QUEEN'S PARK - NDP
Post-Secondary Education Critic Rosario Marchese today announced
he will introduce a private member's bill this fall that, if passed,
would ban tuition fee hikes through 2007.
"No Ontario student
should be denied a college or university education
because they cannot afford
it," Marchese said.
"The cost of
post-secondary education is already too high. Ontario
should ban tuition fee hikes
through the 2007 election, then let the people
have their say,"
Marchese said.
The Trinity-Spadina MPP
encouraged the McGuinty government to keep its
promise to keep tuition
affordable and pass his "Ban Tuition Hikes"
bill.
"Dalton McGuinty
promised to fight high tuition fees. He should keep his
promise to students and pass
my bill. Otherwise, it will be clear he
never meant what he said and
never intended to keep his promise," Marchese
said.
During the election, McGuinty
campaigned against sky-high tuition rates,
"The Harris-Eves
government raised tuition a staggering 45 percent for
basic undergraduate programs
and allowed tuition to skyrocket in
programs such as medicine,
law and engineering. We will not let this continue,"
he said. Now, however, the
McGuinty government is indicating that rates
will continue to rise after
the freeze is lifted next year.
A new study released today by
the Ontario Confederation of University
Faculty Associations says
forcing students to pay more to go to
university in Ontario would
put higher education out of reach for many of them,
especially those from
middle-income families.
"To build a strong
Ontario, we need to keep tuition affordable so more
students can get a college or
university education. Raising tuition will
drive students out, cheat
them of opportunities and weaken our
province," Marchese
said. "That's why we need to ban tuition hikes through 2007."
