By David Helwig
SooToday.com
Thursday, March 23, 2006

The following open letter, written on behalf of the students of Sault College, was sent today to Ted Montogomery, chair of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union bargaining team representing the province's college faculty.

It was written by Graham Vooren, president of Sault College's Student Administrative Council.

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Mr. Ted Montgomery
Chair – OPSEU Academic Bargaining Team

March 23, 2006

Dear Mr. Montgomery;

Here at Sault College, we can definitely appreciate the ongoing anxiety that the present College Strike brings to all parties involved.

Every person involved, be it faculty, support staff, college administrators, the CCAC or students – feel the tension building as this dispute goes unsettled.

To this end, I would like to draw your attention to the following remark that you were quoted in the media as saying, "Would you want to be cared for by the 2006 grad nurse who had missed the last half of the last term?"

Students were disappointed and offended by this statement.

Our Sault College nursing students, and nursing students from across the province, have invested a lot of time and money into their studies and are extremely well trained.

I believe that no matter how this strike is resolved, the 2006 graduating classes will be some of the greatest caregivers Ontario has ever seen.

I would only be so lucky to have them attending to my needs.

Mr. Montgomery, in this statement you have singled out a particular group of Ontario students, and offended them.

This is inappropriate; all college students are affected by this strike, and no individual group deserves to be singled out and used as "pawns."

As a strong student government, we have heard nothing but contempt from the student population to this remark.

Therefore, we do hereby implore you to apologize to Sault College nursing students for your offensive remarks, and then make a public apology to every nursing student in Ontario.

Student governments all over Ontario have committed to neutrality, the most fragile of positions.

The remark you made to the people of Ontario compromised our collective neutrality.

Best Regards,

Graham Vooren
Student Administrative Council President
Sault College of Applied Arts & Technology

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