Student groups are planning a “Hands Off Our Education Rally” at Queen’s Park on March 4 at 12:30 p.m., protesting recent changes affecting OSAP funding and tuition.
The rally is part of a larger campaign opposing OSAP changes and tuition increases organized by The Canadian Federation of Students. The campaign includes an emailer tool with a pre-written email for students to “contact [their] MPP, the Premier and the appropriate Ministers directly.” As well, the federation has set up a “Wall of Debt” where students can add their own “brick” to the collective wall as an effort in “helping to build an undeniable visual testament to the crisis and amplify the urgent plea of students across Ontario.” As of Feb. 22, the wall shows a collective student debt of $11,704,107, with every student’s brick also including “the institution they attend” and “the profound real-world impact [of the debt] on their lives.”
At Brock University, the Brock NDP Club and the Brock Young Liberals club are hosting a separate on-campus protest at 12 p.m. also on March 4, outside of Schmon Tower. They announced the protest via a shared Instagram post as an alternative “for those who cannot make it to Queen’s Park.”
President of the Brock Young Liberals club Zayaan Ladhani has stated to The Brock Press that the two clubs are also hosting a joint Poster Making Event on March 2 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Brock in room WH202.
The uprise of student protest and concerns for OSAP is a result of Premier Doug Ford’s Feb. 12 announcement that the seven-year tuition freeze would be lifted and OSAP grants would be capped at 25 per cent, a prominent change from the prior 85 per cent cap, thus allowing the government to invest $6.4 billion into post-secondary funding over the next four years.