Over one year after it was unanimously struck down by the Divisional Court of Ontario, the provincial government is slated to appeal the Student Choice Initiative (SCI) decision in late March.
The appeal is scheduled to be heard by the Ontario Court of Appeal March 23 and 24 in the case between the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, and the Canadian and York federations of students.
The SCI, a policy introduced by Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in March 2019, mandated universities to offer students the option to opt-out of non-essential fees.
At Carleton, the policy led to funding cuts for campus clubs and organizations, campus media—including the Charlatan—CUSA service centres such as the Womxn’s Centre, and campus food banks.
Several student groups launched legal action against the SCI in November 2019, including the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS-O) and the York Federation of Students (YFS), with the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) serving as an intervenor. All of these groups will be involved with the upcoming appeal.
In her decision, posted on CanLII in December 2020, Justice Michal Fairburn stated that the appeal raises issues that affect all publicly-funded universities and colleges in Ontario, as well as student organizations and students themselves.
“Therefore, the resolution of this appeal will affect a wide array of interests, extending beyond the parties involved,” Fairburn wrote.
Fairburn also granted intervener status to a number of universities, including the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, the Governing Council of the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Western Ontario.
The interveners, also known as “friends of the court,” will provide third-party insight on the impacts of the SCI as public interest advocates.
Other approved intervenors include B’nai Brith of Canada League for Human Rights, University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union, Start Proud and Guelph Queer Equality, the Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education, and the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Centre for Free Expression, the Canadian Association of Journalists, PEN Canada, World Press Freedom Canada, and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (collectively, the “Coalition”).
CFS-O and YFS did not oppose any of the interveners. The provincial government opposed the Coalition on the basis that it “seeks to raise what Ontario describes as a new issue on appeal,” Fairburn wrote.
The new issue on appeal refers to the Coalition’s wish for the court to use s. 2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, freedom of expression, as an interpretative aid. Ontario argues that permitting the Coalition to raise this argument at this late stage will, according to Ontario, work an unfairness to the parties.
Fairburn dismissed the provincial government’s opposition and granted intervener status, adding the group’s membership includes 72,000 post-secondary personnel who have a mandate “that includes improving the quality of post-secondary education in Canada, something that they say could be seriously impacted by the [SCI].”
“Moreover, since the parties will have an opportunity to respond to the Coalition’s arguments, no prejudice will result from its participation as a friend of the court,” Fairburn said.
The Charlatan will continue providing updates as the story develops.
