Lazy sherpas unemployed

   Right now, 1 in 5 students in Canada are unemployed. And not because they are content to be lazy on their parents couch this summer, but rather, the largely seasonal nature of student employment has not been favourable in this economic climate. A recent report released by Statistics Canada says that the unemployment rate for students aged 19-24 is higher than it has been since 1977, at 21%.

  

 Jillian Flake, the Public Relations and Communications Officer for CASA reports:

 

“Students who are unable to find work this summer will have a much harder time paying for their education this fall, and might not be able to return to school in September ” said Arati Sharma, National Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA).  

“There are government resources available to students to assist them during these difficult times,” continued Sharma. “But we are concerned that very few students are aware of them.”

Despite having invested in significant new programs such as the Repayment Assistance Plan and the Canada Student Grant Program, as well as increasing student loan limits, the federal government has not been successful in promoting awareness and information regarding these programs.

“We’ve told the government they need to do a better job of telling students about the financial aid available to them. It’s even more important for unemployed students so they can continue going to school,” said Sharma.

 

 

   With such a hard environment to find a job, many students are becoming creative with the way they earn money. CASA is looking for these creative students to tell their story to the media. Beverly Eastham, Chair of CAUS and Vice-President External at the Univeristy of Alberta Students’ Union tweets:

 

Are you a student who has had to take unusual employment/’odd’ job due to economy? Willing to talk to the media? Tweet @uasuadvocacy asap!

8:30 PM Jul 31st from web

   Or, you can email CASA’s digital technology officer Sharif Virani at dto@casa.ca

   So, have you learned how to spin wool? Perhaps you’ve taken to becoming a sherpa? Maybe you’ve transfered your biochemistry skills to creating heroin in the basement of a Hell’s Angel’s roadside bar?

 

 

 

   Or maybe you remembered when Bedouin Soundclash played in a sold out U of L Zoo Campus Pub and then saw them last night at the Blarney Stone and managed to become a roadie?

 

 

 

   In any case, shoot me a wall post, tweet, email, phone call, text, or otherwise if you have a good story to tell. And for all those unfortunate souls jobless and hopeless for going back to school, remember your financial options are open. Student Loans are always available, and with the government’s new Repayment Assistance Program, paying back that student loan is getting easier.

 

Happy Sherpa-ing,

 

Jeremy G

CASA at work for students

CASA elects Governance Officers for 2009-2010

Ottawa, ON – During its recent annual Policy and Strategy conference, held in Calgary, Alberta, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) elected its governance officers for 2009-2010.

 

Tina Robichaud was elected as Chairperson. Joining her is Justin Williams as Secretary and Allan Hall as Treasurer. Robichaud is president of the “Fédération des étudiantes et étudiants du centre universitaire de Moncton,” Williams is the VP Education of the Federation of Students at the University of Waterloo, and Hall is the VP Administration for the University of Lethbridge Students’ Union.

The governance officers act on behalf of the entire membership to ensure the accountability and effectiveness of the organization. As leaders among leaders, these three students will help realize the policy and advocacy priorities set out by the membership.

“We have a big year ahead of us, but also a driven membership and incredible potential to work with the government, civil servants and stakeholders to accomplish our objectives,” said Robichaud. “I have no doubt we can achieve both our short term and long term goals, and ensure a common future and a better Canada.”

juuuuust kidding.

“Robichaud has been a dedicated leader within CASA and student politics for a number of years now,” said Arati Sharma, National Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. “I am confident that the new executive team will strengthen CASA’s mandate for a more accessible, affordable, high quality post-secondary education system in Canada.”

CASA would also like to thank the former governance officers, Kyle Steele, Kim Hartlin and Alastair MacKinnon, for their dedication to the betterment of students’ lives and of the post-secondary education sector as a whole.

-30-

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit national student organization composed of 24 student associations, representing over 300,000 students from coast to coast.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Jillian Flake
Public Relations and Communications Officer
Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
Tel.:   613-236-3457   ext. 224 (c)   613-868-6605  ,
Email: casacomm@casa.ca

Federal lobbying with CASA

For those of you that don’t know, one of the primary mandates of the University of Lethbridge Students’ Union (ULSU) is to advocate for students on a municipal, provincial and federal level. The ULSU fulfills the federal aspect of our advocacy mandate with our membership in the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations (CASA).

