Student debt and class privilege: An open letter to Margaret Wente

Dear Margaret Wente, 

In a recent column in The Globe and Mail, you argued that the affordability crisis in post-secondary education, in which Canadian students pay high tuition fees and thus take on significant debt, is a "myth." In a nutshell, your argument is that, because half of all students graduate without any debt whatsoever, the debt crisis is not real.

You make this argument by citing the misleading perspective of Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates: "In net terms, Canadians pay zero tuition," Mr. Usher says. "We've got free university and we don't even know it." So much for the affordability crisis.