By Valerie Dittrich
The New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh visited Ryerson campus on Tuesday to speak with students and commented on their platform of ending interest on all federal student loans.
“We need to make [it] easier [to] access grants,” Singh said to The Eyeopener. “What we want to do is move away from loans but move to grants. Our ultimate goal is no barriers for going to college or university and that means free tuition.”
He cited Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement last year that the Liberal government would be forgiving over 6 billion dollars in corporate loans and that he has “gone after students for the past four years” and “profited $3 billion dollars off the backs of students who are in debt.”
“You’re going to go after students but are not going to go after offshore tax havens and your own cabinet ministers are using offshore tax havens—that to me is totally wrong.”
Singh also commented on the construction and funding of Ryerson’s cybersecurity catalyst in Brampton, which was included in the federal budget.
“We know that wherever we can invest in infrastructure, there’s a massive return. And one of the best infrastructures is investing in education,” he said. “I really support the initiative to build the university in Brampton, expanding Ryerson to other locations is great because it gives people more access to a higher institution of learning.”
“Whatever I can do at the federal level to make that happen, I want to be a partner.”
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