Toronto, ON – Students across Ontario are welcoming the provincial government back to the Legislature today with a Week of Action to demand the immediate reversal of Ford’s disastrous plan for post-secondary education.
The Week of Action will include the launch of the “We The Students” campaign. This campaign calls on the provincial government to:
- provide more grants not loans;
- eliminate tuition fees for all students;
- increase public funding for public education;
- protect students’ independent voices; and,
- defend the right to organize.
“The PC government has done everything possible to mislead the people of Ontario about their deceptive strategy to destroy students’ unions and slash OSAP funding,” said Nour Alideeb, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. “This Week of Action is going to be a wake-up call for Doug Ford. Students and their families are angry at this government’s ideological attack on our campuses. We the students demand better and we aren’t going anywhere.”
The “We The Students” campaign is organized by Ontario’s largest student organization, the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, with the support of the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union (OPSEU), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), the United Steel Workers (USW) and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).
“Students’ associations provide essential supports that help students succeed in and out of the classroom. The Student Choice Initiative will lead to fewer services on campus and a diminishing of the student experience,” said RM Kennedy, Chair, OPSEU College Faculty Division.
“OCUFA stands in solidarity with students in demanding the government to reverse its reckless changes that undermine post-secondary education. Faculty across Ontario strongly oppose the government’s attack on student rights and representation on our campuses,” said Rahul Sapra, Vice President of OCUFA. “A cut in tuition fees without an increase in core funding for universities and colleges will shrink their already stretched budgets, increase class sizes and threaten both accessibility to and quality of post-secondary education in Ontario.”
“An attack on students and students’ unions is an attack on all of us. As elementary educators we stand shoulder to shoulder with students at every level of public education, to defend their right to organize and access high-quality public education,” said Sam Hammond Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. “No student should have to pay for government cuts. Ontario students deserve better.”
For more information regarding the events of the Week of Action see the Facebook event page at: “We The Students: Week of Action”
The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario is the largest student organization in Ontario, representing over 350,000 college and university students across the province.
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For more information contact:
Ian McRae, Government Relations and Policy Coordinator: 416-925-3825 or 306-852-0128
Nour Alideeb, Chairperson: 416-925-3825