The 'Badly' Gambit: Ford’s Empathy is a Mask for Budgetary Recklessness
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Opinion: Premier Doug Ford claims to feel 'terrible' for students caught in the OSAP freeze, but the government's failure to monitor skyrocketing costs suggests student futures are merely acceptable collateral in a fiscal gamble.
Let’s be clear: this is my opinion. In the world of political theater, there is no performance more convenient than the 'sympathetic leader.' This week, as the Ontario legislature returned from a 147-day hiatus, Premier Doug Ford told the house he feels "terrible" and "badly" for the "honest students" trapped by the province's decision to freeze Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) payments to private career colleges, as first reported by CBC Toronto.
It is a touching sentiment, but in my view, it is a calculated mask. As CBC Toronto reports, the pause was triggered after a KPMG audit revealed "significant concerns." While Ford blames "bad apples," NDP critic Peggy Sattler noted that the government spent over three years funneling hundreds of millions in OSAP grants to a handful of private colleges with a total lack of oversight.
The contradiction is staggering. In February, Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn cut OSAP grants for public institutions, claiming the program was "unsustainable." Yet, data from The Canadian Press shows that while public usage remained flat, private career college usage was "skyrocketing."
Now, Minister Quinn claims the pause is a "necessary step" to protect taxpayer dollars, citing a "tips-based system" that investigated over 3,200 complaints since 2020. But a government should not need a "tip" to notice its own data showing unsustainable spending spikes. By freezing payments to all private institutions rather than targeting specific offenders, the Ford government is penalizing every student for its own failure.
Interim Liberal leader John Fraser described the situation as a result of "total incompetence or complicity," noting that students are being penalized because the administration "screwed up royally."
Ford’s insistence that he feels "badly" is a rhetorical shield. Empathy is free; accountability is expensive. Until the Premier admits his own ministry provided the orchard for these "bad apples," his sympathy is nothing more than a mask for a budgetary disaster.