Students stage province-wide walk out to show disapproval of Ford government

TORONTO, March 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Post-secondary students across Ontario staged a province-wide walk out at noon today to express their anger and frustration with the Ford government’s plan to defund students’ unions and cut existing financial aid supports.

The walk out, coordinated by the province’s largest student organization - the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, called on students at public colleges and universities to leave their classrooms to attend rallies, sit-ins and other forms of protest.

“Today students are sending a strong message to Doug Ford’s provincial government that we will not put up with business-as-usual any longer,” said Nour Alideeb, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. “Students have shown many times before that we will do whatever it takes to defend our right to a public education. Ford’s attack on our students’ unions has left us no choice but to take this fight to the next level.”

The Ontario-wide walk out is an escalation of student actions that continue to happen since the provincial government announced their plans for post-secondary education on January 17, 2019, which includes $600 million in cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) and a new regressive framework for optional students’ union membership.

“The Premier and the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities have consistently refused to meet with students to talk about these issues and instead insults us in the media,” said Alideeb. “With the support of our professors, instructors and workers on campus, students are walking out of class today to demand that this government stop its ideological attack on our campuses. As a coalition, we understand an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”

Walk outs took place at the following campuses:

• Algoma University
• Carleton University
• Fanshawe College
• George Brown College
• Ontario College of Art and Design
• Ryerson University
• Sheridan College
• Trent University
• University of Toronto Mississauga
• University of Toronto St. George
• Western University
• Wilfrid Laurier University
• York University
• University of Windsor

The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario is the largest student organization in Ontario, representing over 350,000 college and university students.

For more information:
Nour Alideeb, Chairperson, at 416-925-3825
Ian McRae, Government Relations and Policy Coordinator, at 416-925-3825 or 306-852-0128