By Victoria Surla
Almost six months after the decision to strike down the Student Choice Initiative (SCI) was appealed in court by Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative Government, the Court of Appeal for Ontario announced today that the appeal has been dismissed.
“Today’s ruling reflects what students have been saying across the province, the Ford government’s assault democratic processes and student unions is not only unnecessary but unlawful,” said Kayla Weiler, National Executive Representative for CFS-O, in a press release issued after the decision was published. “Students’ unions exist on campuses around the world to provide students with a united voice, advocate for change and operate essential support services. Ontario’s students deserve the same and it is not the place of the Premier or Minister to interfere with long-standing democratic processes.”
The SCI was first introduced by the Ford government in January 2019 and was struck down by the Ontario Divisional Court in November 2019, with Ontario announcing its intention to appeal shortly afterward. Ford’s government argued the policy gave students the option of opting out of non-essential tuition fees at post-secondary institutions, but many, including CFS-O, saw it as an attempt to limit the influence and dissent of student advocacy groups like student unions and campus newspapers.
Although only in place for one academic term, the SCI had a substantially negative impact on the financial stability of many post-secondary student unions and institutions around Ontario, some of which are still recovering to this day. Though approaches and results varied across the province, the SCI resulted in a widespread loss of funding for many student groups and services, with campus media taking a particularly hard hit.
“It tried to defund the student unions that not only provide a lot of services for students on campus, but also represent students with their rights on campus and also their academic rights on campus too,” says Weiler.
“This is the work the student unions at colleges and universities both take on, and it’s part of the main reason why they exist and were established in the first place.”
The appeal involved the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, the CFS-O, the York Federation of Students (YFS), along with the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) serving as an intervenor.
In its press release, the CFS-O called on the government to “respect the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeals” and “prioritize funding and safety precautions needed during this pandemic, rather than taking democratic student organizations to court and wasting public money better spent elsewhere”.
