President of Sault College responds to 'personal attacks' by Conestoga College president

The president of Sault College inSault Ste. Marie says he's "shocked" that anotherpublic college president would lash outwith personal attacks on the issue of the international student cap.

David Oraziettiwas reacting to Conestoga College president John Tibbits's comments made Tuesday at an event, where Tibbitscriticized Sault College and was heard using a derogatory term to describe Orazietti when it came to the issue of international students, according to a report from CambridgeToday.

"I'm shocked that a public college president, with whom I've never had a conversation with, would resort to lashing out with personal attacks and franklymisinformation," Oraziettitold CBC News.

"I'm not going to engage in this type of behaviour."

Orazietti said hisschool has seen modest growth in recent years. The school currently has 1,000 international students and 1,400 domestic students at itsSault Ste. Marie campus. The school's Toronto campus, which is in partnership with Trios College, has2,800students.

"It represents 4.5 per cent of the international students in the public and private partnership andwell below the 7,500 cap the province has in place," he said.

Tibbitscomments at the event were made in response to Orazietti's comments he made earlier on a podcastcalled Inside the Villageabout the large number of international studentsConestoga admits every year.

"My comments were related more to the situation at Conestoga.I think it's a shared belief that any college bringing over 30,000 international students in such a short period of time, it would be unreasonablethat there be adequate housing and jobs in the community," Orazietti said.

Tibbits told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo'sThe Morning EditionWednesday he regretsusing the term, but did not regret his criticism, addingthecollege has expanded its student residences across the eight communities it serves.

"In the last two years we've added seven residences and our students don't all live here, they live all over Ontario," he said, adding the college plans to announce additional student housing projects next week.

Investigation by Ontario Auditor General needed,president says

Orazietti saidthere should be an independent investigation by the Ontario Auditor General into the operations at Conestoga College, but would not say if he would call for the investigation.

He reiterated that it isunacceptablefor a public college president to make personal attacks and thatthe federal government's cap on the number of international students coming into the country were in part to address "circumstances exactly like what is happening at Conestoga."

"It's well known in the sector that Conestoga College is a bad actor," he said.