8/4/2019 CFS Ontario 2011 Green Party Report Card on PSE

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TAKE IT OVER! 2011 ONTARIO ELECTIONSREPORT CARD

GREEN PARTYMIKE SCHREINER

Te Green Party o Ontario (GPO) released their platorm during late spring 2011and was the frst party to address the cost o tuition ees by promising to reeze eesi elected. For the ull copy o their platorm, visitgpo.ca or go to take-it-over.ca

OVERALLGRADE:

THE ANALYSISAFFORDABILITY

Te promise to reeze tuition eesis a necessary step in the processo curbing the high tuition ees

ushered in by the current Liberalgovernment and previous Progressive

Conservative and New Democratic Partygovernments. Freezing tuition ees is animportant frst step and would have to beaccompanied by unding improvements,and the GPO promised to ensure thatthey would have a stable multi-yearunding ormula.

Te GPO also promised to index tuitionee increases to ination. Unortunately,tuition ee increases have outpacedinationary increases by 370 per cent.Students need assurances rom theGPO that a tuition ee reeze will not bereplaced with tuition ee increases, andindexing tuition ees to ination is ineect, a ee increase. Debates about howmuch ination actually is in the post-secondary education sector are common,and some argue that when ees are tiedto a post-secondary education ination,they should rise aster than the standardrate o ination. Students reject this andargue that a reeze should be ully undedto cover inationary increases.

Te GPO, unortunately did not commit

to making needed improvements to theOntario Student Assistance Program(OSAP). Student debt in Ontario hassurpassed $7 billion while at the sametime tuition ees have risen to becomethe highest in Canada. Students need allpolitical parties to commit to addressingballooning student debt and to reorm theOSAP system to ensure that students canaord to fnish their studies. Te GPO didcommit to work with students to lobby theederal government to transer educationtax credits to a system o upront grants.

Te GPO promised to stop a policy o eedierentiation based on year and kind oprogram. Te current Liberal governmentallowed tuition ees to rise at dierentrates based on a students program and

year. Tis has conusing and unair eectson what amount students pay, and hasenabled frst year ees in proessionaland graduate programs to rise by eightper cent. Te GPO has promised to stopthis practice, i elected. Because the GPOcommitted to reeze tuition ees, with the

promise to index ees to ination, studentsare giving them a C or aordability.

GRADE

C

Frze tuitinfr the 2012-13scol ear whilemaintaininguniversity and eebudets; index tuitininreases t the ratef inatin m2013-15.

Expand trainingand ertiatin

prrams in jbrwth areas sucas rn buildins,bimedial tecnlyrenewable eneryand suainable

tranrtatin.

CANADIAN

FEDERATION OF

STUDENTS-ONTARIOTAKE-IT-OVER.CANOTE Each o the report cards have been created with the most up-to-datecontent at the time o printing. I there are additional announcements that aectstudents throughout the campaign period, the report card may change accordingly.Visit take-it-over.ca or updates throughout the election campaign period.

B-

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Inrease invements in arentiei, -perative and mentri prrams.

Ensure ean air, water and fod by reduingputin, imprving water quality and sewaetreatment, and by paing lanwners fr

prduing healthy envirnmental ods andservies.

Imprve hih-d Internet ae fr a areasf Ontari.

CANADIAN

FEDERATION OF

STUDENTS-ONTARIO

TAKE-IT-OVER.CA

FUNDING & QUALITY

Te GPO response to theFederation demonstrated that theysupport increasing unding to the

post-secondary education sectorto improve quality. For studentsand proessors, improving quality isan absolute necessity and would meanstarting to reduce the size o classes thatstudents take. Te GPO also promisesto provide tax incentives to encouragebusinesses to create and und programsthat expand apprenticeship, co-op andmentorship opportunities. Promising tound quality has earned the GPO a Brom students.

RESEARCH

Te GPO promises to re-instate reduced tuition ees orstudents who have fnishedtheir coursework and are writing

their Masters or Doctoral theses.Reduced ees exist across the countryand, in Ontario, were slowly eliminatedthroughout the 1990s and 2000s.

Te GPO also promises to create whistleblower protection legislation.However, they did not commit toincreasing the number o availableOntario Graduate Scholarships or other

granting programs. Because o this theGPO has earned a A-.

TAKE IT OVER!2011 ONTARIO ELECTIONS REPORT CARD

GREENPARTY

MIKE SCHREINER

OVERALLGRADE

GRADE

A-

B-

STUDENT RIGHTS

& PROTECTION

Te GPO made many promises to enhance student rights andprotection. First, they promised to create a strategy to make

public transit more accessible to college and university students.Tey committed to creating a Bill o Rights or students livingin residence, supporting electoral reorm and extending the purviewo the Ombudsman into the university sector. Because they do notcommit to extending OHIP to international students or investingin child care on campus, they receive a B or student rights andprotection.