QUEEN'S PARK — Marit Stiles, Leader of Ontario's Official Opposition NDP, and Shadow Minister for Colleges and Universities Peggy Sattler (London West) are calling out Doug Ford and Minister Nolan Quinn for ducking accountability after the government quietly paused funding to private career colleges through Better Jobs Ontario, with no explanation:
"This government is terrified of facing the music," said Stiles. "They won't even do the bare minimum of explaining themselves. They're leaving thousands of people who rely on this program to build a better future and find good jobs without any certainty or support. This is not how you protect Ontario in the face of growing job losses.
"This Minister is incompetent. He knew about the bad actors for years, and still failed in his oversight responsibilities, handing countless Ontario students a lifetime debt sentence. Every time he acts, he digs the hole deeper."
"Imagine being an Ontario student," said Sattler. " While the Premier and Minister Quinn enjoyed a 21-week summer vacation, students were left in the anxiety of wondering how they'd pay for their education without OSAP. Now they're finding out that even more funding is being cut off, with no reason given.
"The Ford government continues to make life harder for people at every turn. They must reverse the OSAP changes, fund our post-secondary institutions, and take some responsibility for the mess they've made, so we can set our future generations up for the success they deserve."
"Minister Quinn's incompetence is driving Ontarians into debt and running our post-secondary institutions into the ground," added Stiles. "Doug Ford needs to stop ducking accountability, and fire this Minister so we can start to repair the damage they've done together."