Federal lobbying provides the University of Lethbridge Students’ Union with another vessel to express the needs of UofL students to the federal level of government. The ULSU believes that it is important to lobby the federal level of government because they can play a vital role in controlling student debt and in increasing the accessibility and affordability of a post-secondary education.

CASA is, in essence, an alliance of student associations and unions formed to lobby/advocate for the best interests of students on a national level. This organization is composed of 24 post-secondary institutions in Canada and represents more than 300,000 students. It is a lobby group that is focused solely on post-secondary education at the federal level and inter-governmental levels of decision-making and nothing else.

CASA prides itself as a lobby group that presents realistic  on post-secondary education to the federal level of government. The ULSU strongly respect the lobbying methods used by CASA because they make sound pragmatic arguments to party leaders, senators, members of parliament and other political policy-makers to draw the government’s attention at a more personal level about education.

This is a member-driven organization that operates under a “one school, one vote” philosophy where each school has equal say regardless of its size. The membership, rather than the staff, shapes the policy, goals and direction of the organization.  

The organization operates under four primary policy principals.

Accessibility: CASA believes that any academically qualified student with the desire to pursue post-secondary education should not face a barrier – financial, social, political, physical, cultural, or otherwise.

Affordability: CASA believes that students should not accumulate an unreasonable or insupportable amount of debt in the pursuit of a post-secondary education or in continuing such an education.

Innovation: CASA believes that post-secondary education should have sustainable research programs across all disciplines, with the benefits of such research shared across all levels of the student body.

Quality: CASA believes in a quality public post-secondary education system that is properly funded, effective and accountable; cooperatively maintained and enhanced by the federal and provincial governments.

CASA has worked on and has advocated for several issues that the ULSU feels is relevant to students such as the Canada Student Loans Program, the Canada Student Grant Program, Canada Study and Access Grants, the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, access and affordability of PSE for under-represented students, Debt Reduction in Repayment, Interest Relief, and interest and rates on student loans ¹

 

“CASA has played an important role in the development of federal policies on post-secondary education – in particular the Canadian Opportunities Strategy.  I am confident that these young leaders, and the organization they now represent, will continue to have a positive influence on the federal policy in the future.”

- The Rt. Hon. Paul Martin, then Minister of Finance.

“Your input is welcomed and encouraged without reservation.  Our party will try to give voice to the very real concerns that face Canadian students.  It is only with your help that we can accomplish this.”

– Rt. Hon. Joe Clark

 

“CASA’s recommendations have been taken very seriously by the government, and many of them have found their way into federal budgets.”

- Hon. Maurizio Bevilaqua
Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development
and former Chair of the House of Commons Finance Committee.

On the tangibles of advocacy…

As outlined in the Post Secondary Learning Act of Alberta, the mandate of all student unions/associations in Alberta is to advocate on behalf of their constituents, to the University administration, and to the three levels of government. This year the ULSU has done this through its membership in The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), The Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS), attendance at City Council meetings, as well as on numerous committees at the University level (including the Board of Governors, the Senate, General Faculties Council, and University Budget).

Of these groups, the federal and provincial advocacy tends to be the most contentious when it comes to the student body. The ULSU pays approximately $26,000 in membership fees to CASA and CAUS. As you may have guessed, the money for these membership fees comes from YOUR SU fees. A common question we receive, and rightly so, is “What are the benefits of being part of these organizations?” People frequently want to see the tangibles for the money they have contributed, so how do we justify spending all this money to be part of these organizations?

The answer is quite simple – access.

March was home to the Lobby Conventions for both CAUS and CASA, which were both weeklong events during which members from the ULSU go to the respective capital cities and advocate on behalf of the students here at the University of Lethbridge.

For CAUS, President Adam Vossepoel, VP Academic Jenn Prosser, and VP Academic Comissioner Kendall Yamagishi spent several days in Edmonton lobbying MLA’s and Ministers. During that week, CAUS had 51 meetings with members of the Legislative Assembly, including meetings with the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology, Doug Horner. 

For CASA, Adam Vossepoel, President Elect Jeremy Girard, and I spent a week in Ottawa running around Parliament Hill. During that week, CASA had over 160 meetings with MP’s, Senators, and parliamentary aids. Some names you might recognize are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton, Elizabeth May, Gilles Duceppe, Stéphane Dion, Speaker of the House Peter Milliken, local MP Rick Casson, and local Senator Joyce Fairbairn. That’s right; we were able to meet with all five party leaders, a first for the organization. Also, I was invited to attend a special meeting with the top dogs at Elections Canada, were we had the opportunity to discuss the “Lethbridge Incident,” as well as future plans to increase accessibility for student voters.  

