Students take colleges to court
Lawyers say hidden fees went against two-year tuition freeze
It's believed to be the largest class-action suit ever launched against Ontario's colleges, and we're all involved.
The plaintiffs are challenging that the 24 Ontario colleges have been charged their students illegal ancillary fees despite the tuition freeze, that was put in place by the McGuinty government in 2004. The ancillary fees however are the crux of the matter, because as part of the freeze the colleges were told that they were not allowed to impose additional fees for things that should be covered by a student's tuition.
“The fees contested in the lawsuit are actually the IT fees, lease and purchase of laptop computers, lab fees and library fees,” said Dan Roffey, a former student at Toronto's George Brown College, and one of the two named plaintiffs in the case. “I'm on OSAP, so I'm taking out loan after loan to pay for my schooling and it's frustrating to say the least that I find out that on top of all the fees that I've already paid I'm also being charged illegal fees.”
Douglas Elliott, a partner with the Toronto law firm Roy Elliott Kim O'Connor and Lead Counsel for the students, said the disturbing part isn't just that the colleges have been charging these fees, but that the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities have been turning a blind eye to the matter.
“Obviously if you lock the front door but leave the back door wide open it doesn't really help much, does it?” said Elliott. “Effectively they've watched the college's break the rules, they've known it's been going on for years now and done nothing about it. And we're satisfied that unless the students stand up for themselves nothing's going to change, that it will just get worse.”
The lawsuit is claiming $200 million in damages, which is really just a jump-off point for the case because the amount awarded if the students win will depend on how much money the colleges have made off the practice.
“(The claim) is against all the colleges in Ontario,” Elliott continued. “And it goes back over the period of time from the tuition freeze and goes forward indefinitely as long as they keep charging these illegal fees.”
Interrobang was in contact with the office of Ontario's Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Chris Bentley, whose press secretary said that “Because it's the subject of a lawsuit we cannot say anything more than we have in the past, and that is that we (the Ministry) expect the Colleges to comply with any Ministry directives.”
But Derek McKay, one of the attorneys working with Elliot, doesn't believe the Ministry's claim that they cannot talk about the case because it's an ongoing lawsuit.
“We have made it very clear to the ministry that we do not intend to add them as a defendant to this action,” McKay explained. “Accordingly, there's no basis to the claim that they are unable to comment because they are potentially subject to litigation, or subject to this class-action litigation. It's clear that irrespective of the Min-istry's legal liability in this case they had a political responsibility clearly set out in the relevant legislation and policy directives to regulate and enforce it's own policy.”
“The Ministry knows what the rules are,” continued Elliott. “They've told the colleges to obey the rules, they know the colleges are breaking the rules, and they're not doing anything to enforce them. It's rather like the police saying ‘we expect people to obey the speed limit' but not actually enforcing it.”
“We're really trying to send a message to Mr. Bentley that this isn't ok and that they need to start paying attention to what's happening within the college system,” said Roffey. “That's what we're trying to do, hopefully to shed some light on these dubious fees. Mine was labeled ‘Administration Fee $215,' and in asking question after question at student services I couldn't get a straight answer as to what that fee was.”
The only college to comment on the matter to this point has been Conestoga, one of the named defendants. The school's President, Dr. John Tibbets, was that if the student's had a problem they should have gone through their unions and that they “… will continue charging the fees,” and “(students) have the option: don't come.”
“I'm hoping that in the context of an impending election, if the students make noise about it and don't take the kind of facile response that you got at Mr. Bentleys office at face value, the government will be forced to do something about it quickly,” said Elliott. “You're not asking for much, you're just asking for the Ministry to enforce its rules and the college's to obey the law. It doesn't sound like a lot to me, I mean what's the point of having laws if they're not enforced and obeyed.”
It's believed to be the largest class-action suit ever launched against Ontario's colleges, and we're all involved.
The plaintiffs are challenging that the 24 Ontario colleges have been charged their students illegal ancillary fees despite the tuition freeze, that was put in place by the McGuinty government in 2004. The ancillary fees however are the crux of the matter, because as part of the freeze the colleges were told that they were not allowed to impose additional fees for things that should be covered by a student's tuition.
“The fees contested in the lawsuit are actually the IT fees, lease and purchase of laptop computers, lab fees and library fees,” said Dan Roffey, a former student at Toronto's George Brown College, and one of the two named plaintiffs in the case. “I'm on OSAP, so I'm taking out loan after loan to pay for my schooling and it's frustrating to say the least that I find out that on top of all the fees that I've already paid I'm also being charged illegal fees.”
Douglas Elliott, a partner with the Toronto law firm Roy Elliott Kim O'Connor and Lead Counsel for the students, said the disturbing part isn't just that the colleges have been charging these fees, but that the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities have been turning a blind eye to the matter.
“Obviously if you lock the front door but leave the back door wide open it doesn't really help much, does it?” said Elliott. “Effectively they've watched the college's break the rules, they've known it's been going on for years now and done nothing about it. And we're satisfied that unless the students stand up for themselves nothing's going to change, that it will just get worse.”
The lawsuit is claiming $200 million in damages, which is really just a jump-off point for the case because the amount awarded if the students win will depend on how much money the colleges have made off the practice.
“(The claim) is against all the colleges in Ontario,” Elliott continued. “And it goes back over the period of time from the tuition freeze and goes forward indefinitely as long as they keep charging these illegal fees.”
Interrobang was in contact with the office of Ontario's Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Chris Bentley, whose press secretary said that “Because it's the subject of a lawsuit we cannot say anything more than we have in the past, and that is that we (the Ministry) expect the Colleges to comply with any Ministry directives.”
But Derek McKay, one of the attorneys working with Elliot, doesn't believe the Ministry's claim that they cannot talk about the case because it's an ongoing lawsuit.
“We have made it very clear to the ministry that we do not intend to add them as a defendant to this action,” McKay explained. “Accordingly, there's no basis to the claim that they are unable to comment because they are potentially subject to litigation, or subject to this class-action litigation. It's clear that irrespective of the Min-istry's legal liability in this case they had a political responsibility clearly set out in the relevant legislation and policy directives to regulate and enforce it's own policy.”
“The Ministry knows what the rules are,” continued Elliott. “They've told the colleges to obey the rules, they know the colleges are breaking the rules, and they're not doing anything to enforce them. It's rather like the police saying ‘we expect people to obey the speed limit' but not actually enforcing it.”
“We're really trying to send a message to Mr. Bentley that this isn't ok and that they need to start paying attention to what's happening within the college system,” said Roffey. “That's what we're trying to do, hopefully to shed some light on these dubious fees. Mine was labeled ‘Administration Fee $215,' and in asking question after question at student services I couldn't get a straight answer as to what that fee was.”
The only college to comment on the matter to this point has been Conestoga, one of the named defendants. The school's President, Dr. John Tibbets, was that if the student's had a problem they should have gone through their unions and that they “… will continue charging the fees,” and “(students) have the option: don't come.”
“I'm hoping that in the context of an impending election, if the students make noise about it and don't take the kind of facile response that you got at Mr. Bentleys office at face value, the government will be forced to do something about it quickly,” said Elliott. “You're not asking for much, you're just asking for the Ministry to enforce its rules and the college's to obey the law. It doesn't sound like a lot to me, I mean what's the point of having laws if they're not enforced and obeyed.”
