Quebec budget raises tuition, consumer fees

Quebec’s 2011-2012 budget will see hikes in consumer fees across the board and includes some bad news for students. Tuition is one of several fees slated to rise in the oncoming years 

Raymond Bachand is the province’s finance minister.He tabled the sixty-nine million dollar budget Thursday. Bachand says the user fees will cover the two and a half per cent increase in public spending.

Several of the user fees, like the $25 health care levy, were introduced in last year’s budget. Tuition will go up over 300 dollars a year for the next five years. That will start next September. Bachand says Quebec’s books will be balanced by the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

The Parti Québécois had some harsh words for that promise. PQ critic Nicholas Marceau says they’ll miss that objective by a billion dollars. Industry leaders are more optimistic, but say public spending could be reduced further.