So all of these meetings are fine and dandy, but the follow-up question is do they accomplish anything?

If any of you were watching CPAC during the last week of March, you would have probably noticed a few questions during question period about Post Secondary Education, questions that were formulated directly from CASA policy. During the 2008 Federal Election, many of the main political parties had policy almost word-for-word from CASA in their PSE plans. Both the new Canadian Student Grant Program and Repayment Assistance Program introduced by the government address policy presented by CASA; policy that was contributed to by the ULSU. The ~$2 Billion in funding for deferred maintenance announced by the federal government was not just a victory for CASA, but also the University of Lethbridge, as we recognized this as a major issue on our campus. When teamed up with CAUS, we are able to secure $145 million of that for the U of L. Last year CAUS succeeded in lowering interest rates on student loans in Alberta, something that many of us here are quite appreciative of. Elections Canada said they want the ULSU to be one of their main partners in formulating a student strategy for the next election. Elizabeth May said the Green Party wants to use CASA as their main source of information and policy on PSE. The Prime Minister Stephen Harper talked positively about CASA in caucus (he is not frequently known for mentioning advocacy groups in caucus). If you noticed that now when you apply for an Alberta Student Loan, they no longer consider the value of your car as income, that’s another CAUS victory. The increase in funding for university residential spaces across the province? Check mark CAUS!

While these victories may seem small compared to the dozens upon dozens of policies presented by CASA and CAUS, you really need to look at the system in which they are working. If you ask for 30 things, you might only get two, and it could take a year or two to implement. That’s the nature of the bureaucracies of the provincial and federal government. However, that is MAJOR progress. It’s the needs of students being addressed, and both CASA and CAUS are attributed levels of success that many similar organizations could only dream of. Not many organizations can say they get meetings with the head of every political party, or have its members on a first name basis with the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. But we can, and that’s worth something.

Brodie Pattenden

VP Admin

The 2008/2009 CAUS Membership

ULSU VP Admin Brodie Pattenden with Stephane Dion

ULSU President Adam Vossepoel with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff

 

 

 

 

huzzah minister!!! part 3- Let’s talk about Tri Councils

And we are back. I like that Jenn posted about the VP Research because a big part of their job is to secure funding from the Tri-Councils for research. Conincidentally, we here at CASA are talking about Tri-Council funding as it pertains to students.

So, what the heck are the Tri-Councils? Well, they are the autonomous bodies that are charged with reviewing research projects throughout the country, and subsequently providing funding for said projects. The Tri-Councils are:

Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR)

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

So, why are we talking about the tri-councils. Well, research is important. We are biased, of course, but we fundamentally believe that education and innovation are the primary means of improving this country. That is why we are talking about Tri-Council funding and autonomy.

There are 2 things that we are talking to ministers, MPs, senators, and leaders about.

TRI-COUNCIL PAY EQUITY

A student should not need to take a vow of poverty if they want to do grad work in the Social Sciences and Humanities. But that is what we are requiring of them right now. Students who pursue graduate research through SSHRC get paid significantly less than those who are funded by NSERC and CIHR. Why?

Well, one of the things we hear is NSERC and CIHR need more funding to attract grad students, because of market forces. They could make a lot of money working, rather than researching or something like that. They also throw bunk excuses like “the Universities set the pay level of the degrees!”

But, we are having none of that!!! First off, the value of research is in-calculable. Who knows? The next big thing might come from the social sciences. So why is the government falsely perpetuating market forces? Also, universities don’t spend money on things that they don’t consider necessary, like student salaries (They are a business folks. If you weren’t forced to spend more money on someone’s salary, you would’nt).

So, our ask: Pay equity across the Tri-Councils. Whether this means that the government puts more funding into SSHRC, or simply rejigs the rules to ensure this equity are inconsequential to us, as long as it happens.

Research is valuable, whether is done in the social sciences, natural sciences, or health field. Let’s make sure that students who want to do this work are not disadvantaged.

TRI-COUNCIL AUTONOMY

In Budget 2009, there were some concerning mandates. One thing that the Government did was direct SSHRC to focus in on Business related grad projects. We have an issue with this one too!

