Advocates for students speak with senior administration on advocacy efforts and issues affecting students.
The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), the organization comprised of nine student associations across Ontario, including the AMS, which advocates to the provincial government for what it calls “an affordable, accessible, high-quality, accountable, and equitable education,” stopped at Queen’s campus on Sept. 29, during their provincial tour to meet with university administration and student leaders.
OUSA President Sayak Sneddon-Ghosal, OUSA Executive Director Malika Dhanani, and AMS Commissioner (External Affairs) Edlira Ballaj, who sits on OUSA’s steering committee as a representative from the AMS, all talked with The Journal to discuss their priorities for the year.
This year, the group’s focusing on three priorities: student and community safety, strengthening Ontario’s workforce, and meeting post-secondary demand.
“Safety is kind of two-pronged. The first part is calling on the provincial government to mandate that establishments with the liquor sales license have a sexual violence policy that includes recourse for how to identify, intervene and respond to situations of gender based sexual violence,” Sneddon-Ghosal said.
“The second prong is calling on the provincial government to work with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to establish a program to provide funding and training to municipal property standards departments, basically to ensure that student housing is being kept up to code and that students have safe places to live.”
He also expanded on their second priority of providing students real-world work experiences through integrated work programs like co-ops.
“We know that when students have access to those opportunities, they’ve a better academic experience, and it also allows them to contribute to Ontario’s economy,” Sneddon-Ghosal said.
The third main priority addresses housing shortages and post-secondary provincial funding.
OUSA’s calling on the Ontario province to call on the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to work with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to develop a plan for improving housing supply. They also called for more corridor funding—government funding for student spaces at universities—to meet enrollment demand.
Ballaj highlighted a big takeaway from their meeting with Queen’s leadership was finding where the institution, OUSA, and students’ priorities align on certain issues and where they don’t align on others.
“With our conversation with the Principal today, he was very enthusiastic about the work-integrated learning and helping with housing […]. [The meeting was about expressing] what we need from them and where they want us to meet them as well,” Ballaj said.
OUSA’s also currently campaigning against Bill 33, which proposes new regulations on ancillary fees, among other measures. Dhanani expressed concerns that the bill could threaten vital services such as food banks and mental health supports, something they worry some students might not realize are reliant on student fees.
“We believe that a post-secondary experience is so much more than just in the classroom. It’s also all those other services that you need access to, kind of sustain you through your experience,” Dhanani said.
In the months ahead, OUSA will host its annual Lobby Week at Queen’s Park, where student leaders meet directly with MPPs to discuss issues affecting students. The organization’s also preparing submissions ahead of the provincial budget, with hopes of securing funding for expanded work-integrated learning.
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