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In early February, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) released a research document. It determined, to the surprise of no one, that it is in the public’s interest for the federal government to hand students billions of dollars more every year. One demand is a doubling in funding for the Youth Employment Strategy, which would cost $330 million per year. (If the CFS’s provincial campaigns to increase minimum wages to $15 are successful, private employers will surely hire fewer students. But governments as a rule are happy to overpay, hence the request for another $330 million.)

Then comes the much larger demand: The CFS wants an end to undergraduate tuition fees in Canada. The ask comes despite the fact that only about one-quarter of universities’ revenues come from tuition fees, and the federal Liberals already promised upwards of $750 million of additional annual funding during the campaign. But the CFS is unsatisfied with $750 million; it wants more.