'Crisis averted': U of O, Carleton students opt in on fees

Student unions at Ottawa's two major universities say their members have voted overwhelmingly to continue paying fees for campusorganizations, clubs and media.

In January, the Progressive Conservative government announced post-secondary students would be allowed to opt out of certain mandatory fees for the 2019-2020 academic year, part of wider changes to the way universitiesand collegesare funded in the province.

Thatdrew criticism from a range of campus groupsthat rely on the fees for their survival.

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But Sam Schroeder, advocacycommissioner for the University of Ottawa Students' Union (UOSU), said 79 per cent of the approximately 35,000 students the union represents have opted to continue paying toward clubs and a legal aid program,while 73 per cent supported thestudent newspaper and 72 per cent voted to continue funding the campus radio station.

"Crisis averted," Schroeder told CBC's Ottawa Morning onTuesday."They're opting into thestuff they're looking at and thinking, 'I'mgoing to participatein that,'"he said."It was better than expected. We were really happy with that."

UOSU was expecting a 70 per cent opt-in rate across the board, so any fees that come in over and above that will go into a special fund that groups can apply for.

Still, the thousands of students who did opt out meana significant drop in funding some organizations, including UOSU, which replaced the former student federation after that grouplost its status over fraud allegations.

"Running [it]more efficiently helps, but obviously there are things we could do better for students if we had that additional 20 per cent," Schroeder said.

At Carleton University, where student leaders said they were expecting an opt-in rate of just 50 per cent, 85 per cent of the undergraduate population opted in, according to Carleton University Student Association presidentLily Akagbosu.

So far, 84 per cent of graduate students have opted in.

"These numbers show clear support for student unions and is a result of our work to inform students of services and campaigns that would otherwise be impacted," wrote Namrata Tilokani, vice-president of Carleton's grad student association.

Fees for some programsat Carleton remained mandatory, including the walksafe program, health and counselling services, athletics and recreation, and academic support.