Budget may limit student priorities

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Graphic by Stephanie Truong.
Graphic by Stephanie Truong.

If the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) could have it their way, positive change would be in store for the provinceโ€™s post-secondary students.

The advocacy group, which represents the interests of over 150,000 undergraduate students in Ontario, issued a series of policy recommendations to the provincial government last week in the hopes of influencing this monthโ€™s upcoming provincial budget.

The 2013 budget submission plan put forward by OUSA is titled โ€œUnlocking Student Potential: the Key to Ontarioโ€™s Successโ€ and includes six key recommendations to policy aimed at increasing affordability of post-secondary education, improving student health and employment and expanding student mobility across the province.

Rylan Kinnon, executive director at OUSA, explained that one of the biggest concerns he has encountered when speaking with Ontarioโ€™s undergrads is the issue of tuition affordability. To address this growing concern OUSA has recommended the Ontario government freeze tuition rates for at least one year.

โ€œThe recommendation is that the government shouldnโ€™t allow for tuition to increase at all for at least one year,โ€ said Kinnon. โ€œAnd then weโ€™ve recommended that the government increase per-student funding at the rate of inflation to partially compensate.โ€

Kinnon explained to The Cord that it is difficult to know which, if any, of the recommendations will be successful. โ€œLast year one of the things that we called for was a system-wide discussion about improving teaching quality and improving productivity in our post-secondary system. The Minister of Training Colleges and Universities actually helped a conversation around those topics and many others.โ€

Barry Kay, a political science professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, was not overly optimistic about the inclusion of OUSAโ€™s policy recommendations into this yearโ€™s budget.

โ€œI donโ€™t want to suggest when I say that something isnโ€™t going to happen, that itโ€™s not a good idea,โ€ he commented. โ€œThe fact is that there are realities out there. In the last provincial election the Liberals made a commitment for more money than I thought was financially prudent given the budgetary situation. They donโ€™t have money for a lot of programs, itโ€™s not just the students.โ€

The Ontario Liberal government is currently facing a deficit of $11.9 billion, which as Kay suggested makes it difficult to provide additional funding to any group, be it students or not.

โ€œAt some point, the spreading around of money is zero-sum. Public policy becomes a matter of choices; if you give here youโ€™ve got to take somewhere else,โ€ he said.

Kay pointed to a growing concern amongst faculty members in post-secondary institutions, regarding the economic condition of the government.

โ€œAt the university level, the way it really affects us here, is people who are in part-time teaching situations,โ€ said Kay. โ€œThatโ€™s what is being cut because the university has more discretion in affecting that. โ€œ

He continued, โ€œWe are already seeing at the university level that when people retire they are not necessarily being replaced. That basically means fewer courses and fewer choices for students at Laurier and everywhere else.โ€

Ontarioโ€™s undergrads will find out exactly how the budget will be affecting them in the upcoming weeks. The official date for the release of the budget has not yet been set, but it is expected to be tabled before the end of the month.


  1. Adam Carroll Avatar

    http://cfsontario.ca/downloads/CFS-2012BudgetAnalysis.pdf Aye, it’s dated but be expecting something similar for2013.

  2. Mohammad Akbar Avatar

    OUSA has had their way for a really long time, look what it led to. that’s why windsor students voted NO to OUSA, ~1500-890!

  3. Mohammad Akbar Avatar

    results from the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance referendum on continued membership in OUSA: ~1500 NO, ~800 YES.

  4. Maya Madolyn Avatar

    I always want to ‘like’ things you post like eight thousand times

  5. Chris Walker Avatar

    If you want to spread propaganda on your own campuses, feel free. But please have the courtesy to spare Laurier students from your ridiculous accusations and incorrect assertions. The reality is that free tuition is just about as likely as Santa Claus coming in July so lets focus on achievable, incremental improvements that actually help students rather than yelling from the sidelines. If you really want to help the students you claim to represent, stop attacking other organizations and start talking to government.

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