Solidarity with Students - Dump Thug Ford
by Tyler Brittain
Hundreds of students, many traveling from universities across Ontario, converged on the Legislature at Queen’s Park in Toronto on March 24. They gathered to protest draconian austerity measures being imposed by the Doug Ford Conservative government.
The premier’s sweeping changes to Ontario’s public post-secondary education system include slashing the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) and ending the tuition freeze. The current 85% grants and 15% loans formula has been reversed to 75% loans, or more.
This means more debt, higher costs, and more barriers for students who are already struggling with the high cost of living, including rising expenses for rent, food, transportation and housing. This will drive thousands out of school, with grim prospects for the future.
Doug Ford is not a stranger to scandal and unpopular opinions. From the passing of omnibus Bill 33 in late 2025 (which included the power to interfere with student union activities), to the 2019 cuts to OSAP and the persistent under-funding of post-secondary education - the very cause of the current crisis in the sector. Students and workers continue to bear the burden of provincial failures.
Many at the latest protest chanted for a province-wide student strike. Socialist Action members echoed that sentiment. Our banner featuring the slogan “Dump Thug Ford with a General Strike” was very popular. In fact, the call for a student strike and a general strike resonated with students and workers alike. Many people testified to us about how the latest cuts affect them personally, among other issues. We explained the need for a Workers’ Government that would make post-secondary education free by taxing the untold wealth of giant corporations, landlords, and the billionaire class. It is evident that the needs of a decaying capitalist system is at the root of austerity measures such as the OSAP cuts. As the new socialist policy book “Capitalism Can’t be Fixed” states, Onward to a socialist future!
Ontario is saddled with massive amounts of debt. The “fiscal sanity” that the ruling class in Canada demands dictates the agenda of cuts. The ruling rich insist on more taxpayer dollars to bolster their own investments. This austerity being pushed on Ontario students is not unique to the Doug Ford government, it is integral to the capitalist system in crisis. Liberals and Conservatives are equally devoted to serving the billionaires of this country.
Previously, on March 4, a rally was held at Queen’s Park to demonstrate against opposition to the cuts. Nearly 3000 people (mostly students) gathered to show their anger. Recently, the McMaster University Student Union voted to take strike action. It is clear that the next step is a student walkout like those that occurred in Quebec in 2012. Over a period of more than 3 months, a quarter million students in Quebec carried out a series of strikes and demonstrations to reverse a 75% tuition increase that was planned by the Quebec government. This movement shows the power that the students and workers have when we organize and work together. The students won and the tuition hike was canceled.
CFS-Ontario, the largest student union in Ontario, should organize its membership and launch a strike. Socialist Action stands unequivocally with the students of Ontario and will assist in a student strike to dismantle these proposed cuts by the Ontario Government. The mass mobilizations of post-secondary school workers and students can be the beginning of a powerful social movement capable of bringing down the Ford government.