Students from Nicholson Catholic College took over Market Square in Belleville on Tuesday afternoon, in protest of Premier Doug Ford’s cuts to OSAP.
A group of nearly 200 students marched from the school, through the downtown, waving signs and shouting for Ford to reverse the cuts that have slashed grant funding for post-secondary students’ tuition.
Anna Baldwin Powell, the protest’s organizer, said that the cuts would impact over 200,000 students who depend on the program to fund their education.
“As high school students, our post-secondary education is coming very, very fast,” said Baldwin Powell. “A lot of families here are lower income, and with OSAP that makes post secondary accessible for everyone.”
Before the cuts to funding, students could recieve 85% of their provincial OSAP funding as a grant, with only 15% as a repayable loan. Now only 25% would be considered a grant, and 75% becomes a loan that requires repayment.
One of the protesting students, Annika Hirt, said that the cuts were unfair to students from lower income areas.
“Everyone deserves a fair chance at post-secondary school,” said Hirt. “I believe that OSAP cuts will only do more harm than good in the long run of things.”
The students are sending a letter to Bay of Quinte MPP Tyler Allsopp, urging him to push to have the changes reversed.
Protests have been planned by secondary school students across the province, with many set to take place tomorrow. Belleville’s Centennial Secondary School is one of the schools where students are set to walk out of classes.
Student protest organizer Anna Baldwin Powell addresses the crowd of students in Market Square during their protest. Photo: Alan-Michael Steele, Quinte News
