egree. This can only worsen the already dismal employment picture for young people and displaced workers in need of new skills. While the provincial government pays lip service to the importance of education in enabling Ontario to compete in the global market, their actions appear to belie this objective. Between 1995 and 1999 the conservative government slashed college and university funding by $539 million, a 25% cut.# Between 1992 and 1999 real-per capita university funding in Ontario declined 30.8%, the biggest decline in Canada over that period.# Disparities in university funding levels between the provinces are increasing. Ontario, Canada's richest province, now ranks last among the provinces in university operating grants per capita, spending 38% less than the province of Newfoundland and 18% below the national average.# If Ontario were a U.S. state, it would rank 47th in funding for post-secondary education.# In 1980 each dollar a student paid in tuition was matched by $6.44 by the federal and provincial governments. By 1997 the government contribution had fallen to $2.97.# The provincial government must focus on realizing the objective of the 1996 Advisory Panel on Higher Education; that "Ontario grants per capita be raised to the national average...This would require an investment of $500 million by the province"# to provide improved accessibility and quality of education for Ontario's students. While universities and colleges alike have seen funding drop significantly at the hands of the provincial government, cuts to federal transfer payments have played a key role in diminishing the ability of provinces to fund post-secondary education as well. "The federal cash contribution to post-secondary education in the current year (2001) has fallen by 34% since 1992; from $2.9 billion to $1.9 billion...This is the lowest level of c
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