Students rally against post-secondary education changes (10 photos)

Algoma University students spilled out of a couple school buses into the parking lot of the Sault Ste. Marie Civic Centre Tuesday afternoon to rally against sweeping changes to post-secondary education by the Ontario government.

As students clutched picket signs, Algoma University Students’ Union (AUSU) President Pauline Danquah led the group in a series of chants.

“Whose province? Our province! Whose funding? Our funding! Whose education? Our education!”

“What’s disgusting? Union busting!”

Acting AUSU student life vice-president Marissa Ditoro told the crowd gathered at the front steps of city hall that the rally would soon work its way the Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano’s office on Elgin Street.  

“We want an audience with him, we want consistent conversations with him,” she told students while speaking through a megaphone. “We want to be taken seriously as students, as individuals in our society.”

“Not just as students, but as people who are contributing to society - whether it’s international students or domestic students. We will be taken seriously and we will not back down.”

The rally for education, organized by AUSU, is a direct response to a series of changes to post-secondary education announced by the province last week.

“We are here to shut down the government’s policies against students’ rights to have a good education, to have access to education, and to be able to have an affordable education,” Danquah told SooToday during the rally.

While tuition fees are slated to be scaled back by 10-per-cent by 2019-2020 academic year, with an accompanying tuition freeze for 2020-2021 - a move that could take as much as $360 million away from universities and $80 million from colleges.

The Ontario government is also restructuring the Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP) while eliminating free tuition for low-income students, and plans to implement a ‘student choice initiative’ where students can opt out of paying non-essential student fees - including fees that pay for student unions.

Fears of not having a student voice at decision-making tables were expressed by both Sault College Students’ Union and AUSU following last week’s announcement.

“We want to be consulted before these policies come in place,” said Danquah. “All we want is to be able to service the students the way that we want to, but if this student choice initiative comes into play, we are not going to survive as a student union.”

Students marched down Foster Drive before heading north on Elgin Street to protest outside of Romano’s office.

“Chanting, protesting - trying to make a statement that whatever’s going on right now isn’t right, and we won’t allow it until our voices are heard,” said Danquah. “We just want to stand out there by his office and let him know that whatever this government is trying to do to us, we will not stop until we get what we want.”

Algoma University students attending the education rally were advised against attacking Premier Doug Ford or the PC Party during the event.

“We just want a peaceful protest,” Danquah said. “We are not attacking the people, we are attacking the policy and the government right now, but we’re not attacking folks.”

“We just want this to be a peaceful protest because we also believe that we don’t need to attacks humans to get what we want - we just need to attack the government’s policies.”

On Monday, Algoma University issued a statement regarding the changes to post-secondary education. The full text follows: 

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Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (January 19, 2019) - The Ontario Government announced this week that university and college domestic tuition fees will decrease by ten per cent for 2019-2020, and will be frozen at this rate for the following year (2020-2021). Based on the 2019-2020 preliminary forecasted enrolment, we are anticipating a decrease in domestic tuition revenue of approximately $800,000 beginning with the start of the new academic calendar year.   

In recent communications with the Ministry of Colleges,Training and Universities (MCTU) we understand that further information is being forwarded in the form of technical documents by Ministry staff in the near future. These technical documents will help us to confirm the financial impact to the institution and questions about the changes to the OSAP structure and the applicability of ancillary fees.

We also understand that further information will be forthcoming regarding the Postsecondary Sustainability Fund, a short-term sustainability fund that has been established to support smaller, northern institutions that demonstrate immediate financial need in 2019-20.

Based on earlier announcements by the Ontario Government including the Managing Transformation - A Modernization Action Plan for Ontario and their economic updates, Algoma University began preparing for a possible funding decrease.

The main strategy to mitigate was an intense focus on enrolment growth which has resulted in the largest January enrolment intake the university has ever experienced. The University is also working diligently on achieving a 20 per cent growth target for 2019-2020.

Mark Nogalo, chair of the Algoma University board of governors shared that he believes the university is positioned to adapt to this situation through the work that has been done by the Board, Senate and employees of the university in implementing a number of key strategic priorities.

“I am confident in the University’s ability to continue driving forward with our strategic plan while responding to a changing environment,” said Nogalo.

“Northern Ontario universities are faced with a range of challenges brought on by declining regional demographics and higher than average program delivery costs.Given that many universities in the region have experienced a period of significant enrolment decline, we welcome Minister Fullerton’s commitment to maintain current grant funding levels, and to create a fund to support Northern Ontario universities most impacted by the tuition reduction. Universities, including associated research and innovation activities, play a significant role in economic growth and development and we are optimistic that this government sees the value and importance Northern Ontario universities have within the communities they serve and the province as a whole,” said Asima Vezina, President of Algoma University.  

Algoma University is committed to maximizing any opportunity this week’s announcement presents in relation to current strategic institutional initiatives, sustainability and enrolment growth targets.

“The University is currently analyzing the details of this week's announcement to determine how best to work within the new tuition framework to ensure short- and long-term outcomes and will continue to focus on our Strategic Enrolment Growth priority which includes strategies to increase local and domestic as well as international enrolment to offset the long-term impact of operating with lower domestic tuition levels.” said by Robert Battisti, Vice-President, Finance and Operations.

Algoma University will continue to work with regional partners and all levels of Government in order to enhance postsecondary access and stimulate socio-economic growth and development. Together we will continue to nurture and develop the workforce and leadership of the future for Ontario.

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