Saskatchewan campuses form alliance
to address student issues

by Stephane Bonneville
the Carillon

Saskatchewan post-secondary students will have a new voice to express their concerns, but will it be enough to have their issues addressed?
The leaders of six students’ unions and associations from across the province hope so. The establishment of the Saskatchewan Students Coalition (SSC) was officially announced at the Regina Legislature on March 17th.
Saskatchewan Students’ Union President Craig Stehr says, “This coalition is for greater coordination and information sharing to deal with problems which face students. It’s essential to have one voice in the province to achieve our goals effectively and efficiently for our students.”
The SSC will lobby the government on pressing issues such as rising tuition and student debt. It will address the current state of the student loans program, which is deemed to be unsatisfactory by many students.
University of Saskatchewan Students Union President Craig Stehr says, “The program doesn’t provide the amount of support that students need- it’s not keeping pace with the tuition increases, so obviously the education system has really changed but the program hasn’t kept pace.”
Trevor Bemis, the President of the Palliser Students’ Association, says, “These are always the big issues because we feel that this [the situation of Saskatchewan students] is an unfair proposition for the students of this province. We, the students, must fact these issues in a collaborative manner.”
University of Regina Students Union President Korbin Offet points out that there is no membership fee to be a part of this organization, so the services provided by the SSC do not cost students anything. He also explains that the SSC’s strategy is geared more towards lobbying the government then protesting against it.
“We’re sitting down with community leaders, members of the business community, and all parties from the government to express our concerns. It allows us to bring up issues which affect students and to work with the business communities within Saskatchewan,” says Offet.
U of R student Kyall Glennie, a supporter of the CFS, is concerned that an increase of lobbying on a provincial level is not an appropriate strategy.
While he agrees that Saskatchewan students need to work together to lobby the provincial government more effectively, he says that students will get better results from lobbying the federal government.
“Funding for post-secondary education used to come for a large part from the federal government,” he says.
“Now that these federal transfers have decreased, the provincial governments are faced with the burden of funding that results in the jacking up of tuition fees.”
He goes on to say that the CFS exists at both levels for this reason, with the provincial components of the CFS focused on the provincial government and the national office focused on lobbying in Ottawa. The U of R Students’ Union is currently in the process of trying to defederate from the CFS.
URSU Vice-President Internal Shaddie Musleh argues that it is counterproductive to draw distinction between federal and provincial lobbying.
“We’re fighting for students’ rights whether it’s federal or provincial,” says Musleh. “If people want to make that distinction it’s irresponsible.”
He continues, “If people are hesitant about working with other insitutions in this province, I have to question their logic.”
Musleh adds that people on opposing sides of the issue should put their differences aside and work toward their common goal of addressing important student issues.