Parti Qubcois wants to scrap tuition for CEGEP, university students

TheParti Qubcoissays it would make tuition free for CEGEPand university students if it wins a majority in the fall election.

The commitment is part of the party's electoral platform announced today in Drummondville, months ahead of the official start of the campaign at the end of August.

The PQ says it wouldn't need toincrease taxes to pay for the change, which would be introduced gradually. The goal of the policy, the platform says, is to encourage more young Quebecers to continue in higher education.

Details of the plan or how much it would cost were not announced.

The sovereigntistparty has in the past won votesby promising lower tuition rates.

In 2012, during the student protests, the PQ government under Pauline Maroiscancelled the tuition hikes planned by Liberals and, instead, promised to tie any future increase to inflation.

ThePQ also pledged toraise the minimum wage to $15 an hour during its first term, by 2022.

It also outlined new rules on secularism that would ban teachers and daycare workers from displaying religious symbols and require citizens who are receiving services to do so with their faces uncovered.

The partyis in third place in opinion polls, behind the Coalition Avenir Qubecand the governing Liberals.

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