We are officially halfway through the 2023-2024 Executive term. What an exciting six months it has been. I thought now would be a great time to give you all an update on some of the advocacy that we’ve been doing over the past couple of months. First things first, if you have not checked out our advocacy document, Setting Student Success, be sure to do that here to see what we’ve set as our four main pillars of provincial advocacy.
Back on the 22nd of August, the Honourable Selina Robinson, Minister of Post Secondary Education and Future Skills (PSFS), came to our Abbotsford campus, and we had the opportunity to meet with and present our advocacy document to her. Our main priorities were student housing, food insecurity & financial aid, campus sexualized violence response policies, and predictable international student tuition. The reception to our advocacy was positive, and she said that PSFS was working on programs and policies to support and address our concerns.
On September 27th, we had the opportunity to meet with Premier David Eby at a Post-Secondary Town Hall that was held at BCIT’s Richmond campus. I was able to ask him publicly about what the government was doing to address the rising food insecurity crisis among students at UFV and throughout the province. He shared that he sees that students are struggling and that it is a priority of his government to make BC a province where we can afford to work and live during and after our studies. Furthermore, he talked about programs the government has implemented, such as the elimination of interest on provincial student loans, to support students.
Between October 3rd and 6th, your President, Ashley McDougall and I travelled to Victoria to meet with Members of the Legislative Assembly from across parties to continue to advocate for our students. We met with Members of the NDP, BC United, and BC Conservative party. All parties heard our priorities and especially resonated with the skyrocketing food insecurity and food bank usage that we have seen at UFV. We are making sure that the government knows the concerns and feelings of our students, and we will continue to push for their support.
I could go on and on about all of the advocacy work that we have been working on. I have so much more to talk about, but this post is already getting long. If you have any questions, you can reach out to me at vpexternal@ufvsus.ca or our Instagram @sus_execs. You should also make sure to come to our new drop-in office hours that we are calling Coffee with Execs. Keep an eye out on Instagram for dates and times!
Until next time,
- Jayden Hovey
Vice President External