In 2012, for eight months, hundreds of thousands of Quebecois post-secondary students protested province-wide increases to tuition. The number of students protesting is estimated to have peaked at around 200,000 students, according to CBC coverage.
By the beginning of the new school year, in September 2012, after months of negotiations with student leaders and the resignation of the Quebec Education Minister, the Quebec government decreed a tuition freeze—finally ending months of students on strike.
Now, students are protesting against the Ontario government’s recent changes to OSAP policy and ancillary fees, including hosting a province-wide walkout. The changes removed a policy implemented by the previous Liberal government which gave low-income students more OSAP to help fund their education.
The provincial government has also introduced the option for students to opt-out of fees paid to particular student groups—such as campus radio stations and newspapers, including CKCU and the Charlatan—leaving them with uncertain financial futures.
The 2012 Quebec protests show that there is strength in numbers when it comes to enacting change. The Charlatan editorial staff stands behind ongoing student efforts to challenge the recent changes to tuition and ancillary fees.
It’s difficult for us to produce news for students, by students, when the threat of defunding looms over our newsroom. The impact that mass student protests in Quebec had on tuition increases proves that participating in protests to make students’ voices heard on these issues is not wasted energy, but important action which must be taken.
