Premier Wynne Visits Ontario Colleges

By Zander Kelly

Windsor was not on the list of colleges that Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne visited this week.

Her stops included colleges in Toronto, London, Waterloo, Guelph, North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie.

A representative from the Premier’s office said he could not explain why Wynne made the decision to not visit the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent region.

In a press release, Wynne said that she was doing this tour to answer questions from post-secondary students about tuition costs, as well as talk about making post-secondary education more affordable to students.

John Coleman, director of public relations at the University of Windsor, said he was unaware Wynne was visiting colleges across the province.

While in Sault Ste. Marie., Wynne announced Ontario will be providing funding for the new Institute for the Environment, Education and Entrepreneurship in that city.

She also announced funding for a Centre for Studies in Early Learning and Care, and a 437-square metre waterfront and tennis centre.

At Conestoga College in Kitchener, Wynne announced a $20 million applied research and development fund. The goals of this fund are to better align colleges with the needs of companies and strategic sectors, provide learning opportunities for college students and drive increased industry and post-secondary collaborations.

Wynne experienced some turbulence while speaking to aviation students during her stop at Fanshawe college. Following her hour-long presentation and question period with the first-year students, many reported that they felt that some of their questions went unanswered.

Wynne’s tour lasted from Jan. 23 to Jan. 26.