Premier McGuinty’s two-year tuition freeze is over.
In his 2003 election campaign, Dalton McGuinty promised to freeze post-secondary tuition for domestic students for two years, after years of increases. In September 2004 the freeze came into effect-a rare victory for the student movement.
Now, those two years are up. On Friday morning, during an address to students at Carleton University, McGuinty spoke about the end of the freeze and an increase in tuition.
“We are going to lift that freeze,” said McGuinty, according to a press release from the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). When Carole Saab, president of the Carleton University Students’ Association, asked him if it meant there would be a tuition increase next year, McGuinty said yes, according to the release.
The premier’s staff confirmed that he replied that it would rise, though they did not mention a timeframe.
“We’re expressing concern and surprise over the announcement,” said Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson of the CFS. Since July 20, the CFS, along with groups representing university and college administration and students, has been participating in consultations with the McGuinty Liberals on tuition.
“We were focusing on how to move forward on tuition fee freezes and reductions,” said Greener. He maintains that during a consultation in September, he was given no indication that the freeze would be lifted and that no decision was expected until December.
Most government staff had gone home for the weekend at the time of writing and could not be reached for comment.
“We’re frankly wondering if the whole [consultation] process was nothing more than a sham to begin with,” said Greener.
Jen Hassum, VP External at SAC, is less surprised.
“We invited the minister to come to SAC [at the beginning of September],” she said. College presidents, faculty members, and students participated in a question period.
“I had no confidence that our tuition wouldn’t go up,” she says. “That is totally on the table for this government and that’s what we got out of the meeting.”
McGuinty’s staff also provided The Varsity with his remarks from last February, when McGuinty spoke of a tuition increase after the tuition freeze ends without specifying when it would happen.
But the CFS wasn’t the only one caught off guard. Since Friday’s announcement, SAC has been organizing students to call their MPPs.
“Many of [the students] got responses from the constituency assistants saying, ‘We didn’t’ know this was happening, we weren’t notified of this announcement and we’ll look into it,'” said Hassum.
Without the freeze, it is difficult to predict how much tuition will go up next year. Fees are usually approved by governing council in March for the following year.
There has been much discussion of tuition in Ontario, particularly over the last year. Recently, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations released a report claiming that if tuition rises, families “in the middle of Ontario’s income spectrum” will not be able to afford university. University administrations, for their part, say that tuition freezes cause serious budget problems.
The CFS is kicking their tuition campaign into high gear. SAC’s goal is to collect 8,000 signed postcards; they already have 7,000. The CFS is planning student referendums at universities across the province.
“We encourage students to contact their MPPs to try and arrange a meeting,” says Hassum. Last year, disputes over funding sparked student strikes in Quebec. Though that isn’t likely to be the next step in Ontario, it hasn’t been ruled out.
“If they go ahead and raise our tuition fees you can totally expect students to be angry,” says Hassum. “[MPPs] should expect a public backlash.”
