Justifying recent OSAP cuts, Doug Ford told students to stop taking “basket-weaving courses”
After significantly decreasing grant funding, the premier also acknowledged that students are “probably upset right now”
Premier Doug Ford always knows just what to say.
Speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park today, Ford addressed recent changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). The provincial government announced last week that it would implement significant cuts to the amount of grant money students receive. As of this fall, students benefitting from OSAP can receive a maximum of 25 per cent of their funding as grants, down from 85 per cent. The rest of the funds will be dispersed as loans requiring repayment.
Related: Doug Ford says only “crazy lefties” don’t like his Ontario Place ideas
According to CBC, Ford said students are “probably upset right now,” but that he’s heard of students using OSAP funds to “buy fancy watches and cologne,” instead of paying their tuition. “That doesn’t fly with the taxpayers, I’ll tell you that right now,” said Ford, justifying the cuts. He said thousands of students contacted him over the long weekend to express frustration about the jarring announcement.
And what did our leader tell a generation of bright-eyed kids who are eager to explore their passions in life?
“You’re picking basket-weaving courses, and there’s not too many baskets being sold out there,” he said, explaining that students should major in subjects leading to in-demand jobs. “You have to invest in your future.”
Surely there’s a better way for the province to budget. Hear us out: Crown Royal University.
Related: In response to police corruption arrests, Doug Ford says “there’s always a few bad apples”
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
