La Presse.

Among his other business ventures: Kruyt is the director of CITIC Pacific, a Hong Kong-based corporation that controls manufacturing, aeronautical and communications businesses in the People’s Republic of China; the president of Victoria Square Ventures Inc., a company with investments in information and biotechnology; and chairman of the Canada China Business Council, a lobbyist organization dedicated to increasing business ties and trade between the two countries.

Corporate dollars: $29 billion

Charles G. Cavell

The former head of Quebecor World (a global array of printers and advertising agencies) and a former chairman of the Sun Media Group (owners of Le Journal de Montréal), Cavell is the vice-chair of Concordia’s Board of Governors.

Corporate dollars: $10 billion

Rita Lc De Santis

A partner at Davies, Ward, Phillips & Vineberg LLP, a major Toronto law firm specializing in business law, De Santis is vice-chair of Concordia’s Board.

De Santis also sits on the board of Investment Quebec, a corporation that provides financial aid and advice for businesses seeking to expand into Quebec.

Corporate dollars: $40 million

W. Brian Edwards

A vice-chair of Concordia’s Board, Edwards is the chairman of Montreal-based Miranda Technologies, a company that produces business-grade servers and communications hardware.

Edwards also founded MPACT Immedia, now a division of Telus, that specializes in health data processing, and he sits on the boards of Camoplast (a company that builds tracked vehicles) and Biotonix and Diagnos (two biotechnology companies).

Corporate dollars: $220 million

David P. O’Brien

The chancellor of Concordia University, David P. O’Brien is also one of the busiest and most controversial members of Concordia’s Board of Governors. O’Brien is currently chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada, the largest financial institution in the country. RBC has been criticized for supposedly having a racial profiling policy, as well as refusing to open bank accounts to people from certain countries—including Cuba, Iraq, Burma and Sudan.

As well, O’Brien is the chairman of Encana, the largest independent energy company in North America. Encana has sustained criticism for the environmental impacts of its drilling operations and its pipelines in northern Canada have been bombed multiple times.

O’Brien is also director of: TransCanada, the owner of North America’s largest oil and gas pipeline network; Enerplus Resource Fund, a large oil company in western Canada; and Molson Coors. He also sits on the board of the CD Howe Institute, a neo-liberal lobbying group.

Corporate dollars: $72 billion

Sister Françoise Boisvert

The former director general of Marianopolis College, Sister Françoise Boisvert retired from her position in 2008 after 18 years at the helm of the college.

Corporate dollars: $0

Baljit Singh Chadha

Crowned “the nut king of Montreal” by Maclean’s magazine, Baljit Singh Chadha runs Balcorp, an international food and nut import business.

A member of the Privy Council of Canada, Chadha was appointed to the Security Intelligence Review Committee, a government agency that approves and scrutinizes the activities of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, in the late ‘90s.

The SIRC has been criticized for a perceived lack of proper oversight of CSIS.

Corporate dollars: $150 million

James C. Cherry

The president and CEO of Aéroports de Montréal, James Cherry has a long history in aerospace and defence industries. Cherry also sits on the boards of the United Way and local lobby group Montreal International.

Corporate dollars: $360 million

Howard Davidson

The treasurer of the R. Howard Webster Foundation, a philanthropic organization that has funded universities across Canada, Howard Davidson sits on Concordia’s Board.

Corporate dollars: $13 million

Jean-Pierre Desrosiers

The vice-chair of Quebec’s component of KPMG, one of the world’s largest auditing firms, Jean-Pierre Desrosiers also sits on the boards of Cirque Éloize, a Montreal-based circus.

Corporate dollars: $22 billion

Hélène F. Fortin

An accountant for Demers Beaulne, a Montreal-based law firm that specializes in what it calls “business gymnastics,” Hélène F. Fortin is the chairwoman of Loto-Québec and sits on the boards of: the Québec Order of Chartered Accountants; Bellus Health, a Laval-based pharmaceutical company; and the Canada Economic Development Region for Quebec. Fortin also teaches at McGill, UQAM and Montreal business school HEC.

Corporate dollars: $4 billion

Suzanne Gouin

The CEO of TV5 Quebec, a subsidiary of TV5Monde, Suzanne Gouin also sits on the board of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, an industry self-regulator for all private media in Canada.

Corporate dollars: $50 million

Norman Hébert Jr.

The chairman of the Société des alcools du Québec, Norman Hébert Jr. is the CEO of Group Park Avenue, a car rental company in downtown Montreal.

Corporate dollars: $2.5 billion

Dr. Arvind K. Joshi

The CEO of the St. Mary’s Hospital Center, a teaching hospital in the McGill University Health Centre network, Dr. Joshi also teaches medicine at McGill and sits on the board of Bishop’s University.

