Laurier students protest Ford's OSAP cuts

Students from Wilfrid Laurier University rallied at Veterans' Green on Tuesday afternoon to protest the province's cuts of the Ontario Student Assistance Plan. 

Last week, the provincial government announced it is cutting tuition fees by 10 per cent but also eliminating a Liberal initiative which afforded free tuition for students from low income families.

On Tuesday, a crowd of approximately 60 people gathered at the corner of Hazel Street and University Avenue in Waterloo, demanding that Doug Ford to change his mind. 

"This is really going to affect everybody, not just low income families but also like everybody that wants to go to university. Like, it's very disheartening to see something like this happen," said Ayah Hamaoui, a first-year student who relies on OSAP. 

The province also said that colleges and universities are expected to absorb the cost of the 10 per cent tuition cut. 

"[Institutions] will make choices in terms of what they need to do, they will be able to determine what they need to do to change, to adapt and innovate," Training, Colleges and Universities Minister Merrliee Fullerton said last week. 

As a low-income student, Hamaoui said the 10 per cent reduction won't help her. 

"This is not going to help me like at all, because the money I saved from that, I'm just going to end up spending on text books, so it doesn't really do anything for me," she said. 

"We hope to see the government siding with us and see how many people this is affecting and... really think about the decisions they make in the future," Hamaoui said.