The Tri-Councils are supposed to be arms length from the government. And here we have a case of direct interference. While we have no specific issue with differentially funding the tri-councils to reflect the government’s priorities, we believe that is where it should end.

DO NOT tell an independent agency that a management graduate project is more valuable than a history graduate project.

Again, it comes back to the intrinsic value of research across the board. I have been the using the R.I.M example (they are the folks who came up with the Blackberry). The work that RIM did to come up with that little tool needed input from across the disciplines; from computer science to linguistics, to user interface research. If any part of that was missing, the Blackberry would not exist. And that is just one example among many.

Research is important. It is not the government’s place to determine what research should be done. That is the responsibility of the Tri-Councils. That is why they were set up in the first place. Do not tinker with that.

Adam Vossepoel

President

Huzzah Minister!!! Part 2: Let’s talk about books…

When you think of the costs associated with obtaining a University education, you typically think of tution, rent, cost of living, etc. But academic materials (textbooks, course packs, lab materials) are real, and often exorbitantly priced.

Get a load of this statistic: From 1997-2005, textbook prices have increased by 280%, while CPI has only increased by 22%!!! Obviously, something is wrong here.

Well, neglecting the publishing costs, and shipping costs, and whatever other costs that the bookstore tells you they have, there is also another cost on top of the list price. That cost is the Book Importation Regualtions.

It breaks down like this. In 1999, Canada imposed these book import regulations in an effort to protect the Canadian publishing industry. Any books that were imported from the States were subject to a 10% fee above the list price; from anywhere else, it is 15%. One would think that the government might be seeing some revenue from this regulation, but they are not! Not a single penny!

So why is this regualtion in place? Maybe it increased the number of publishing houses in Canada? Wrong. Since this regulation was put in, we have seen the eventual extinction of our publishing houses; from around 40 to 2!

“So what?”, you may be asking yourself. Well, to put it into context, if this regualtion were to be removed, Canadian students would immediately be saving ~$30M/ year on books from the U.S. alone! And this stat doesn’t even account for the savings that students at French schools would see (Canada’s French publishing community is weak, which means that most academic materials must be imported from France, increasing costs for French students).

But I am not done! You know when you walk into Chapters to pick up a book and you see 2 prices on the back, a Canadian one and an American one? Well, that is not just the exchange rate. That difference in price is this book import regualtion fouling your favorite fiction as well!

So, let’s recap:

1) Canadians pay an extra 10-15% on any imported book

2) Canada is the only country that has this regualtion

3) The government does not see a penny of revenue from this regualtion

4) A flick of the wrist and a signature can eliminate this regualtion immediately

5) It makes books cheaper for Canadian citizens

Taking all the above things into account, there should be only one question in your head, “Why aren’t we doing this?!” We here at CASA have the same question in mind, and now, so do a lot of MPs looking for political capital. Let’s hope they can see it a easily as we can.

Next up, TRI-COUCIL FUNDING and AUTONOMY

Adam Vossepoel

President

“Huzzah Minister!” – Lobbying Day 1

As part of our ongoing news feed from Ottawa, we are officially concluding our first real day of lobbing. The membership has already conducted 34 individual meetings with Senators, MPs, and key staff. The ULSU got to meet with the following:

Myself

• Ed Komarnicki, MP: Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour 
• Rodger Cuzner, MP: Official Opposition Whip

 

From Left to Right: Rodger Cuzner: MP, Derek Krywvj: Red River College, Kyle Steele: Acadia University, Brodie Pattenden: ULSU

 

 

Jeremy

• Mike Savage, MP: Official Opposition Critic for Human Resources and Skills and the Chair of the Liberal Caucus Committee on Post-Secondary Education and Research
• Rick Norlock, MP

Adam

• Paul Calandra, MP
• Martha Hall Finley, MP: Platform Outreach Chair for the Liberal Party of Canada

These meetings so far have been incedibly exciting, with reception of CASA’s priorities, as outlined in Adam’s previous post, being quite positive. The pragmatic solutions we are proposing are not requiring huge capital injunctions (something that tends to be a hard sales pitch during a recession), but rather a more efficient and effect use of current funds. Also, initiatives such as the Removal of the Textbook Importation Tax and Fair and Balanced Copy-write Law, have little to do with funding to and from government coffers, but rather adjustment to policy that enhances innovation, affordability, and accessibility in the PSE environment. 

