Gwyneth Lonergan has a pretty good reason why university education should be fully accessible to all.
“It’s not just because it’s good for people when they’re finding jobs,” the third year political science student said. “Education is a safeguard for democracy.”
Lonergan was one of approximately 5,000 students who converged on Queen’s Park yesterday to demand a tuition freeze as part of the Canadian Federation of Students’ national day of action. Similar events in cities across Canada were equally well-attended, some setting records.
“Students at this school have had enough of high fees,” Student Administrative Council president Alex Kerner said amidst a crowd of nearly 1,000 U of Ters outside the office of the president. “Tuition rates must be frozen, so that education is accessible to all.”
After the speeches, the students marched north on St. George St., calling others to leave classes and join them.
“The protest today will show this university that the students are serious about freezig the fees. I think there is a united message going to the schools and to the provincial government today,” Kerner said.
There was a conspicuous police presence in the streets, as mounted officers in riot gear blocked traffic and kept a close eye on the protestors. Police insisted they were only there to ensure the safety of the marching students. “It’s all about safety and making sure they get to prove their point,” said Staff Sergeant Ferguson.
Students also stopped in front of the faculty of law to make it clear what they thought of the planned doubling of law fees to more than $22,000 per year.
Chris Ramsaroop, who helped organize the event with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), said the government would have to take action after today’s protest. “The government has to realize that students vote, and that if there isn’t a tuition freeze, they will throw the Tories out,” he said.
The provincial government thought the demonstration was misinformed.
“Participation rates in post-secondary education are up, and loan defaults are down,” said Tanya Cholakov, an official from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. She added that tuition fees are an important part of the university system and that the provincial government has a very clear five-year tuition fee policy, which places annual increases at their lowest level since the seventies.
But regardless of the official position of the provincial government, students wanted to tell their elected officials that tuition fees are simply too high.
The U of T rally met up with other universities and colleges at Queen’s Park at 2 p.m. Students from Ryerson, York, Guelph, George Brown and several high schools packed the front lawn of Ontario’s Legislature.
They heard speeches from political leaders such as NDP leader Howard Hampton and student representatives like Joel Duff, chairperson of CFS’ Ontario chapter.
Duff pointed out that post-secondary students in Ontario have three times more debt than they did ten years ago.
“This government is trying to close the doors to education and we must bust them open,” Duff said. “We need a new government, that puts education on the top of its agenda.”
Marie Bountrogianni, Liberal critic of Training, Colleges, and Universities, spoke as well. “Tuition has doubled under this government, and student debt has increased 300 per cent,” she said in a telephone interview late on Wednesday. “I was the daughter of poor immigrants, and I was able to get three degrees.” She added that four months of work at minimum wage paid for her tuition and all her living expenses. “It’s generational warfare,” she concluded.
Jennifer, a first-year student in English at the Scarborough campus, was glad to have been debt-free this year, but said, “I’ve worked for the past five years going through high school in order to pay off my first year of university.” She would like to eventually take a Master’s Degree in English, but says “tuition’s way too high.”
According to police, the protestors remained peaceful and no arrests were made. “It’s very orderly. Noisy, but other than that we were all right,” said Sergeant Ferguson.
Alexa McDonough expressed support for Wednesday’s day of action and called for the federal government to increase transfer payments to the provinces to pay for post-secondary education.
“The New Democratic Party absolutely supports the call right across the country today from students for tuition freezes,” she said after Wednesday’s question period in the House of Commons.
McDonough said the Liberal government’s cuts to transfer payments are to blame for increased fees. She also said the federal government should increase transfers with the eventual goal of a tuition-free post-secondary education system, noting that many other OECD countries do not charge tuition fees for higher education.
“In the meantime, we absolutely need to have a grants program, not a bogus student aid program,” she said, referring to the controversial Millennium Scholarship Foundation.
Earlier, while questioning Industry Minister Allan Rock, McDonough compared default rates on student loans with those made to high-tech companies under the federal Technology Partnerships Canada program.
“Today across Canada, students are demonstrating against rising tuition fees. Ninety per cent of these students repay their loans. If they do not, they are hounded to death. Compare that with corporations that have repaid less than two per cent on technology partnerships loans,” she said.
Outside the House, McDonough called student debt levels “perverse” and said federal student-assistance policies are “utterly shortsighted.” She criticized Rock for not taking a stand against student debt.
“He’s absolutely standing with a government that hounds those students to death when they repay their loans,” she said.
Photograph by Simon Turnbull
