Ontario Premier Doug Ford has come under criticism for comments made on student protestors who were removed from the gallery of the Ontario Legislature for disrupting a Feb. 19 session. The students were protesting recent changes made to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).
The protests were met with backlash from the Premier, who, according to various media outlets, reportedly said, “That’s how they train our kids, with a filthy mouth. They should have their mouths washed out with soap. That’s what they should have, because that’s embarrassing.”
“One protester told Doug Ford to ‘kiss her ass’ and that may have led to his outburst. Though, we can speculate that he may have had that outburst whether some of us swore or not,” a statement from the Ontario Student Action Network (OSAN) said.
The protest within the legislature was mostly organized by the OSAN, however, other student groups, including the Hamilton Student Mobilization Network, the Independent Student Solidarity Collective George Brown, and the Revolutionary Student Movement York were also involved.
“Despite a series of marches all over Ontario, the government did not want to engage with students,” the OSAN statement said. “Rather than just asking, we demanded that the government listen to us. Our demands were stated very clearly: No cuts, No fees, Tuition should be free!”
David Piccini, a Conservative MPP and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, found the language used in the gallery “disgusting and unfortunate.”
“It’s unbecoming of the place in which we’re in, steeped in history. It’s unbecoming of political discourse in this country and in this province, and I think folks should exercise a little bit of judgement,” he said. “When the conversation dissolves into racial slurs and swearing, that doesn’t benefit anyone.”
“The comments that Ford made is indicative of the fact that he did not expect to be challenged in such a manner,” the statement from the OSAN said. “We have a right to be angry.”
Nour Alideeb, chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) Ontario, said she found Ford’s comments “unfortunate and paternalistic.”
“I think this concept of students washing their mouths with soap, I disagree with,” she said.
“Students can engage and voice their concerns in any way that they choose, similar to how speakers of the House can do the same thing. It’s not crazy Marxist nonsense to want better for yourself and for your community and other students.”
Last week, the CFS launched its We the Students campaign, which focuses on five demands: increasing grants rather than loans, eliminating tuition fees, publicly funding post-secondary education, and protecting student voices and the right to organize.
The We the Students campaign held a Week of Action, which included outreach, gathering signatures for petitions and hosting a Social Media Day of Action.
“This week, we have a provincial lobby week, so we’re meeting with MPPs and the reality is, we are going to take any means necessary to bring up this issue and continue to advocate for students’ best interests,” Alideeb said.
Now, Alideeb hopes to encourage students to continue reaching out to the MPPs and voicing their concerns with an educational aspect.
Piccini said he looks forwards to meeting with students who wish to bring forth new ideas and their concerns.
“Regardless of your political strengths, regardless of where you’re from, we can have discourse and we can disagree on policy. We can debate it in an open, honest and fair manner,” he said.
“I like when people challenge me. I like when people bring another perspective—it makes me a better politician,” Piccini added.
Looking towards the future, Alideeb stressed the importance of student involvement, on and off campus.
“The best thing we can do is spread the word about what is going on, that way more people can get involved in the campaign, and participate in future actions, whether those are on or off campus,” she said.
Image from files
