Archive for category: Media News

PUBLIC STATEMENT TO UVSS MEMBERS – Funding for the Undergraduates of Political Science Conference

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At the October 26, 2015 meeting of the UVSS Board of Directors, the Undergraduates of Political Science (UPS) requested $6000 for their conference on Sovereignty: Land, Borders and Bodies, through Course Union Council. The Board tabled this motion as concerns were raised about the content of the conference and the lack of proper consultation with Indigenous communities. We invited the UPS to come and present to us on the conference at our next board meeting on November 2, 2015. When our concerns were not adequately addressed in the presentation, the Board voted unanimously not to support the conference at that time. Specifically, the Board was concerned that consultation with NSU or Esquimalt Nation had not occurred, and therefore could not support a conference about sovereignty where organizers did not appropriately include communities on whose unceded land we are situated.

As the Board of Directors of the UVic Students’ Society, we try to actively navigate our own privileges by making space for and listening to the voices of those who are traditionally silenced.

However, this isn’t to say that we are perfect. Unlearning behaviours and calling out oppression is a messy and complicated task – but rather than pushing back on each other when being called out, we have to come together as communities to try to face discomfort and learn from it.

The UVSS recognizes the value in bringing a conversation on sovereignty to Victoria, but remains committed to ensuring that this conversation is held with the consent of all stakeholders. Consultation with Indigenous folks on this topic should not have been an afterthought. We are talking about the use of student money and when students tell us that money will be spent in a way that causes harm – we have to hold each other accountable to preventing harm.

The UVSS Board of Directors places ourselves as complicit within a system that caused harm to students and we recognize that colonialism is an ongoing process within which we are embedded. Breaking down colonial structures is a complicated task, but without forming and tending to valuable relationships within our communities, we simply cannot tackle those structures in a good way. Preventing harm in the future means proactively building linkages between campus communities with many different experiences.

Listening to the voices of those traditionally silenced and marginalized is not coddling. It is a process by which communities can come together to produce the culture shift needed to create a more inclusive society. Some folks may feel put out by this process, but perhaps this serves as an important reminder: change isn’t comfortable – if it was it would be called complacency.

For these reasons, the UVSS Board of Directors stands by our recent decision to overturn $6,000 in funding to the Undergraduates of Political Science conference on Sovereignty: Land, Borders and Bodies.  The UVSS will not be able to support this conference until we are confident that the Undergraduates of Political Science have engaged in meaningful consultation with NSU and other local indigenous groups to ensure this event is not harmful to our members and our community.

In community,
The UVSS Board of Directors.

Refugees resettled in the greater Victoria region to receive free one-year bus pass

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Victoria – The Victoria Regional Transit Commission will provide every refugee resettled in the greater Victoria region with a free one-year bus pass. A motion to establish this program was brought forward by Kenya Rogers, Director of External Relations for the University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) and member of the Victoria Regional Transit Commission. The motion passed unanimously at yesterday’s commission meeting.

“This initiative will ensure that those fleeing heart-wrenching circumstances are able to get around the city they now call home,” said UVSS Director of External Relations Kenya Rogers. “Providing a bus pass to refugees is just one way of supporting individuals who are faced with the difficulties of resettlement and integration into a new community. It will allow for newcomers to move freely around the city and to access the many services, community groups, and public spaces in the region.”

The bus passes will be available for refugees resettled in the region between December 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016 and the motion includes a provision that could see it become a permanent program. Although this initiative was a response to the unfolding crises in Syria and the Mediterranean, bus passes will be provided to any refugees resettled in the region, regardless of country of origin.

“We’re very proud that this motion was brought forward by the student representative on the Transit Commission,” said Andrea Eggenberger, Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) External Executive. “It’s exciting that the shared student seat on the Transit Commission is helping to make the Greater Victoria Region a supportive and welcoming place for refugees.”

Students are now challenging municipalities and transit authorities across the country to provide free transit access to refugees. If you support this initiative, tweet and tag your mayor, city councillors, transit chair, and any public official using the hashtag #WelcomeOnBoard.

The University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) was established in 1964 and represents the 17,000 undergraduate students at the University of Victoria. The UVSS would like to recognize that the University of Victoria is built on the unceded unsurrendered territories of the Lekwungen and WSANEC Peoples and its presence on this land is in itself an act of violence.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Kenya Rogers UVSS Director of External Relations – external@uvss.ca

Students oppose BC Government’s Bill 41 University Act Amendments

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Victoria – As British Columbians were focussed on Canada’s 2015 Federal Election, the B.C. government quietly proposed amendments to the University Act that could result in funding cuts to vital programs and services for BC’s college and university students. Bill 41 – the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act – is set for a second reading today.

“If the proposed amendments to the University Act are adopted as is, it is possible we could see deep cuts to crucial support programs that students rely on – particularly for students from traditionally marginalized backgrounds,” said UVSS Director of External Relations Kenya Rogers. “We are hoping that the B.C. government will halt this legislation, give it the second thought that it deserves, and open it to broader consultation with student societies and university administrators.”

In May 2014, the B.C. government amended the Society Act, concluding a multi-year consultation with stakeholder groups across the province. The outcome was a series of fair and reasonable legislative changes that took into account many different viewpoints, including post-secondary students. The government is now amending the University Act to reflect changes made to the Society Act – particularly around which student fees will remain mandatory if a student has resigned as a member of the society.

