A “Fight the Fees” campaign was discussed last Wednesday in UTMSU’s first commission meeting of this academic year.
Marise Hopkins, UTMSU’s VP external, stated that on November 2, UTMSU will be sending a letter to the government to lobby toward lowering tuition fees.
UTMSU also plans to take part in the National Day of Action, along with UTSG, Carleton University, and York University to continue lobbying to lower the fees.
Hopkins stated that the average student debt is $26,800.
UTMSU also plans on holding events starting October 5 to raise awareness about tuition, according to Nour Alideeb, UTMSU’s president.
Students were also introduced to the different ministries at UTMSU, including the Ministry of International Students, the Ministry of Student Services, the Ministry of Education and Outreach, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Social Justice, and several others.
For almost the first half hour of the meeting, every five minutes, the students rotated between different ministries, each represented by a UTMSU executive, and learned more about the ministry of their interest. They also got a chance to sign up and leave their available times so that they can arrange a meeting with their preferred ministry.
“The commission meeting is one of the best places for students to bring in their ideas,” said UTMSU’s president Nour Alideeb in the meeting.
She also asked the students attending to bring in whatever suggestions they had “to make this place more interactive.”
The next commission meeting will be held in October.
