Hudak to help students: Can we trust him?

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.

Ignatieff appoints new House leader

We're back everyone! We have been extremely busy these last few days but we are back for good now!


In political news today, a rather exciting day considering we are still in the summer session. The Liberal Party has released a statement announcing Ralph Goodale's replacement. David McGuinty, brother of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, will take the position this fall when Ralph Goodale is promoted to Deputy Leader of the party.


This may sound like pretty standard news, unless you recall that the Conservatives have chosen John Baird to replace Jay Hill as their House leader. John Baird is a seemingly hard enough man to get along with, and now we have McGuinty who already has a history with Baird.


Both men are from Ottawa, and McGuinty served as Environment critic when Baird held the Environment portfolio. McGuinty's Premier brother also had several conflicts with Baird when he still served in former Ontario Premier Mike Harris' cabinet.


Also, at the municipal level, McGuinty backed former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli, who was defeated by incumbent Larry O'Brien, who had Conservative support. Chiarelli is now a member of Dalton McGuinty's provincial cabinet, after winning a provincial by-election. The two also had opposing viewpoints over a proposed light rail link in Ottawa.


With these changes in the Liberal party comes MP Justin Trudeau's promotion to Citizenship and Immigration critic! 


These changes will undoubtedly create even more tension in the House, as we hurtle dangerously close to an election.