Provincial Tories left students in the dark
President of CUPE Ontario Fred Hahn stands before a group of shouting, angry students and labour organizers just meters away from the steps of Queen’s Park. The rally has been vocal for over an hour and gets louder as he leads chants of opposition. Speaking to him after he chants he is short of breath, frustrated, but hopeful after the day’s events.
“Like so many things, both from Liberal and Tory governments, we see this over and over. It’s this doublespeak,” Hahn told The Ontarion. “This is such bad news for students, for workers, and for our communities. I hope that this time they have picked the fight with the wrong group because students understand how to mobilize.”
President of CUPE Ontario Fred Hahn gives a passionate speech at Queen’s Park. (Matteo Cimellaro/The Ontarion)
Over a hundred students attended the rally on Friday, Jan. 18 that was organized by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) at Queen’s Park to voice opposition to the changes to OSAP and auxiliary fees.
Labour unions like CUPE and Labour Council for Toronto and York region attended the rally in solidarity and over concerns that worker unions could be targeted next.
On Thursday, Jan. 17, the provincial government announced changes to tuition rates, OSAP award amounts, repayment of student loans, and auxiliary student fees.
At a press conference, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Merrilee Fullerton announced that tuition will decrease by 10 per cent for the 2019-2020 year and remain frozen until after 2020-2021.
The 10 per cent tuition decrease comes with:
- A cancellation of the free tuition program for lower-income students; this program will revert back to the pre-2016 grant-and-loan system
- The cancellation of the six-month grace period on interest rates for OSAP loans
- The implementation of a Student Choice Initiative that will let students opt-out of “non-essential” student fees
Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, announces post-secondary funding changes at a press conference on Jan. 17. (Photo courtesy of the Government of Ontario)
Student Choice Initiative raises concerns
The Student Choice Initiative will split student services between “essential” and “non-essential” services. Students now have an opt-out option for all “non-essential” services starting next year.
Student organization fees that will be categorized as “non-essential” services amount to approximately $233.33 per term during the 2018-2019 year. “Essential” services add up to $281.02 per semester, whereas tuition costs vary from $3383.84 to $5135.51 depending on the program.
Part of the essential services includes health services and athletic fees. All initiatives that fall under those categories will not face the threat of defunding.
Student unions, clubs, campus radio stations, student newspapers, campus cafés (like the Bullring at U of G), and any space, service, or activity that actively promotes campus life face defunding as they are categorized as “non-essential” services.
These “non-essential” services now face uncertainties surrounding their operating budgets and in some cases — like campus radio and student newspapers that rely on a stable financial levy from the student body — there are uncertainties around their survival.
In an interview with The Ontarion, CFRU Marketing and Outreach Director Andrea Patehviri said the campus radio station at Guelph would “probably have to close down” if the station lost significant portions of their student levy.
Students from across Ontario pose for a Group photo following the rally. (Matteo Cimellaro/ The Ontarion)
David Piccini, Conservative MPP for Northumberland-Peterborough and Parliamentary Assistant to Minister Fullerton told The Ontarion that it’s up to students and institutions to drive funding and that there will be a “nice blend” of services going forward.
“I don’t think we can prescribe our personal interests on a body of 30,000 writ large,” Piccini told The Ontarion. “I think students will drive what interests them. That’s not up to the government to decide.”
There is also concern that opt-out options will weaken democratically-elected student unions and the legitimacy of student referendums both past and present.
“Students and the funds that we pay are all products of questions that have been posed by the student body [through referendums], which means that no matter what happens and no matter what we’re paying is a result of student consultation and the decisions [students] have already made to pay those fees,” Jack Fisher, President of the Central Student Association (CSA) at U of G, said in an interview with The Ontarion.
“So saying that students should have the autonomy to pay those fees only highlights the fact that they don’t know how the university system works or functions,” Fisher continued. “It’s scary to think about that.”
Lack of consultation
When asked if there was any consultation prior to the announcement, Piccini noted that there was “lots” of consultation in the past couple of months.
“When we draft legislation nothing is done in a vacuum. We’ve been consulting over the past couple of months: roundtables with students, with presidents, administrations, with faculty, faculty associations,” Piccini said.
To learn more about these consultations The Ontarion spoke to the Guelph Campus Conservatives, CSA, CFS, the York Graduate Student Association, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) who represents sessional instructors and teaching assistants, and Sara Singh — Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition (NDP). The Ontarion learned that none of them were consulted on this matter before the government’s announcements on funding changes.
