The campus food bank at Memorial University in St. John’s has temporarily closed because of overwhelming demand.
Isabel Ojeda, executive director of MUN Student Union in charge of campaigns, says they were accepting about 100 students a day in the summer but that doubled to 200 in September and is hitting close to 300 per day this month.
They’re closing in order to restock the shelves.
Ojeda says the $68 million cut to Memorial University’s budget and the subsequent increase in tuition fees is having an impact as, all of a sudden, students coming out high school were facing higher costs.
She doesn’t see the logic in giving everybody making under $100,000 a cheque for $500, a move which cost about $200 million.
She notes that we need more people in this province if we’re going to diversify our workforce, yet international students have to pay four-and-a-half times the rate of domestic students. Ojeda says it doesn’t make sense.