Yesterday, PC Leader Tim Hudak announced that he would provide more funding for Ontario students, by diverting funds away from the Ontario Trillium Scholarship program.
The Ontario Trillium Scholarship program was created by the McGuinty government in 2010 to attract doctoral students from other countries to study in Ontario, by providing them up to $40,000/year in scholarships. The program would attract 75 of the worlds brightest students to Ontario to study, allowing Ontario universities to compete on a global scale with leading international institutions. The program would cost the Ontario government $20 million over four years, and would cost universities a further $10 million. Universities appear to be in favour of the program, as University of Toronto President David Naylor said the scholarships would “help [them] attract the very best talent from around the globe to Ontario.” He added, “That’s good for our universities and good for the future of this province.”
Hudak claims that this program is a waste, and unfair to Ontario students who are not eligible to receive this funding. He is promising to divert the money from the program to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), allowing Ontario students with a family income of less than $65,000 an extra $300 per year.
As a university student, I agree that OSAP could still use improvement, but $300/year is not likely to help me out very much. OSAP is already one of the most generous student aid program in the country, dispensing over $500 million to Ontario students each year.
So now we look at the options. A McGuinty government who has proven their commitment to education over the last 8 years and will continue to provide Ontario students with over $500 million/year while attracting 75 of the brightest international students to Ontario, or a Hudak government that promises not to cut education while providing Ontario students with an extra $300/year and squashing the Ontario Trillium Scholarship. Keep in mind that Hudak's platform has $14 billion in unfunded spending with no mention of how they are going to cover this shortfall. Perhaps its Common Sense (Revolution)? Lets ask Mike Harris.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Remembering Jack Layton
NDP supporter or not, there is no doubt that Jack Layton's contribution to the political sphere is a spectacle that should live on in the minds' of Canadians for many years to come. As MPs are enjoying their summer waiting for the House to resume in the fall, there will be a void when they return to find the seat for Toronto-Danforth without that warm charismatic smile that accompanied Jack wherever he went. He is a man who enjoyed politics despite the rigors and turmoil that can ensue on Parliament Hill and was passionate about the country and riding that he represented.
He guided the party into the last federal election, which saw the NDP gain support as Canadians looked to Jack and the NDP for change. Set to begin the fall term as official leader of the opposition, Jack's health took a toll on him and forced him to take a leave of absence shortly after the election. Being able to guide the party to new heights and being able to witness it all unfold would have been a blessing and a gift for Mr. Layton. However, knowing the fantastic position of the party and the strides it has made with him leading the way, somewhere Jack is smiling down upon this great country.
To all of his family, friends, and loved-ones, on behalf of Cole and I and the Real Canadian Politics Community, I'd like to extend our deepest condolences. We'll keep the Layton family, as well as Jack, in our thoughts and prayers.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The problem with Hudak
Hudak has a number of problems, the largest being trust. People don't trust him. In particular, women don't trust him. In a new poll, Nanos Research concluded that only 1 in 4 men trust Hudak, and even less, only 1 in 5, women trust Hudak.
Let me say this, the Hudak PCs are running a somewhat respectable campaign. By conservative standards, that means they haven't screwed up too badly yet. They have managed this mostly by keeping their candidates on a very short leash. But short of acting like a dog owner at obedience school, the PCs have offered very little to voters in the way of policy. Their platform, titled Changebook, offers no radical changes, and begs the question, "Why vote for you?" Mind you, that's not what I got out of it. What I got out of it was more along the lines of: "Why did I read that, and can I please have the last hour of my life back?"
It seems like the PCs are trying to run a very low key campaign, which is quite surprising since they already have a very low key leader. Ask around Ontario and almost everyone will know who Dalton McGuinty is. Ask those same people about Tim Hudak, and you get, "Tim who?" Now that is almost to be expected when you consider that McGuinty has been Premier for 8 years, and Ontario Liberal Leader since 1996. But still, the PCs did virtually nothing to get themselves or their leader noticed over the last few years.
Essentially, the PC party did absolutely no pre-election work. They spent a couple hours writing the rag they call a platform (or so it seems). They haven't spend any time or money getting to know Ontario voters. And despite all of this, they still expect to form government, simply because they think it's their turn. But that's not how politics work. The hard work needs to be done. They need to show voters that they are going to take charge of the situation. Voters won't go looking for them to find out why they should vote conservative, they have to find the voters and convince them. They aren't doing this.
The PCs are a party that did no hard pre-election work, have a leader that no body knows, and have a platform with virtually nothing beneficial in it. On top of that, they're now trying to sell the idea that we can't trust our long time Premier. Its like a new kid on the playground is trying to convince everyone that they shouldn't play with their old friend Dalton. No one is going to listen to the new kid, and worse, no one is going to be his friend.
Come on, Hudak. Open your eyes. Ontarians don't trust you because they don't know you, your party hasn't done the work, and you don't have enough of a platform.
Let me say this, the Hudak PCs are running a somewhat respectable campaign. By conservative standards, that means they haven't screwed up too badly yet. They have managed this mostly by keeping their candidates on a very short leash. But short of acting like a dog owner at obedience school, the PCs have offered very little to voters in the way of policy. Their platform, titled Changebook, offers no radical changes, and begs the question, "Why vote for you?" Mind you, that's not what I got out of it. What I got out of it was more along the lines of: "Why did I read that, and can I please have the last hour of my life back?"
It seems like the PCs are trying to run a very low key campaign, which is quite surprising since they already have a very low key leader. Ask around Ontario and almost everyone will know who Dalton McGuinty is. Ask those same people about Tim Hudak, and you get, "Tim who?" Now that is almost to be expected when you consider that McGuinty has been Premier for 8 years, and Ontario Liberal Leader since 1996. But still, the PCs did virtually nothing to get themselves or their leader noticed over the last few years.
Essentially, the PC party did absolutely no pre-election work. They spent a couple hours writing the rag they call a platform (or so it seems). They haven't spend any time or money getting to know Ontario voters. And despite all of this, they still expect to form government, simply because they think it's their turn. But that's not how politics work. The hard work needs to be done. They need to show voters that they are going to take charge of the situation. Voters won't go looking for them to find out why they should vote conservative, they have to find the voters and convince them. They aren't doing this.
The PCs are a party that did no hard pre-election work, have a leader that no body knows, and have a platform with virtually nothing beneficial in it. On top of that, they're now trying to sell the idea that we can't trust our long time Premier. Its like a new kid on the playground is trying to convince everyone that they shouldn't play with their old friend Dalton. No one is going to listen to the new kid, and worse, no one is going to be his friend.
Come on, Hudak. Open your eyes. Ontarians don't trust you because they don't know you, your party hasn't done the work, and you don't have enough of a platform.
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