FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2004

LIBERALS BREAKING PROMISE TO STUDENTS

(Queen’s Park) – Laurie Scott, Progressive Conservative Party critic for Training, Colleges and Universities was disappointed to learn of the governments plan to break its promise to students to freeze tuition.

“I would have thought that this was one promise the Liberals were planning on keeping” said Laurie. “I sat in the legislature and heard the government promise a tuition freeze in the Throne speech and throughout the fall session”

Just a couple of months ago, on December 1, 2003, Dalton McGuinty said “we are freezing tuition in the province of Ontario. That's a good idea, I say to the Leader of the Opposition” (Ontario Hansard).

On September 26, 2003, during the election campaign, the Liberals put out a press release to great fanfare clarifying their position on freezing tuition fees.

Today the Canadian Federation of Students asked for clarification on the McGuinty Liberal commitment to freezing tuition fees. McGuinty Liberals will honour our commitment to immediately freeze tuition fees. Yesterday Mr. McGuinty was asked this question in Kitchener: "Will you raise or freeze university and college tuition?" His answer was clear: "I will not raise tuition. What I have committed to doing is to freezing it for at least two years."

The Liberals had pledged to continue the tuition freeze even after they had looked at the province’s books. Nothing they said during the election, or since then could have prepared students for this news.

Also disappointing is how the government plans to have the colleges and universities themselves bear the financial burden of the tuition freeze. Students and post secondary institutions have been united in their demand that the tuition freeze not come at the expense of quality of education.

“The Minister must address this issue now and not at the end of the month” Scott said. “Students deserve to know if this government is going to break yet another promise.”

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