The Silver Bullet

Infrastructure... then what?

2009-03-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

Premier MacDonald will deliver a speech tomorrow morning to the chamber of commerce on infrastructure and what investments Nova Scotians can expect in the upcoming budget. I'll be there, and can't wait to hear what type of aid our institutions will get!

Where your billz at

2009-03-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

Students want to know if Dal has Sudan investments
But university has spurned their bid to get list of its holdings
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter h
Fri. Mar 6 - 5:48 AM

A student group at Dalhousie University is trying to figure out whether the Halifax school has investments in Sudan.

Up to 300,000 people have died in the state-sponsored genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region, and 2.7 million have fled their homes.

"One of our campaigns is called the divestment campaign where, basically, students at various universities work to investigate the investment holdings of the university and then compare that to a list of companies . . . that are known to either work in Sudan, have conglomerates in Sudan or are somehow financially supporting the government of Sudan," said Tara MacDougall of Students Taking Action Now Darfur, which has campus groups across North America.

"And then we’ll work to remove those investment holdings from the university, thereby cutting off the funds of the government of Sudan."

But Dalhousie refused to just hand over details about its investment portfolio. Instead, the university insisted the student group apply for the data through provincial freedom of information laws.

"They’ve basically been giving us the runaround," Ms. MacDougall said. "They’ve finally come to the stage where they’ve told us we need to pay $300 to access about a 12-page document, which tells us the investments of the university."

The student group’s director, Kate Varsava, wrote to Dalhousie president Tom Traves and three other university administrators last month, saying its members had been trying for more than a year to get their hands on the university’s list of investments.

"I was wondering if I could arrange a meeting with any of you to discuss divestment and any possible methods of obtaining a list of Dalhousie’s investments, so that we can move forward with this initiative which we believe is imperative and will be effective in bringing an end to the atrocities being suffered in Sudan," Ms. Varsava wrote.

The email response from the president’s office turned them down flat.

"Dalhousie University has a fiduciary responsibility to its employees for whom we invest their pension funds to optimize our investments for their ultimate disposal," says the email.

Dal uses about a dozen specialist investment firms, it says.

"We do not direct their individual and changing investment decisions. Nor do we have detailed information about where the firms in which we may have a momentary investment carry out all aspects of their business," the email says.

"We cannot provide a list of individual investments without a large amount of work, and so if someone wants access to specific information of the sort you mention we would require you to file a (freedom of information) request, and if it is legal to respond we would require you to pay for the substantial staff time that would be required to compile the information since university staff would have to be pulled off their regular jobs to do so.

"Of course, the information provided would only be a snapshot of the information collected at that moment and could well have changed by the time it was forwarded if the investment managers wished to sell the investment and purchase something else in the meanwhile."

The student group, on principle, doesn’t want to pay the $300, which would be very tough on its yearly budget.

"We will pay the $300 if that’s what it comes down to; we do believe it’s important," said Ms. MacDougall, a third-year international development student.

But right now the group is trying to "embarrass the university into paying it for us," she said.

A Dalhousie spokesman contacted with questions about the issue did not return calls by deadline.

Members don’t know whether Dal has investments in the vast oil-rich country south of Egypt. But they are determined to find out.

"We think this is something that’s important and that the Dal community cares about," Ms. MacDougall said. "Maybe there are no investments indirectly contributing to genocide, but it’s the fact that the university seems to think it’s not important and isn’t being very transparent with us."

Safety Bus

2009-03-03T17:20:00.001-08:00

And if you're friends don't bus, and if they won't bus, well they ain't no friends of mine. S - S - A - A ...

This evening the pre-budget submission from the Halifax Student Alliance was presented to council. The topic, late night transit. We were asking for an extension of late night transit until around 3 AM on the major routes servicing the university areas the 1, the 41, the 10. You can read our report HERE.

The response - no decision for the next couple of weeks - Metro Transit staff and the Halifax Regional Police Service will be compiling a report on the issue to be prepared before final budget decisions are made.

In other news, bus fares went up by $0.25 per ride today to cover rising costs for Metro Transit and some service expansions.

Students group wants late-night buses

2009-03-02T08:33:00.000-08:00

From Today's Herald:

Expanded transit service would make downtown safer, letter to council says
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE Staff Reporter
Mon. Mar 2 - 4:46 AM

A students group in metro wants Halifax city hall to consider providing late-night bus service downtown for post-secondary students, according to a submission to regional council.

The proposal from the Halifax Student Alliance says the plan is in line with two of council’s policy focus areas for this year: public safety and transportation.

Late-night transit would allow for safer and more convenient access to students’ destinations, the submission says, and "provide more transportation options for (the) entire community."

The pilot project would include popular Metro Transit routes such as those to Saint Mary’s and Dalhousie universities and those along Barrington Street, Spring Garden Road and Oxford Street.

Mark Coffin, chairman of the alliance, said in a letter to councillors the project is directly linked to results of the mayor’s roundtable on violence. He said about 1,540 students were surveyed for the study, and 45 per cent of respondents reported being crime victims while studying in metro.

"Alarmingly, 12 per cent of respondents disclosed that they had been victims of sexual assault downtown," Mr. Coffin said in his letter. He noted the city’s anti-violence report recommends a late-night transit service for Halifax’s central core.

The submission to council says the advocacy group represents more than 25,000 university and community college students in Halifax Regional Municipality. Many students rely on Metro Transit’s bus service, which stops at 1 a.m., and the alliance feels "an investment in late-night transit will reduce the frequency" of violent events involving young people.

The group wants the city to look at bus service ending at 3 a.m., a spokesman told The Chronicle Herald on Saturday.

Alliance members also pitched the economics of students riding city buses. They told the politicians in their letter that post-secondary students dish out at least $6.7 million annually to the municipality’s transit system through such things as bus fares and passes.

"The student contribution to Metro Transit’s operating budget is considerable," Mr. Coffin said in his letter. "The (alliance) will continue to encourage Metro Transit to provide better service to the universities and colleges, which are cornerstones of the local economy."

Transit funding is to be discussed at council’s committee of the whole session Tuesday afternoon; the alliance’s proposal is on the agenda for Tuesday night’s regional council meeting.

Dal graduate student Zach Dayler, the alliance’s executive director, said his organization is aware that late-night transit would mean bus drivers dealing with some passengers who are intoxicated. He said that scenario can be mitigated.

"I’d point to the investment in security cameras that they do want to put on buses," said Mr. Dayler.

"So that, I think, will alleviate some concern there about drunk people on the buses potentially causing incidents."

Mr. Dayler said should the municipality give the pilot project the green light, his group would like to see it running as soon as possible.

Whether there is political will on regional council for the alliance’s proposal remains to be seen. A couple of councillors have expressed their support, but others are against it. Mayor Peter Kelly hasn’t ruled out such a plan, but his is only one vote on a 24-member council.

