Appeal comes after SCI struck down in Divisional Court
On December 9, the provincial government announced that it will be filing an appeal against the court ruling that struck down the controversial Student Choice Initiative (SCI). “I can confirm that we are appealing the decision,” Colleges and Universities Minister Ross Romano says in a press conference. “As we’ve indicated before, we wanted to ensure that as a government that we do everything in our power to promote affordability for students.”
The Student Choice Initiative, introduced in January 2019, aimed to provide students with the opportunity of opting out of ancillary fees and services deemed “unnecessary”. Among the “unnecessary” fees included money spent towards the operation of student unions, legal clinics, student newspapers and radio stations.
The appeal comes after the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), a student union representing 350,000 students in Ontario, took the province to court last fall, arguing that the provincial government had no authority over how student union fees were budgeted and spent. The divisional court ruled in favour of the York Federation of Students (YFS), the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS-O), and the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU), deeming the SCI unlawful and stating it was beyond the scope of the provincial government’s authority. Student unions are considered private entities, operating their finances and proceedings independently. Therefore, the court cannot exercise its spending powers as universities are outside its boundaries.
What’s next?
Following the province’s decision to appeal the ruling, by law, a leave will need to be obtained by the Court of Appeal before any action can be made.
“We are currently working with our legal team to ensure we are prepared for all possible next steps regarding this legal challenge and we will continue to keep our members updated on the progress of the appeal,” reads a statement from the CFS-O website “Despite this government’s decision to seek leave to appeal the ruling of the Divisional Court, it is important to note that the ruling remains in place and under the Divisional Court’s order, the Student Choice Initiative is unlawful.”
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