It might have been my imagination (or perhaps wishful thinking), but in the midst of this year's back-to-school media coverage, the issue of student debt seemed a little more prominent than usual.

At least two surveys identified high levels of debt ($28K on average), and the stress -- more than that of finding a job or getting good grades -- this is causing students. The federal government estimates the cost of a university degree (including accommodation, tuition, food and other expenses) to be $60K for a four-year degree, while a separate survey put that figure at closer to $80K.

At a time when Ontario's government is promising a transformation of the province's postsecondary education system, it would be wise to focus on a problem it helped create: the problem of high tuition.

A new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), Eduflation and the High Cost of Learning, shows Ontario's tuition and compulsory fees are the highest in Canada.

With mammoth student protests in Montreal on May 22 (The Globe and Mail reported up to 250,000; CTV news reported 400,000), smaller protests in other parts of Quebec, and sympathetic marches in centers such as Calgary, Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, New York and Paris, the attention of Canadians -- and many across the globe -- are turning to Quebec.