Members of the St. George Round Table (SGRT) met last Thursday with MPP Brad Duguid, Ontario’s new Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities under Premier Kathleen Wynne.
The SGRT and Duguid spent a half-hour discussing topics such as a new tuition framework, affordable student housing, and the role of teaching versus research universities in the province’s post-secondary system.
“I’m excited about working here with you,” said Duguid. “This doesn’t have to be formal — I just want to learn from you, learn what you’re thinking,” he said. “This is just the beginning of an ongoing conversation I’d like to have with you through the coming months.”
“Here’s where my head is right now,” the minister remarked on the topic of tuition, “I think we need to take a really good look at the current framework and the implications of extending it as is. I’m not inclined to be thinking in that way, so I think we’ve got to do something different. If time permits, and I don’t know that it will, I’d like to do something a little more long range.”
The tuition framework is a method by which the provincial government determines how much funding to devote to universities and colleges. The Canadian Federation of Students has also been lobbying for a revised framework that will freeze or lower tuition costs.
Rishi Maharaj, president of the Engineering Society, said that, beyond the question of tuition fees, “institutions have a bigger role to play in ensuring funds they receive from the government are spent in the best way to improve education.
“What we’ve seen in the last 10 to 15 years is that the budgets of universities have gone up, but those increases haven’t necessarily trickled down to the classroom,”said Maharaj.
New TCU minister Brad Duguid talks to SGRT members about PSE in Ontario. CAROLYN LEVETT/THE VARSITY
Some time was spent discussing the importance of recognizing the different priorities of universities in Ontario, between teaching and research, and the implications for ministry policy. The group also discussed affordable student housing.
The discussion between the SGRT and the minister also touched on “transparency,” a byword for discussing “issues with transparency and accountability in terms of student union operations,” as co-head of Trinity College Sam Greene described it.
Students of Trinity College, Victoria University, and the Faculty of Engineering are pursuing “defederation,” a bid to re-route student fees away from the UTSU to college councils, in the belief that they could effectively provide the same services as the students’ union for the same or lower cost.
Thursday’s meeting, the second policy discussion between members of the St. George Round Table and the tcu minister this year, pointedly lacked representatives from the UTSU and the utm and utsc campuses. This year, the SGRT has sought to present itself as a legitimate forum for advocacy and lobbying efforts as some of its college members are exploring ways to replicate the UTSU’s functions, in advance of votes on defederation expected later this month.
Minister Duguid, for his part, characterized the conflict between the UTSU and the colleges as “interesting.”
“Accountability is important for any organization,” said Duguid, “and organizations need to be accountable to the people they’re serving. It’s not just about paying fees or getting value — are they accountable to you? If they’re not, students have every right to look at alternatives.”
“I’m not about to dictate what the government thinks should be done, other than to offer any assistance I can in working with any student organizations or groups, affiliated or not affiliated, and provide information, advice, and encouragement to engage in a really wholesome debate,” Duguid added.
“The UTSU does advocacy on a number of levels and has been able to accomplish many victories for students and be the instigators for some of the most successful campaigns students have won in Canada,” read a statement from Shaun Shepherd, the outgoing UTSU president.
In the statement, Shepherd listed some of the union’s successful lobbying campaigns, including the implementation of free rehearsal and athletic space for campus clubs, blocking the creation of the School of Languages and Literatures, and the reduction in price of the post-secondary student Metropass.
Shepherd also called for unity amongst various factions in the student body.
“Governing bodies are able to pass policies that are not favourable to students when we are focused on infighting and division,” he wrote. “We need a centralized students’ union, and cannot give in to the politics of separation.”
The UTSU president reacted to news of the SGRT’s meeting with Minister Duguid, saying, “It’s always good when students are meeting with representatives to advocate for their membership, and we encourage this. But if they feel unprepared or need some assistance with research or positions to put forward, we are here to help.”
“We would have loved to be a part of the meeting held yesterday, but are happy with the opportunities we have ahead of us to do so,” said Shepherd.
The St. George Round Table, chaired by Scott Dallen, comprises the student leaders of each of the colleges and faculties of the university.
Representatives of the SGRT in attendance at the meeting included Greene, Maharaj, Dallen, Paulina Bogdonova, co-head of the Trinity College, and Aman Chohan, president of the Innis College Student Society.
