Revisionist history on Liberal higher education

March 29, 2011

Ignatieff’s American-style, ‘high-grant, high-tuition’ post-secondary education announcement today is just the latest in a long-line of Liberal post-secondary education plans that will never match their rhetoric. When it comes to the issues, Michael Ignatieff just can’t be trusted.
A quick walk down memory lane:
Liberal record:

• From 1994 to 1999, the Liberals cut the annual Canadian Health and Social Transfer (CHST) by $25 billion.
• Of the Liberal cut, $4-billion was slashed from education transfers, meaning tuition fees skyrocketed and College and University was less accessible for students.
• 13 years of Liberal government meant a doubling of tuition fees in most provinces – fees rising at four times the rate of inflation. (Statscan: http://ow.ly/4oAcu)
• The only debt relief offered up by the Liberals in government was to forgive the loan if the student died (Budget 2005).

Liberal post-secondary education record, during times of surplus:

• When it came time to re-invest government surpluses, Liberals chose corporate tax giveaways over reinvestment in education and training.
• The last time the Liberals increased funding to Post Secondary Education was when Jack Layton forced them to, when he rewrote the 2005 budget.
• The 2005 NDP budget included $1.5-billion increase in transfers to provinces, including tuition reduction.

For the last two decades, student fees have increased above and beyond the rate of inflation. Despite Liberal sloganeering, history shows how Liberals have made University and College more expensive and less accessible at every single turn.

Abbotsford NDP Candidate David Murray with Ed Broadbent at Halifax convention 2009

email : davidmurrayabbotsfordndp@gmail.com

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