College faculty rally against Ford’s cuts

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) college faculty and staff locals rallied at Doug Ford’s campaign office in Etobicoke on Saturday to call out his government for the cuts and extreme underfunding of post-secondary education. Like healthcare, post-secondary education in Ontario is funded at the lowest level per capita of any province or territory in Canada.

 

This funding gap has been widening during Ford’s seven years in office. Community colleges have relied on sky-high tuition from international students to fill the gap. When the federal government put a cap on international student numbers last fall, colleges responded with drastic cuts to programs. Seneca College closed its Markham campus entirely.

 

Loyalist College in Belleville cut thirty percent of its programs. Similar cuts are happening across the 24-college system. This despite the colleges accumulating a record collective surplus of $1 billion in 2023-24 alone.

 

These cuts are also impacting universities. York University announced the cut of 16 programs, including Women and Gender Studies and Indigenous Studies. York University Faculty Association (YUFA) members came out in solidarity to the rally.

 

Speakers at the rally were clear that Ford’s underfunding is the problem. A student/worker from Centennial College spoke about the impact on them both as a student and a precarious worker at the college. Colleges have increasingly used contract faculty and student workers employed on short term contracts instead of providing permanent employment. The programs these students are in as well as their employment are being cut, along with the thousands of contract faculty who teach a majority of classes.

 

A Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario member spoke about the abrupt and deep programs cuts effecting domestic students but also international students who are also facing deportations.

 

A Migrant Rights Alliance speaker talked about international students being scapegoated even though they have been a cash cowsfor the colleges, paying much higher tuition than domestic students and have worked in some of the most low wage jobs to survive.

 

OPSEU’s demands are to:

--Increase provincial per-student funding to the national average

--Bridge funding to help preserve programs and staff

--Allow for more domestic enrolment

--More money for faculty and staff, not administrators.

 

To participate in future events and find out more about what you can do, go to: https://opseu.org/saveourcolleges/