Ontario budget gets failing grade from university professors
Wednesday, March 27th, 2024
“Universities are in a crisis that the province manufactured through chronic underfunding.” … OCUFA was glad to see an extension of a freeze on tuition fees for postsecondary students, but the government did not invest in universities for this lost revenue, expecting universities to continue to do much more with much less… $1.3 billion for Ontario’s colleges and universities over the next three years… is eight times less than… OCUFA’s recommendation for university funding to reach just the Canadian funding average.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, youth
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Ontario professors say new postsecondary funding a drop in the bucket
Wednesday, February 28th, 2024
“The deficits Ontario universities face are due to a manufactured crisis by the province due to chronic underfunding. And this new spending will keep Ontario’s universities dead last in per-student funding compared to every province in the country” … OCUFA is pleased to see a commitment to freezing tuition fees for domestic students, but noted there is no commitment to more direct funding for universities to make up for the loss in revenue from that freeze.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
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Ontario professors offer a blueprint for revitalizing public universities
Tuesday, February 6th, 2024
Ontario has the lowest per-domestic student funding level for universities in Canada… The government of Ontario’s disinvestment has led universities to look elsewhere for revenue, including sky-high international student tuition fees… said Jenny Ahn, OCUFA Executive Director. “The current state of affairs for Ontario universities is unsustainable. Our recommendations for the provincial budget provide a path forward for investing in public education.”
Tags: budget, jurisdiction, participation
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After years of work, Ontario faculty say major victory achieved on protecting public universities
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023
… the Federal government is reforming harmful corporate bankruptcy legislation—a crucial move that will protect public universities from corporate-style restructuring policies… “What happened at Laurentian should never have happened, and now we can ensure that it will not happen again to another public university in Canada.”… In 2022, Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk stated the CCAA/BIA process was an inappropriate method for dealing with the financial challenges of public institutions.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, rights
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Ontario university faculty and academic librarians give a failing grade to Ford’s election budget
Friday, April 29th, 2022
… the government admits it is likely to spend $685 million less on postsecondary education in 2021-22 than planned, as the Ford government ignores the needs of the sector and takes a free ride on the back of increased federal transfers. The money the Ford government is “saving” should not be going back into government coffers to be used for the many regressive tax credits included in this budget…
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
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Auditor General of Ontario finds Laurentian manufactured financial crisis, government ignored warning signs
Thursday, April 14th, 2022
… the university’s financial crisis resulted from secretive and deficient governance practices and the Ford government’s failure to step in and support the institution when its financial needs became clear. The Auditor General found that the use of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) was inappropriate and unneeded and that, instead, the university should have worked collegially… to address the institution’s financial challenges.
Tags: budget, jurisdiction, participation
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French language programs at Laurentian should be restored following report exposing failures by university and Ford government
Friday, April 1st, 2022
… OCUFA is calling for the 28 French language programs cut by the university to be restored. Further, in recognition of its responsibilities to protect minority French speaking communities across the country, the Federal government should immediately pass legislation to ensure the CCAA and its counterpart, the Bankruptcy Insolvency Act, cannot be invoked by other public institutions who might use it to cut similar programs and services for French speaking populations.
Tags: budget, participation, rights
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New Poll: Increased university funding, good jobs, more student aid should be priorities of next Ontario government
Thursday, March 31st, 2022
Although 81 per cent of Ontarians believe that all eligible students should have access to a university education, two out of three (68 per cent) are concerned that today’s young people might not be able to afford a university education due to the cost and 52 per cent believe that the provincial government offers too little financial support to students wanting to attend… 61 per cent of Ontarians support replacing government student loans with grants that do not have to be repaid.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Laurentian’s collapse driven by Ford government’s agenda of austerity and privatization
Friday, February 25th, 2022
The Ford government’s obsession with austerity and privatization was a major driver of Laurentian University’s insolvency and collapse… Years of chronic underfunding incentivized Ontario universities to seek other forms of financial support, including alarmingly high tuition fees and private funding with strings attached. This approach drove Laurentian to the brink and Ford’s apparent refusal to support the university in that moment of need pushed it over the edge.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction
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Strong, stable funding for Ontario’s Universities is an investment in Ontario’s future
Friday, February 11th, 2022
Public funding for universities in Ontario is at record low levels, while tuition fees are high, and academic work is becoming increasingly precarious… OCUFA’s recommendations are to: Increase per-student public investment… to improve Ontario’s rank by one spot among other provinces… restore the enrolment-based funding model… Implement meaningful increases to the Northern and Bilingual Grants, special purpose funding (particularly for Indigenous programming and supports), and research funding…
Tags: budget, ideology, Indigenous, participation
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