Regardless of how councillors may feel about the issue, transit officials are not exactly hopping on the late-night-bus bandwagon.

"That’s on the back burner," Eddie Robar, Metro Transit’s planning manager, told the Coast last year.

( mlightstone@herald.ca)

Bricks and Brains

2009-01-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

What you have heard: The feds earmarked over $2 Billion in money for infrastructure (remember the NINJAS?) renewal projects on university and college campuses across Canada.

What they didn't tell you: If a university or college wants to spend some of that money, their provincial government must match the funding in a 1:1 ratio with the money from the feds.

First the Atlantic Accord, now this. It looks good on paper, until you read the fine print and realize that Atlantic Canada (surprise, surprise) gets the shaft again. This funding formula obviously favours the wealthier provinces that can arguably afford the NINJA upgrades regardless, BUT its a recession - code for spend yourselves into debt!

Where will Rodney spend? Provincial Finance Minister Michael Baker reacted yesterday by saying education infrastructure will be a priority in their upcoming budget. BUT, the Liberals and NDP are all geared up for a spring election - so chances are the provincial budget will not pass when it goes to the legislature. The upside of this is education may become an election issue again, the downside being that political posturing will take priority for provincial powerfuls while real issues like this one remain untouched for months.

Budget Boost

2009-01-26T10:11:00.001-08:00

Transport minister John Baird made the following anouncements today regarding infrastructure spending in the upcoming federal budget:

$4 billion for an infrastructure stimulus fund to help provinces, territories and municipalities.

$2 billion for repairs and construction of colleges and universities.

$1 billion for sustainable green infrastructure projects.

"Students are impressed that the government has recognized the importance of investing in PSE infrastructure," said Zach Churchill, National Director othe Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. "The question for tomorrow's budget is how this money is going to be delivered and whether or not it will

simply displace pre-existing funding."

CASA was the only national student advocacy group calling for investments in infrastructure in the upcoming budget.

Zach also made a good point in his blog when he points out that none of our elected officials are talking about making room for more seats in colleges in universities across Canada. We can throw money at a problem, but without a skilled workforce, we're going to continue suffering from a skilled labour shortage.

 In addition to infrastructure spending, CASA is recommending that the following actions be taken as a part of the 2009 federal budget:

a one-time, earmarked transfer to the provinces for PSE to offset freezes or claw-backs in provincial PSE funding
Provide temporary targeted grants to counterbalance the difficulties students and their families may face in finding the means to afford post-secondary education
Extend the Interest Relief period for Canada Student Loans from the current 6 months, to 9 months

These are the hands... what are we gonna build with them?

2009-01-21T22:33:00.000-08:00

Infrastructure. I've been dreading doing this blog. Its an issue at the heart of the economic crisis, that needs to be discussed. But my goodness infrastructure is a boring word. So, for the rest of this blog I'm going to use the word NINJAS everytime I would normally use the I-word, and the word KARATE-CHOP instead of accumulated deferred maintenance, another boring term. The federal budget comes out on Tuesday, and it looks as if we will have a major investment in infrastructure, where exactly has yet to be determined.

If you've spent anytime in Atlantic universities, you will know that there are some serious problems with the NINJAS we have and there are quite a few KARATE-CHOPS that need to be repaired. Blame it on poor planning on the part of university administrators or on provincial governments, but we've got our selves in a crummy situation and the

NINJAS are falling apart.

Universities' operating budgets are suffering this year - no one is really sure how the economic crisis will affect enrollments, and interest driven investments aren't generating the same revenues they have in years past. Dalhousie would be set to run an $ 3.7 Million deficit if we were to do everything we did last year (more or less), maintain enrollment, and complete the bare minimum of KARATE-CHOP work. The Dalhousie administration has asked the provincial and federal governments for hundreds of millions of dollars in NINJA funding to solve the KARATE-CHOP problem, and build even more NINJAS.

Unfortunately, any money from the feds will likely be given directly to the province to decide how best to spend it. Past NINJA spending has been spent primarily on highways and road building. Dalhousie President Tom Traves aptly put it, our governments then face the dilemna of investing in brains versus investing in asphalt.

Simply put, roads will only take us where we've already been. Nova Scotia's politicians will always talk about highways and hospitals when put on the podium. But as the old adage says, ' if you always do what you've always done then you'll always get what you've always got'. And what does Nova Scotia have now? An aging population that is set to retire in near plurality over the next 8 years, a young population that is migrating to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Yet will still offer one of the most boastful set of universities and colleges in Canada.

So lets send some of that NINJA funding towards the universities of Atlantic Canada and get KARATE-CHOPS out of our PSE sysem for good. Create jobs in Nova Scotia that can compete with the high paying jobs in the west and give the university administrators a reason to stop worrying about their buildings falling apart and focus their efforts on creating and maintaining the highest quality education possible.

Time to lead...

2009-01-20T07:23:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that I'm an Obama fan. I started out as a Kucinich fan (big dreams, lots of pockets), and then became an Edwards fan, and then got bounced to Obama.

Why Obama? Because he gets people excited about politics. Regardless of the policy stances he's taken on several controversial issues, he is able to use his candour and gravitas to bring people together and get them excited about politics, even when they might disagree with him.

Isn't this blog about education?

Barack Obama (Senior) came to America from Kenya. He was a bright student, self driven, academically capable, but encountered financial barriers in trying to enter the higher education system. He began writing letters to American universities asking for admission and scholarship, and eventually The University of Hawiaii agreed to give him an education. He would here continue his education and father Barack.

Barack himself funded his university career on student loans. Barack and Michelle only recently paid off their remaining student loans after becoming elected to the United States Senate in 2004 and becoming a bestselling author.

So what's his pledge to students?

Barack Obama will reform No Child Left Behind:

Obama and Biden believe teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests and he will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college.

ans:Invest in early childhood education:

The Obama-Biden comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young children and their parents. And they will help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school.

I would argue that these first two promises are as important (if not more important) than the final promise. With a public school system as good as the one we have throughout most of Canada, we can't begin to imagine the work that needs to be done before we can fully consider making it possible for every capable American high school graduate to obtain a higher education.

Obama and Biden will create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth $4,000 in exchange for community service. It will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students.

Three small promises, that will arguably have resounding affects on the next generation. I haven't studied american education policy, and the context is certainly very different.

Hope for Education

Sometimes I catch myself drifting away from the importance of higher education and wonder if I should be focusing my efforts elsewhere. But the Obama story is inspiring for more reasons than unity. Within the student advocacy movement we talk alot about the difficulties faced by students in Canada from families with no history of higher education.

The Obama story is an unlikely one for many reasons, but its inspiring to believe that the chance accessibility of higher education has played such a pivotal role in paving the path for the president of today. Because of the generousity of some University of Hawaii adminstrators, his father was empowered to visit America and father one of the greatest organizers and thinkers of our time.

