Election: Go back to school, Orazietti tells NDP

NEWS RELEASE

DAVID ORAZIETTI LIBERAL CANDIDATE SAULT STE. MARIE

************************* NDP need to go back to school to get their facts straight

Orazietti and the Ontario Liberals are delivering for post secondary students

SAULT STE. MARIE - Local Candidate David Orazietti has set the record straight on misleading and false claims made recently by the NDP in regards to the progress made in Ontario's post secondary education system under the Ontario Liberals.

"The Liberal government has assisted youth in achieving their full potential by improving the quality of our province's post-secondary institutions and making them more accessible," said Orazietti. "By reintroducing student grants that the NDP cancelled, freezing tuition for two years and investing $3 in new funding for every $1 we ask Ontario families to pay, we have delivered what the NDP didn't - a brighter future for youth in Sault Ste. Marie and across the province."

The Liberal government's $6.2 bill ion Reaching Higher plan has created an additional 86,000 new spaces in our province's universities and colleges.

The NDP's recent release contained misleading information and inaccuracies.

Reality Check: Post-secondary education in Ontario

- The Ontario Liberals have made post-secondary education more accessible for Ontario Students.

- The Liberals have reintroduced direct grants for students - 120,000 students are now receiving grants - that's one in every four students.

- In fact, it was the NDP that cancelled direct grants and the Conservatives refused to bring them back.

- The NDP claim that tuition hikes have gone up 36 percent - That's misleading.

- The Ontario Liberal government was the first in the province to freeze tuition for two years and tuition has increased an average of 10 percent over the last four years while investing $3 in new government funding for every $1 we ask from Ontario families to improve the quality of education.

- In fact, the NDP raised tuition fees by 50% while they were in power and the Conservatives raised tuition fees by 64 percent while they were in power and privatized some university programs.

- In addition, an Ontario Liberal government will introduce a $300 per year textbook and equipment grant for all students in Ontario colleges and universities.

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