As college students across Ontario returned to school this week, many are feeling let down by the system that left them without classes for five weeks. It was the longest college strike in Ontario history.
One can only wonder why the Ontario government didn’t pressure the colleges and union to come to an agreement sooner to save the semester for almost 500,000 college students.
The result of the strike is students’ lives are being disrupted for the second time this semester, as they return to classes with cut curriculums, a shortened Christmas break, and disrupted travel plans.
In a town hall hosted on Nov. 20, Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne answered questions from college students about why she failed to intervene. Wynne argued that she was acting on advice she was given, but that it’s important to consider what her authority is in such circumstances going forward. The premier failed to provide any concrete answers or solutions, or even to take responsibility, leaving the impression that this could happen again.
What Wynne needs to recognize is students who were victims of the strike don’t deserve her excuses right now—they deserve an explanation and evidence of the system being changed.
It’s time for the Ontario government to put students first and create change now so this doesn’t repeat itself in the future.
