From coast to coast CUPE leaders joined students in demonstrating against hikes in tuition fees and the increasing privatization of post-secondary education. National President Judy Darcy, speaking at an Ottawa rally before the offices of the Business Council for National Issues, told corporate interests wanting to make a profit from colleges and universities that “our education system is not for sale.”
“That may be the corporate vision for our country,” said Darcy. “But it sure isn’t ours. Because what you end up with is a society that looks like the Titanic - where most of the first class passengers survived and most everyone else perished.”
In Vancouver, CUPE BC president Barry O’Neill condemned the attack on post-secondary education by the Liberal government.
“Five years of cuts in transfer payments have stretched our post-secondary institutions to the breaking point - and students are paying the price,” said O’Neill.
“Across the country, we’re seeing escalating tuition fees and students graduating with huge debt burdens. We’re seeing the federal government slowly abandoning its obligations to post-secondary education, and the private sector stepping in to fill the void - and make a profit.”