Ontario students are pushing back in the wake of this week's announced cuts to Ontario’s student assistance program and the lifting of the tuition fee freeze.
They gathered in front of the Ontario legislature in Toronto and on campuses to protest against the move.
Thousands of students and their supporters from different parts of Ontario converged on Queen’s Park to let their voices be heard. They want premier Doug Ford to reverse the cuts that basically shift most grants to loans and allow colleges and universities to increase tuitions.
"Even if the MPPs may not be at Queen's Park right now, we are hoping that it will shake the entire province because we have students from across the entire province coming in from Guelph. We have Ottawa. We have so many students," said Omar Mousa, the National Executive Representative for the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. "If they’re not able to make it here, they’re even organizing on their own campuses to demand that this government get their hands off our education."
Two people were arrested after the protest got heated — one of them pulled from a statue by police after spray painting an anti Doug Ford slogan. Charges included mischief, assaulting police and obstructing police.
The government announced earlier this year it was increasing funding to colleges and universities but at the same time lifting a 7-year-old tuition freeze and slashing grants through the Ontario Student Assistance Program. Ford insisted the move was necessary to keep universities and colleges sustainable.
