Student involvement, transit and international student tuition fees were just some of the topics covered at a recent student town hall with Minister Mitzie Hunter.
“This is the second town hall that we are hosting with the goal of creating a platform for young people to engage directly with their elected representatives,” said Sitharsana Srithas, President of the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU).
Last semester, the SCSU partnered with the Centennial College Students Association Incorporated (CCSAI) for a student town hall that brought Toronto Mayor John Tory to campus. That discussion demonstrated the strong interest young people have in civic engagement, said Srithas.
“This year there are two great opportunities to create policy changes around tuition fees, transit and other student issues. We can push our agenda to the forefront with both the upcoming provincial and municipal election to ensure that the voices and the needs of students are a priority,” she said.
Participants were welcomed to attend and discuss issues in-person with Hunter, the Scarborough-Guildwood Member of Provincial Parliament and Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development.
In her opening remarks, Hunter – a proud U of T Scarborough alumna – reflected on her time as a student and how she “wanted to make a difference.”
“I wanted my life to mean something and to be able to have impact – to change the world,” she said.
For Hunter changing the world became a reality through work with a government that she says believes in making necessary investments so that “everybody has an opportunity in society.” She spoke of the provinces recent reform of the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), financial aid and the importance of making sure students are graduating with less debt.
She encouraged the gathered crowd to ask, “what are we going to do, not what’s wrong, but what are we going to do to make things better?”
Throughout the Q & A period, she echoed the message of working together to create positive change in the region and participating in civic engagement.
Students asked questions on topics such as transit, policy in regards to Indigenous Peoples, housing, food insecurity, international tuition fees and financial aid.
A town hall participant said that Ontario politics tend to be very Toronto-centric and asked what was being done about outlying cities, their commute times and development.
Hunter pointed to critical investments that are happening in Scarborough, noting the Liberal provincial government’s commitment to extending the Kennedy bus lines. When it was mentioned that one line expanding downtown is not enough, Hunter agreed and said a network is needed.
“I’m also fighting to expand the LRT from Kennedy station along Eglinton, Kingston Rd, right to the UTSC campus, so that students can get where they need to go faster and more efficiently,” said Hunter.
During the town hall, Hunter was asked about the provincial government’s projects to make post-secondary more accessible for Indigenous students. Hunter empathized the importance of respecting the original stewards of Ontario and acknowledging the historical realities of colonialism and how it impacts Indigenous Peoples today.
Hunter spoke of the “Journey Together Program,” announced in 2017 as Ontario’s commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples with an investment of over $250 million over three years on programs and actions focused on reconciliation through Indigenous partnerships. She noted that one of those actions includes working on increasing representation of Indigenous professors and instructors in academic spaces.
Throughout the evening, several students asked about tuition, the gaps between international and domestic tuition fees and financial support for students in Masters and PhD programs. Hunter encouraged students to check out the many new changes and grant opportunities made available through OSAP changes mentioning more upfront grant support as opposed to loans and making education more accessible to students.
Following the town hall, Srithas said the turnout and engagement again confirm that students care, particularly during this election campaign season.
“These events make it evident that students will definitely go to the polls and ask questions, talk about the issues and hold their elected representatives accountable,” said Srithas.
