Page "Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance" Paragraph 7

OUSA was less successful dealing with the right-wing Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris, which cut funding to universities and significantly raised tuition fee levels at Ontario universities, including a highly controversial " deregulation " of tuition in many professional and graduate programs.

Despite dealing with an antagonistic government, OUSA was able to persuade the government to establish the Ontario Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, a permanent advisory board including student and university representation in 1998, and notable improvements to provincial student financial aid ( 1999, 2000 ).

Over this period, OUSA also brought together the various stake holding groups ( including competing student groups, faculty, staff and alumni organizations ) in the university sector for the first time.

Chaired by then-Executive Director Andrew Boggs, this coalition worked on issues of common interest, including election campaigns and information sharing.