Hundreds of university and college students from across Ontario gathered Oct. 30 in Toronto and Ottawa to protest the provincial government’s decision to end the tuition fee freeze.

The Liberal government ended a two-year tuition freeze earlier this year, allowing colleges and universities the freedom to raise tuition fees an average of five per cent this fall.

Students in Toronto staged a funeral procession to mourn the death of affordable post-secondary education and passed out fliers condemning the provincial government for the tuition hike, while students in Ottawa demonstrated at the premier’s constituency office.

In conjunction with the demonstrations, petitions signed by more than 35,000 students and supporters were delivered to McGuinty’s office and the provincial legislature, calling for an increase in public funding for universities and colleges and a reduction of tuition fees.

The Canadian Federation of Students points out that student debt has more than tripled since the early 1990s as a result of governments using high tuition fees and student loans to make up for the underfunding of colleges and universities.

Students say McGuinty’s multi-year framework for tuitions announced March 8 will make matters worse and his government is abdicating its responsibility to properly fund public universities and colleges.

“Loans for many and grants for a few does not excuse tuition fee increases. McGuinty’s plan leaves students reaching higher just to get in the door with a guarantee that, for every dollar of promised financial assistance, $1.30 will be clawed back by tuition fees,” maintains Amanda Aziz, national chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students.

“Students and Ontario voters in general are outraged at Premier McGuinty for misleading us about his commitment to education,” said Isaac Cockburn, from the Carleton University Students’ Association. “Before he was premier, McGuinty was passionate in his criticism of high tuition fees. Now he’s doing exactly what he opposed when Mike Harris and Ernie Eves were doing it: allowing the fees to skyrocket.”

CFS Ontario chairperson Jesse Greener said with less than a year before the next election, polls show that three-quarters of Ontarians believe McGuinty’s decision to increase tuition fees represents another broken promise.

“Clearly Ontario voters aren’t prepared to let affordable education die quietly,” Greener said.