'Talk about a whore': War of words erupts between Orazietti, fellow college prez

So much for being collegial.

A war of words has broken out between the presidents of two Ontario colleges — including Sault College boss David Orazietti — with both leaders pointing the finger at each other over the issue of international student enrolment.

During a public event yesterday, Conestoga College president John Tibbits went so far as to call Orazietti a “whore” who needs to learn to “shut his mouth.”

“I can’t stand the guy, by the way,” Tibbits told our sister site, CambridgeToday.

Tibbits was responding to comments Orazietti made last week during an appearance on Village Media’s Inside the Village podcast. The episode explored the federal government’s recently announced cap on the number of international students coming to Canada, a move aimed at cracking down on the so-called “bad actors” in the post-secondary sector that take advantage of international students.

“We in the sector know who the bad actors are,” Orazietti said on the podcast.

The Sault College president — and former Ontario cabinet minister — went on to specifically name Conestoga College, located in Kitchener. He said over the past few years, the number of international students at that school has grown by “32,000 easy.” 

“In the last year, 20,000-plus students?” Orazietti said. “How do you take 20,000 students into your community and have housing for them and services and everything that they need without creating chaos? You can take a look at any sort of online discussion sites, where in that community people are really, really upset.”

Orazietti was asked if Conestoga’s conduct has tarnished other colleges in Ontario.

“This is a matter of public record,” he replied. “All of my colleagues know who has been causing problems in the sector, and to hear comments from Conestoga like ‘the problem has been the private sector’ is really kind of laughable. It’s been really irresponsible.”

When asked about those comments yesterday, Tibbits pointed to Sault College’s partnership with triOS, a private college in the Greater Toronto area. Under that partnership, approximately 2,800 Sault College students are enrolled at two triOS campuses.

“Like Orazietti, why are his goddamn students in Toronto? Why not up there?” Tibbits said, referring to the Sault. “Talk about a whore, I mean, he's taking a percentage of the profits of an operation.”

At the event, Tibbits and University of Waterloo economist Larry Smith both defended the school against allegations of being a bad actor amid the international student crisis. They took aim at colleges in Northern Ontario that are outsourcing their programs to places like Toronto and handing out diplomas like "puppy mills."

"You should ask Orazietti what he's doing up in Toronto. Ask him how many beds he built in Toronto? How many beds have they got in Toronto? Zero," said Tibbits. 

"This guy has been on the job eight bloody months up there and he's offering project management in a couple of programs like that in Toronto and he's offering no services."

The back-and-forth didn’t end there. Tonight, Orazietti issued a written response to SooToday through a Sault College spokesperson.

“I am shocked that a public college president, with whom I have never had a conversation, would resort to lashing out with personal attacks and blatant misinformation,” he said. “I will not engage in this type of behaviour.”

“What I will speak to is the facts,” he continued. “We stand behind our partnership and the high-quality education, supports and services offered by our partner. Sault College is in full compliance with all Ministry Binding Policy Directives related to our public-private partnership.”

Orazietti also refused to back down on his criticism of Conestoga’s international enrolment numbers: “It is a shared belief that for any college to bring in over 30,000 international students in a short period of time and expect enough housing and jobs in their community is irresponsible.”

Orazietti’s statements included the following details under the heading: “Here are the facts.”

• International student enrolment at Sault College’s partnership campus over the last five years has grown to just over 2800 well below the maximum allowable of 7500 set by the province and represents a mere 4.5% of all public-private partnership enrolment.

• Our programing is labour market aligned and includes programs such as Health Care Leadership, Early Childhood Education, Cybersecurity and Computer Programming.

• Every program is held to the same academic and high-quality standards as those offered in Sault Ste. Marie.

• Students are provided with comparable comprehensive wrap-around and core services, including academic support and tutoring, disability support services, health insurance, mental health counselling services, access to fitness facilities, pre-departure orientation, orientation on arrival, airport transportation, housing support services and dedicated property listings for Sault College students, qualified immigration consulting, legal support services, extensive career services support, regular student events and convocation ceremonies.

You can listen to the full podcast episode HERE. CambridgeToday's coverage of yesterday's Conestoga event can be found HERE.

— With files from Joe McGinty, CambridgeToday