Stephen Downes

Alex Usher argues against banning Canada Student Financial Assistance Program (CSFAP) grants to students attending for-profit institutions. Here's the argument, in a (tiny) nutshell: "it implies that ownership is the cause of bad results. And, frankly, I am not sure this is true." And poof! The entire left of the political spectrum has disappeared in a single sentence. Here's the real problem, as I see it: private institutions are fundamentally extractive. Decisions are made on the basis of profit or some similar self-serving motivation. They provide as little as possible for the revenue they receive. Public institutions, by contrast, are fundamentally constructive. They exist to promote the social good or (if we believe Mark Carney) serve underlying social values. This is not a guarantee of better outcomes, but intentions matter.