GOVERNMENT FAILS, STUDENTS PAY - New Democrats demand federal action to stop climbing tuition fees

OTTAWA – While youth unemployment rates are hitting record levels, students are being slapped with higher tuition fees, said New Democrat Post-Secondary Education Critic Niki Ashton (Churchill).

“The Harper Conservatives are failing to help young Canadians through this recession,” said New Democrat Post-Secondary Education Critic Niki Ashton (Churchill). “We need to get people back to work and make sure that we are ready for the knowledge economy. We need to make post-secondary education more accessible, not less.”

Successive Liberal and Conservative governments have allowed the cost of university and college to rise out of reach of many Canadians.

According to the 2009 Statistics Canada report on university tuition fees released this morning average tuition fees for undergraduate students rose this year by 3.6 per cent despite the Consumer Price Index (CPI) dropping 0.8 per cent. Graduate students fared worse, facing an increase of close to 5 per cent. Tuition fees in Ontario were the highest in the country, close to double those paid by Québec students.

“The striking discrepancy in tuition fee rates across provinces reveals the clear need for federal leadership. That is why I will be proposing the Post-Secondary Education Act. Similar to the Canada Health Act, it will guarantee that every federal dollar spent on PSE goes towards building an accessible high-quality post-secondary education system across the country,” said Ashton.

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For more information, please contact:
George Soule, Caucus press secretary, 613-850-3448 or souleg@parl.gc.ca