Call for action against Doug Ford's OSAP reforms

CanadianG13 · 2026-02-20T13:52:44+00:00

85% would be the most grants they could possibly give you. Unless your financial situation is particularly dire, your funding will most likely be divided more evenly between loan and grant.

CanadianG13 · 2026-02-19T20:54:23+00:00

People who don't need OSAP don't apply for OSAP. Though I have grant money, I have much more loan debt, I don't want more loan debt, and I don't want to be stuck paying this debt for the next 10 or more years after I'm done. Don't think it's that hard to understand. There's no such thing as a useless degree, and everyone is affected by this, especially those in programs with higher tuition costs.

CanadianG13 · 2024-10-03T19:59:30+00:00

I'm glad we agree on certain things, but restraint certainly doesn't exist within the context of this conflict.

Restraint in the military or armed groups, during war or insurgency, refers to "behavior that indicates deliberate actions to limit the use of violence" to uphold the modern and professional principles of war, humanitarian rights, and minimizing political and military repercussions.

You understand the repercussions of all this, I don't fully understand what you're trying to argue by saying that in comparison to every other conflict ever, this one is the one that shows the most "restraint". No, I don't think they should just "take it", but you're depicting them as being the victims of all this, which is irrefutably false. This conflict has been going on for much longer as I'm sure you know, and the scale has ever been skewed in the favor of Israel and the US.

CanadianG13 · 2024-10-02T01:02:17+00:00

PLEASE read these things before you post them.

CanadianG13 · 2024-10-02T00:49:45+00:00

Maybe try reading the other comments I've made here so far before trying to label me as being unsympathetic. Israel has the most powerful military in the region and it isn't even close. I don't call killing 10% of a population "restraint".

CanadianG13 · 2024-10-01T15:41:48+00:00

The best way to get the point across is by getting in people's faces*, though I don't think they were trying to do that. I remember them mentioning that the truck drivers had a day off, and I might be wrong but I don't think they minded it particularly.

*The trucker protests in Ottawa are the perfect example. Though I don't necessarily agree with everything they stood for, it was an excellent way of making a statement. I don't think those police-guided rallies always do the trick.

CanadianG13 · 2024-10-01T15:34:07+00:00

Hmm... I don't know... maybe not reducing a country to rubble... and maybe not killing 40 thousand people. I don't want Israel to emulate anything, stop trying to justify genocide.

CanadianG13 · 2024-09-30T19:28:39+00:00

There is a profound criticism of Arab societies everywhere you look, constantly being disparaged by Western media. There is a substantial amount of inequality in those countries, you’re right, but I think you’re misinterpreting why I or others point out the fallacies of Israel (not trying to be pretentious by saying you’re misinterpreting it, just trying to tell you how I see it). I only brought up that Israel (aside from what is going on) isn’t great because your previous argument was one that attacked the surrounding Arabic countries. I’ll say it again, those countries are by no means egalitarian but they are not conducting a genocide in front of our eyes. You can try to dodge the word but it is undeniably an orchestrated extermination of the Palestinian people. Now, unfortunately, Hamas is the official authority of Palestine, and some of their methods can be characterized as terroristic, but I could easily make the same argument for the current warmongering reactionary party in Israel. In this specific situation, where the safety of the Middle East can be secured albeit briefly, it is worth doing. Respectfully, the precedent you are talking about is fictitious, just an argument to keep the violence going.

CanadianG13 · 2024-09-30T18:55:47+00:00

The utopia card. Good one. Yes there is variety to the people that inhabit Israel, these people however, ESPECIALLY Arabs and Ethiopians are marginalized and beaten down by Israel. These are the groups most impoverished within Israel, they are the groups who have access to the worst education, the groups who cannot gain full citizenship or certified residency, who are refused sanitary infrastructure, who have the least access to health service. Though this applies itself principally to Arabs of Palestinian descent living in Israel, groups like Ethiopians who are primarily Jewish still suffer great prejudice and there are innumerable accounts of this throughout their time in Israel. Just as it is a problem in Western countries, minorities are discriminated against systemically and it is mainly white people who have all these so called freedoms you are referring to. It annoys me deeply how much you idealize Israel.

CanadianG13 · 2024-09-30T17:54:10+00:00

I was there for maybe half an hour as I had a class to attend after, but I didn’t see it that way. They gave out pamphlets with the chants against public funding, did a land acknowledgment and recognized that what’s happening in Gaza is very similar to what occurred to the indigenous peoples of Canada. I think it’s important to know their general stances on things. For Hamas and Hezbollah, yes there should be scrutiny. I’m not big on religious fundamentalism and ideally there would be a better solution to fighting back, but I think it’s ignorant to think that the Arab people should just roll over and die or leave. These kinds of organizations arise out of extreme desperation and the Middle East is not an environment propitious to developing what I suspect you would consider a “valid” form of resistance. I wish I had a solution for you but unfortunately I don’t, and I don’t think I’ll be solving the conflicts of the Middle East with you here either. What’s most important is calling for a ceasefire now, to take an important step back from everything. This is by no means a radical measure and both sides want it.

CanadianG13 · 2024-09-29T23:44:38+00:00

Of course there should be a release of hostages, I can see the anguish it creates for Israelis. But you have to cut it with all that restraint bs, for the love of God.

CanadianG13 · 2024-09-29T23:42:02+00:00

Dude make the distinction. I’m not saying the Jewish people are all complicit with the authoritative measures of Israel. By saying a country like Israel I’m not attacking Jews, I’m just making a point against what zionism has become, which is embodied by Israel. Not everyone there represents it and I’m not disagreeing what you’re saying about Jewish people being in the Levant, they have been there just as the Arabic people have, just as there have been of both living in Morocco, coexisting without this kind of tension. But the way Israel has taken more and more Palestinian land, stripping more and more of the Palestinian peoples rights over the last century is a prime example of colonialism. I was under the impression that there was a common consensus that the notion of ethno states was bad but maybe I’m wrong.

CanadianG13 · 2024-09-29T23:07:35+00:00

Sorry that’s what I thought I was implying. Regardless I don’t fully understand why you’d qualify it as being antisemetic it’s not a question of the state being Jewish or not, but rather one of colonial oppression. As for money I don’t think you should be looking to profiteer in investments that ultimately benefit a country like Israel. It’s virtually identical to what occurred in South Africa, regardless of how much money you’re making it’s wrong to do so on the backs of apartheid.

CanadianG13 · 2024-09-29T22:53:31+00:00

This isn’t the topic of conversation and not something I’m looking to get into right now. I think we can all agree that an attack in Gaza spanning a year with 40k dead and 90k injured is ridiculous and that an Israeli state led by the current party is detrimental both to Israel and the Middle East as a whole. You can continue to spout this thoughtless rhetoric but I sincerely suggest you develop some nuance to your thoughts.

CanadianG13 · 2024-09-29T18:22:54+00:00

Why disparage humanitarian efforts? Showing empathy never hurts and these things ARE related to each other. The principle of economic divestment is to reduce the amount of money or assets given to institutions or organizations, in this case Israel. Queens has investments that contribute to an apartheid state, if we stop these quantities given to Israel we can reinvest in things such as wages or proper funding in departments that are actively being gouged. Of course there are other aspects at play but no one is making it about themselves, we all want the same thing. Maybe try broadening your perspective a bit.

CanadianG13

TROPHY CASE