Students took their grievances with the province’s tuition and grant changes to Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop’s doorstep Tuesday.
Approximately 30 demonstrators rallied at the Orillia Opera House before marching to Dunlop’s constituency office a block away.
“Have any of you been in Jill Dunlop’s office before? Now’s your chance,” Lakehead University student Jacob Kearey-Moreland said before opening the door and walking into the MPP’s office.
Most of his fellow demonstrators followed suit, cramming into the small office on Coldwater Road. They were hoping for a meeting with Dunlop, but she was not in the office.
They are upset with the government’s recent announcement of changes to post-secondary education, including the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). The Progressive Conservatives have stated there will be no more free tuition for students from low-income families.
For Kearey-Moreland, Tuesday’s rally was a case of ‘like father, like son.’
“We have a proud Kearey-Moreland family tradition of protesting Dunlops,” he said with laugh.
His father protested outside the office of former MPP Garfield Dunlop, the current MPP’s father, during the Mike Harris years in the 1990s, when there were deep cuts to education funding.
“I’m looking forward to my great-grandchildren protesting Jill Dunlop’s great-grandchildren,” Kearey-Moreland said.
Joining Tuesday’s demonstration was Sami Pritchard, national executive representative of the Canadian Federation of Students—Ontario.
"Last week, the Progressive Conservative government announced a 10 per cent tuition fee cut. You would think we would be excited,” she said. “But Premier (Doug) Ford, we are no stranger to your antics. This 10 per cent cut was introduced only to mask the attacks on student aid, on student organizations and on university funding. This announcement is devastating for both students and workers in the post-secondary education sector. This plan will diminish our quality of education.”
Pritchard views the move as an attack on students.
“This government does not want us to exist. Students’ unions across this province have a reputation of fighting back against hate and prejudice. We have a reputation for having a bold vision for a better world, where education is a right and everyone, regardless of their identity, is treated with respect and dignity and fairness,” she said. “Our unions are under attack because Premier Ford knows that when we are united, we are strong and we are a threat. This is a calculated move by the provincial government to undermine the very organizations that will continue to hold him accountable.”
The government’s plan will also allow students to opt out of being charged for certain services.
“Creating opt-out options for students’ unions that offer discounted transit passes, food bank services, health and dental plans, academic appeals support, mental health outreach and work to combat sexual violence does not make life more affordable for students,” Pritchard said. “And it should be noted that students cannot always predict that they will need to access particular student services such as food banks, mental health, sexual violence supports and other services. You forcing us to choose is you actively putting students in a precarious position.”
She ended her speech to the crowd by saying Ford “picked a fight with the wrong people.”
“We are the students and, try as they might, we will not be silenced,” she said. “In fact, we will only be louder.”
Theresa VandeBurgt made her feelings loud and clear during the rally.
“I was brought up in a low-income family. Most of my life, my parents couldn’t pay any extra fees as I was brought up in grade school and high school. This meant hand-me-down materials, missing field trips and so on. I was taught to make excuses for all of these things, because being poor was ‘shameful,’” said VandeBurgt, vice-president of the Lakehead University Student Union in Orillia. “The only reason I was able to attend post-secondary was OSAP — more specifically, the grant system. Even so, I’ve spent most of my undergrad degree scraping by. I’m not as academically inclined as most. I struggle to get mediocre grades, even as much as I apply myself. Apparently, to the Ford government, this means that I don’t deserve an education.”
Students will not let these changes come into effect without a fight, she added.
“We will not stand idly by while this government continues to threaten and belittle our most marginalized students. Our international students matter. Part-time students matter. LGBTQ2A students matter. Racialized students matter. Differently abled students matter.”
