Braving the rain to drop fees

By Laura Cicchirillo Dialog (George Brown College) TORONTO (CUP) – It was a bitter cold and wet march for three thousand college and university students in Toronto on Thursday, as they rallied at Queen’s Park to call on the government to drop tuition fees and put an end to poverty in Ontario.  “I think the turnout was phenomenal,” said Shelley Melanson, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. “We battled hail three times, and to be honest, the crowd’s spirits stayed up the whole time. I think it’s a testament to the fact that this issue is really important to students in this province.”

Nov. 5 was declared a Day of Action by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), and a united student voice rang out in 13 cities to call on Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty to lower tuition fees, invest in social programs, and create suitable childcare, housing, and jobs. Terry Downey, the executive vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, applauded students for coming together and calling out the government for acting shamefully. “Not only do we have a flu pandemic going on, but we’re living through a job loss pandemic – a job loss pandemic that this government is not paying attention to. That is a shame. It’s criminal to be happening here in Ontario.”

Months of planning went in organizing the event, which also took place in Ottawa, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Mississauga, Guelph, London, Sault Ste. Marie, Peterborough, Scarborough, St. Catharines, Kingston and Windsor. Julie Séguin, the vice-president of communications and marketing for the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), said the SFUO had been working since the start of last summer for the event to equip a large body of students with the knowledge of the issues being protested. “We had a lot of people involved in postering, flyering, and chalkboarding, making sure all the students are aware of what the Day of Action is all about. We want students to know the issues, and they’ve been learning so fast and working so hard.”

Over the past few months, huge numbers of postcards have been sent directly to Ontario premier McGuinty from students, calling on him to implement some meaningful tuition reduction measures and to increase public funding into universities and colleges, said Krisna Saravanamuttu, president of the York Federation of Students (YFS). Saravanamuttu also boasted that the YFS has collected nearly 100,000 postcards for that purpose.

Despite the schools’ student associations’ best efforts to get people involved, this year’s Toronto rally saw a significant drop in participation. While last year’s protest brought between 5000 to 6000 students to Queen’s Park, home of Ontario’s Legislative Assembly, this year’s began with roughly 3000, and the weather proved too unpleasant for many to stick around for the long haul. Several within the crowd said they were amazed by the energy of the group, whose blaring music and chanting caught the attention of nine-to-fivers in office buildings, and high school students, who stepped out of the classrooms to wave and chant along with the protesters. “I think the turnout is amazing,” said third-year University of Toronto student Kim Avis. “I feel really inspired and rejuvenated by the number of people that showed up to fight.”

Saravanamuttu said past instances prove when students work together, and when students are united, victories are won. “In Newfoundland, students have the lowest tuition fees in the country, and they have zero per cent interest rates on the student loans they take out. And that’s all because of students working together and pressuring our politicians and provincial government for student rights.”