Frustrated Ontario college students strike back with class-action lawsuit

Case seeks tuition refunds in bid to end job action as faculty across province votes

Frustrated Ontario students are striking out on their own — via the courts and over the airwaves — in a bid to put pressure on the colleges and put an end to the almost fiveweek-old job action by instructors.

On Tuesday, a class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of the province’s 500,000 students, seeking tuition and fee refunds from the colleges based on lost class time — with full refunds for those who choose to drop out.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa, the Algonquin Students’ Association launched a $20,000 media campaign urging their teachers to vote in favour of the latest offer from the College Employer Council — because at this point, they say, it’s the fastest way to end the strike.

“We’re just trying to find any way to influence or get students back to class” and are not picking sides, said student union president Victoria Ventura, who is featured in the radio ad and video.

Faculty across the province began voting on Tuesday on the latest offer from the colleges — a move the colleges requested after talks with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union broke down. Voting continues until Thursday morning and results should be available later that day.

Should at least 50 per cent, plus one, of faculty approve it, they will be back on the job early next week. Should they reject it, the job action will continue. Talks could resume, but it is unclear when the government would step in.

At Queen’s Park, post-secondary Minister Deb Matthews said the government has to let the process unfold, and in any case is “very limited in what we can do.”

“We can’t just introduce back-towork legislation because (we) want the strike to end,” she said.

The government is not looking at tuition refunds now, but she has already told colleges that their net sav- ings from the strike — estimated to be in the $5-million range — must be reinvested into a fund for struggling students.

“They are the ones paying the price,” Matthews said.

Caitlin Foulon, a first-year student at Fanshawe College in London, is one of the plaintiffs in the proposed class-action lawsuit that alleges breach of contract.

“Honestly, we just want our tuition back and our fees that we paid out of pocket,” said Foulon, who is studying special events planning.