Today was Canada's National Day of Action, or All Out February 1. If you're attending a university in Canada, chances are you know what this is, or have at least heard of it. But for anyone out there who might not know, the Day of Action is a day in which universities and student unions across the country band together to protest ridiculous tuition fees, among other things. Every university and province is going to be protesting something different, but it is done together on the same day.
Universities in Nova Scotia were protesting rising tuition fees - the NDP Government plans to raise tuition by 3% (after already raising it this year) and cut funding by 3%. Now let me take this space to cover a few bases: there was quite a divide in regards to this protest. Many students thought it was dumb, because 3% isn't a lot of money. Yes, I am aware, thanks to your 50 Facebook status updates, that 3% amounts roughly to $240. But that's not the point - maybe by today's standards, that isn't a lot of money. I'll gladly agree that in my eyes, $240 isn't that much. But to some people, that can make or break a chance to go to school. Hell, to some people $240 is a huge sum of money - take a homeless man standing outside Tim Hortons everyday: $240 could be a night's stay in a hotel. A night in a bed, with a bathroom, the ability to take a nice, hot shower. So though to us more fortunate, $240 is measly. But don't forget how lucky we are to be able to say that.
Luckily, you've all been so genius to offer up solutions, two of which were quite popular: something about spending less money on alcohol, and getting eight extra hours a week at work. So yes, alcohol is not a necessity, I get that. Who's to say that all these people are unable to afford an extra $240 for school because they can't give up their drinking habits? That's just a weak and unfair argument. If they can't give up alcohol, they probably didn't make it that far in school.
As for the extra hours at work? Sorry, it doesn't work that way. I can't just walk up to my boss with my hand out and say "Hey, I need eight extra hours this week," because a) I'm not the only one who works there, I can't just take other people's hours, and b) the company doesn't always have those hours to give out; they can't just pull them out of their ass. That's not to mention the many students who are unemployed - getting a job isn't exactly the easiest at these times. Though these two points are good and have some credibility behind them, please, don't bash the protest all together. It's about something bigger than that.
Nova Scotia already has the highest tuition in the country to begin with - at the very least, it should stay the same. But raising it? That's just going too far. No one went to that protest today thinking that a group of students standing on the side of the road in front the office of Darrel Dexter (who wasn't even there today) was going to completely change his mind - that's not the point. The point is to let him know that we're pissed off, and that we're not going to sit quietly when he does this. We have the right to protest, and we're damn lucky to have it, too - why not exercise that right? Who cares if it doesn't make a difference right here and now? Who's to say that it won't make a difference down the road?
I want to make my voice heard. If you don't want to protest because it's not 'that much', then go ahead and become a docile society. But here's my issue: my generation is going to be running the country and this province someday, and I'd like them to be educated - if tuition goes any higher, they won't be. At the rate things are going, we'll be headed back in time in no time - to times where the rich will stay rich and the poor will stay poor. I know no matter what we'll need to pay for post-secondary educations, and that's okay. But it should be accessible to more than one economic bracket - people should have a chance to get out of poverty.
A high school diploma doesn't cut it anymore; the bachelor's degree is what get's you a job, now. I'm lucky - neither of my parents went to university, but they ended up getting good jobs and we are in a good financial standing. They're paying for all of my school, we get to go on trips every year, and the fridge is always full. But I could easily have ended up in a different situation, and I know how lucky I am. I have friends who will come out of university with debt up to their eyeballs, and I could have been put in the same situation. So I'm there to support them, and my parents, who shouldn't have to pay this much money for me to have a chance to continue living the kind of life I live now.
In conclusion, some positives. There's strength in numbers, and there is nothing like the feeling of energy that emanates from a crowd of people who are banded together by a passion and need to express it. The group was phenomenal and respectful for the most part, and we had a lot of fun. I'm so grateful to have been a part of it and proud of everyone involved, including those who supported us apart from the physical rally. We made our voices heard, and that's what counts.
In all this anger and protest, though, let's not forget this: we are incredibly lucky to have a chance to get a post-secondary education at all.
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