The Ontario government should be investing more in education, not making cuts to grants and student fees, said Guelph’s member of provincial parliament during a student rally held Monday on the University of Guelph campus.
The event was one of a number of similar marches being held on college and university campuses across the province.
About 60 to 100 students and supporters attended the local rally Monday afternoon in Branion Plaza. The crowd grew and shrank over the approximately one-hour event as students crossed the plaza on their way to and from classes.
The Ontario PC-led government is underplaying cuts by simultaniously announcing a 10 per cent cut to tuition costs at the same time, said Mike Schreiner, MPP for Guelph.
“For the provincial government to put a shiny little object out there of a tuition cut, while taking almost half a billion dollars out of our education system — that is wrong,” Schreiner told the crowd. “For a provincial government to take away grants and move them to loans and make students end up graduating with more debt is wrong.”
“I talk to employers here in Guelph all of the time who tell me we need to be investing more in university and colleges, not less,” said Schreiner.
Kayla Weiler, VP external for the university’s Central Student Association (CSA) said she is personally in debt to OSAP for tens of thousands of dollars.
“My situation is not unique. Thousands of students on this campus have accummulated debt while attempting to achieve an education at the University of Guelph,” said Weiler. “This is a symptom of a broken post-secondary education system in Ontario and in Canada.”
Former Liberal Transportation Steven Del Duca, who was defeated by a PC candidate in last summer’s provincial election, spoke at today’s rally about the current government’s cuts to the grants program his government put in place which covered the full cost of tuition for low-income students.
“We know that a young man and a young woman deserve to go as far as their talent and their effort will take them, not simply as far as their bank account will take them,” Del Duca told the crowd. “That’s why we know in our heart of hearts that this decision was wrong.”
The provincial government is also planning to allow students to choose which student fees they contribute to, which may end up negatively affecting services like student newspapers, radio stations and student unions.
“Students democratically voted to create these groups and support them with fees on this campus on behalf of future students,” said Weiler.
Weakening the student unions is part of the Ontario PC government's goal, said Paul Caccamo, an executive with Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.
“They anticipte where the opposition is going to come from,” said Caccamo. “God forbid there is an organization here on campus that is prepared to ask elected officials tough questions.”
The proposed changes to how student fees are collected threaten student life, as well as education quality and accessibility, said Janice Folk-Dawson, president of CUPE 1334.
“This will lead to hundreds of layoffs from quality jobs on campuses and slash student services,” said Folk-Dawson.
