Bill 33, cheerfully titled the Supporting Children and Students Act, does a lot less supporting and a lot more silencing.
Among its many overreaches, the bill would let the province decide which student fees matter—threatening the budgets that keep campus services, clubs, and publications alive. If those fees become optional, outlets like The Journal could lose critical funding, shrinking one of the last sources of student-focused, objective reporting left as local papers vanish.
Of those affected, vital student supports at Queen’s—such as the Peer Support Centre and the AMS FoodBank—could face large cuts or cease to exist. Though The Journal isn’t a peer support or food-access service, it plays a crucial role in providing truthful and accurate coverage of campus happenings.
The Journal, along with other student papers across Ontario, seeks to ensure students are up to date on the latest campus news. Without student papers, an unbiased account of the University’s operating budget, unannounced changes to events from student governments, and updates on local campus developments wouldn’t just be hard to come by; they wouldn’t exist.
Student papers fill the gaps left by mainstream outlets, covering stories others overlook, stories that shape the daily realities of campus life. From housing shortages and tuition hikes to accessibility barriers and mental health supports, these issues directly affect how students live, learn, and participate in their communities. They may not attract the same attention as Trump’s latest political maneuver, but they deserve it. Without that coverage, the challenges facing students risk going unseen and unresolved.
But it’s not just students who stand to lose. The decline of campus journalism comes at a time when news organizations across the country are already in crisis.
While Kingston still has the Kingston Whig-Standard, local papers are closing every year, making reliable local news harder to come by. Thanks to ancillary fees, campus newspapers have been largely insulated from these cuts, allowing them to partially step in when local papers are shuttered.
The decline of media outlets across Canada makes student papers more essential than ever. When Kamloops This Week shut down in 2023, only the small, donor-funded Kamloops Chronicle remained—publishing just once a month. Meanwhile, The Omega, Thompson Rivers University’s student paper, continues regular coverage of both campus and community news. The Omega shows how student journalism now fills the gaps left by shrinking local media—an increasingly common story as more papers close their doors.
Unfortunately, that’s where Bill 33 comes in. Job cuts in journalism come in waves, and when the next round hits, student papers will no longer be financially secure enough to fill that space.
Bill 33 shows a complete disregard for the future of student journalism and local reporting. If Ford’s government cared about students, it would fund their platforms, not strip them away.
Tags
Bill 33, Doug Ford, student journalism
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