Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Sexual Violence, Mental Health Raised During Campus Tour
Preventing sexual violence on campus and improving mental health services for postsecondary students were among the main issues students raised with Premier Kathleen Wynne during her tour of Ontario colleges and universities.
Premier Wynne wrapped up the 10-day tour on January 19, 2015. In addition to visiting several classrooms and student centres, and taking part in a town hall meeting with students, Premier Wynne participated in a roundtable meeting on campus sexual violence with the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. She also announced funding for 14 projects to help more postsecondary students get access to mental health services faster.
During the tour, Premier Wynne visited colleges and universities in Ottawa, Hamilton, London, Waterloo Region, Toronto, Mississauga, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Kingston.
Quick Facts:
- This school year, Ontario’s 30% Off Tuition grant will help about 230,000 college and university students save up to $1,780 in tuition for degree programs and $820 for diploma and certificate programs.
- The province has indexed Ontario maximum student aid levels annually to inflation, starting with the 2015-16 school year.
- Ontario has 44 colleges and universities.
Additional Resources
Quotes:
"Ontario’s colleges and universities offer our young people life-changing opportunities. With an education, you can go anywhere and do anything. I am so impressed with the way our postsecondary students are engaging in their communities, and I am inspired by their hope and optimism. They are not the leaders of tomorrow – they are leaders today."
— Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario
"Premier Wynne once again demonstrated her commitment to higher education by travelling across the province to hear directly from students. Ontario's future growth and prosperity is directly tied to people having the opportunity to pursue their passions and develop their talent and skills, and our government will continue to invest in our world-class postsecondary system to make it accessible, affordable and innovative for all students."
— Reza Moridi, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities
"Students have always been at the forefront of combatting sexual assault on campus. We applaud the Premier’s leadership in holding a student roundtable to discuss solutions to this important issue, including mandatory consent education, student-led policy development and sector-wide accountability measures?."
— Anna Goldfinch, National Executive Representative, Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario
"Student feedback should be the cornerstone of postsecondary decision making, so we are thankful that the Premier sought student opinions and ideas straight from the source. There are a lot of key issues to be addressed in Ontario's postsecondary sector: financial accessibility, adequate mental health care, effective sexual violence policies, to name just a few. Seeing the Premier reach out to engage on these complex topics is encouraging and bodes well for developing future improvements."
— Jen Carter, President, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
"We’re happy to have had Premier Wynne attend Sault College to meet with students and announce mental health investments to postsecondary education in Ontario. This was a great way for our students to meet and discuss important issues such as OSAP and Second Career Ontario with Premier Wynne, as these student voices are vital to further grow postsecondary education in Ontario. We’re looking forward to participating in the next campus tour that the Premier does."
— Matt Stewart, President, College Student Alliance
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