Since the last time I posted a few things have happened: some 1000 students have received X-Rings, a few first semester honorarium cheques were signed and the NHL is back on the ice..... odds makers have stated that the Leafs and Canadiens have a 30/1 shot at winning Lord Stanley.
Nick and I attended the annual LobbyCon Conference in Ottawa where we collectively met with 16 MPs/Senators and contended for issues that matter to students. We were joined by fellow east-coasters from SMU, AU, and DAL. The three major issues that were found to receive the most traction from Government officials were:
1) Increasing or eliminating the weekly in-study income exemption for students participating in the Canada Student Loan Program. Currently, students are asked to estimate their expected in-study income when applying for Financial Assistance - of which only $100 weekly can be exempted. Since 60% of students are working at least 18 hours a week, a student could technically have a $2,880 deduction from their student loan over a 36 week course. Essentially we were arguing that students should be encouraged to participate in the economy and continue to build up their educational skill sets - an argument that the current Government fully understood and supported.
2) Eliminating or increasing the minimum fair value of a vehicle that an individual can have for a Canada Students Loan Assessment. Currently, the value of of a vehicle counts against the loan awarded to a student unless the vehicle has a FMV of $5,000 or less. This $5,000 figure was introduced in 2001, and has not been reassessed since - interestingly enough the average price of a used car in Canada is $11,400 and 46% of students rely on a vehicle to get to school. Although many governmental officials were not completely interested in eliminating the vehicular assessment from the Canada Students Loan Program - it is likely that the $5,000 mark will be adjusted either by inflation or average used price.
3) The tertiary position we were lobbying for was Open Access. Currently, researchers that are funded by Federal taxpayers (all of us) are able to turn around and charge institutions, including students, fees to access the information. We firmly believe that this is unjust and unfair for students to be paying for the information twice! Open Access has been introduced in the UK and the EU - with great success. Students there are able to access publicly funded educational documents for free and are able to enhance their knowledge. Since the future economy is likely to be primarily knowledge based, it is imperative that students have access to this information which should improve the innovativeness of Canadians. CASA understands and believes that the authors should maintain copyright, but if they are publicly funded it should be available for all.
For those interested in the specific details of our asks: http://www.casa-acae.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Public-Pre-Budget2012EN.pdf
January Update
I am beginning my pre-budget consultations with the executives in order to set up the framework for the next Students' Union Budget. Once that is done, I plan on meeting with the various sub-execs and stakeholders to fine tune it. My plan is for a budget that is fair and realistic.
As a member of the University Budget Committee, we are looking at measures to improve enrolment (increase tuition/fee revenue) and implement cost saving efficiencies throughout campus. For those interested, the accounting department of the University has provided an updated budget forecast for 2013 on their website. Also on the website are the Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Requirements for those earning >100K and the University Financial Statements. The forecast exhibits a University is facing a deficit position as a result of Provincial Government funding cuts and a decline in student enrolment year over year.
http://sites.stfx.ca/financial_services/finance/University_Financials
If anyone has any questions please feel free to send me an email.
Cheers,
Patrick
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