David Piccini (left), Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities and MPP for Peterborough-Northumberland stands behind Minister Fullerton (right) during the provincial government’s announcements on Jan. 17. (Photo courtesy of the Government of Ontario)
“I don’t think there was consultation with anyone, and that’s the big part of the problem in the decisions that are being made,” said Singh, MPP for Brampton Centre, in an interview with The Ontarion following her speech at the rally on Friday. “Our communities aren’t being consulted to understand what those real impacts are going to be.”
The Ontario PC Youth Association and the University of Guelph administration have not responded to The Ontarion’s inquiry regarding consultations prior to the announcement.
Kieran Moloney, president of the Carleton Campus Conservatives, told The Globe and Mail that he wrote something similar to the Student Choice Initiative policy proposal at a provincial Conservative convention last fall.
He gained the experience working on the losing side of a referendum that sought Carleton students to break ties with the CFS. The CFS departed from Moloney’s stances on issues that he argues are not directly associated with student life.
“I realized we weren’t going to make any progress unless we thought bigger,” Moloney said in his interview with The Globe and Mail.
CFS Ontario chair Nour Alideeb and Fisher both voiced concerns that they believe the only students consulted were those with conservative positions that are willing to attend provincial party conventions.
“If the only people they are consulting are people within their party, then I’m a little bit concerned because there are people from all political ranges. I don’t care what party you come from, at the end of the day I want good policy. I think consultation requires more than just meeting with your people,” Alideeb told The Ontarion at the rally held at Queen’s Park.
Piccini told The Ontarion that he reached out to the University of Toronto’s student union and believes he had a call scheduled with them.
Anne Boucher, the president of the U of T student union, told The Ontarion there were no consultations before or after the government’s announcements on Thursday.
A protestor leads chants of opposition against Premier Doug Ford. (Matteo Cimellaro/The Ontarion)
“Dues going to pet peeve projects of Special Interest Groups”
Piccini also said that where the Ford government has issues is with Special Interest Groups that create “ethnically driven tension, politically motivated causes that really do nothing to enrich someone’s experience. Some of these politically sensitive issues that serve only to divide and isolate groups,”
Piccini said students asked why their “dues [are] going to pet peeve projects” of Special Interest Groups. Piccini also said the Ford government heard at length about groups, like Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS), that would “fill up buses to head into various protests that had nothing to do with the student experience.”
When it comes to Special Interest Groups, it still lacks clear definition. The CFS has bussed students to protests in the past, including the rally at Queen’s Park on Jan. 18, the day after the government’s announcement, to voice opposition to the changes to OSAP and student organization fees.
It is also unclear if the Special Interest Groups could include those that represent marginalized groups on campus, such as the Guelph Black Student Association (GBSA) who have held a protest on campus before. Either way, the students will ultimately decide what organizations they will want to opt-out of funding for.
“Will people be upset?” Piccini said. “You’re darn right. [Student organizations] are going to have to show value and I’m quite confident that they will show value in what programs they offer, they will be duly rewarded by students who will decide to actively support those initiatives, but we won’t be silenced by Special Interest Groups.”
Singh told The Ontarion that marginalized student groups and politically-leaning student organizations serve an essential role in campus networking and community building.
“These groups help make sure those voices are heard, that those interests are represented on campus,” said Singh. “It’s an opportunity for students to organize, to connect with each other and to make sure whatever the Special Interest Group is [they are] making sure that issue is being advocated for on campus.”
Members of the Toronto and York region labour council attended the rally in solidarity with students. (Matteo Cimellaro/The Ontarion)
Immediate response from student and labour unions
Hahn is concerned that similar legislation could be forthcoming to labour unions if the Student Choice Initiative is effective at weakening the strength and financial stability of student unions.
“We know this is the thin end of the wedge of what could be coming to workers in terms of union fees. That’s why we’re so clear about solidarity between workers and students,” Hahn told The Ontarion.
Alia Karim, President of the York University Graduate Student Association (YUGSA), told The Ontarion she is worried that an attack on student unions can lead to crackdowns on labour unions like CUPE.
“A lot of people thought this was an attack on student democracy, that the Ford government is trying to eliminate voices of dissent and opposition. So he’s coming after student unions,” Karim said.
“We think that if he’s successful at making student union fees as involuntary, then he’s going to come after trade unions and possibly impose right to work law,” she continued. “This would be devastating for graduate students because we’re both students and workers.”
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