Students at the University of Windsor defied the cold to speak out against planned changes by the Ontario government to OSAP.
Dozens of people gathered for a lunchtime rally outside the CAW Student Centre on the U of W campus Thursday to protest changes to the provincial program that make it easier for people to afford to attend post-secondary institutions.
The majority PC government announced last week they are planning a 10 per cent across-the-board tuition cut for domestic students at all of the province's schools that receive public funding. The government also announced their plans to restructure OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program) so that its main priority is to focus on students with the greatest financial need.
Angela Zhu, one of the organizers of the rally, said however that those tuition cuts would mean $10 million less for the University of Windsor, citing a report released by the president's office Wednesday. She said this could create more inconvenience for students as far as access to services and materials are concerned.
"There are textbooks that I need in the library that I can't get because there's only one copy, and it's because there's not enough funding to go around," Zhu told the crowd. "There's funding that I rely on to get to student conferences and so on that would fund me getting a good education, and I'm sure all of you benefit from that as well."
Premier Doug Ford was a frequent target of the demonstrators, who accuse him of policies that benefit more affluent students. Activist Bree Arbor said she believes students should be channelling their concern about the OSAP changes toward a larger goal.
"This isn't about these recent cuts, this is about the fact that education should be free," said Arbor. "This is also about the fact that we should have a democratic say in our universities."
Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky also addressed the rally, accompanied by Essex MPP Taras Natyshak. Another speaker was Brian Hogan of the Windsor District Labour Council, speaking in solidarity with the students.
The rally concluded with a short march around the campus and in the Student Centre itself.
