The University of Toronto has often prided itself on its prestigious status as a leading academic institution. Unfortunately, this does not mean that it has been willing to give its employees job security, decent pay, or healthy work conditions at the university. Teaching assistants, lab instructors, and a number of other academic staff are challenging these conditions of work, a struggle that we, as Fightback, wholeheartedly support.

Thousands of students across Canada came out to protest skyrocketing tuition fees on the National Day of Action, organized by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).  The demos wonderfully demonstrated the fighting energy of students, showing that young people are anything but apathetic. With such a magnificent demonstration of youth and student resistance, the pressing question is, where forward from here? How do we build a grassroots, activist, and effective student movement that can actually win free post-secondary education?

Even following the removal of the Occupy Toronto camp at St. James Park, the bourgeois media continues to attack the #Occupy movement.  In December, Fightback activists Farshad Azadian and Matt Gardner, both of whom actively participated at Occupy Toronto, appeared on CFRB NewsTalk 1010, a popular Toronto talk-radio station.  They debate right-wing host Jerry Agar and discuss why movements like #Occupy have arisen.

The global Occupy Movement swept across Toronto on the weekend of 15th October. For five weeks, protesters engaged in daily protests, coordinated around the St. James Park encampment, until the police-enforced eviction on 23rd November 2011. Over this period, thousands of youth have, for the first time, entered into political activity. The supposedly apathetic and disinterested young generation erupted into a mass youth movement from almost nowhere. The movement has been able to resonate beyond the youth, and attracted support from working people and trade unionists.

Over 200,000 Quebec students went on strike on Thursday (10th November) against the tuition increases being imposed on them by the Quebec Liberal government. Premier Jean Charest's proposes to increase post-secondary tuition fees by a total of $1,625 over the next five years, the biggest tuition increase in the province’s history.  Combined with a previous $500 increase by the Liberal government, this amounts to a 125% increase in the amount that Quebec students must pay for post-secondary education.  The indignation that has swept throughout society against this is astounding and clearly manifested itself throughout the strike.

The Quebec Liberals' budget presented earlier this year contained many worrisome tidbits for workers and students in the province.  Choosing their battles carefully, the Liberals have aimed their first attacks primarily at Quebec's students.  The government’s proposed plan, which is to come into effect for the 2012 fall semester, is to hike tuition fees by $325/year over five years, which amounts to a total fees increase of $1,625. This is on top of the $500 increase spread over five years, which the government started in 2007.  Quebec students have reacted by promising to strike this coming Thursday, possibly involving as many as 150,000 students.

Echoing the Wall Street protests in the United States, young people in Toronto are joining together to mobilize against the agenda of the financial oligarchs. In only the last couple of days, over 15,000 have taken to the streets to demonstrate against Wall Street. These thousands include nurses, teachers, transit workers, and other trade unionists. The importance of participation from workers, and more specifically from organized labour, cannot be overemphasized.

Quality post-secondary education is increasingly becoming an unattainable dream for many working-class youth in Canada.  Since 2000, tuition fees have doubled, on average, with no end in sight.  This is coupled with very high rates of youth unemployment, more than double the average rate for all workers.  Free education is the key demand which can unite hundreds of thousands of working-class youth.  It is vital that our organizations, especially the Canadian Federation of Students and the NDP, adopt this demand and make it a central part of their platform.

Figures from Statistics Canada show how youth in Canada, and around the world, are being unjustly forced to bear the heavy burden of the capitalist crisis. While corporations worldwide continue to maximize profits, youth are suffering record unemployment rates that leave them susceptible to poverty, a lack of housing and education, and an increased risk of violence and conflict with the law.

The UofT General Assembly, initiated primarily by a group of left-wing students at the University of Toronto, was launched on January, 2011. The first gathering of the assembly saw a hall packed with some 200 students, workers and community members. Many experienced activists were present. More importantly, however, was the participation of a significant number of youth who were recently politicized and interested in organizing.