About 20 post-secondary students protested outside Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli’s office Thursday, demanding changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program and calling for a halt to tuition increases. Alongside the Nipissing University Student Union, the students were protesting a yearly two per cent tuition fee increase and Bill 33, which they argue attacks education support funding and dictates how ancillary fees go towards supporting students. “We need to listen to the students. We have a lot of important things to say,” said Elena Patey, a Nipissing University Bachelor of Social Work student. “I had quite a few friends this year who are unable to come back to school for their second year and continue on with their education because they weren’t able to get OSAP.” Logan Lloyd, the student union’s vice-president of campus relations, said he’s been hearing from students who are being forced to scale back on meals. “They’re taking fewer courses. They’re extending the amount of time in school because they can’t afford it already,” Lloyd said. “Seeing a (tuition) increase is going to make those problems so much worse.” The demonstration was part of the province-wide ‘Hands-Off Our Education’ campaign by the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. Similar actions are planned at student unions across Ontario, including Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor and Thunder Bay. Lloyd said that tuition fees were frozen for seven years. The annual increases in place are a “barrier” to student success. “It doesn’t sound like a lot, but compounded every year, that’s really a rapid increase (beyond) what students are able to afford,” he said. They are calling for the removal of interest on OSAP loans, for loans to be turned into grants, for no government interference on admissions, research security, plans and student fees and a halt to tuition hikes. “A lot of jobs are being lost, and people are all over the country. Our economy is going to be failing and we’re going to be in a worse-off position socially because we’re losing access to education,” Patey added. “A lot of us here are going into the helping profession and going into social work, teaching, or nursing. Without the funding through OSAP, we’re losing a lot of really important careers.” Fedeli wrote in an email to CTV News that the Ontario government has injected $6.4 billion into colleges and universities and that the previous OSAP framework was “no longer sustainable.” “Alongside numerous student financial aid programs like (Ontario Learn and Stay Grant), our enhanced Student Access Guarantee will ensure qualified, low-income Ontario students continue to be supported,” he said. He added that with these changes, the government is “ensuring Ontario students have access to an affordable world-class education” that will launch them into good-paying jobs and careers in the future.