There are still three more days and ~120 lobby meetings to go, with highlight meetings such as Elections Canada and Stephane Dion for myself, and Michael Ignatieff for Voss. Meetings are being added daily, so stay tuned!

Brodie Pattenden

VP Admin, CASA Fanboy

Sweet Rhymes and Hard Times

Our goals this week,

As the Economy looks bleak:

Learn more about RAP and the CSGP,

And get big Commitments from every MP!

Gather together and collect Information,

To Spread PSE all over the Nation!

The above is courtesy of the great team at the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. I am hunkered down in Ottawa at the Lord Elgin Hotel, with VP Admin Brodie Pattenden, and President Elect Jeremy Girard. We are in the process of briefing new and old members about how to effectively advocate PSE issues to the federal government.

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, CASA is a national lobby organization that focuses on issues related to post secondary education in Canada. Over the next week (3.5 days technically) over 70 student leaders will be meeting with ~150 MPs, Senators, and Policy staff of the government.

This event, called Lobby Con (Con is for conference, not some clever reference to government), and has become quite the event on the Hill. The priorities that CASA has can change from year to year, but it always focuses on improving Canada’s university system through non-partisan, rational, and intelligent policy recommendations.

This year, in the face of the “looming economic crisis” (I really hate that term actually. Sorry for perpetuating it), CASA has had a tough job. It is not easy to ask for funding when the government is staring down the wrong end of defecit budget for the first time in a decade. But CASA does not give up that easily. We are nothing if not persistent!

This year, the membership has decided to focus on the following priorities, in no particular order:

- Expand the Canada Student Grant Program

- Enhance the Repayment Assistance Plan

- Take a Balanced Approach to Copyright Law

- Reduce the Cost of Academic Materials

- Create Tri-Council Funding Autonomy

- Improve Tri-Council Salary Guideline

As the week goes on, I will post more on each of the above points.

Until the future,

Adam Vossepoel

President

Students welcome pledge of long-term predictable federal funding for post-secondary education.

Ottawa, ON – The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations is encouraged by the pledge of the New Democratic Party to create a dedicated funding transfer from the federal government in each fiscal year to support the post-secondary educational services of the provinces. The pledge, announced today as part of the NDP’s “Education Opportunity Plan”, would guarantee each province a long-term, predictable level of funding each year, provided that each province satisfied certain criteria and conditions set by the federal government regarding program quality, accessibility, public administration and accountability.

“Since the 1990’s, the responsibility for funding post-secondary education in Canada has largely been offloaded to individual students and private enterprise, placing the accessibility, affordability and quality of the system in jeopardy,” said Zach Churchill, National Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. “Depending on the amount, a dedicated transfer can help to reverse this process, allowing the federal government to reclaim its abdicated responsibility for ensuring a properly funded and accountable public post-secondary education system.”

The NDP Education Opportunity Plan also promises:

- A grant of $1000 by 2012 to all undergraduate or equivalent students who qualify for student loans, paid at the beginning of each school year
- A promise to forgive the student loans of health professionals who commit to dedicate the first 10 years of their careers to family medicine in Canada
- A promise to reform the Canada Student Loan system, including providing interest relief, to ensure that students will not be forced to start repaying their loans until after they have completed their education

CASA calls on the New Democratic Party to follow-up on today’s announcement with more specific details about how their dedicated education transfer payment will be funded each year. With reference to this, CASA recommends that a dedicated transfer be funded at an initial level of $4 billion in annual cash transfers, with increases made accordingly for annual inflation and demographic growth thereafter.

CASA will continue to call on the other parties in this election to create progressive solutions designed to increase the participation rates of Canadians who are currently underrepresented in the post-secondary system, while sustaining students currently in the system by reducing the amount of debt incurred in pursuit of a post-secondary credential

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit national student organization composed of 23 student associations, representing 300,000 students from coast to coast. The University of Lethbridge Students’ Union is a proud member of CASA.

Brodie

Make your vote an educated vote!

As a part of its promotion of a Post-Secondary Access Agenda, CASA has launched a web video entitled The Education Challenge, aimed at encouraging students and the general public to strongly consider the issue of accessibility to post-secondary education when casting their ballot on October 14th, 2008.

Stay tuned to State of the Union as we will be releasing more information regarding each of the party’s platform on PSE, and our thoughts regarding them.

Brodie