Canadian Federation of Students Blasts Ontario Budget

The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is giving Dalton McGuinty’s provincial government a failing grade after the announcement of the Ontario Budget.

The CFS’ major complaint is that Ontario’s students are still not seeing satisfactory relief from record-high tuition fees.

“Students in Ontario face the highest tuition fees in the country and will find no relief when they go back to school this fall,” said Sarah Jayne King, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario.

“For every new $1.00 allocated to financial assistance, this budget will claw back $1.20 from students in 2012-13 by increasing tuition fees and cutting nine grant, scholarship and bursary programs.”

Since the 2011 provincial election, the CFS have been very vocally calling on the government to follow through on a promise for a 30 per cent tuition fee reduction. They have been even more vocal following the provincial government unveiling a “complicated Ontario Tuition Grant that close to 80 per cent of students in Ontario have not received.”

“Under the McGuinty government, tuition fees have increased as much as 71 per cent,” said King.

“Students are tired of the government playing political games instead of making college and university education more affordable for students.”