It makes me extremely hopeful for a world of possibilities. Possibilities that will only be realized once our leaders take the steps to ensure that every capable student is able to pursue a higher education with the right tools at their grasp, and to able to do so without the fear of backbreaking debt, balancing two jobs with full time study, or taking care of a young family.

That's why I like Obama.

Call me a social conservative...

2008-11-29T21:28:00.000-08:00

You've no doubt heard of this by now: Carelton University Students' Association decides to stop supporting Shinerama because Cystic Fibrosis (CF) affects only white people, and primarily males. This is untrue. For the purpose of this blog, and highlighting the naiivety of CUSA's decision, let us assume it is true.

Forty years ago the life expectancy of an individual with CF was four years. Now it is 32 years. I'm a white male, and I understand that because of the culture we have, my life has been significantly easier than that of others. But if the logic that CUSA used to draft their motion last week was used by student unions 40 years ago, we would be punishing infants on the basis of their sex and race. Barack Obama writes about his childhood in Dream's From My Father, saying "I was too young to know that I needed a race". Talk about inheritance, talk about race. Forty years ago, no-one would have dared suggest that we should reconsider raising funds for CF if we knew that the disease only affected white males, given that most of those affected would have died well before reaching adulthood. So why (since we are assuming CF does only affect whites, and primarily males) is this acceptable now?

You're a female, and I'm a male. We're on the bus together, you're standing and I'm sitting. I'm going to give you my seat. If you're a male, tough. But if you're a white man, or a black man, or an asian woman and you can't breathe because you've got CF, I'm going to make sure you're ok, and then go make a donation to Shinerama. What on earth would ever make it right to punish someone because of their inherited race? Race is inherited, so is CF. Back to reality: yes more whites are affected by CF than other races - but as far as I know, not being able to breathe feels just as shitty if you're white as when you're black.

***

When I graduated from high school, I was very fortunate to recieve the Bryan Lynk Memorial Scholarship. Bryan was a young musician from Cape Breton, the same age as myself. Bryan was born with a twin, Brendan. Both twins were born with CF. When they were five years old, Brendan passed away. Despite the fact that we socialized in many of the same circles, I never had the opportunity to meet Bryan. Bryan lost his battle with CF at the young age of seventeen. Spending his last hours in the IWK hospital, a local radio station played one of his band's songs on the Halifax airwaves as he listened closely. His career as a musician drew quickly to an end.

Bryan was white. Bryan was male. Bryan had a life ahead of him as a young musician, talented, smart and charming, so I'm told. Would his cause be any more worthy if he had been black, female, gay, or a visible minority? No. He suffered, just like everyone with CF suffers. Is a caucasion's suffering less worthy of relief simply on the basis that his ancestors have suffered less than someone elses? No.

Each year, Bryan's friends and school teachers continue to work to raise money for research into the disease that took Bryan too early. An annual all-day event call BRYSTOCK raises thousands of dollars for Bursaries and Shinerama in Bryan's name. Here is how:

Thank goodnes CUSA is revisiting their decision to ditch Shinerama. My suggestion is a good primer in Roberts Rules for their entire council, and a requirement that all information contained in whereas clauses be cited in APA or MLA style.

Shadow wasn't just a dog in homeward bound...

2008-11-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

Opposition parties appointed their shadow cabinets this week. For politically innocent reading this blog, a shadow cabinet is a set of opposition MPs assigned to each Minister's portfolio to critique the work they do (or in some cases, the work they don't do). Shadow is probably not the right word for it at the federal level. Unrelenting acid rain cloud is probably the more appropriate term.

The department responsible for Post Secondary Education (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) is under the ministry of Diane Finley.

Her critics:

Liberal MP Mike Savage (Dartmouth Cole Harbour)
NDP MP Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)

The NDP critic is responsible for critiquing the minister based on NDP policy. The Liberal critic however, in addition to being the Liberal critic for the portfolio, is also deemed the official critic of the portfolio for all of Canada as a member of the official opposition. A great idea, keep the other guys in check, but realistically I'm not sold on the effectiveness of it.

Other interesting tidbits:

Halifax MP Megan Leslie is now the NDP Critic for Post Secondary Education and Literacy, along with some deputy critic duties for the department of Justice and first nations (urban issues). A very fitting portfolio given the landscape of our riding here in Halifax. Puzzling, however is the NDP's choice in cabinet posts. The NDP caucus is one seat short of matching the size of Harper's cabinet, yet the NDP have chosen to have critics (such as critic for Post Secondary Education, Poverty, and Youth) for ministerial positions that don't yet exist.
Harper has one of the largest cabinets in recent history (with 38 MPS) rivaled only by the cabinets of Brian Mulroney.
Cabinet members get tonnes of perks. Namely, a $67 700 raise from their standard MP's salary of $155 400/year (which alone puts all MPs in the top two percent of income earners in Canada). And, don't forget the limo rides.

Dal student union criticizes Elections Canada effort

2008-11-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

From my new favourite online publication, U-News.

To view the report, click here.

The Dalhousie Student Union has sent a report to Ottawa on what it calls Elections Canada’s lacklustre efforts to address the needs of student voters

Steven Woodhead
Last update: November 17, 2008 9:21 am AT

Just as Elections Canada conducts its regular post-election survey to assess its performance, the students union at Dalhousie University has sent a report to Elections Canada with concerns of a poorly done job.

The letter's primary author was Mark Coffin, vice-president (education) for the Dalhousie Student Union (DSU). The document was based upon a report that Coffin prepared for the student union meeting on Nov. 5, which identifies five main problems with the voting process in Halifax this year. According to Coffin, the process in Halifax was "very disorganized".

One of the recipients of the letter from the Dal student union was the Chief Electoral Officer for Elections Canada, who must make his report to Parliament within 90 days of the federal election.

Part of his report will include findings from the survey that Elections Canada is currently conducting. Elections Canada spokesman John Enright said the survey will cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $900,000.

Related Websites

VP Education Council Report
“Elections Canada asks $1.3-million question: ‘How we doin’?’” (Canadian Press)

"What we're looking for specifically is to assess an elector's knowledge, awareness, attitudes and opinions on voting," said Enright. The survey will also have a special youth-based component, which Enright says will evaluate the difficulties that people aged 18 to 24 might have had in voting this year.

"At this point, we're still evaluating the post-election material from the most recent election," said Enright. "Anecdotally, we know that there have been some complaints with respect to voter ID, for example, by not just students but by electors generally. We haven't had a chance to compile and analyze everything. We're doing that now."

A lack of consultation

Voter ID requirements are not the only problem voters encountered, according to the DSU.

Students unions in around the province are generally the go-to groups for ensuring that as many students vote as possible, with support from the office of the chief returning officers who represent Elections Canada. According to Coffin, there was a lack of co-ordination this year between Elections Canada and the DSU - the number one concern in the students union report.

