Hi all!
I hope you’ve all been enjoying the spookiest month of the year, and have been able to get out and watch the leaves changing colour in the midst of midterm season.
First, we had the opportunity to meet with the Minister of Colleges and Universities, the Honorable Nolan Quinn, who entered the role in mid-August! We had a productive conversation about our goals and priorities for the year, as well as what is going on in the sector. We introduced our recommendations for how the Ministry can better serve students to address these issues like student mental health and housing. We greatly appreciate the Minister's willingness to meet with us and hear about the needs of the sector's biggest stakeholder: students. His transparency about his objectives and passion for the new role showed, and we cannot wait to continue engaging with him going forward.
Additionally, our Executive Director had the opportunity to attend a panel discussion with Premier Ford, hosted by the Empire Club of Canada. It was a unique opportunity to learn more about the current government’s plans for the economy and where young people fit into their goal-setting ahead of a potential early election next spring. We’re keeping our eyes peeled for this announcement, but the panel was informative to help us plan how we can keep university students as a priority on the agenda.
We’ve also been continuing our grand tour of Ontario; we got the chance to visit Ontario Tech earlier in the month, and Home Office stopped by my very own Western USC office this week as well! It was a pleasure to host them, and we look forward to visiting Laurier next week, as our last stop of the semester.
Last but most certainly not least - we held our annual fall General Assembly! This also happened to be OUSA’s 60th General Assembly, and the Brock University Students’ Union did not disappoint when it came to the celebrations! We’ll have a recap blog coming soon, but the main point is that they did such a fantastic job hosting us on their campus and supporting us throughout the weekend. I would also like to thank BUSU alum Christopher Yendt for being such an incredible speaker!
After quite the efficient plenary, we successfully renewed two existing policy papers: Student Financial Aid and Environmental Sustainability. Additionally, we ratified a new policy paper, which responds directly to the Blue Ribbon Panel report, and aims to discuss their recommendations from the student perspective. Congratulations to all my fellow authors, and a special thank you to our Managers of Research and Policy for the endless hours of work that they have put into these papers, as well as all of their help throughout the weekend. Finally, a huge shout out to Tiffany Li Wu, our Manager of Operations and Communications, for planning and executing the conference itself! None of this would have been possible without our incredible Home Office staff. I left this weekend with a very full heart, and I cannot begin to express how appreciative I am of both Home Office and my incredible Steering Committee.
The final day of the conference also concluded with our Indigenization Strategy Intern, Sophia, formally tabling her final reports, which consisted of five recommendations to enhance OUSA’s commitment to re-Indigenization and reconciliation. The General Assembly then tasked SC with working towards implementing these recommendations, and we look forward to doing so in a meaningful way throughout the next several years. With that, Sophia’s time at Home Office has come to an end, but I know I speak for the entire organization when I say that she will be dearly missed, and her contributions will impact us for a long time to come.
November will not be any less busy! We’re incredibly excited to launch our Ontario Undergraduate Student Survey (OUSS), which is the largest recurring province-wide survey on the post-secondary student experience. Students will get an email in their inboxes on November 4th, and can fill out the survey to win a 1 in 10 $100 VISA gift card. These survey results contribute to OUSA’s lobbying and policy development process, ensuring that we are accurately representing the student experience in all aspects of our advocacy.
Our next big event will be our Student Advocacy Conference, where Steering Committee and Home Office spend the week in Toronto meeting with MPPs in order to discuss our advocacy recommendations for the year. We are also incredibly excited to be hosting a joint breakfast reception at Queen’s Park alongside our college counterparts, the College Student Alliance and Ontario Student Voices!
With that being said, good luck to those of you who still have midterms left, and I hope you all have a cozy November! I can’t wait for the next update.
With love,
Michelle