Funding for education has been in steady decline. In fact, deep spending cuts to social transfers in the mid 1990s had the effect of drastically undermining federal government funding for post-secondary education. The consequences of these cuts are still felt by students today in the form of unprecedented tuition-fee hikes. Since the mid 1990s, tuition fees in Canada increased at four-times the rate of inflation. Increasing fees, the main financial barrier to education, now stand at an average of $5,146 a year.

The ground-breaking research of Department Fisheries and Oceans genetics expert Dr. Kristi Miller has an uncertain future. She stated during testimony at the Cohen inquiry that she has no confirmed funding to continue her work on sockeye, right when she is on the verge of taking the research to the next level.

Last week it was revealed that the funding model used by Miller and other federal scientists, which uses outside funds to pay for staff salary, is "not compliant with DFO policy." This led to questions about the status of her research, which were confirmed today as she said approvals for funding were pending a Treasury Board decision.