Camosun College students joined others across Canada on February 1st to protest high tuition fees and the lack of access to post secondary education and Jessica Van der Veen was there to cheer them on.

Jessica gave a speech at the Student Society event both as the NDP candidate and as the founder of L.A.N.D.S (Let's Agree Not to Dispose of Schools). She spoke about how the foundation for BC’s social and economic stability depends on a robust education system from preschool to PhD. 

She also reminded students of the BC Liberal Government’s failure to keep tuition fees low and maintain a needs based grants program. Currently, BC has no grants program in place.  Students cheered when she mentioned that Adrian Dix will re-instate the granting program and thereby reduce students’ debt burdens.  The grants will be paid for by returning the taxes on Big Banks in BC to 2008 levels, giving the province $100 million to invest in our social and economic future. 

"There is a connect between access to public education and income inequality" said Jessica, "BC ranks #1 in both income inequality and child poverty in all of Canada. Public education is the foundation of our society because it gives everyone a fair shot at building a decent life. Public education makes BC strong."