CANADA: Intellectual centre of gravity 'shifting west'

Ontario universities are lagging behind their counterparts in Alberta and British Columbia, a higher education expert said last week in a bleak forecast made just days before voters were to head to the polls, writes Matthew Pearson for The Ottawa Citizen.

"The intellectual centre of gravity of Canada is shifting west much faster than people realise," said Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates. His Toronto-based firm specialises in providing measurement systems, data collection and strategic development to a range of players in the post-secondary field.

Despite investments from Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government - which was responsible for, in Usher's eyes, arguably the best years in Ontario in terms of new funding for higher education - the province has been slipping behind Alberta and British Columbia for two decades.
Full report on the Ottawa Citizen site