Mount Allison Students’ Union (MASU) representatives recently returned from the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) Advocacy Week, where they raised the issues that matter for Mt.A’s students. CASA’s Advocacy Week is a series of conferences, where student unions from coast to coast come together to meet Canadian politicians. This year’s conference was a success for the Canadian universities – and for Mt. A students as well.
This year’s MASU delegates, Vice President External Affairs, Oliver VanBuskirk, and Vice President Academic & University Affairs, Kassandra Vail, have united with CASA to request five considerations from the Canadian Parliament: increased financial aid, accessible student housing, increased funding for student research, easier stay for international students, and support for apprenticeship programs. CASA has met with over 100 politicians and organizations involved in the government. This was one of the most successful conferences recently, where many politicians agreed to work on the presented issues. The work that was done by CASA was not left unnoticed.
Oliver VanBurskirk said, “There was footage of a politician bringing some of our asks
to a caucus, which is really great to see. […] I’m hoping the coming weeks we’ll see
a lot more discussion on student issues, and I think we made a lot of really great
impressions.”
Each ask specializes in the issues that CASA believes influence the student body the most. During the conference, it was requested that $1 million from the total of $2 million budget to seniors and youth will be invested in student housing. 70 per cent of this budget would be spent on improving and building more of the student residences, and the rest would be invested in student cooperative living. Relating to apprenticeships, part of the housing ask is a minimum of 10 per cent of house-building projects are done by those in an apprenticeship. While they get a hands-on experience, the labour force of Canada would be strengthened.
Although financial grants are currently increased, CASA is concerned the increase will be temporary. To prevent this from happening, the request was to raise the maximum student grants from $4,200 to $5,000. This raise is believed to be optimal according to the current cost of living, and helps students to pursue their education.
The last change regarding international students, which was to set a tighter limit on incoming international students, is a big concern. So far, this issue has been the hardest to discuss, as Canadian politicians did not plan on setting it back. To fix this, CASA counter-offered to double the value of a three-year or more program in a Permanent Residence application. Doing so will make international students more competitive in the application process, which will encourage immigration after graduation.
CASA represents graduate students’ associations, for whom research is an important part of a degree. It was requested that the tri-council funding for graduate studies be increased. The suggested funding is believed to stay relevant to the cost of living, making sure that every student has an equal opportunity to learn.
Kassandra Vail said, “I think CASA truly does good for all post-secondary education
students. […] I do believe that all of our asks are applicable to Mt.A students
and that we are going to see real progress in how this shapes their journey at Mt. A.”