Young Workers

Sid Ryan, Guest Columnist Article Appeared in Print Edition: Saturday, June 2, 2012 Read the...

Numerous National Post columnists have argued that striking Quebec students should just accept higher tuition rates. I don’t get that argument. In Ireland, where I’m from, education is free from kindergarten through university. It seems absurd to me that we charge our young people any college or university fees at all, given that their skills and knowledge will propel our economy.

Megan Harris appears blind to her own double standard. She complains about the efforts of students to bring accessible post-secondary education to Ontario, then she admits to moving from Toronto in 1990 to study at a much more affordable Montreal university where she escaped Ontario’s punishingly high tuition fees. For 14 weeks, more than 150,000 striking college and university students have been joined by thousands of citizens of all ages and backgrounds in overwhelmingly peaceful protests against the plan of Quebec Premier Jean Charest to double tuition fees.

(Montréal, Québec) — Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) President Sid Ryan is today calling on the Ontario student movement to follow the lead of Québec students in taking to the streets to stop punishingly high tuition fees. All three OFL officers, including OFL Secretary-Treasurer Nancy Hutchison and Executive Vice-President Irwin Nanda, will be joining a mass rally in Montréal today to protest skyrocketing tuition fees and draconian laws to suppress civil rights.

As the global community recognizes May 17 as the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Ontario LGBT community is making gains in human rights and protections, one legislative step at a time. After its fourth introduction before the Ontario Legislature, Bill 33, the Right to be Free from Discrimination and Harassment Because of Gender Identity or Gender Expression Act, 2012, has finally been passed through Second Reading. The bill, commonly known as “Toby’s Act,” was debated and voted on for the first time ever in the Ontario Legislature, and has now been referred to the Standing Committee on Social Policy.

From March 30 to April 1, the OFL hosted its first-ever Equity Retreat at the...