Tidy minds, untidy solutions: University organization in Ontario

Abstract

In the years 1957–1966 the universities of Canada, as a result of a vast injection of federal funds directly into higher education, appeared to be at the beginning of a long period of development, largely autonomous, and national in scope and outlook. By the late 1960s the provincial governments, motivated partly by what they perceived as an infringement of their constitutional rights, partly no doubt by a sense that they could make better use of the vast sums involved, persuaded the federal government to direct its grants to them. The more populous provinces then found it desirable to develop advisory bodies to counsel the governments on the broader problems of universities, especially fiscal ones. In Ontario the Ontario Council of University Affairs was created for this purpose. It was conceived of as a buffer body to stand between government and universities, serving both. In fact it had no statutory authority. Its advice to the government on the growing financial needs of universities was persistently rejected, while its advice to the universities themselves to develop methods of genuine cooperation and coordination for the sake of the whole system was largely ignored. The Council began to assume a measure of authority, but the Minister was not satisfied with the state of affairs, and in December 1983 she abruptly announced the appointment of a three-man commission to devise a plan for reshaping the university system, including “clarifying” the role of the Ontario Council on University Affairs. That role is now almost totally unclear.