Report for the BUSAC Meeting that shall not take place

Ok, so there actually is no BUSAC on February 2nd anymore due to the number of candidates running in the Executive elections. But I get lonely if I don’t write a report every two weeks, so here’s a rundown of my activities for your consideration.


Pre-Budget Consultations

On Monday January 25th, I had the opportunity to present to the provincial Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, as they were doing their pre-budget consultations in Niagara Falls. This was a very exclusive opportunity: only 8 days of consultations are taking place across the entire province, which means a maximum of 200 organizations presenting their budget recommendations in person. I’m honoured that the committee chose BUSU, and it should also be noted that the student unions at Western (the USC), and at Queens (the AMS), as well as OUSA, all received invitations to present. It shows the dedication and priority that the government will be placing on education moving forward.

In a 10 minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of questioning, I was able to speak on two main themes: financial aid including OSAP reform, and support for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, which needs a further $26.1 million in funding for the downtown location, or it places the entire project in collaboration with the Niagara Centre for the Arts in jeopardy. Following the presentation, I also received questions about university-college credit transfer, and MPP Levac tracked me down in the hallways afterwards when questioning time ran out.

This was a big preparation process for this submission in a short time, and I’m very pleased with the reception and the results I hope we can expect in the March budget.


OCUFA Conference

On Friday the 22nd and Saturday the 23rd, I was in Toronto for a conference hosted by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations – the equivalent of OUSA for faculty unions across the province. The theme was “Financing Higher Education in the Current Economic Climate”, and it brought forward many prominent speakers and panellists, including professors, former University presidents, former Deputy Ministers in government, and other education stakeholders. I attended, along with Dan, Alexi and Paul from OUSA. There was very valuable insight, discussion, and new statistics to learn. Some very compelling arguments were made that there are many things we might be able to fix and do by reorganizing our own spending, and how long term planning combined with uncertain government funding can be made manageable.

Many of the slides and presentations are available at http://www.ocufa.on.ca/conferences.conf2010.gk


Blue Chair

Blue Chair week took place from the 18th to the 22nd as noted. By the end of the week, we had over 2000 signatures on the petition to reform OSAP, had given out over 300 cans of food and over 1000 fortune cookies, and collected around 30 video testimonials about experiences with OSAP. Those will be forwarded on to OUSA for editing and meshing, while we can use the rest of it for our lobby efforts here based at BUSU.


24-hour Space

I had some follow-up discussions with Kim Meade and Steven Pillar following our pilot project from December. I am very pleased to say that once again we have permission to use the Kenmore Centre as 24-hour space during the April exam period.

Further to that, however, here’s the best news. Next year, the Kenmore Centre will be available ALL YEAR LONG as an overnight study space. Between 11pm and 7am it will be dedicated every night for open study. Unfortunately, it will not be 24-hours, even during exams next year, but with other existing space on campus during the other hours, this fills the unmet need that we have, and have asked for this whole year.

I will continue to implement and monitor a comment box to gather feedback this spring, so we can improve the space for the fall, adding things like vending machines, addressing issues of parking, and other improvements that could be made. Shout out to Alex Kidd for his excellent work getting the ball rolling on this initiative.


Go Transit Rail Plan

On Wednesday the 27th, I attended a public information session about GO expansion into the Niagara Region. This is the early stages of a multi-phase project about having commuter train service to the region by 2016. There are some very exciting options from a Brock student perspective, including a possible hub at Glendale Avenue. Importantly though, for Hamilton students, or those who commute between the St. Catharines and Hamilton campuses, is a proposed new stop just 6km from that campus. With hubs better integrated with municipal transit options by that time, it should be possible to take public transit, campus-to-campus, in under 2 hours if both stations are built and frequencies are timed right.

If you go to the BUSU website and click one of the recent news stories on this topic, you will be able to find the study, which is still open and available for public comment.


Inter-Municipal Transit

On Thursday the 28th, I attended a Regional Council committee of the whole meeting, dedicated to the issue of inter-municipal transit.

I’m going to back up a step to deliver some background. Under Ontario law, the lowest-tier municipalities have jurisdiction over transit operations. Within Niagara, currently St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls are the major transit operators. Port Colborne, Fort Erie and Thorold contract their services from the “big three”.

To give the Regional Council the ability to legislate or influence public transit in any way, what’s needed is known as the “triple majority”
Regional council must pass a motion
A majority (7/12) of the lower-tier municipalities must vote in favour
The municipalities voting in favour must comprise at least 50% of Niagara’s population
This triple-majority happened a few years ago, and the Region now operates to specialized transit business. The most the Region could currently do with respect to regional transit is to give unconditional grants. As soon as any condition, even as bare-bones as saying “run buses between our cities” is attached to the grant, that stretches beyond current regional powers.

At this meeting, it was expected that council would take the first step and endorse a city staff recommendation to vote on the first part of the triple majority. Instead, they voted to proceed with phase 2 of the study for more information before asking the municipalities, but put clear timelines: the study must be done by May, and councils must vote on the Triple Majority by July. The 40-year fight to do something about transit will come to a vote this summer!, although unfortunately after my tenure as a student representative is over.


