Post-secondary students across Ontario walk out of classrooms to protest province's cuts to OSAP, tuition hike
Province-wide walkouts happening across multiple campuses Thursday
University and college students across Ontario are protesting rising tuition fees and the province's changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) in a province-wide walkout Thursday.
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University → walk → walkout
"Students have had enough of being asked to pay more, borrow more and accept less," Cyrielle Ngeleka, chair of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) Ontario said at Queen's Park Thursday.
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Ngeleka → have → Park
"We have witnessed hundreds of programs cut, student services stretched, and the cost of education pushed further onto the backs of students and their families."
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cost → witness → students
CFS Ontario is the largest student organization in the province, representing over 350,000 students.
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Ontario → represent → students
The walkouts are part of the federation's "Hands Off Our Education!" campaign, with protests sprouting on several campuses, including York University, the University of Guelph, Trent University and University of Windsor.
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protests → sprout → Windsor
The protest comes after the province lifted a seven-year tuition freeze earlier in the year, which allowed universities and colleges to increase fees by up to two per cent each year over the next three years.
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universities → come → years
Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government has also been under fire for the larger part of the year after announcing changes to OSAP in February, citing "unsustainable" costs.
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government → announce → costs
Changes to the student assistance program meant non-repayable grants were reduced from a maximum of 85 per cent to 25 per cent, while the percentage of funds given as loans increased.
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percentage → mean → loans
Many students have said scaled-back OSAP grants will saddle them with high debt loads amid economic uncertainty.
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grants → say → uncertainty
The province has previously defended the changes, and highlighted its $6.4-billion funding for Ontario's colleges and universities, to be rolled out over the next four years.
Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn said in February this funding will help institutions provide competitive programs, high standards of education and be “resilient” to growing demands in the future.
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institutions → defend → future
CBC Toronto has requested additional comment from Quinn on Thursday's protests.
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Toronto → request → protests
Education is a right: York University student
At York University, students and supporters gathered at 9 a.m. with signs reading "OSAP weaves futures, not baskets," (in response to a previous comment from Ford) and "Education should not be a debt sentence."
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Education → gather → Ford
Symone Lennon, president of the York Federation of Students, shouted "Tax on students" into a microphone as the crowd replied "Vote it down!"
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crowd → shout → it
"Every single student deserves to be here," Lennon told CBC Toronto.
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Lennon → deserve → Toronto
It's not only fund OSAP, it is simply fund our education as students because we have a right to be here and it is not a privilege."
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it → fund → right
York University student Symone Lennon, who is also president of the York Federation of Students, was protesting Ontario's changes to OSAP on Thursday.
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who → protest → Thursday
Lennon says one of her friends was forced to take time off from attending university because of changes to OSAP, and she herself is nervous about her future in a competitive job market.
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she → say → market
"The future is looking quite bleak right now, for not only just me, but a number of students," she said.
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she → look → students
Recent York University graduate Sam Jean told CBC Toronto that he had heard some high schoolers were deferring post-secondary education because of changes to OSAP.
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schoolers → tell → OSAP
"It's just completely pulled the rug out from a whole generation of students," said Jean.
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Jean → pull → students
"A lot of students acutely feel like we don't have a future."
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we → feel → future
Opposition parties support protesting students
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in a news release she stands with students protesting Ford's changes to OSAP.
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she → support → OSAP
"Doug Ford has spent this year attacking students," said Stiles.
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Stiles → spend → students
"We called on [Ford] to come up with a plan to provide immediate relief to students who need financial assistance.
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who → call → assistance
He and his government refused.
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He → refuse → ?
"They've made it clear that they have no interest in helping Ontario students ...
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they → make → students
Now, the Premier has no choice but to hear their voices."
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Premier → have → voices
Ontario Greens Leader Mike Schreiner expressed the party's support for university students in a statement Thursday.
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Schreiner → express → statement
Young people are struggling to get by in an economy stacked against them.
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people → struggle → them
It’s never been harder to get a job and a record number of youth are being forced to choose between a roof and food," he said.
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he → get → roof
"Now more than ever, we should be working to shrink student debt and remove barriers for young people — not sticking them with tens of thousands of dollars of debt."
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we → work → debt
Schreiner called on the Ford government to reverse changes to OSAP, remove interest on student loans and unlock frozen funds so low and middle-income students can access non-repayable grants.
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students → call → grants
In addition to changes to student assistance to college and universities in Ontario, the provincial government has recently frozen OSAP funding for private career colleges after an audit found "serious concerns."
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audit → freeze → concerns
Quinn has said the provincial government will bring back the program when it has the "confidence" and "guardrails in place" to ensure financial aid is being used in good faith.
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aid → say → faith
The Aporia