“We’re definitely not assuming any ill intent on the part of the provincial government,” said Rogers. “We just think that in the government’s haste to amend the University Act and potentially make some student fees optional, we will face the unintended consequence of cuts to services that we provide to students. Services such as our food bank, sexual assault centre, support programs for students with disabilities, childcare assistance, student refugee program, and bursaries for low-income students.”

Under provincial law, all student society fees collected at post-secondary institutions must be democratically decided via a referendum put to all registered students. Unlike a tax that can be arbitrarily imposed by government, student society fees are the result of students coming together and democratically deciding to fund a service or program that provides direct and tangible benefits to all students on campus.

“The government has indicated that it intends to consult with student societies around fee collection,” said Rogers. “We’re just asking to have that conversation now rather than after the fact when these changes are set in stone.”

The University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) was established in 1964 and represents the 17,000 undergraduate students at the University of Victoria. The UVSS would like to recognize that the University of Victoria is built on the unceded unsurrendered territories of the Lekwungen and WSANEC Peoples and its presence on this land is in itself an act of violence.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Kenya Rogers UVSS Director of External Relations – external@uvss.ca

South Island Conservative candidates decline to participate in all-candidates debate hosted by UVic students

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Victoria – Post-secondary students can now be added to the growing list of community stakeholders that local Conservative candidates running in the federal election are refusing to meet with.

“It’s unfortunate that the Conservative Party is choosing to put the control of its message and iron-fisted media management ahead of engaging with students – some of whom will be voting for the first time,” said UVSS Director of External Relations Kenya Rogers. “Students of all ideological perspectives at UVic want to be informed on the issues that matter to them. The Conservative Party is sending the message to youth that our issues don’t matter and that democratic engagement is totally subservient to their locked down campaign strategy.”

The University of Victoria Students’ Society is hosting an all-candidates debate on October 7 at UVic. South Island candidates from the Conservative Party, NDP, Liberal Party, and Green Party have all been invited. The Conservative Party has declined to participate.

“University campuses are meant to be a place for free and open debate and the spirit of inquiry – this is something that all political parties can agree on,” said Rogers. “The UVic Students’ Society represents over 17,000 student members who have incredibly diverse backgrounds and opinions on Canadian politics. Our members want to see candidates from all the major parties attend an all-candidates debate and hear what they have to offer – especially around the issues of high tuition fees and student debt.”

The University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) was established in 1964 and represents the 17,000 undergraduate students at the University of Victoria. The UVSS would like to recognize that the University of Victoria is built on the unceded unsurrendered territories of the Lekwungen and WSANEC Peoples and its presence on this land is in itself an act of violence.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Kenya Rogers
UVSS Director of External Relations – external@uvss.ca

UVic students support the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, question why the BC Liberals don’t

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Victoria –  The University of Victoria Student Society (UVSS) Board of Directors recently passed a motion standing in solidarity with survivors of the residential school system and those living with the intergenerational effects of colonial violence and systemic racism. The motion supports all 94 recommendations made by the TRC and urges all levels of government, as well as the University of Victoria, to work toward their implementation.

“The TRC calls on governments to prioritize Indigenous education as a strategy toward a more equitable society, yet all levels of Indigenous education remain woefully underfunded” said UVSS Director of External Relations Kenya Rogers. “At least 7 of the TRC recommendations deal with education and it is shocking that Premier Clark’s mandate letter to Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation – made public this week – completely ignores the TRC, while her letter to the Honourable Andrew Wilkinson, Minister of Advanced Education, had absolutely no mention of Indigenous education.”      

The UVSS and the NSU would like to recognize that reconciliation discourse is in itself problematic, as it cannot be understood as an event, but rather as an on-going process. The TRC is an opportunity for Settler-Indigenous relationships to be re-imagined, and acts as a stepping-stone towards breaking down current systems of colonialism, which perpetuate violence. The UVSS and NSU also recognize that this violence renders spaces and institutions such as the University of Victoria unsafe for Indigenous students.

Meanwhile, only weeks after the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on the injustice that was the residential school system, Premier Christy Clark blatantly ignored the recommendations and made no reference to the commission in her annual mandate letter to the Honourable John Rustad, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. The annual letters were made public and updated as of June 22, 2015 and not a single one references the TRC.

“Although the BC Liberals contributed platitudes immediately after the TRC report, totally leaving it out of the annual mandate letter to the Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation shows a lack of sincerity and commitment to building a nation to nation relationship based on mutual respect,” said NSU Coordinator Cole Sayers. “The BC government was complicit in policies that actively caused cultural genocide and intergenerational harm to Indigenous Peoples. The effects of these policies are pervasive today and Premier Clack cannot simply pass over the implementation of the TRC recommendations as a federal jurisdiction.”

2015 ministerial mandate letters can be found here:

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/organizational-structure/cabinet/cabinet-ministers

The University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) was established in 1964 and represents the 17,000 undergraduate students at the University of Victoria. The NSU and UVSS would like to recognize that the University of Victoria is built on the unceded unsurrendered territories of the Lekwungen and WSANEC Peoples and its presence on this land is in itself an act of violence.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Kenya Rogers
UVSS Director of External Relations – external@uvss.ca 

Cole Sayers
NSU Office Coordinator – nsu@uvicnsu.ca