Last week, in an extraordinary display of protest, university students took over Montreal’s streets, highways, and public buildings, and even occupied the Quebec premier’s Sherbrooke riding office. The students, who were eventually dispersed by pepper spray and tasers, were protesting the $50 per semester rise in tuition fees that the province has imposed upon its students, an increase made worse by an accompanying $100 million cut to bursaries. The fee hike and bursary cut was surprising news in a province that has long boasted the lowest tuition fees in Canada. It’s no wonder that Montreal students are fighting tooth and nail against the fee increase. More than 100 were arrested.
Judging by the results (or rather, the lack thereof) of the National Day of Action rally that Ontario post-secondary students held on a bitterly cold February day earlier this year, many might think that these mass protests and the resulting injuries and arrests are not worth the trouble. Despite our best efforst, a whole generation of students will likely be trapped in debt and financial misery in order to fund an education that should be a right, not a privilege, in a wealthy country like Canada. Yet students in most provinces are contending with ever-increasing fees and shrinking financial aid every year. And now Quebec, which was previously held up as a model for accessible education, is now following suit.
It is ironic that in Canada, where future economic growth is highly dependant on a knowledgeable and technically skilled workforce, higher education has been made into an inaccessible dream for so many. Countless studies have proven that a college or university grad will make $1 million more in their lifetime than a high school grad. A higher education ensures more productivity in a knowledge-based economy, which leads to a higher income, which in turn leads to a higher standard of living for Canadian citizens, ultimately fueling further economic growth. Yet policy makers who increase tuition fees while simultaneously slashing student aid seem not to recognize this close relation between economic growth and accessible higher education.
Little wonder that Montreal students have walked out of their classes (in midterm season too!) in the hopes that someone up there will take note of their plight. If students do not take serious action en masse that gains the sympathy of the general public and the media, then policy- makers will believe their unjust policies against students are being quietly accepted. This sets a dangerous precedent for further cuts to financial aid and tuition fee increases in the future, without any worry about repercussions from students and their supporters.
It is unfortunate that in a democratic society, where politicians can only remain in power so long as their policies satisfy voters, students have to shout as loud as they can, risking violence, arrest and injury in order to get policy-makers to pay attention to their needs.
