Jeson Khan
Contributor
As politicians await our choice in the ballots October 6, most of us are wondering who would make the best candidate for students. We have the Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty, Conservative leader Tim Hudak and New Democrat leader Andrea Horwath to choose from. What do they have to offer us?
McGuinty’s biggest proposal is a student grant of up to $1,600. The money sounds good, and considering tuition prices will end up increasing in the future, the grants would mean more money back.
On the other hand, Hudak’s proposal is to open up OSAP funding towards middle-class families, and open 60,000 new spaces in Ontario colleges and universities. He scolds the Liberal platform because “[unlike] them we are giving students a chance to be in the middle class, have the opportunity to raise a family, have a decent job,” says Hudak.
Horwath’s promise is astounding: if elected, she would bring a four-year tuition freeze. The question of how they plan on doing that, at a cost of $950 million, is something to wonder about.
What does the NDP’s promised four-year tuition freeze mean in terms of job prospects? What happens to tuition after the freeze? It doesn’t exactly make me feel warm inside especially knowing that Horwath hasn’t talked much about what’s to come after the freeze, or explained to voters how exactly her plan will work.
Though Hudak’s promises sound more enticing, especially to middle-class voters, they look doubtful. We don’t need to increase spaces in schools, but foster more jobs—recent statistics have shown that the unemployment rate for Canadian students is 17 per cent.
It’s the Liberals for me. Regardless of what anyone does, tuition will continue to rise, and the grants that are being introduced would stay even after the four-year term.
With that, the Liberals seem like a golden opportunity for students.
