Orazietti says that's not what he meant to imply

SooToday.com has received the following letter to the editor from Sault Ste. Marie MPP David Orazietti.

In it he appears to respond to criticisms in a letter from reader and postsecondary student Derek Miller posted January 6 under the headline, "Mr. Orazietti: Do the honourable thing and tell the truth. Thanks, Derek."

The letter is followed by 43 reader comments.

Miller wrote to us after SooToday.com posted an abridged news release issued by Orazietti under a headline reading, "Postsecondary education just got more affordable."

The release is followed by two reader comments.

The opening paragraphs of Orazietti's release can clearly be seen to suggest that tuition grants will benefit all local postsecondary students and their families.

Such is not the case.

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In a recent news release announcing the province's landmark tuition reduction of thirty percent for full-time university and college students the phrase "across the board" was used.
 
The phrase was meant to describe the fact that the tuition reduction applies to both full-time undergraduate university students and full-time certificate and diploma college students for a maximum of four years immediately following high school, whether or not the student is receiving OSAP.

This language was not meant to imply that the grant would apply to every individual postsecondary student.
 
During the election campaign the details of our tuition commitment were outlined.

The new grant reducing tuition by thirty percent for eligible full-time university and college students represents a prompt fulfillment of our election promise and is one of the largest increases to Ontario student aid in generations.
 
The province's new tuition grant includes the requirement that a student be within four years of having completed high school because this demographic was identified as an area of particular need.

More specifically, students who have been out of high school for less than four years have parental income included in their OSAP calculations and are eligible for less student aid.

For students who have been out of high school for more than four years, student aid is no longer calculated on parental income, but is based on an individual’s own earnings.

Mature students also share in the benefit of having their student debt capped at $7,300 per year.
 
Since 2003, our government has been committed to making postsecondary education more affordable and more accessible for Ontarians.

Following a two-year tuition freeze we capped future tuition increases.

Additionally, we restored OSAP grants to students, created 200,000 new postsecondary spaces, made significant new infrastructure investments, increased funding to colleges and universities by more than $2 billion and invested more than $1.5 billion in student grants and loans.
 
We are now investing further with a new tuition grant that will benefit more than 300,000 Ontario students and their families.
 
While there is always more that can be done, we need to be mindful of balancing the fiscal challenges we face with the need to invest in our future.
 
Sincerely,
 
- David Orazietti, MPP

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