Monday, February 4 marked the second Province–Wide March for Students Rights, held in opposition of the Progressive Conservative government’s decision to eliminate free tuition for low-income students. Organized by Students for Ontario, the march featured chanted messages like: “Doug Ford doesn’t get it.”
It has been over two weeks since the Ford government announced its plan to decrease OSAP funding, reversing the reforms previously put forth by the Wynne government which had allowed low-income students to attend university or college for free and provided OSAP funding to Ontario students with a household income below 175,000 dollars.
The Ford government has announced plans to reduce tuition fees by ten percent, which is supposed to compensate for the reduction in OSAP funding. This plan, however, could result in revenue losses of up to 360 million dollars for universities and 80 million dollars for colleges.
Despite attracting a significantly smaller crowd than the march held in Toronto on January 25, this march allowed students to voice their concerns for the new plan. They argued it would further disadvantage already marginalized groups while simultaneously reducing the income of universities and colleges.
Hoisting signs and chanting, students gathered in Queen’s Park to listen to speakers including Jacob Landau, director at March for Education, as well as Nour Alideeb, the chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, Ontario. Chanting: “education is a right; we will not give up the fight!” Alideeb called on her fellow students to show the government that “we, the students, will not back down.”
Liberal MPP Marie-France Lalonde, who attended Monday’s march in support of students, told The Strand that the OSAP cuts reflect the government’s sentiment toward marginalized groups. “Are we saying that single parents who cannot consider college or university are not the people of Ontario? Are we saying that Indigenous peoples, who are part of our land, who we should be more and more respectful [toward], are not the people of Ontario? Are we saying that young minds who may come from disadvantaged and vulnerable environments are not the people of Ontario?”
MPP Lalonde, who has been a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 2014, stated that the Liberal OSAP reform put forth by the Wynne government was put in place to “give [students] a greater [ability] to have less of a burden of debt after [they] study,” and that it’s the responsibility of the government to give students the “tools [they need] to succeed.”
Affordable access to post-secondary education being the government’s responsibility is a main factor in the protest against these OSAP changes. Critics argue that these cuts are reflective of the government’s overall perception of post-secondary education as a privilege rather than a right, a perception that is deeply problematic given the importance placed on post-secondary degrees in the current job market.
The Ford government has been criticized for its stance on education before, namely its pledge to change the sex education reform put forth by the Wynne government, as well as its most recent bid to end full-day kindergarten. Students fear that these OSAP cuts are part of an ongoing attack on education.
It is unclear what effect Monday’s march will have on the government’s actions, but the sentiment of the students who gathered there remains clear: “the students will not back down.”
Comments are closed.