Lets talk about CASA

Hey Everyone!

So we are back to work in our offices after an exciting week at the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) conference in Ottawa. The conference was an amazing experience and has definitely pumped us up even more for the year to come.  We have returned from the conference having learned so much about the role we have to play here at StFX to lobby for some of the most pressing issues that affect Post Secondary Education at the federal level. For those who might have never heard of CASA, we will give you the low down of what it is and how theU is involved. 

CASA is a member-driven advocacy group focused on providing affordable, accessible and quality Post-Secondary Education for students across Canada. We are an alliance consisting of 26 Student Associations from across the country, representing 320,000 students from a variety of Post-Secondary institutions. In the past, CASA has played a huge part in lobbying for some of the most significant successes in federal funding and policy, including student grants, the Copyright Act, and repayment assistance. In a nutshell, our predecessors have made some huge leaps and bounds over the years in ensuring that students across Canada can access an affordable and quality Post-Secondary education. Check out this link if you’d like to learn more about CASA’s successes:  http://www.casa-acae.com/at-a-glance/successes/

Reppin' the East Coast with MtA Exec

This year, we hope that X will be as involved as possible with CASA, and that together as a student body, we can drive some pretty substantial change! As a member association of CASA, theU sits on a variety of committees which discuss and research pressing issues affecting the students at each of our associations and prepare comprehensive policy papers, media releases and reports outlining our directives at the federal level. Not only are these resources used to lobby on Parliament Hill, but they also provide us with information that further enriches our lobbying efforts at the municipal and provincial level. On top of this, our very own Ben Gunn-Doerge has been elected to serve as Director at Large for the Board of Directors for the 2013/14 year. This means he will be even more involved with the issues that matter most to our university and other universities across Canada!

With the next provincial election in our midst, it is vital that we as students voice our opinion on the matters that most affect our education. This means being engaged both with our provincial lobbying group, Students Nova Scotia, and federally with CASA. We hope that this year, more than ever, the voice of the students at X will be heard (and better yet, listened to!) and that we can continue to make huge strides to improve our education, and of course, preserve all of those things that makes a Nova Scotian education so valuable and competitive. Whether this is through our provincial or federal lobbying efforts, Ben and I will do our best throughout the year to ensure that X stays informed and involved in these decisions! If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to drop by either of our offices, or shoot us an e-mail!

Keep on keeping on,

Ben and Amy