Statement-Unnecessary early provincial election call takes focus away from government’s failing grade, say faculty and academic librarians
STATEMENT – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), representing 18,000 university academic staff, expresses its deep disappointment in the decision to call an early election this February 27, 2025.
With Ontario universities, faculty and academic librarians, students, and their communities struggling with the reality of chronic underfunding and an affordability crisis sweeping across the province, OCUFA views this election call as a massive waste of taxpayer money – money that needs to be better spent elsewhere.
It’s a shame that this government does not – or chooses not – to recognize the significant benefits of investing in Ontario’s public universities, especially during times of economic uncertainty. Investment in our postsecondary institutions contributes approximately $96 billion annually to Ontario’s GDP, benefitting all Ontarians, and millions of dollars to local Ontario communities.
Despite these enormous benefits, this government wants the public to think that university funding is a waste of taxpayer dollars – when the evidence clearly shows the opposite.
This government’s university funding model offers universities no incentives to enroll more domestic students, even to make up for the absence of international students. Without greater public funding, projections show that approximately 100,000 qualified domestic students could be forced to look elsewhere – out of province or abroad – if they want an affordable, high quality, world-class university education.
While bringing Ontario to the current Canadian average would cost an immediate $2.78 billion – a recommendation echoed by this government’s own Blue-Ribbon Panel of experts – this still amounts to less than the $3.2 billion cost of the government’s other recent decision to send Ontarians $200 cheques!
More recently, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) revealed that the decision to expand the sale of alcohol in Ontario would cost Ontario taxpayers $1.4 billion. Of this $1.4 billion, it cost $612 million simply to speed up the rollout, a cost that could have been avoided entirely if the government simply waited a year.
Now, the decision to call an early election demonstrates yet another example of this government’s reckless decision making which draws focus away from the failing grade they are getting on investing in things that matter to our Ontarians.
“Ontario’s universities provide many positive contributions to Ontarians and their communities,” says Jenny Ahn, OCUFA’s Executive Director. “This includes knowledge generation, driving innovation, stimulating the provincial and local economies, and directly addressing the needs of the communities in which they are located. It’s clear that universities benefit all Ontarians. These tremendous benefits are at risk if Ontario continues to underfund its universities. And it’s clear that Ontario cannot afford to wait another four years to address this crisis.”
“Universities are more than just educational institutions,” says Nigmendra Narain, OCUFA President. “They are also vital parts of the communities they support, and crucial to the economic and social fabric of communities across Ontario. In some places, they are the top employer or even the major driver of economic development. Doug Ford is gambling with Ontario’s future by starving its universities. Ontario’s universities can only remain world-class by supporting the incredible contributions of university faculty, librarians, and staff and investing in our students and Ontario”
Ahn also noted that “While continuing to blame past governments, Ford has had six years to do differently. Instead, he’s wasted away billions of dollars on ill-conceived ideas, including legal fees to defend his own terrible decisions, like Bill 124. It’s also disappointing that the Ford Government placed the blame solely on the federal government for the international students’ crises unfolding on our campuses, but takes no responsibility for introducing a funding model explicitly limiting the number of Ontario students each university can enroll, which incentivizes high international student enrolment.”
Narain added, “It’s obvious: by not supporting universities, Doug Ford is hurting all Ontarians, and putting Ontario’s economic future at risk.”