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NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath held a kitchen table chat by video conference with students in Ontario who are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Horwath heard from Brandon Rheal Amyot in Orillia, Ali C. in Peterborough and Sarah Jonasson in Brantford.
Amyot is currently studying Political Science and Media Studies at Lakehead University’s Orillia campus. They were already hurt by Doug Ford’s OSAP cuts and Student Choice Initiative, and now the COVID-19 crisis could make it impossible to earn some money by working in the summer. As Amyot deals with the anxiety of not knowing how they’ll be able to pay rent next month, they can’t turn to the Indigenous Student’s Service Centre like they usually do, because the closure of campus services has made support less available.
Ali C. is working towards a Protection, Security and Investigation diploma at Fleming College’s Peterborough Campus. As the sole parent of three young children, she is now juggling child care, homeschooling ,and her own studies during the pandemic. Her days are long, and she is worried about how she will continue to manage financially, not knowing whether COVID-19 will affect OSAP levels going forward.
Jonasson is studying at Conestoga College in Brantford, working toward her diploma in Health Office Administration. She is concerned about how she will continue to keep up with bills and costs like her cell phone and medication and student debt after she had two summer job offers rescinded due to the pandemic. She lives with her parents and grandparents and is immunocompromised herself, so taking a job in essential service would put everyone at risk.
To help Ontarians like Amyot, Ali C. and Jonasson, Horwath and the NDP continue to call for provincial support for students, including:
- Supplementary Student Grants for students who are unable to find summer jobs.
- Eliminating assumed student earnings and parental contributions for any student affected by income loss in their households for the purpose of calculating OSAP.
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