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Besides, there is already a special $300 annual travel grant available solely to Francophones who study more than 80 kilometres from their parents’ homes.

The days when discrimination meant Francophones couldn't go to university have long passed

And again, there’s no evidence of a widespread access problem. The days when discrimination meant Francophones couldn’t go to university have long passed. A 2013 review by the government’s own higher-education agency, HEQCO, notes that students from French-language school boards are slightly more likely to attend university (24.6 per cent) than students from English boards (22.6 per cent).

There’s also the question of whether this new university could attract enough students to be viable. The report’s authors admit they did not have enough time to carry out a “market study.”

But even if it were to attract substantial numbers, they would mostly come at the expense of other universities, like Ottawa, Laurentian and York’s Glendon College, which—as mentioned—are struggling to find students. Ottawa’s French programs are so under-subscribed, they charge French-speaking international students the domestic rate (a discount of at least $10,000 per year) just to fill a few more seats.

So why would the government commit to something so wasteful?

So why would the government commit to something so wasteful? One explanation is that the Liberals see Franco-Ontarians as an important part of their re-election strategy.

The Liberals did just announce they will split the NDP-held, far-north Ontario riding of Timmins-James Bay into two ridings, Timmins and Mushkegowuk, despite the fact that this region doesn’t have nearly the population to justify two seats. The new Timmins riding would be about 40-per-cent Francophone, and poll-by-poll results from the last election suggest the Liberals have a better chance of winning in Timmins than they did in Timmins-James Bay. The university announcement could also help them in Francophone-heavy areas around Ottawa where they will battle the Progressive Conservatives.

In that sense, this new university may indeed be about increasing access. Access, that is, for the Liberals to a few more seats.

National Post

Josh Dehaas is a Toronto-based writer and former online education editor for Maclean’s. He traveled to China with funding from the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada Media Fellowship program. Find him on Twitter @JoshDehaas.