Education Under Siege

Ontario’s higher education sector is at a breaking point. From the systematic marketization of colleges and universities to the sustained attack on labour rights, the provincial government’s strategy is clear: treat education as a commodity rather than a social good.

Join us for a political discussion as we analyze the maneuvers of Doug Ford government’s — including the devastating shift from OSAP grants to loans, the manufactured “international student crisis,” and the broader austerity agenda threatening social equality.

We explore strategies for a labour and community-led response, highlighting ongoing student and labour fightbacks and providing a direct opportunity for attendees to plug into the organizing work necessary to defend, expand, and decommodify our public institutions.

The discussion is a part of the ongoing Higher Education Workers’ campaign of the Socialist Project. If you work at a higher education institution, we’d love to get you involved in the campaign!

This event was supported by the Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education as a part of its ongoing series of educational discussions on current labour and political struggles.

• 0:00 Introductions, Jordan House
• 4:57 Bryan Evans, Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University
• 18:50 Maddy Lee, undergraduate student at the University of Toronto and an organizer with Ontario Students Against Austerity
• 28:08 Sam Nithiananthan, community organizer on working class neighbourhood and labour issues
• 37:37 Niko Block, Ph.D. student in political science at York University, Toronto
• 52:15 Q+A

Recorded in Toronto, 23 May 2026.