The lack of consultation on issues such as how to best register students living in student neighbourhoods and how to equip the campus with the required number of polling stations is a major concern for the student union, said Coffin.

Elections Canada failed to meet many of the commitments it pledges to make every election year, as outlined in the Service Standards document it sent to the DSU, according to the report presented to Nova Scotia MPs.

The report from the Dalhousie Student Union breaks down as follows:

Service standards for student electors were not upheld: Subsections reveal that there was not adequate consultation with the DSU prior to the election, nor were student housing areas targeted in such a way that would increase the student vote.
Inadequate resources for on-campus polling stations: Polling stations were not set up in residence buildings, but rather in high-traffic areas of the Student Union Building. This lead to long line-ups and some students leaving without voting.
Off-campus students trying to vote at on-campus stations: With no polling places on campus for off-campus students, it meant lengthy travel periods to polling locations during class time.
Poor pre-election organization, and ID restrictions disadvantage student voters: There was insufficient paper literature made available to students that was clear and easy to understand about the voting process, and students found that the change in what is considered valid ID to be confusing.

Finding ways to reach out

In the meantime, Elections Canada is considering different approaches to ensure that youth are aware of how to vote.

The survey includes a web-based component that aims to reach out to 330 student and youth associations, including university and college student associations, youth community groups for those not enrolled in school, and other advocacy groups such as Apathy is Boring and Student Vote.

The survey will also measure the ways in which Elections Canada can use technology to make contact with potential student voters.

"We know that the 18 to 24 electors are very plugged in," said Enright. "So for us to be able to reach an elector with information on the voting process, it's important for us to understand how they are using those technologies so we can better inform them through those technologies."

Land of the (tax) free

2008-11-16T19:54:00.000-08:00

In 2006, the province of Nova Scotia capped property tax assessments for homeowners at the rate of inflation (CPI) for the following year. Those who own single family residences, duplexes, condominiums, nursing homes, seasonal dwellings, manufactured homes, and even vacant land have their property tax assessments capped at CPI, so that year to year the amount they pay in taxes doesn't increase at a rate greater than the average rate of increase in costs for other goods or services.

Unfortunately, this half-thought peice of legislation neglected a significant and important part of the population: tenants of rental units. Rental units are the only type of residential property not covered under the property tax assessment cap. First glance from a layperson might suggest that this makes sense, since landlords are profit-makers, and ought to be paying out to government. But economic theory says that whatever taxes suppliers (landlords) are stuck with are passed along to buyers (in this case renters). Landlords do end up absorbing some of the costs, but will indeed pass some along to tenants through increases in monthly rent.

Still don't get it? Thankfully Killam Properties have enlisted the services of Halifax's own PicnicFace to explain it to folks like you and me:

In Halifax, the issue is particularly concerning because of the state of the housing market, with values of homes and apartment buildings increasing substantially over the past decade, and no sign of a decrease in demand any time soon.

A cap on property tax assessments is neccessary as a short-term step to stablize rent prices in Halifax. We don't have data on the average prices of rental housing for students in the HRM, but its clear that if property tax assessments continue to increase we will see a rise in rent costs for tenants. This is a first step, and a very small step down the path of solving the housing problems faced by the city of Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia.

Bob Dylan 24-7

2008-11-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

The fight for 24-hour study space continues...

Here's a video from an email I recieved from a concerned student who wants somewhere to study.

Does Halifax need late night bus service?

2008-10-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

The Halifax Student Alliance was successful in the municipal election in soliciting commitments from several elected candidates to support the implementation of a pilot service for late night transit. We were able to commit all three mayoral candidates to supporting late night transit during the election campaign.

U-News did a video streeter asking students about whether or not they think Halifax needs late night transit service.

It's important to remember that students contribute roughly 10% of the MetroTransit operating budget through their U-Pass fees. Its also important to consider the amount of money spent by students at institutions where there is no U-Pass offered and the amount of money spent during the summer months when U-Pass service is not offered. When you factor these numbers in, I would guess that the percentage rises to upwards of 15% of MT's operating budget.

Halifax Didn't Want Your Vote

2008-10-17T20:49:00.001-07:00

Did you miss voting in the federal and municipal elections last week? Don't worry about it, the government didn't want your vote anyway. Ignoring the fact that voting is a constitutional and chartered right, students slip through the cracks of Canadian and Nova Scotian electoral law. Forget about democracy, the closest you'll get to that this year is casting your ballot in the DSU general elections in March of 2009.

On the day of the federal election I heard more complaints from students than in my entire term as Vice President Education for the DSU. Students were rightly riled about the new identification rules for voting that stop just short of asking for a DNA sample to prove your identity. During the last session of parliament the Harper Government brought forward several legislative changes to the way elections are run in Canada.

Unfortunately, the new regulations don't make any exceptions for highly transient students, many of whom change apartments on a yearly basis, and have difficulty proving their residency due to shared leases and bills that may not necessarily have their name on them. On Election Day, I asked the supervisor at the polling station in the SUB how many students they were forced to turn away. He consulted with his colleagues, and quickly informed me that at least sixty percent of students were being rejected.

On top of stricter ID rules at the polls, the new regulations have eliminated the enumeration (or door-to-door registration) of voters during election time. But, exceptions were made for enumerations to continue in student neighborhoods. In fact, Elections Canada sent student unions across Canada a document promising that every off campus student would be visited at least twice to attempt an enumeration, and that student unions would be consulted before the process began. That was a promise that fell through. Across the country, returning officers gave students the same story - we want to help, but we have limited resources: not enough people, not enough money, not enough time. "Please file a written complaint after the election" we were told.

Across Canada citizens were denied the right to vote. Students, senior citizens, first nations peoples, rural citizens and the homeless were all victims of these new electoral regulations. The new electoral rules were introduced by the Conservatives, supported by the Liberals and opposed by New Democrats and Greens. Recently, Liberals have been distancing themselves from their initial support of the rules, and hinting that they may need to be reexamined before the next writ drop.

Voting in elections should be as easy and straightforward as possible. The government of Australia has gone the extra step and made voting in national elections mandatory. Most national elections boast a voter turnout of around 95%. Under Canada's new voter identification rules, we've seen national voter turnout drop to the lowest since confederation at 59.1%. Anyone following the food-fight of an election we just experienced knows that Stephen Harper has taken the lead from former Aussie PM John Howard, on more than one occasion, often without giving due credit. Perhaps our reaffirmed Prime Minister should secretly drop him a line and get some under-the-table advice on keeping voter turnout high.

