for Colleges, Universities, Research, Excellence and Security, MPP Peggy Sattler - (Screen Capture via Peggy Sattler YouTube channel)

The NDP’s Shadow Minister and Critic for Colleges, Universities, Research, Excellence and Security, MPP Peggy Sattler, is calling on the Ford government to fund the province’s colleges sufficiently.

“Ontario’s public colleges power our economy. They train the next generation of talent, create good jobs in communities across our province, and help shape the future of our province,” said Sattler.

“Under Ford’s watch, our public colleges and universities are languishing. Ontario has the lowest per-student college funding in the country. But in the latest budget, the Conservatives cut $2 billion from post-secondary education, putting the future of thousands of jobs and hundreds of thousands of students at risk.”

More than 10,000 full-time support staff at Ontario’s 24 publicly-funded colleges went on strike as of 12:01 A.M. on Thursday.

This comes after the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Employer Council (CEC) failed to reach a new agreement.

“10,000 college workers have already lost their jobs, one of the biggest mass layoffs in the province’s history. This didn’t happen by accident,” added Sattler. “This is death by a thousand cuts from Doug Ford’s Conservative government.”

“Ford’s refusal to invest in post-secondary education, while at the same time funnelling public dollars to private trainers, has created one of the worst crises Ontario’s colleges have ever faced.”

In the region, picket lines are set up at the Confederation College campuses in Thunder Bay, Dryden, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout and Fort Frances.

Classes are continuing, and campuses remain open.