Students Win Legal Challenge Against The Ministry of Colleges and Universities and the Ontario Government!
The Canadian Federation of Students, Ontario, announced Thursday night that the Ontario Division Court voted unanimously to deem the Student Choice Initiative unlawful.
“We are excited to be emailing you today with some fantastic news – WE, THE STUDENTS have won,” said Felipe J. Nagata, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, Ontario.
What exactly this means for students and what happens next remains to be seen.
“So far, there are very few details to be shared,” said Nagata in an email sent out to student groups on Thursday night, “but we will keep you folks updated as we find out more.” But though the next steps are unclear, this decision represents a tremendous victory for students.
The Canadian Federation of Students, the York Federation of Students and Goldblatt Partners will be holding a press conference on Nov. 21 where they are expected to respond to the decision.
“Today the Ontario Divisional Court has confirmed what students already knew: The Student Choice Initiative is unlawful, and the Ford government acted beyond their authority,” said Kayla Weiler, Ontario representative of the Canadian Federation of Students in a press release. “Doug Ford’s attempt to wipe out students’ unions under the guise of giving students ‘choice’ has been exposed for what it really was: an attempt to silence his opposition.”
Weiler served as the University of Guelph Central Student Association’s VP External from 2017 to 2019.
We took the Government to court & WON!
Today, the Divisional Court released their unanimous decision deeming the SCI unlawful.
From the streets, to the court room, the students united, will never be defeated.#WeTheStudents #onpse #onpoli #cfsfcee pic.twitter.com/eefNBYbJLc
— CFS-Ontario (@CFSON) November 21, 2019
A bit of context:
- In January 2019, the Ford government announced the “Student Choice Initiative,” a new arbitrarily deemed some ancillary fees as non-essential and optional for students
- Changes to funding left many student organizations, including The Ontarion, in a precarious position, forcing significant changes to staffing and operations.
- On May 28, the Canadian Federation of Students and the York Federation of Students, represented by Goldblatt Partners, filed a legal challenge against the Government’s Student Choice initiative.
- Oct. 11, the Divisional Court began proceedings.
- Nov 21, CFS-O announces that the panel of judges ruled in students’ favour, stating that the provincial government acted without statutory authority when implementing the Student Choice Initiative