Maybe you tried to cast a ballot in the Municipal Elections that happened on Saturday. Unless you are a married student from Nova Scotia or an out of province student who spent the summer here, your participation in our election is considered illegal under the outdated and archaic electoral law of Nova Scotia's Municipal Elections Act. The act is so outdated, that its prevention of single students from voting outside of the district of their family home is a spirited violation of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of marital status or family status, but is worded ambiguously enough to prevent any legal action on our part.

During the summer the Halifax Student Alliance sent a formal request to the Minister of Municipal Relations, Jamie Muir, asking for the act to be amended to allow students who spend the majority of their year in Halifax the right to vote. We were told since the house of assembly wasn't in session; there wouldn't be time to make any amendments before October 18th. The house has been adjourned since May 27th, and will not reconvene until October 30th. While students were busy working to pay off student loans, studying, and not exercising their democratic rights, I'm inclined to wonder how Muir spent his recess.

In a landmark year for democracy, the provincial and federal governments appear to be doing all they can to discourage young Canadians from voting. The province of Nova Scotia decided to put over nine million dollars into the Democracy 250 project this year. A project aimed at celebrating democracy and intended to promote involvement in the political process, especially among youth and first time voters. You've probably seen the product of D250 around. With the amount of money they've spent on promotional swag, the entire province could be clothed in their inmate-style D250 sweatshirts (conveniently stitched in countries where democracy has yet to exist). Halitosis should never again be an issue for Haligonians; from what I've heard, province house has been overflowing with democracy mints since early spring.

Our governments need to stop sending mixed signals about youth involvement in democracy. If they genuinely believe that our votes and voices are important (which they are), then electoral law should be changed to reflect that. Until then, stop wasting our money on advertising campaigns that encourage us to do something we cannot legally and conveniently do!

Young voters and party-tinted beers at Dalhousie bar

2008-10-15T12:15:00.001-07:00

SYLVIA COLE, METRO HALIFAX

October 15, 2008 05:00

Students and locals sipped red, blue, orange and green beer at Dalhousie University last night while they watched the results of the election unfold.

“Elections are really exciting. What’s better than watching the elections and having a couple of drinks?” asked Adam Reid, a third-year history student who nabbed a prime leather couch in front of a large screen TV at the Grawood campus bar.

Reid’s friend, Marion Waldron-Blain, a third-year student at NSCAD University, said she’d like to see either the NDP or the Liberals win.

“I go to art school and the Conservatives aren’t very pro-arts at all. I would like to have a job sometime in my life, so that’s most of my reason,” she said.

Reid said he’d like to see more help offered to students paying back student loans, and to making school more affordable.

Not everyone was against the Conservatives. Kevin Forbes, a non-student watching the elections at the Grawood, argued the Conservatives have done a pretty good job in the last two years they’ve been in power.

That said, Forbes didn’t necessarily vote Conservative.

“I sent all candidates an e-mail with a few questions and only one bothered to answer it, so I voted for that guy, because it said a lot about him and the campaign he wanted to run.”

Elections regulations unfair, unconstitutional

2008-10-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

CBC interviewed me earlier today for an article concerning the new voting regulations that have been detrimental when it comes to enabling students to cast their ballots in federal elections. More to come on this later.

New ID rules cause confusion at polls

Voters across the country had difficulties casting their ballots in the federal election Tuesday.

According to an Elections Canada official, many people were unaware of a new rule that requires voters to present either one piece of identification showing their name and address or two pieces of ID, each of which shows their name and at least one of which shows their address.

Elections Canada official Dana Doiron said people have been turning up with passports or other pieces of ID that do not contain an address.

He said that in most cases, voters eventually got the proper paperwork or they were vouched for by someone else. (In lieu of proper ID, an elector can take an oath and be vouched for by another elector whose name is on the list of electors for the same polling division and who has the necessary ID.)

But voters across the country — from Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territories — have still been reporting problems.

At Dalhousie University in Halifax, almost two-thirds of the students showing up to cast ballots on campus were turned away because they didn't have the necessary signed form from their university residence stating their address or were off-campus students, said Mark Coffin, vice-president of education on the Dalhousie student council. The form is the only way for some students to prove they live in the area, as many of them have IDs with an address from another region.

He said he feared students who were turned away didn't go back to vote.

"You know, 1.4 million young Canadians didn't vote in the last election," Coffin said. "Well, these new rules aren't making it any easier for students to vote."

In Vancouver, polling station representative Pendra Wilson said she saw several voters turned away after they arrived without proper identification.

"I think every Canadian should be able to vote," Wilson told CBC News. "It made me sick to see so many conscientious Canadians not allowed to vote today."

People turned away in North

In the Yukon and Northwest Territories, election officials told CBC News Tuesday that they have had some problems with the new rules regarding proof of identity.

"The new rules regarding addresses and address changes have created some difficulty with some electors," said Seann Springfield, a supervisor at a Whitehorse polling station. "Some people have been turned away."

Whitehorse resident Angel Hall said she was turned away because the identification she brought was not sufficient. Being turned away upset Hall, who said she works with young aboriginal people and had been trying to encourage people to vote.

"I was … really rallying people to come vote.… People who are, like, the toughest demographic to get to come out and vote," she said. "I had to come back and say, 'I can't vote!'"

The new rule was passed by Parliament last year but was highlighted in a $9.3 million advertising blitz during the 37-day election campaign.

Doiron said Elections Canada got a sense of how widespread the lack of awareness was at the advance polls when people failed to show up with the proper ID.

Predictions for Halifax

2008-10-14T14:35:00.001-07:00

This is my guess for what will happen tonight:

Tony Seed (MLPC): 1%
Darryl Whetter (Green): 14%
Ted Larsen (Con): 18%
Catherine Meade (Lib): 30%
Megan Leslie (NDP): 36%

I know this is out of step with local pre-election polls, but I'm considering the fact that local polls don't include most university students in their phoning, and I'm factoring in what I've heard from students I've spoken with on the street today.

Yes, you are eligible to vote in Halifax!

2008-10-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

I've run into so many people who are convinced they cannot vote in Halifax. So, if you are reading this, please pass the word along.

You are eligible to vote in Halifax if:

You are a Canadian citizen and at least 18 years of age
You have not cast a ballot for another riding (ie. mail-in or inperson ballots)

You DO NOT NEED TO BE REGISTERED OR ON THE VOTERS LIST IF YOU MEET THESE CRITERIA!

YOU MUST, HOWEVER

Prove your identity and prove your address at the polling station (Click here to see how easy this is)
Show up at the right polling station (enter your postal code here to find out where)

Please, please pass this information along to your friends and classmates.

Plays of the week(s)

2008-10-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

Some videos I think are worthy of broadcast for this election season:

Rick Mercer on why students should vote:

Child size versions of party leaders: (The Elizabeth May one is uncanny)

I'm calling this one the Yes We Can of Canada... or maybe rather the "Oh no you don't!":

The bold, and the innocent:

A Model of Academic Integrity:

DSU says ABC if you care about education.

