WAY TO GO!

The students of Quebec have done the impossible (at least, the impossible here in Ontario). The Minister of Education has decided to replace the money he STOLE from the students over the next 5 years (about $484 million).

Unfortunately, this money is coming from the the millennium Scholarship Foundation, which seems to me like their not really replacing the stolen money, just stealing it from future generations of students to pay the current one off.

Also, current students are only seeing about $70 million, which won't amount to much.

But what I am most impressed with is the speed and level of organization that the student groups in Quebec displayed. As fast I had heard about the funding announcements, the students were out there, en masse, in Montreal and Quebec City. They had demonstrations big and small, with ten of thousands of students participating every day. They didn't back down when the Minister threatened to make them work through the summer. "We knew what we were getting into" was the reply. Ontario students are going to have to pay attention and start preparing now for a big fight over tuition if they Rae Report is fully implemented (like the schools want). I can guarantee that OSAP funding levels will increase to match soaring tuitions, which will only increase the debt on graduating students. And in a province where it is getting harder and harder to get work at levels capable of paying back your loans, students MUST take action now.

But for now, bravo Quebec! That's the way to do it!