Canada's public post-secondary education system has come to a crossroads.
More than fifteen years ago, the student movement was in a position where it had to resist a government intent on slashing funding for public programs in order to reduce its deficit. The federal government made historic cuts to social transfers, causing average tuition fees to double and student debt to triple.
Today we find ourselves in similar economic circumstances to those that precipitated the massive cutbacks in the 1990s.
With Canada's public post-secondary system already dangerously underfunded, a new period of deep spending cuts could threaten the very nature of our public university and college system.
The fight for public education in Canada does not exist in a vacuum. Rather, it is part of a global effort to maintain education as a basic right for all. Around the world, governments are tabling "austerity" budgets containing massive cuts to post-secondary education and other public services.
In country after country, ordinary people are refusing to allow a crisis caused by the deregulation of international markets and corporate greed to threaten the public good. In many cases, students are the ones leading this struggle.
The Education is a Right campaign is the manifestation of our collective vision for a strong public post-secondary education system that builds a fair, equitable, and prosperous society.
