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4- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 19, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER I'LL STICK TO POLITICS: Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton laughs as he shows Jim Moffat, of the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers Training Centre in Oakville, the piece of metal he cut out in shop class. Hampton promises to keep McGuinty's broken promise Continued from page 1 JEWELLERY AUCTION GOVERNMENT CERTIFIED N.W.T. CANADIAN DIAMONDS AND OTHER IMPPORTED DIAMOND JEWELLERY CUSTOMS CLEARED - IMPORTATION DUTIES PAID SEIZED - UNPAID - DEFAULTED AND MANY OTHER HIGH END GOLD AND DIAMOND JEWELLERY INCLUDING RINGS, EARRINGS, BRACELETS, NECKLACES BANGLES, ETC. EMERALDS, SAPPHIRES, RUBIES, PEARLS, TANZANITES, CITRIN, AMETHYST, ETC. 1.03ct. VVS-1, D Colour, Excellent cut diamond Engagement Ring. Estimated bidding: $3000 - $5000 ROLEX - CARTIER - PIAGET OMEGA - BREITLING Sunday September 23rd, 2007 Auction at 2:00 p.m. - Viewing from 1:00 p.m. Holiday Inn Bronte 2525 Wyecroft Road (Q.E.W. & Bronte) Proper photo I.D. required upon registration. All sales final. Terms: Visa, M.C., Interac, Cash, Certified Cheque. 15% buyers premium added. Some reserves will apply. Sale subject to additions, deletions, errors & omissions. Heritage International www.heritageinternational.ca key commitment, removing the barriers to training and university and college education," said Hampton. "This commitment will have a direct impact on the men and women who train here. The skills of highly trained apprenticeships are vital to our economy. These skills are a cornerstone of a vibrant, growing economy that provides good jobs for hard working families." Hampton went on to point out that parts of this NDP pledge to tear down the barriers to these institutions would not be necessary at all if Premier Dalton McGuinty had kept his word. "Before he took office, Dalton McGuinty promised that he would reduce apprenticeship training fees. He said apprenticeship training fees were a disincentive to people who wanted to become apprentices and build their skills. He promised to eliminate in-class fees for apprenticeships," said Hampton. These in-class fees can form a real financial roadblock to gaining an apprenticeship, Hampton said, as the average fee is $400 per session. Alone it may not seem like much, but with most apprentices taking five in-class sessions, the total amount they pay can reach higher than $2,000. Four years after McGuinty's promise, students are still struggling to pay these fees, Hampton said. "This is a promise that has been broken. We can add it to the ever growing list of broken promises from Mr. McGuinty, but it is such an important broken promise that it has to be addressed," he continued. "Under our Fair Deal for Students the NDP would eliminate the in-class fees for apprenticeships. For many of the people here this would mean a $2,000 reduction in the cost of getting training and getting an education. That will have a big impact in Ontario as there are about 90,000 apprentices enrolled in training courses now and we will have to enroll more people in apprentice training in the future, if we are going to have the workforce to meet the demands." The cash-strapped payers of college and university tuitions could also expect some relief under a Hampton provincial government, which is currently pledging to freeze tuition rates at `pre-McGuinty levels.' This act is expected to reduce the average undergraduate university student's annual tuition by about $460. Again, Hampton says this is not a policy the NDP would have to pass had McGuinty honoured his promise to freeze tuition fees instead of raising them. "Ontario tuition fees are now well above the national average and are going to get a lot higher. Some working parents just can't afford to sent their kids to college or university," said Hampton. "Ontario students are graduating with the highest average post secondary debt in the country, a staggering $23,000. That's no way to start out in life. Students should not have to be faced with the decision of pursuing or abandoning their studies because of their limited ability to pay." Hampton's presentation went over well with the apprentices present, who liked the idea of the $400 in-class fee going the way of the dodo. "I think it's decent. More money in our pockets as apprentices. It's a good plan, better than McGuinty's I'd say," said Tyler Rogers, a third year apprentice in sheet metal. "It will benefit all apprentices." Aaron Bloom, a second year apprentice in sheet metal also sees great merit in the NDP platform. "It's very important to us because a lot of us apprentices, with the wage increase, are being sent to school fairly early on in our apprenticeship, so having this $400 waived is a definite advantage for us," he said. "A lot of us do come from low income families and we don't have the background to be able to just throw out $1,200." For Hampton, dealing with issues like school tuition and apprenticeship fees are the real educational issues facing the province in this election. "I think Mr. McGuinty doesn't want to talk about the real issues in education. He doesn't want to talk about the fact that people can't go on to get an apprenticeship, they can't go on to get a college or university education because there are too many fees and the fees are too high. He doesn't want to talk about the under funding of our neighbourhood schools. He doesn't want to talk about the fact that many schools don't have English as a second language, don't have adequate special education and are cutting education assistants," said Hampton. "I think what Mr. McGuinty wants to do is play on people's fears. It's something he's become very adept at."