In late 2017, Ontario experienced its longest college labour dispute when the Ontario Public Service Employees Union went on strike.
Representatives from the student associations of multiple colleges penned an open letter to members of provincial parliament, speaking on behalf of their respective student bodies.
One of these representatives was Nicola Lau, president of the Seneca Student Federation at the time. She led 2,000 students in a protest that gained attention from media outlets such as Global News and CBC — a fact with which she introduces herself in the Facebook description of “OSAP CUT 2019”, a group she created on Sept. 7, 2019 as a means of reaching out to students severely affected by the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) cuts.
Too bad your cuts to #onpse & #osapcuts will make it impossible for many students to experience the great opportunities offered by @McMasterU and other institutions across the province. Your funding changes in 2020 will make it even worse. #cutshurtkids #handsoffmyeducation
— AJ (@MacGirl2002) August 10, 2019
The provincial government announced their planned OSAP cuts in January 2019; this constituted the end of reduced tuition for low-income students and a change in the guidelines for OSAP grant and loan eligibility. In response, student advocacy organizations such as the Students for Ontario, March for our Education and the Ontario Student Action network hosted a march toward Queen’s Park, with student activists and MPPs expressing their intolerance for consequences stemming from OSAP cuts.
When the OSAP changes came into effect in the summer of 2019, another wave of outrage emerged across Ontario as students reported that their OSAP estimates were much lower than previous years. This led to an additional round of protests from several Ontario universities, with some taking to social media to show their frustration.
Lau, now a second year Health and Aging student at McMaster, points out that the protests have since trickled into near non-existence. She feels that the level of outrage has faded into a quiet reaction, a change that she does not believe adequately represents the struggles that students continue to experience every day as a result of the cuts.
“I think that the problem is that when Doug Ford came out last year [with the OSAP cuts], a lot of people were really angry, right? A lot of people were like, ‘Okay, I need to stand up right now. We have to do something about it.’ But quickly, all these actions and things just stopped,” said Lau.
As a student impacted by OSAP cuts herself, Lau is determined to provide a platform for students to voice their concerns. She started “OSAP CUT 2019” with the hope of raising awareness until she has gathered people for a protest similar to what she did as president of the Seneca Student Federation.
Since the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, the Facebook group has amassed more than 100 members. Most members are students who cannot afford textbooks and school supplies or are on the verge of dropping out because they are no longer financially equipped to continue. The Facebook group has also attracted concerned parents, who are worried about their childrens’ future post-secondary experiences as the full extent of the OSAP cuts gradually become clearer.
Lau is particularly disappointed with what she perceives to be the lack of action on behalf of McMaster students and the McMaster Students Union.
“Why is McMaster, such a big school, not caring about [the OSAP cuts]? Why are we not having protests? I don’t get what they [the MSU] is doing. I don’t get what they’re doing with our student money,” said Lau.
However, Shemar Hackett, vice-president (Education) of the MSU, says that students have indeed reached out to the MSU with concerns about OSAP cuts. As a member of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) steering committee, he has also encouraged McMaster’s participation in OUSA’s letter writing campaign, an initiative that calls for students to write letters to Premier Ford’s office to highlight how the cuts have affected them thus far.
“Students aren’t always aware of the issues that involve them, and what they can do about it,” said Hackett, when asked about the student-led advocacy scene in McMaster.
Financial accessibility is one of Hackett’s priorities for the school year, according to his year plan. Much of this, according to Hackett, revolves around gathering as a student community and lobbying for change.
Despite the overlap between her intentions and the MSU’s, Lau questions what has really changed. She does not believe that change is happening quickly enough, she noted that students are beginning to struggle with juggling multiple part-time jobs in order to stay in school and other students having to scavenge rent money on top of their academic responsibilities.
Lau fears it might soon be too late to change the new status quo.
As a response, she has taken it upon herself, as well as the many others involved in her Facebook group, to form a voice on behalf of all those affected by the OSAP cuts. Lau hopes for the group to continue growing and, through its growth, to persuade the government to listen to them before it is too late.
In the group’s Facebook description, Lau writes, “Let’s not [let] these politicians change what will not even affect them … Let’s make a difference together.”
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
Students invest a great deal of time and money into the university. The power of how and where students money is spent should lie in the hands of students, and while the Student Choice Initiative (SCI) may give students the illusion that they have the power to choose, a critical look at this government mandated program proves otherwise.
SCI does not empower students — it does the opposite. The threats to services deemed “non-essential”, like the Silhouette, by the Ontario Government come as part of a much broader attack on post-secondary education. In addition to SCI, the provincial government made significant cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP).
Without proper support from OSAP, many students can no longer afford post secondary education. Students are taking on extra jobs, reducing class hours and dropping extracurriculars in order to continue paying the increasingly unaffordable price of education. No wonder that ancillary fees are not everybody’s top priority.
With that being said, campus media is still important. It is needed now more than ever, as the provincial government continues to make changes that will directly impact students, staff and the quality of education.
Campus newspapers exist, first and foremost, to highlight the student voice. We hold university institutions accountable and bring a student perspective to campus and city-wide issues. The Silhouette is dedicated to holding individuals and institutions accountable and making sure that they are acting in students’ best interest. It is our job to ask tough questions and seek the truth.
Over the years, the Silhouette has reported extensively on issues from the Redsuit songbook scandal to the cost of student housing in Hamilton. More recently, the Silhouette released an article highlighting the problems with the MSU’s sexual assault disclosure process, particularly with regard to sexual assault within the Maroons. The release of the article triggered a systematic review of the Maroons and the MSU as a whole, which is still ongoing.
