November 13 – 19, 2008 - Vol. XXXI, No: 10
What has been done?
Action = Results What did the Day of Action accomplish? THOMAS SACZKOWSKI National News Bureau Last Wednesday thousands of students in 14 different Ontario cities rallied against the rise of tuition fees in the National Student Day of Action. Now participants are wondering if there has been a reaction from the universities or the government. “[It was] an incredible success, there was over 6,000 students in attendance…this is an example of the frustration of students,” said Shelley Melanson, the president of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), Ontario Division. The majority of students at the rally attend Toronto’s 3 largest universities: York University, University of Toronto and Ryerson University. If Melanson’s 6,000 students attended the protest, that means that 2.4 percent of undergraduates from the three universities came out. “It was a high ratio for a rally, this round was very high in general,” said Sandy Hudson, the president of the University of Toronto Students Union (UTSU). To encourage more students to attend the rallies, UTSU “is going to continue with the Drop Fees campaign…and encourage more students to come out to the weekly Drop Fees coalition meetings and give their input,” she said. Monica Pham, a University of Toronto student, said that “one rally a year won’t be enough, it needs to happen on a more regular basis.” Malenson and
Hudson disagree; “it is a misconception that the student rallies are ineffective,” Hudson says. Malenson retorts that CFS “won national grants, this is a direct benefit to students. This comes from mobilization and from our membership.” There was no national grant system until spring of this year when the Federal Government revealed the Canada Student Loan System. LeeAnne MacGregor, a York University undergraduate, said she did not attend the rally because “[the] demonstrations usually lack a radical edge in terms of what message is being portrayed and how it’s presented…The lack of passion I’ve noticed at past rallies makes me feel like my convictions are being coopted by a more mainstream agenda.” Melanson said the rallies are meant to be accessible to students, families and professors. “What is key is exercising our right to assembly,” she said. At the rally, student marshals worked with police to keep the rally orderly, asking students to stay in designated areas. Hudson said she was pleased with the peacekeeping efforts. “The marshals were communicating with each other, they had training and they were instructed to make things as safe as possible,” she said. “It was a terrific rally, there was great attendance… we were expecting large numbers, but we weren’t
expecting any problems. This one was particularly well organized,” said Laurie Stevens of Strategic Communications at the U of T. Steven’s added that U of T will not change policy as students were demanding, but the administration will continue to work closely with students. Since the rally, members of the Canadian Federation of Students had an emergency meeting to discuss funding with John Milloy, the Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities. “We have gotten the minister’s attention. We need continual engagement from the students,” says Malenson. “Nothing has been set in stone for future rallies. The 5th of November is a punctuation point. On every Monday night at 5 p.m., the Drop Fees Coalition holds a meeting in the Graduate Student Union Pub basement on the U of T St. George Campus. Hudson encourages students with concerns about the rally to“come and provide their ideas. We want to reflect students adequately.” As it stands, the rally may be over, but it is clear that the fight is far from won. How did the Student Day of Action do? Do you feel that protests of this nature are effective? Log on to www. thenewspaper.ca and let us know!