Corporate dollars: $20 million

Judith A. Kavanagh

A director at Dundee Wealth, a Toronto-based wealth management firm, Judith A. Kavanagh is also on the board of the Quebec Public-Private Partnership Agency—a controversial provincial body that outsources government contracts to the private sector, often at a profit. Current projects include the 30 Highway, the McGill University Health Centre, and the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal.

Corporate dollars: $600 million

Toni Meti

The CEO of GDNP Consulting Services, a specialist group in international commercial banking, Toni Meti serves on the boards of Saputo—owner of snack food makers Vachon and Hostess—and the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation.

Corporate dollars: $6 billion

Andrew T. Molson

A member of the storied Molson family, Andrew T. Molson is the vice-chairman of Molson Coors Brewing Company and RES PUBLICA, a nation-wide consulting group. Molson is also the newly-minted co-owner of the Montreal Canadiens and a director of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations, a business lobby group on social and government policy.

Corporate dollars: $6.8 billion

Jonathan Wener

The chairman and CEO of Canderel, one of Canada’s largest real-estate companies, Jonathan Wener also sits on the boards of the Jewish General Hospital and the Laurentian Bank. Wener is also the founder of the Urban Development Institute of Quebec, a lobby group for commercial real estate companies.

Corporate dollars: $1.5 billion

Marie-José Nadeau

The Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Secretary General of Hydro-Québec, Marie-José Nadeau also sits on the board of supermarket chain Metro. She’s present in energy lobby groups, acting as a chair of the World Energy Council, a body whose stated mission is to “promote the sustainable supply and use of energy,” as well as sitting as vice-chair of the Energy Council of Canada.

Corporate dollars: $13.5 billion

Patricia Saputo

A chartered accountant who has worked in accounting and tax services, Patricia Saputo is the Chief Financial Officer of Placements Italcan Inc. and sits on the board of Saputo.

Corporate dollars: $6 billion

Annie Tobias

The director of auditor Deloitte’s Global Learning and Talent Development Division, Annie Tobias is one of the vice-chairs of Concordia’s Board of Governors.

Corporate dollars: $27.5 billion

Ivan Velan

The chairman of Velan, a company that produces industrial material for the oil industry, military and large-scale science projects. Velan sits on Concordia’s Board of Governors.

Corporate dollars: $500 million

Lillian Vineberg

A painter whose creations hang in many corporate offices and private collections, Lillian Vineberg—the same Vineberg of the law firm for whom Rita Lc De Santis works—is also an environmental philanthropist who has boasted to The Gazette of driving a hybrid Lexus. Vineberg has sat on the Board of Governors for more than a decade.

Corporate dollars: $40 million

Tuition thaw turning hot as more increases loom for all students

by Elizabeth Faure August 25, 2009

Two years after the Liberal government decided to lift a decade-long tuition freeze in Quebec, Concordia’s students took to the streets again on June 18 to protest the latest fee increase at their university. Read more »

Test Calendar of Winter activities at Concordia.

ASSE’s calendar from Dec 3rd/4th Congres de la CLASSE can be found in the cahier de congres, on page 67.

High five for
General Strike!

by Erin Hale | 16 March 2009

International tuition hikes for students in four faculties were outlined in an email sent late Wednesday to all students that linked to the financial aid web site.

Students Currently enrolled in Science, Engineering, Law, and Management can expect an eight per cent increase by Fall 2009 and a further 10 per cent increase by Summer 2010, while Arts students will face a five per cent increase by Summer 2010, the first in change in three years, according to the McGill web site. Students who enroll starting in Fall 2009, however, will experience substantially higher changes to annual tuition: Management will jump from $16,200 to $23,000; Law from $15,090 to $20,000; and Science and Engineering from $16,650 to $20,000. These one-year increases amount to 42, 33, and 20 per cent, respectively.

When asked how he felt about the announcement, future Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) president Andrew Doyle said he supported the increase, the second greatest of the announced hikes.

“As a Montrealer, I’m not that opposed to the increase taxes are fairly substantial. My parents pay for international students to go to school,” he said, predicting that Quebeckers would likely face an tuition increase in future years.

SSMU VP External Devin Alfaro was not surprised by the new figures, though he did not support the hike.

“I think this is going the wrong direction for the University. It will limit access,” he said. “The University says .”

In the fall, the Quebec Ministry of Education allowed for the deregulation of international tuition, giving universities the freedom to set fees, and seek higher revenue margins. The McGill administration has indicated in the past that they normally increase international tuition fees by 8 per cent per annum.

Originally Published in the McGill Daily: http://www.mcgilldaily.com/articles/18564