2008-10-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

October 9, 2008

STUDENTS DISAPPOINTED IN HARPER CONSERVATIVES

Halifax, NS – The Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) is encouraging voters who care about post-secondary education to strongly consider voting for anyone but the Conservatives in the upcoming federal election.

The Conservative platform was released on Tuesday, and besides a pledge to award completion grants for apprenticeships in the Red Seal Trades, there were no commitments to make any changes to the post-secondary education system in Canada.

“The Conservative platform is extremely discouraging,” explains Courtney Larkin, President of the DSU. “We try to stay impartial during election time, but there is no way we can stay quiet about what we feel is a slight to Canadian post-secondary students.”

Earlier this year, the Progressive Conservative government of Nova Scotia made several reforms to the post-secondary education system in Nova Scotia, including the implementation of a needs-based grants system, a tuition freeze, bursaries for Nova Scotia students and the extension of the cap on student loans available for professional students and students with dependants. At the federal level, the Liberals have pledged to commit over $25 billion towards access grants over the next twenty years, the NDP have committed to tabling a Post-Secondary Education Act and the Greens have pledged to relieve 50 per cent of student loan debt upon completion of a degree.

“All of the other parties have dedicated substantial portions of their platforms to post-secondary education issues,” says Larkin. “While we don’t endorse all of the party proposals, it is reassuring that they have recognized post-secondary education as an issue worthy of a platform plank.”

Students have been encouraging all parties running in this election to increase the accessibility and affordability of a post-secondary education through expansion of needs-based grants, Canada Student Loan System reform, increased tri-council funding for graduate students and a dedicated transfer for post-secondary education to the provinces.

“Stephen Harper and Conservative candidates across the country ought to follow the lead of the other party leaders and the Progressive Conservative premier of Nova Scotia,” encourages Larkin. “Increased funding for education is an investment, not an expense and Stephen Harper should recognize that in a period of economic uncertainty we need to focus on education.”

-30-

For more information, please contact:

Courtney Larkin Mark Coffin

President Vice President Education

(902) 494-1277 / (902) 499-5650 (cell) (902) 494-1275/ (902) 237-6275 (cell)

dsupres@dal.ca dsuvped@dal.ca

Anyone But Conservative

2008-10-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

The conservative platform is out, and the party has unabashedly neglected students. I am extremely dissapointed in this. I've had my personal issues with many of the policies of the Conservative Party in the past, but this is reaching a new low.

The following exert is the only piece of platform that even remotely relates to students, and aside from being terrible policy, is nowhere near comprehensive enough:

"Enhance the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant with a $2,000 completion bonus for apprentices who complete their training in a nationally recognized Red Seal trade program." From CPC site

Really? That's it? Really?

In the last federal election the DSU and CASA chose the slogan "Vote, it's as easy as 1-23", since the election was on January 23rd (1/23/06). This time if you're concerned at all about the state of post secondary education in Canada, even an uneducated and illiterate bafoon could tell you what the DSU is telling you now: "Vote ABC."

The Liberals, Greens and NDP all have weaknesses in their plans for PSE, but they all have plans. They have recognized the importance of sitting down and saying "Hey, we need a policy on PSE." I wish this posting was a critique of the PSE plank of the Conservative Party Platform, but it can't be, because it doesn't exist. Shame. For shame.

Liveblogging the Mayoral Candidates Forum on the Environment

2008-10-08T06:05:00.000-07:00

So, David Boyd, Sheila Fougere, and Peter Kelly are just about to enter the ring, and I have managed to get wireless internet, so you're getting a liveblog! If you are reading this as I write, you can also tune into the debate at Haligonia.ca.

10:06 Drawing for Opening Comments: Sheila, David, Peter

10:08: Fougere's Opening Statements: Talking about her achievements and efforts on council: Bike Lanes, Natural Step Framework, Anti-Idling Programs, Emissions Reductions... the list goes on. She's reading straight from her notes, so far unengaging.

10:10: Boyd's Opening Statements: David Boyd has actually read Silent Spring, and it turns out he was involved in starting the Earth Day movement. Impressive. Also reading from notes though. He's talking about the clean air act; I think he may be at the wrong debate. He gets cut off.

10:13: Kelly's opening statements: He's talking about his mid-summer dip in the harbour. Kelly is also reading from his notes. Seriously? All I want is a mayoral candidate who can speak without paper. Kelly admits the active transportation initiative in HRM needs work.

10:16: Uranium Mining - Do you support a bylaw to reccomend to the government banning uranium mining for the government of Nova Scotia?

Kelly: Yes, but we should be going towards geothermal.

Fougere: Taking issue with the question, but supports the bylaw reccomending a ban.

Boyd: Yes.

10:18: Top three steps to reduce GHGs.

Boyd: 1) Public Consultation 2) Make it Law
Fougere: 1) 2)Fleet Refits to city vehicles 3) Promote Energy Efficiency in Buildings
Kelly: 1) Geothermal 2) Fleet refits 3) LEED building design

10:21

David Boyd hasn't seen the Metro Transit five-year-plan

Peter Kelly just said Halifax has 196 commuters.

10:22 Road Pricing - What leadership will you show during your term to implement road pricing (congestion taxing)?

Boyd: It will be very hard to implement it, so public consultation is the route. People first he says. People pay too much taxes he says. Wants to have road construction work paid for by sponsorship.

Kelly: Tolls aren't the way to go.

Fougere: Likes the idea of road pricing and tolls. Doesn't feel bridge tolls are much of a deterrent, reminds the audience of 3 Million bridge crossings a year in Halifax. Would consider putting tolls on new road construction.

10:25 Do you support a late night bus?
Kelly: I whole heartedly support that approach. Ideally using the free (FRED) shuttles

Fougere: Yes.

Boyd: Yes, until about 2 or 3 in the morning.

10:28 Affordable Housing

Fougere: U-Pass has allowed students to live further out, and find lower provinces. Wants to partner with landlords on a user pay program to help ensure housing is affordable.

Boyd: Wants rent controls. Is concerned about quality of affordable housing.

Kelly: Wants to allot certain portions of housing to affordable housing.

10:32 First Audience Question: How can we make Halifax self sustaining (with respect to food security)?

Kelly: Community gardens are good. Lets maximize the use of local agricultural fields.

Fougere: Community gardens are good for her too. Is talking about wind energy, and public transit for some reason, not really answering the question.

Boyd: Launch a buy local campaign. Rooftop gardens.

10:36 Second Audience Question: How will the active transportation program be implemented (particularly around elementary schools)?

Fougere: Make sure adequate money is there to implement it.

Boyd: Proper Funding.

I apologize for not carrying this posting throughout the whole debate, I got in line to ask a question, and spent the last 45 minutes of the debate in line. More to come later.

