These Ontario students protesting against OSAP cuts are wearing red squares. Here’s why | CBC News
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A simple red felt square — a symbol of student resistance from more than a decade ago in Quebec — is making a resurgence on Ontario campuses this week.
Red squares attached by a safety pin were handed out by volunteers at the University of Waterloo’s Student Life Centre on Monday.
Dubbed red square day by organizers, the event was held ahead of a planned mass protest on Wednesday calling for the provincial government to reverse its plans to change the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).
Damien Mihkail, president of the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA), stopped to take a red square pin from the volunteers on Monday.
“The red square, to me, means that I value that education isn’t gated behind income, gated behind your family background,” Mikhail told CBC News.
“Everyone should be able to live the life that they’re trying to live, or at least have a fair shot at it.”
Volunteers handed out red squares at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus Monday afternoon.
Nora Schwindt, a sociology student at Laurier who runs a protest page on Instagram, explained the red square was chosen “because of the 2011/2012 protests in Quebec against a similar situation.”
“We’re adopting this symbol because they were successful in standing against the government and getting those changes reversed,” Schwindt said. “The symbol is already used and known and we are hoping that will help us.”
An Instagram account called Ontario Protest noted red square days were planned at other campuses on Monday including University of Ottawa, McMaster University in Hamilton, Brock University in St. Catharines, Humber College in Toronto, Western University in London, Toronto Metropolitan University and Durham College in Oshawa. University of Guelph’s Central Student Association was scheduled to hold an event on Tuesday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he has been fielding thousands of complaints since the province announced sweeping changes to its OSAP program. He’s urging students not to pick “basket-weaving courses,” and instead invest in education that gives them in-demand jobs, like health care or trades.
Premier Doug Ford announced the cuts to OSAP late last month with the expectation that they will kick in this fall.
The new program would see grants making up only 25 per cent of total financial aid, while loans will rise to 75 per cent. This marks a major shift from the previous system, where students received up to 85 per cent of their aid as grants and up to 15 per cent as loans.
Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research, Excellence and Security Nolan Quinn told CBC News the changes are an investment, saying the benefits of post-secondary education outweighs financial pressures.
“To me, it’s money well spent on the student side,” Quinn said.
Some students in Waterloo region who are attending or applying to post-secondary school told CBC K-W’s The Morning Edition they’re “discouraged” by the OSAP cuts.
History of Quebec protests
In February 2012, thousands of students across Quebec walked out of classes in protest of the province’s attempt to raise tuition.
They didn’t return to class until September.
Over the seven months of sustained protest, the red square became a prominent symbol that students brandished on their clothes, as well as on flags and signs.
The Morning Edition – K-W4:56What is Red Square Day?
Students at the University of Waterloo were handing out red squares yesterday. It’s meant to highlight concerns over the province’s cut to OSAP grants. It was all part of an effort to build support for a province-wide student protest Wednesday.
Vincent Raynauld is associate professor in the department of communication studies at Emerson College in Boston who grew up in Quebec and who specializes in protest and political movements.
He recalls the red square as a “rallying cry” for students that were dissatisfied with tuition hikes affecting their ability to afford an education.
The University of Waterloo’s Ontario Protest Instagram account created a post explaining the red square as meaning “squarely in the red,” a turn of phrase for the debt students worry about garnering as a result.
Raynauld said it made sense the square is reappearing in Ontario 14 years later.
“I’m not really surprised that this group of students would be … using the red square as another rallying cry to get people to push back against what is perceived to be actions that are detrimental to students in Ontario,” Raynauld said.
Walkouts planned
On Wednesday, hundreds of students are expected to arrive at Queen’s Park in Toronto — some with red squares pinned to their chests.
Student unions from around the province are encouraging students to take trips up to Toronto for the rally or are planning their own demonstrations in solidarity.
The University of Guelph’s Central Student Association and Conestoga Students Inc. have endorsed the rally in Toronto on their Instagram pages.
The Laurier Student Union is encouraging students to engage with the movement. Schwindt said that some Laurier students are planning to go to the rally in Toronto.
WUSA put the idea of holding a student strike to a vote. Out of 3,536 students that voted — just over 10 per cent of eligible voters — it was announced on Monday that 94 per cent voted yes to strike action.
That means students are planning to walk out of class at 11 a.m. Wednesday and meet near the Dana Porter Library for a rally.
“There is a history when it comes to students making their voices heard and governments hearing that and provinces hearing that.” Mikhail said.
“It’s important to carry on the legacy and show that things can change … and that students can have their voices heard in big ways.”