Buck-a-beer approach won’t fix post-secondary problems

January 16, 2019

TORONTO — Green Party of Ontario leader, Mike Schreiner, released the following statement in response to news of a 10% tuition fee decrease:

“I want to be optimistic that lower tuition fees will support students, but the jury is still out. Until the government announces all of its changes, we won’t know if this is yet another instance of Ford offering a shiny penny to distract from deeper cuts.

I will oppose any effort by the Ford government to use a 10% drop in tuition fees as an excuse for cuts to student aid or post-secondary budgets.

The question remains, what revenue will fund this lower tuition? Will there be cuts to OSAP or other programs? Or will colleges and universities be expected to make up the shortfall?

Ontario colleges and universities already have the lowest per capita government funding in the country. Further cuts will compromise quality. If Premier Ford is going to slash revenue streams, he must compensate colleges and universities, especially smaller and more rural institutions that are particularly strained.

A buck-a-beer approach won’t fix post-secondary problems.

Ontario must make high-quality, post-secondary education more accessible and affordable for all Ontarians, especially those from families with modest and middle incomes.

This requires real investments in students, colleges and universities, not slogans that actually take money out of the system.”

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