Fashion marketing student Vitoria Garcia Pinheiro should have started her third year at LaSalle College today, but instead took part in a demonstration calling on Quebec to help the school stay open. “I came here to study in French and not being able to finish my degree is really making me very anxious,” said Pinheiro, an international student from Brazil. The private college had to delay its fall session amid financial struggles with the government of Quebec. The institution is facing 30 million dollars in fines for enrolling too many students in its English language programs between 2023 and 2025. On August 24, Lasalle College obtained creditor protection, but Director General Claude Marchand said without Quebec’s subsidies, the college can’t operate. “30 million out of the 60 million for the operating budget is coming from the Quebec government,” he said. “It’s impossible to run without it.” Marchand said the fine is not only excessive, but he feels the college was unfairly targeted by some CAQ ministers for political gain. “Even if in their dreams, we collapse next week and they send those students to other Cegeps, which are full, by the way, financing will need to follow those kids,” he said, adding that it would cost the government three times more in subsidies to send students to other schools. The students, who organized a demonstration in front of the closed doors of the building on Ste-Catherine St., said the college offers programs they can’t find elsewhere, in both English and French. “I don’t have a plan B,” said fashion student Dominique Goulet. “I put my all into this education, and it feels like I’m being cheated out of that.” “We prepared our courses, we were really anxious to meet our students,” said accounting and finance teacher Lara Jaber. “We have had some bad news, but we’re still hopeful.” Unions representing college employees were also at the demonstration and called on Quebec’s Ministry of Higher Education and the College to make a deal. “We ask for goodwill for that the management of the establishment and from the government of Quebec,” said Benoit Lacoursiere from the Federation nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Quebec (FNEEQ-CSN). “It would be very disappointing that a school with nearly 3000 students and 400 teachers closes at the beginning of the year.” A review hearing is scheduled for Sept. 3, and Quebec and the college have until then to reach an agreement. In a social media post, the Minister of Higher Education Martine Biron wrote “discussions between the government and college administration can continue through this legal process.”
