Dozens of students gathered outside the University of Ottawa’s Morisset Library on Wednesday to speak out against OSAP grant reductions.
Campus groups are criticizing the provincial government’s announcement that maximum OSAP grants will be slashed from 85 per cent to 25 per cent for eligible students next year.
Carrying flyers with a chant list in the late morning, attendees bundled up to shout slogans including, “No cuts, no fees, no private universities” and “Education is a right, we will not give up the fight.”
Student groups included the Carleton University Students’ Association, the University of Ottawa’s Students’ Union, the University of Ottawa’s Graduate Student Union, the Ontario Public Interest Research Group and the Student Mobilization Committee Ottawa.
Alex Stratas, the advocacy commissioner of the University of Ottawa Students’ Union, said the OSAP cuts are harming Indigenous Peoples who use education as a means of liberating themselves.
“Education is one of the most powerful tools Indigenous Peoples have to reclaim and revitalize their culture, as they are on the brink of erasure,” she said. “Defunding our education system cuts them off even further from this lifeline.”
Shantina Tonack, a second-year psychology and linguistics student at the University of Ottawa said the cuts could be detrimental to her family.
“I grew up from a single mother with my sister. and she always told us education was important to be self-reliant,” she said. “I want to pursue law after my program, and I’m worried I’m going to have more debt.
“My sister is coming into education and I am absolutely terrified for her.”
Piomelli said Wednesday’s rally was just the beginning. The first week of action against OSAP cuts organized by CUSA and the UOSU will include banner painting sessions, letter writing days, a walkout and a rally from March 9 to 13.
Stratas said students will be disheartened by the cuts and could be forced to drop out of university entirely.
“University is going to create a bigger divide in wealth and privilege than there already is,” she said. “It is usually a place where students of lower incomes can try to pursue a stable life, and that is going to be completely cut from them.”
“It’s primarily affecting low income families and people who are driving our economy which is devastating because now they are going to deal with a long period of debt,” they said.
To end the rally, protesters gathered for a photo while holding a fake cheque from Doug Ford addressed to Ontario universities for $0.
Looking forward, Piomelli spoke to the importance of collective action to hold governments accountable.
“The government is using salami tactics where they are slicing off, piece by piece, our public education system,” he said.
“We cannot just wait until it’s all gone.”
Featured image by Jaidyn Gonsalves/the Charlatan.
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