‘The system requires students adopt a fatalistic perspective,’ says student demanding free education

Students, professors and community members gathered in front of University of New Brunswick’s library to demand free education and relief from a system that chips away at their mental health and futures. The rally was organized by the UNB Student Organizing Collective and the Young Communist League (YCL).

Hassan Mehmood was the only student to speak at the rally on Nov. 20, a national day of action for education. He noted that the lack of free tuition is not due to a lack of resources or funding. Instead, he argued, it stems from the increasing corporatization of universities.

“The problem with this is that corporations, like totalitarian states, can implement brutal policies to increase their bottom line because the population, in this case students, remain passive,” Mehmood explained.

“The system requires students adopt a fatalistic perspective, seeing no way out,” said the math graduate student, suggesting that the stress, anxiety, and disengagement that many students feel are all deliberate outcomes of this exploitative system. It’s designed to keep students overwhelmed and silent, making it easier to exploit them without resistance.

Despite this, Mehmood delivered a message of hope: “They want us to be despondent and unengaged. We must work against that. We fight against this by community organizing, holding events like these, and doing it in a manner that people who participate feel like it is a community that has their back. We don’t have to be alienated and fighting alone like they want us to be.”

A number of professors also spoke in favour of free education.

St. Thomas University professor Mathew Hayes said, “Students are experiencing physical illness, ulcers, sleeping problems, and mental health issues because of this stress. They work 20, 30, sometimes up to 40 hours a week while studying full-time just to stay in school. They’re struggling to afford rent, food, and tuition, which is more expensive than ever. This is just not fair,” Hayes emphasized. He argued that the financial burdens placed on students have far-reaching consequences.

“Students are making decisions based on fear,” Hayes said, describing how financial pressures force them to cut corners in their education—choosing to read less, for example, and enduring a stressful, diminished university experience. These choices, Hayes argued, are not without consequence. They have enormous ramifications for society, deepening social divisions and reinforcing a privilege-based hierarchy.

Hayes explained that students from privileged backgrounds can fully immerse themselves in university life, reaping the true value of their education and securing a brighter future. Meanwhile, those without such privilege are left chasing “just a credential,” unable to access the true transformative potential of a university education. “It’s a tragic irony,” Hayes said, “that something meant to be a vehicle for freedom and social mobility has become a mechanism to perpetuate inequality.”

St. Thomas University professor Tracy Glynn also spoke at the rally and emphasized the staggering financial burden on students in New Brunswick. “Students graduating from New Brunswick are, on average, $40,000 in debt, ” she said, noting that’s just the average. Some students are in far greater debt. She said the province holds the second-highest student debt rate in the country.

As a professor of international students, Glynn shared her concern for their well-being. “I’ve had to talk to my students outside of class because I’m worried about their mental health,” she said, highlighting the immense pressure they face. She was encouraged to see “fairness for international students” as one of the rally’s calls to action, especially in light of recent government policy changes.

“These new caps on undergraduate and graduate international students will result in 300,000 fewer international students overall, 175,000 fewer post-graduate work permit holders, and an additional 200,000 could be forced to leave after completing their studies,” said Glynn.

Glynn further notes that international students are now restricted from bringing their families during their studies, removing essential support systems crucial for their well-being. Additionally, they are limited to working only 24 hours per week off campus, a constraint that may push some towards precarious and undocumented employment to meet their financial needs.

University of New Brunswick professor Sabine LeBel highlighted the direct link between declining provincial funding for post-secondary education—a trend towards heavy privatization of education—and the rising debt burdens carried by students. “In the last fiscal year, the former premier boasted that the New Brunswick government has a surplus of 500 million dollars. This came less than two years before UNB raised tuition by 2 per cent,” she said.

LeBel argued that the province has the resources to invest in education but has chosen not to. “Canada is one of the richest countries in the world,” she noted, “If Germany, Finland, Greece, Argentine, Brazil, India, and so many other countries can afford to fund public education, so can Canada, it is a political question, not an economic one.”

The students and professors were joined by Fredericton Lincoln MLA and Green Party of New Brunswick leader David Coon.

“We’re supposed to be treating post-secondary education like health care and public schooling,” Coon said. “Not drawing an artificial line after high school where suddenly this enormous, expensive proposition is thrust upon you.”

Coon spoke of the human cost of rising tuition: “All kinds of people are falling through the cracks or are forced to leave because they can’t keep up with the cost. It’s a terrible situation, and it is wholly unnecessary.”

Coon called for a fundamental shift in perspective, urging the crowd to demand education be recognized as a right, not a privilege. “We know that students are burning out,” he said. “Stretching themselves so tightly just to stay afloat—it doesn’t have to be this way.”

June Patterson, an organizer of the rally, took aim at the absence of student unions at the event. She criticized the University of New Brunswick Student Union (UNBSU) for avoiding political engagement, stating, “The UNBSU won’t support this because they claim they can’t do politics. We need student unions to do their jobs.”

Patterson argued that many student unions have devolved into mere service providers or social clubs, acting as résumé boosters for ambitious students rather than platforms for systemic change.

“We need fighting student unions. We need to reinvigorate the student union!” she declared, to the strong approval of the crowd.

She went on to condemn policies that prevent student unions from engaging in political activity, calling out how these rules often stifle advocacy on topics like free tuition.

Patterson highlighted the University of New Brunswick Student Union (UNBSU) and the St. Thomas University Students’ Union (STUSU) for their affiliation with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), which she described as a right-leaning national body that discourages political engagement and advocates for predictable increases in tuition fees.

“We need to leave that organization, take back our student unions, and disaffiliate from CASA,” Patterson urged. Her rallying cry was met with resounding cheers, the loudest erupting as she called for students to reclaim their unions from what she described as “yellow unions and collaborators.”

Amer El-Samman is a graduate student and political activist based in Fredericton, Canada.