The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 71/No. 8      February 26, 2007

 
Students in Canada rally
for lower tuition fees
 
BY BRETT COLLINS
AND JOHN STEELE  
TORONTO—Thousands of college and university students from the Greater Toronto Area and across Ontario marched in sub-freezing temperatures to the provincial government buildings February 7 to demand an immediate freeze on rising tuition fees and their reduction to 2004 levels. The mobilization was part of a National Day of Action organized by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) in 30 cities across the country.

“We have to force the government to lower the fees,” student Kevin Grant told the Militant. Grant arrived at the demonstration by bus with more than 200 students from Laurentian University in Sudbury, five hours north of Toronto. “I have a $5,000 debt after one year and it will go to $50,000,” he said.

Although everyone was united for the common cause, there were mixed feelings about how the protest was conducted. Student Kirk Holmes said he was concerned the march was “too polite” and “could have been felt better by the officials.” Others said it was a good lead-up to the upcoming Ontario provincial elections set for October 10, and hoped it would become a hot topic for the political parties.

Supporters of the students provided free hot soup and corn bread for the protesters, who marched several miles in the cold from the University of Toronto gathering point. Graham Boland from York University said it was “good that they came out for our cause.”

The CFS points out that the cost of going to a university or college in Ontario and many other provinces has more than doubled, as a result of massive cuts in transfer payments for education from the federal government to the provinces in the early 1990s. This means, according to the CFS, that Canada’s more than 1 million post-secondary students are struggling with a debt load of Can$20 billion, with the amount growing by Can$1.5 million a day (Can$1=US 86 cents). The CFS looks to Quebec as an example where massive student mobilizations over many years have kept university tuition fees at half the national average, and where college is free.

Speakers at the Toronto action included Howard Hampton, a leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party; Wayne Samuelson, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour; and Syd Ryan, from the Ontario division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Tuitions “won’t change immediately,” said student Brad Nicolaou. But the demonstration “brings awareness to the cause.”

Brett Collins is a student at York University in Toronto.  
 
 
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