Through our opinions section, members of the McMaster community have an opportunity to share their diverse perspectives on issues impacting student life.
We also have a dedicated arts and culture team that scours Hamilton for the gems you may otherwise miss, encouraging you to explore your city and build community. We profile local artists and highlight independent businesses, focusing heavily on McMaster students and alumni.
Our sports section highlights the accomplishments of McMaster athletes, keeping a close eye on sports from football games to Quidditch matches.
Perhaps most importantly, we provide students with opportunities to learn from one another, develop skills and gain practical journalism experience. We are not perfect. We have a lot of learning and unlearning to do as we evolve as an independent paper and it is a shame for the provincial government to hinder that growth rather than support it.
In order to continue being an integral part of the McMaster community and student voice, we rely heavily on the student levy, and a loss of funding would jeopardize our capacity.
There are no other newspapers that hold the university to this level of scrutiny. Without the Sil, students are left with the McMaster Daily News, a misnomer for what is really the university’s public relations production. A threat to student journalism is a threat to democracy on campus.
McMaster students already chose to fund campus journalism. All MSU fees have been approved through referenda through the SRA. Students democratically chose to fund the Silhouette. By giving students the choice to opt out, the provincial government has blatantly disregarded the will of the students, and in so doing eroded students’ autonomy to make their own decisions.
This shows that SCI is not, and has never been about student choice. It is about reducing the power of students by cutting funding and fragmenting services.
Students have been put in an unfair and difficult position and we, at the Sil, ask students to make an informed decision during the opt-out period.
As the university makes changes to accommodate the funding cuts and policy changes coming from the provincial government, we will be here to report on what is happening and what it means for students.
The Student Choice Initiative has placed many students in a difficult position. How much choice is there when students are forced to compromise supporting student services so that they can save money to mitigate the consequences of OSAP funding cuts and increased financial stress, or vice versa?
The answer is that there isn’t much choice, and unfortunately, it’s still one that students across Ontario will have to make.
The Silhouette has been deemed a non-essential service under the Ontario Government's Student Choice Initiative, putting our funding in jeopardy. As McMaster’s independent student newspaper, we have made a commitment to providing a platform for student voice, expression, criticism and celebration for 90 years.
As students make decisions about which fees to opt-out of, we ask that our McMaster community take into consideration the effects their choices will have on services.
Ontario government releases Student Choice Initiative guidelines
Vital services, campus activities at risk as Mac students choose what fees to pay | CBC News
The fate of many of McMaster University's clubs hangs in the balance over the next week as students decide whether to fund the clubs and other student activities. Student leaders say the process endangers important student services and could fundamentally change the nature of student life. From Sept.
From Sept. 12 to 20, the newly implemented Student Choice Initiative will allow university students across Ontario to opt-out of non-essential student services.
According to the Tuition Fee Framework and Ancillary Fee Guidelines, essential services consist of athletics and recreation, career services, student buildings, health and counselling, academic support, student ID cards, student achievement and records, financial aid offices and campus safety programs.
In terms of McMaster Students Union services, this would include services such as WGEN, Maccess, the Pride Community Centre, SHEC, SWHAT, 93.3 CFMU, the Food Collective Centre and more. Non-essential fees include services such as MSU clubs and the Silhouette.
While these budget cuts may not seem to affect you if you’re not directly involved in a club or something like the campus newspaper or radio, opting out of that $9 or $10-dollar fee will be detrimental to the McMaster community.
Let me break it down for you. If you decide to opt-out of the $10 MSU clubs fee, and everyone else follows suit, clubs will lose a huge portion of their funding. Currently, clubs are run solely by student volunteers and many of them hold events for the community, free of charge. Movie nights, de-stressors, cultural community gatherings, discussion groups and karaoke nights — you name it, and a club has probably done it.
Clubs also offer an opportunity to students to help grow their managing skills, creativity and passion for a certain area. For many, extracurriculars are a place of refuge. They can serve as a break away from stressful courses or provide a welcoming community for a variety of identities.
Now imagine all of this — gone. All of this would disappear, or be severely limited, because you wanted to save $10, which can get you maybe two Starbucks frappuccinos. Even if you have yet to join a club, I’m almost certain that you’ve benefited off club freebies, bought food at a bake sale or attended an event in the past.
If that’s not convincing enough, we can also take a glance at the future of the Silhouette. McMaster’s campus newspaper has historically shed light on crucial events that impact students such as MSU presidential campaigns, the student representative assembly, sexual violence surveys and more.
As someone who has just joined the Silhouette team, I can already tell you that we are eager and passionate to break news, events and opinions on things that matter most to students. The Silhouette is constantly striving to hold the MSU and university as a whole accountable. By paying our fee, you are supporting our reporters, editors, managing, production and online team to continue producing relevant content for you. You are helping potential journalists break into the industry and report on news that affects all of us.
There are still so many other non-essential services that I haven’t gone into length, such as MSU Spark, 93.3 CFMU and Mac Farmstand. Maybe you haven’t accessed any of these services, but so many students benefit from them.
You may think that it won’t matter if a few students opt out. What’s a few dollars going to do to a whole service or department?
However, that’s the stem of the issue — many people will follow the herd mindset and believe that if they are one of the few to opt out, then it won’t cause a budgeting issue. Supporting the student body and union means that everyone should be opting in, because it’s more than likely that one of your peers have accessed some of these non-essential services.
A student union cannot exist without students contributing to the union. That’s why these services function so well. Skip on that UberEats order and contribute to your student union instead by #OptingIn.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
