Yahoo Finance Students to protest at Confederation Building as House of Assembly begins fall session
Students and community groups are planning to protest outside the Confederation Building in St. John's on Monday afternoon, as the House of Assembly resumes for the fall session inside.
In a statement, the Canadian Federation of Students Newfoundland and Labrador (CFS-NL) said it is organizing the event to call on the provincial government "to take action to ensure a future for Newfoundland and Labrador where everyone thrives."
The CFS-NL said speakers at the protest will address cuts to post-secondary education and rising tuition, as well as racial justice, climate justice, labour justice, disability justice and accessible education.
The organization said the event is also in response to the sweeping report from the premier's economic recovery team — also known as the Greene Report, named for the team's chair Moya Greene — and the 2021 provincial budget that followed.
In May, the Greene Report called for cuts to health care spending and post-secondary operating grants to address the province's troubled fiscal situation, and the province announced it would be phasing out the $68 million a year it gives to Memorial University to maintain the freeze on tuition costs over the next five years.
As a result, MUN announced it will increase tuition rates to $6,000 per year for students from Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the rest of Canada. Tuition for international students will jump to $20,000 per year.
NAPE, the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, Black Lives Matter Newfoundland and Labrador and the Anti-Racism Coalition, among other groups, will also join Monday's protest, according to the CFS-NL.
Monday's protest is the third organized by CFS-NL since the release of the Greene Report. It is set to begin at 1 p.m. NT, just half an hour before MHAs take their seats in the House.
