Pierre Poilievre does not have students’ or universities’ best interests at heart
Illustration by Sage Blackwell.
Justin Trudeau announced his resignation on Jan. 6, stating that he would step down as both Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party. In the same announcement, he said that he would be proroguing parliament — essentially suspending all parliamentary activity — until March 24.
In the last federal election, Elections Canada reported only 47 per cent of the youth demographic (18-24) voted, compared to 75 per cent of the 65-74 age group — a 28 percentage point gap. According to a National Youth poll from 2015, a disinterest in Canadian politics and the feeling that one’s vote doesn’t matter are factors which contribute to lower turnout among younger voters.
This is not the time for political apathy. Recent polling shows the Conservatives leading by a wide margin, and unless the Liberals are able to find a strong candidate to replace Trudeau, a Conservative win seems likely.
This could impact students more than one may think.
2025 was already scheduled to be an election year, with a federal election required to take place on or before Oct. 20. Prior to Trudeau’s announcement, however, Conservative members of parliament (MPs) had stated their intention to introduce a no-confidence motion in late January, when Parliament returned from its winter break.
If this motion is introduced when Parliament meets in March, it could result in a snap election, meaning UVic students could be back in the voting booth sooner than anticipated.
It could also mean a challenging few years for Canadian universities, many of which are already struggling financially.
In a CBC article, Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates, said that Canadian universities could be in for an “unpleasant few years” as they are forced to choose between making institutions cheaper to run, and finding additional funding — either from provincial governments or by raising tuition. If they can’t find the money, universities may resort to layoffs and program cuts, as many schools — including Camosun College — are anticipating.
Part of the reason universities are struggling, Usher said, is because of recently-imposed caps on international student enrolment. Without sufficient provincial funding, many Canadian universities have relied on the higher tuition costs paid by international students to stay afloat. At UVic, tuition for international students is as high as five times the amount paid by domestic students.
In September 2024, the federal government announced a ten per cent reduction in the number of international student visas to be granted in 2025 — from 485 000 to 437 000.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre vowed in September to expand international student caps, stating he would bring back the “international student system we had before Justin Trudeau.”
If Poilievre pursues this agenda, it could mean a further impoverishment of our universities and a loss of educational opportunities for students — possibly including the closure of campuses, as Ontario’s Seneca Polytechnic was forced to do at the end of the fall 2024 semester.
In addition to university budgets, academic freedoms on campus could also suffer under a Poilievre government. The Conservative leader has threatened, both on Twitter/X and in an interview with The Winnipeg Jewish Review, to target and defund “all of those with a woke anti-Semitic agenda” — including universities, as well as federally-funded museums.
One need look no further than last year’s Columbia University congressional hearings to see how easily government “concern” about speech on campus can be weaponized to silence academics and students with dissenting opinions.
Ironically, in 2022, Poilievre said he would impose a “Free Speech Guardian” on Canadian universities to “protect academic freedom and free speech from campus gatekeepers.” This idea was derided by many academics as a “massive government intrusion.”
As disappointed with Trudeau as students may be, we cannot afford to become indifferent about federal politics. The risks to post-secondary education and student welfare are too great to be ignored. Between now and the next election, students need to make their voices heard — whether that means registering to vote in the Liberal leadership race, which will be open between Jan. 27 and March 9, or by showing up on election day.