The Debate for Halifax - Opening Remarks

2008-10-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

Facebook readers click here to view the videos of candidates opening remarks.

Liveblogs

2008-10-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who came out to the debate tonight.

An especially great thanks to the dedicated bloggers, who liveblogged the event. The digital democracy revolution is on its way.

Here are the two Blogs:

http://keithtorrie.blogspot.com/

http://strongwinds.blogspot.com/

I will also have youtube videos of most of the debate uploaded by sometime tomorrow. Some are up already at the DSUtube channel , and hopefully the rest will be up later on. A few questions got cut out because we had to stop recording to unload the memory, but we captured the first and last 45 minutes.

Game Night

2008-10-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the night. All of the candidates in the Halifax riding will meet to debate the issues that are important to Haligonians.

Date and Time: Monday October 6th, 7 PM (Doors open @ 6:30)
Location: McInnes Room, Dalhousie Student Union Building, 6136 University Avenue
Moderator: Costas Halavrezos from CBC Radio Noon

What can you expect? With over 1.5 hours of debate planned for audience questions, anything is on the table. Ask your candidates about their platform: Education, the Economy, The Environment, Elector Reform, and other words that start with E. Everything is on the table.

I encourage you to attend, bring your friends, bring your questions, bring some popcorn, and lock yourselves in for what is sure to be the highlight of the local campaign in Halifax.

Is Dalhousie about to make The Green Shift?

2008-10-04T22:36:00.000-07:00

Original Blog Posting

The Dalhousie University Senate recently approved the creation of a College of Sustainability, which will offer a degree in Environment, Sustainability and Society.

Here is a promo video for the new program:

An awesome video, I must say. Props to Jared and the ESS team for putting together such an awesome program, and great marketing.

Now here is the Liberal Green Shift Video:

Does the music sound similar to anyone? You've got to wait to 0:08 in the Green Shift video to hear it, but it's there.

Harper Knows Best

2008-10-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

Stephen Harper was back in Atlantic Canada today. In Yarmouth. At first I thought this was odd, as anyone who knows Nova Scotia (or has ever looked at a map of the East Coast) will also know that Yarmouth isn't on the way to anywhere (in Canada), and just barely has an airport. So I checked out the results of the 2006 election:

Robert Thibault (L): 17 734 Votes
Greg Kerr (C) 17 222
Arthur Bull (ND) 8512 Votes
Matt Granger (G)1040
Ken Griffiths (I) 682

512 votes is not a big win. Its the difference of a couple dozen lawn signs, as the Toby from the West Wing would say. The math geek in me also really wants to make sure everyone knows that 512=2^9, but that's beside the point. This was the closest riding in Nova Scotia in the 2006 election. Both Thibault and Kerr are running again, but Thibault may be weakened by some bad press he earned from a few ageist and sexist remarks.

So, the point is, Harper is incredibly smart, and incredibly tactical. He knows another campaign stop in Halifax isn't worth his time. Not to say the other leaders aren't operating the same way, but its easier to disguise it when your not travelling to the Middle of Nowheres, NS.

Change Jack Can Believe In

2008-10-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

There's nothing that makes me want to support NDP more than bands that sound like Coldplay.

New Democrats from across Nova Scotia gathered in Halifax for a rally this afternoon. The place was full of interesting sorts, including old men in Obama T-Shirts, several Dalhousie professors, Canadian Autoworkers and disgruntled airline stewardesses.

I arrived just at noon, and was a bit thrown off by the awkward setup of the room. The podium was setup facing the cameras, with the crowd seating on the opposite side. I wasn't seated for more than two minutes when several NDP staffers tried to convince me to come stand in the crowd.

"Come down and stand around Jack, we need a big crowd" they said.

"I'm just here to watch," I said while pointing at my CASA sweater.

"But you need a sign!" they insisted. I held my ground. They eventually gave up. Only later would I realize that they were only asking young people to come down, and weren't paying much attention to the grey heads next to me.

Darryl Dexter introduced Layton, reminding us that there was only one leader standing up against big oil companies, fighting for public health care, and working families. This is frustrating to me, because I know its simply not true! Whether or not you agree that we should be standing up against big oil, privatization of health care, and the like, anyone with half a brain knows that the NDP share a similar position with other opposition parties on many of these issues.

Jack Layton is targetting Harper almost exclusively now. He has limited his criticism of Dion, simply calling Dion the Leader who supported Harper by abstaining on 43 confidence motions. He says the NDP is appealling to Canadians who would otherwise vote Liberal, who are thinking about voting Green, and who used to vote for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. "If you want to stop Stephen Harper, only New Democrats can do it," he said at today's rally, "the choice is between Jack Layton and Stephen Harper."

For the (small g) Greens in the crowd, it may interest you to know that Jack flew from Iqualuit to Halifax last night. Not the most efficient route of travel. He also claimed that his plane flew through the Northern Lights. Sorry Jack, but the Northern Lights happen in the Ionosphere, at least 50 kilometers above sea level, which is 40 kilometers above cruising altitude.

The NDP Plan

2008-10-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

Smilin' Jack announced his plan for Post Secondary Education about a week ago, but I didn't blog on it because of the monster flu that had my spirits low.

Today Jack is back in town for a Rally for Change with local New Democrats. They're targeting youth hard, draggin along Mount A rockers, In-Flight Safety and taking out not one, but TWO ads in Dalhousie's Gazette this week. As Keith Torrie points out there's not a whole lot to change here in Halifax. We've been solid socialist orange in Halifax for the past 11 years, with the former leader of the party also being the MP for Halifax for much of that time. Speaking of which, Keith I'm glad you brought this up. The New Democratic Party of Canada is actually 47 years old. I digress.

More importantly, if elected to government, the NDP will make the following changes for students:

Enact the Post Secondary Education Act as introduced by the NDP in the last Parliament.

Ensure that students don't have crippling debts when they graduate:

Provide a $1,000 grant to all undergraduate or equivalent students who qualify for student loans, paid at the beginning of the school year.
Support students and post-secondary education in Quebec and the Northern Territories with financing equivalent to their government's student access and post-secondary development programs.

Keep tuition fees affordable and improve opportunities in post-secondary education by negotiating with provinces and territories improved, dedicated funding to support and enrich publicly funded and administered post-secondary institutions. This will include new initiatives to increase financial support for in-demand professionals, such as doctors and nurses, linked to them serving in areas where there are shortages.

Reform the Canada Student Loans system, including interest relief, so students are not forced to start repaying their student loans while they are still completing their education through internship, co-op or placement programs.

Encourage the best young minds to stay here in Canada by increasing funding for university and college-based research, and for graduate and post-graduate studies.

Its not bad. The $1000 grant is very similar to the Liberal plan. This plan has something the liberal plan doesn't, which is a commitment to work cooperatively with the provinces. It also committs to a dedicated transfer to the provinces through the proposed PSE act, which is good, and hopefully it is allocated on a per-student basis, but there is no mention of that here.

