Anti-austerity rally calls on N.L. government to keep tuition freeze

Protesters at the rally on Saturday opposed Newfoundland and Labrador cutting funding for post-secondary education. (Emma Grunwald / CBC)

About 200 people gathered on the steps of the colonial building in St. John’s Saturday to protest cuts in post-secondary education.

The anti-austerity rally was organized primarily in response to the provincial government’s decision to phase out the $ 68.4 million annual subsidy that maintained Memorial University’s long-term study freeze.

“When we see cuts in funding, we see prices go up,” said Kat McLaughin, chair of the St. John’s chapter of the Canadian Federation of Students, the group that planned the protest.

“Education is a bigger barrier for marginalized people as people with low income backgrounds are marginalized, racialized people,” she said. “They are the people struggling the most with higher education and higher tuition fees.”

By bringing together groups like Black Lives Matter and the Indigenous Activist Collective, McLaughlin said, the rally should unite the communities she fears will be hardest hit by the change.

“We don’t think these costs will have to be borne by the students,” she said. “We urge the government to make education a priority.”

“It’s pretty tough right now”

Memorial student John Mweemba is also concerned about the impact of an increase in tuition fees on marginalized communities.

“I work with a lot of blacks and marginalized groups and that will affect us very much,” he said. “We’re barely making it now. To be honest, it’s pretty tough right now.”

Kat McLaughin (left) and John Mweemba are among the students and officials raising concerns about the recently announced austerity measures and an inevitable tuition hike at Memorial University. (Emma Grunwald / CBC)

Mweemba says he and many friends work while college and are still struggling to make ends meet.

“Studying full-time is really tough,” he said, “and increasing tuition fees will only add to that rush for us.”

An increase in tuition fees could force students to stay in school longer, take out more loans, or continue their education elsewhere, Mweemba said.

All hands on deck

Education Secretary Tom Osborne said the provincial government has paid Memorial University $ 600 million since 2005 to avoid tuition fees, and the cost would rise every year.

In its 2021 budget, the provincial government announced that it will phase out the MUN subsidiary for tuition fees for five years from next year.

The reason for this decision was that government investment in post-secondary education cost more than $ 21,000 per full-time equivalent student – more than double the Canadian average.

The operating cost subsidy that MUN receives from the state government is also 30 percent above the national average, according to the budget.

The budget was announced following two reports released in the spring: All Hands on Deck, an independent review of the province’s post-secondary spending, and The Big Reset in May.

As the name suggests, the latter report, commissioned by the Prime Minister’s Economic Recovery Team, recommended major changes to save the province from financial ruin. It offered proposals like selling public companies like Nalcor and raising taxes on everything from lavish gifts to gasoline, cigarettes and sugary drinks.

Shortly after the provincial budget was released in late May, MUN President Vianne Timmons told CBC News that an increase in tuition fees was inevitable.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

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