Trent University undergraduate Ethel Nalule says she's worried she won't have the financial means to follow her plan to go to medical school — and if she simply borrows the money, it will leave her deeply in debt.

Speaking into a megaphone at a protest outside Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith's office on Monday, she told students gathered that she's already in debt.

"That is how much debt I carry with me at 21 years old," she told the protesters. "Unfortunately, this education system is a business … and they're not in favour of us."

About 50 students gathered outside Smith's office in the plaza on Water Street at Marina Boulevard at noon on Monday to protest changes to student loans and ancillary fees charged by post-secondary institutions.

The newly formed Peterborough Coalition Against Cuts of Education organized the protest.

It's one of two protests scheduled for this week outside Smith's office: the Ontario Secondary Secondary School Teachers' Federation will have their rally, against expected changes to high school education, on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

Smith wasn't at the protest on Monday; he sent a letter to the students explaining that due to government business scheduled well in advance of the protest, he would be out of the riding until Feb. 7.

The coalition is made up of Trent University students as well as local unions, the Peterborough-Kawartha NDP and the Green Party of Ontario student chapter.

The rally one of many organized across Ontario Monday to object to recent changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) and ancillary fees.

Ontario's Progressive Conservatives recently announced they'd be reducing post-secondary tuition fees by 10 per cent for the next two academic years.

But the government will also be making changes to the OSAP student aid system by eliminating free tuition for low-income students.

The provincial government also announced students will be able to opt out of most ancillary fees starting this fall.

Such fees fund all kinds of on-campus activities and clubs and many other services. The fees add about $600 to Nalule's $8,000 yearly tuition at Trent.

One of those services at Trent is Rebound, a mentoring program that paired her up with an upper-year student, she said.

That mentor helped Nalule develop memory-enhancing techniques, she said, which allowed her to excel academically last year (Nalule said a tick-borne bacterial infection that attacked her body and brain has left her with lasting memory challenges).

"But guess what? These and many more services could potentially not exist for future students," Nalule said.

Smith's letter notes that he's heard the coalition's concerns at two recent public meetings and he also held a private meeting with coalition members.

Still, he writes, he'd be "more than happy" to schedule another meeting.

Tyler Burns, a city bus driver and the president of both the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1320 and the Peterborough and District Labour Council, wasn't impressed.

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"Here's Dave's letter saying he'll catch you later," Burns said into a megaphone, holding a sheet of paper in his hand and ripping it in half.

joelle.kovach

@peterboroughdaily.com