The University of Toronto Mississauga Students Union is aiming to spread awareness among students about the upcoming 2018 provincial elections and student issues. Several banners were hung around campus featuring questions regarding free tuition and platform points young voters want to see represented by politicians.
“We ask these questions because we really want students to be aware of the upcoming Provincial Elections in June and why they should start thinking about the priorities they have in mind,” stated UTMSU’s vice-president external Jose Wilson in an email to The Medium.
Wilson explained that this campaign is to ensure that students’ issues are at the forefront of every candidate’s platform. “All of next week and ongoing, we’ll be registering people to vote to make this whole process as easy and as accessible as possible.”
UTMSU’s president Salma Fakhry added, “We really want to get students to start thinking about the priorities they have in mind when they do hit the polls in June.”
Students were able to write unfiltered responses to the questions. Their answers ranged from demanding more food on campus to protesting the discrepancy between domestic and international tuition fees.
According to the UTMSU, these campaigns are also intended to bring awareness among students about issues such as rising tuition fees.
UTMSU did not say what would be done with the students’ responses, or if the posters are being monitored for inappropriate content when asked.