McGuinty Government Stonewalls on Prohibited Ancillary Fees
McGuinty Government Stonewalls on Prohibited Ancillary Fees

TORONTO--During question period in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario this afternoon, the McGuinty government dodged opposition questions about the $50 million per year that Ontario's public colleges continue to unfairly charge students in violation of the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities' 'Binding Policy Directive'. Ancillary fees have been prohibited for information technology, libraries, laboratories, and other tuition-related purposes for over a decade but the McGuinty government has nonetheless allowed them to be collected since taking office in 2003.

Last Friday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the class action lawsuit to stop the collection of prohibited fees launched by two former college students against the province's 24 community colleges is a matter for the government, not the courts. However, today, Minister John Milloy dodged questions from Rosario Marchese, the NDP critic for post-secondary education, claiming that he could not comment until the 30-day appeal period on the case has expired.

"The government wasn't a named party in the class action lawsuit so McGuinty has never had an excuse to avoid this issue," said Jen Hassum, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students−Ontario.

"Now the court has said that students' only protection is the government, but Premier McGuinty is still refusing to take any responsibility or action."

With the court ruling last week, the Canadian Federation of Students−Ontario has renewed its call to the McGuinty government to enforce its rules against double-dipping ancillary fees and to invest $50 million annually in Ontario's colleges to replace revenue from prohibited ancillary fees.

"With a planned surplus of $600 million for 2008, McGuinty clearly has the resources to fund the public colleges adequately and make the college presidents follow the rules," said Hassum. "The colleges are charging whatever they think they can get away with, and I think that it is about time that the Premier steps in to protect students."

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