CASA Policy

I am the working group chair for an upcoming policy on International Branch Campuses – basically when Canadian universities or colleges set up a campus in a foreign country under the same name, as many universities are now doing or planning. After a few conference calls with committee members, I wrote the first draft of the policy and have posted it on the CASA Basecamp software for other members to review. Policies are due in two weeks to be submitted for translation and proper notice before the next CASA conference in March. Please contact me if you’ve got any interest or suggestions for this one.


OUSA

Beyond joint assistance with all of our pre-budget submissions, and attending the OCUFA conference with some fine OUSA folk, there hasn’t been much on the OUSA front the past few weeks. Blue Chair is wound down and everyone is in prebudget mode for the most part. Except for Alvin, who got married and decided that his honeymoon was more important than coming into work. Congratulations to Alvin and Rebecca!


Other Meetings

In addition to the above, I’ve also had meetings with:
The Alumni Association
Brock Government Relations
Senate
Senate committees (2)
Kim Meade (2)
Steven Pillar (2)
Dr. Lightstone
Karen McAllister-Kenny
The All Candidates Meeting
Club Policy Committee
Attended an IMSEEJ meeting
University Sustainability Committee
And drop-in meetings with candidates who were looking for some pre-election guidance with various topics.
It was certainly a very busy two weeks, and not likely to get any easier, because...


Election Prep

As you know, I’m running the Yes side of the Fees Replacement Referendum. Most of the prep is in place and done, and watch out for the referendum as the Elections hit you full force at 9am Monday morning.


News from Across the Country

“Your Student Association”

Your-SA is the name of the students’ union that jointly represents students at Durham College, UOIT, and Trent in Oshawa. Last week, their council voted to join the College Student Alliance (CSA) provincial lobby group on behalf of their college students. Congratulations to them!

Alma Matter Society at UBC

Latest fun facts from UBC surround their recent elections. This year, executive elections represent the end of one term and the beginning of the next (no transition process for the President and VP External, as council voted to change the start times of the next term so current the current President and VP External would not be in power during the Vancouver Olympics – see previous reports mentioning the United Nations complaint), their names were on a referendum ballot for impeachment anyway. President Blake Frederick was impeached by a 76% vote, and failed to win his seat on ANY of Senate, Board of Governors, or [the newspaper] Board. The impeachment motion for Tim Chu failed to reach quorum, however his bid for re-election failed resoundingly.

During the same election was a vote on the question of an “Engagement Levy”. This would be a $5 fee charged to students, and only refunded if a student voted in the AMS Executive Elections. Any money not returned would be used for activities of engagement on campus, which was vaguely non-specified. Fortunately for UBC students, this referendum also failed to reach quorum. There’s a lot of irony in that statement.

University of Ottawa/Carleton University

City Council in Ottawa voted in favour of establishing a U-Pass for the two Ottawa schools. Cost will be $145 per term, if passed by referendum on either one of the two campuses.

Kwantlen University-College/CFS-BC

Kwantlen is a member of CFS-BC, and, like my job within OUSA, appoints a representative to sit on their provincial body’s board of directors. In February 2009, their Director of External Affairs, Derek Robertson, was re-elected to his position within the KSA. CFS-BC refused to recognize Robertson as a director on their Board, citing that he campaigned against the CFS during a failed referendum in 2008. Robertson and the KSA sued the CFS to argue for representation of their elected member on a board which their members pay dues to, and otherwise would have no representation.

The Supreme Court ruled last week that Robertson has a right to be on the CFS-BC Board, and that nothing in the BC Society Act of the CFS Bylaws can prevent them from ratifying the choice of a member school. Ironically, after the passage of ‘Motion Six’ at the AGM last month, the CFS is now entrenching dissenting members on their provincial boards all-across the country, thanks to this precedent-setting ruling in BC.


VPUA Job Tip of the Week

Tip #9 – Saints win by 4.

Kidding. Actual tip: University Affairs Magazine

This magazine is free to institutions, student unions, groups, and others in the post-secondary world in Canada (and I’ve made sure BUSU’s subscription of two copies per month comes regularly). It’s funded by the job posting ads in the back of the magazine which contain most of the faculty, dean and senior administration hiring efforts in the country, this is one of the most read publications across the sector each week.

Fortunately, you can get in on the fun without a subscription at www.universityaffairs.ca for their full monthly magazine content. But what makes it even more fun and useful, is the additional sections. News, media scans, opinion columns, discussing all the topics that become relevant week in-week out in this job. Reading it regularly keeps you on top of all the contextual information that must always swirl in your head as you evaluate the current state of education in Canada. For especially thought-provoking or timely reads, make sure you check out “Margin Notes”, a blog by deputy editor Leo Charbonneau. His thoughts, or the articles he points to through twitter, are certainly always worthy of a read.


Closing Lyric of the BUSAC

“Say the right things when electioneering
I trust I can rely on your vote”
- Radiohead