BY HENRY AUBIN, THE GAZETTE


Memo to striking students:
Yes, this a critique of your attempt to roll back the province's scheduled increases in university tuition fees.
But, no, I'm not going to bore you with a lecture on how Quebec's fees are minuscule compared with those of other provinces. You've seen those comparative stats a hundred times.
And, no, I'm not going to take shots at your sense of entitlement, resorting to the "spoiled brats" line of argument. We older generations live in a glass house: We know all about entitlement.
Rather, I want to call your attention to a report published last week that has received less media coverage than it deserves.
The report is by the Quebec auditor-general's office. It has nothing to do with tuition or universities or anything else that pertains directly to your cause. Indirectly, however, it has everything to do with it.
It says that Quebec is failing to meet its targets in curbing debt. More precisely, gross debt (that is, debt from the government's direct borrowings) is rising faster than the province's economic growth. The acting auditor-general, Michel Samson, estimates that by 2015 this debt will be $10 billion greater than the government had predicted in 2010 (at which time the debt had been at $160 billion).
That's worrisome. Quebec has long been Canada's most indebted province, and by far, and it looks like it's going to stay that way. In bits and pieces the costs keep rising. (The other day it was a $74-million payout to satisfy striking day-care workers.)
The auditor-general's office is independent of the Charest government and is, in effect, a whistleblower institution. It's a coincidence that its critique came out the same month that you are in the streets protesting. But the report holds two lessons that are relevant to the tuition issue.
One lesson is for the government: Stand fast against the students. The public treasury would slide even deeper into the red if it were not to get the anticipated revenues from student tuitions.
The other lesson is for the striking students: You need to worry more about higher provincial debt than about the effect that the government's planned tuition hikes would have on your personal debt.
Personal debt is something over which you, as individuals, can exercise some control: You can scrape up enough money over the years to pay it back, declare bankruptcy or somehow squirm away.
But individuals can't control a society's debt. Everyone's stuck. Everyone suffers. Look what's happening in Europe.
Quebec's debt is more serious than generally imagined. Quebec's finance ministry calculated several years ago the public debt - that is, not only what the provincial government owes directly (gross debt), but also what all school boards, municipalities, health institutions and universities owe (the province is ultimately responsible for all of these), plus Quebecers' share of the federal debt. It found that Quebecers' per-capita debt was the fifth-worst in the world (after Japan, Italy, Greece and Iceland).
Today, we're probably in the Worst 10. That's not because we've improved - au contraire, as the auditorgeneral shows - but because other countries, such as the U.S. and France, have become still more profligate. (The Montreal Economic Institute estimates Quebec's public debt at $245 billion today.)
If Quebecers are to crawl out of this debt hole, it's not only you, the striking students, who must lower your expectations. It's all of us.
It's impossible to square prudent provincial finance with, for example, a Quebecsubsidized shuttle train to the airport (while at the same time planning an entirely separate commuter line to the West Island). Or with a new, billion-dollar campus for the Université de Montréal. It's also questionable whether we can afford métro extensions and tram lines. Or to keep day-care fees at $7 a day.
When I see you march, I feel sorry for you. That's for two reasons. First, when my overindulged generation is long gone, you'll be stuck with the bill. And, second, in demonstrating for low tuition, you're symbolically demonstrating you're no wiser than your elders.
You've heard the expression "being taken to the cleaners."
When I see you march, I imagine you marching toward the cleaners.
haubin@ montrealgazette.com