The Liberal plan has something that the NDP plan doesn't, which is a firm list of details. I like that the Liberals know exactly how much money they will spend on PSE, but the NDP seem to be lacking on this front. Details on promises to graduates are scarce, which is troubling as well. The liberals committed to increasing graduate funding by a third of current levels at the tri-council level, while the NDP have simply committed to increasing grad and post-grad research funding.

To here more about the NDP's Post Secondary Education Act, watch this video:

Down with Downtown

2008-10-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

Halifax Downtown Council Candidates met tonight to debate in front of an audience of mostly fine arts students from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. The student union SUNSCAD organized the debate. For those of you who live on the peninsula, this district encompasses most of the downtown area between Robie and the waterfront.

I managed to snag a few (shaky) videos of the debate while the candidates were discussing development in the downtown. I will warn you, its a good thing I forgot my tripod, and needed two hands to steady the camera, because if I'd had a free hand while some of the candidates were speaking, there's a good chance I would have been grasping for something sharp to stab myself in the eye. If any candidates should happen to read this blog, I assure you I'm talking about one of the others.

I am happy to report that every single one of these candidates supports at least a trial run of a late night bus service servicing the downtown and feeder areas. Crime and safety, transportation
and affordable housing are all central issues that repeatedly popped up over the course of the evenening.

"We have spread our city too thin," Candidate James Stuewe said, "Transit works when you have density... The rest of the world is moving forward on transit, and we seem to be stuck."

Incumbent Dawn Sloane who is defending her seat spent much of her time defending the decisions of council. She boasted of the new "FRED on steroids" plan her council pushed through; six hybrid buses giving free service to the downtown areas, and indicated that if reelected she would advocate to have these buses run late-night routes as well.

The candidates stumbled on questions about the arts. "Halifax is strong, we survived an explosion, we're not going anywhere," candidate Jerome Downey said. He also spoke of the need to provide opportunities for citizens to be able to pursue carreers that they are "passionate" about.

Cameron Ells said a fair new tax-reform plan is something that could benefitting the arts community.

Candidates Stuewe and Downey seem to have very similar ideas, and have similar appeal. Both young, both bright, and both first time candidates (as far as I'm aware). They'll eat away at one another's voter base, which is unfortunate for both of them.

Videos coming soon

Video: Candidate Introductions

Video: Dawn Sloane, Jerome Downey Discuss Development

Video: Cameron Ells Discusses Development

Video: James Stuewe Discusses Development

The Great Debate

2008-10-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Original Blog Posting

So, the fab five have flaunted their fluencies in both official languages. Last night we had a showing of the english debate at the Grawood and I was thoroughly impressed with the turnout from students. Our bar manager was less impressed with the fact that they weren't spending as much on booze as the Trivia crowd on the other side of the bar.

Unfortunately, there was essentially no mention of Post Secondary Education issues. Layton mentioned his plan for relieving family doctor debt during a discussion on health care, but otherwise there was no allotted time for discussion on access to Post Secondary Education or the projected deficit of a skilled and educated workforce with the impending labour shortage in eastern and central Canada. With the Canadian economy destined to follow the path of our southern neighbours it really suprises me that these issues never came up for discussion.

I was unimpressed that Harper went on the attack so early in the debate. Harper spoke first during the debate, and within his first minute of speaking he attacked Dion's economic plan. Its no wonder people get frustrated with the political process when smart, talented individuals like our Prime Minister stoop to this level of discussion so early in a debate, when in reality it should be them defending their plan. The other leaders are guilty of this as well, but Harper was full of criticisms and low on solutions (I'm not saying his solutions are bad ones, I'm saying he simply hasn't shown us what his solution is). Layton laid it down good, "Where’s the platform, under the sweater?"

Dion took the high-road, and it may have earned him some cred, Nanos polls have him closing in on Harper with a five point margin. Back in minority territory.

Over 100 Dal students surveyed on the university website were asked who they felt won the debate:

35% picked Captain Planet - Elizabeth May
23 % went for Smilin' Jack Layton
16% chose Stephen "I still haven't announced a PSE platform" Harper
16% said Stephane "Arts are Fun" Dion
9% were watching the wrong debate
1% liked the seperatist

May got several good one liners in against Harper last night, and did a good job at explaining Dion's carbon tax for him. Unfortunately we didn't hear much about what seperates the Greens from the Liberals and the NDP, which I think was a question on many viewers minds, including my own.

A lot of people were flicking channels last night. The Biden-Palin debate across the way was the most watched debate in history. Canadians were torn, not a big surprise given that 15% of us would give up our chartered right to vote in Canada, in order to vote for Obama or McCain this November.

---

We're still waiting on an announcement from the Conservatives on Post-Secondary Education. They gave us a teaser announcement on apprenticeships today, which takes the form of a $2000 completion bonus. Let's hope they put more thought into their university related announcements, because this program is not targeted, nor is the grant provided up front. This means that it does relatively little for removing barriers to individuals wishing to pursue apprenticeships. What it does do is provide financial relief to individuals already enrolled in an apprenticeship program.

Voices

2008-09-22T20:08:00.001-07:00

So, I was browsing around on the Halifax federal candidates' websites, and noticed a frustrating trend.

Here is the summary:

From Ted Larsen's Website: "I believe our city needs a strong voice in the Government of Canada"

From Catherine Meade's website: "Her enthusiasm for her local community is unparalleled and she will be more than a voice in Ottawa, she will motivate action for change."

From Megan Leslie's website: "In this election, we need to ensure Halifax residents continue to have a strong voice in Ottawa."

Personally, I value listening skills. But yes, in a parliament of 308 members, I'm sure if you do your voice exercises before QP, someone is bound to pay attention to us.

I promise I'll have some better updates tomorrow.

Vlog Void

2008-09-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

I chose not to blog about it when it happened, but because of the prolonged buzz around the supposed rogue NDP supporter and vlogger, I figure I'll take a stab at it.

In case you were living in a hole for the past week, a youtube video and facebook page appeared on the internet Monday evening. The video featured audio sound bites of NDP candidate Megan Leslie talking at a protest in front of Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI), while showing pictures of an Atlantica Protest staged by the Halifax Coalition Against Poverty (HCAP), and essentially claimed the Leslie was a radical that endorsed the disruptive HCAP style protests featured in the images displayed. The video claimed to be made by and NDP supporter, Jess MacDonald, a supposed NDP supporter, who also felt strongly that Halifax had nominated the wrong candidate, and that electing Alexis MacDonald would have ensured Halifax a spot in Jack Layton's cabinet. Right. I know quite a few dippers, many of them good friends, and I know very few that are that optimistic about Laytons odds.

The Coast has targeted Keith Torrie, and is hinting that he himself was behind the crafting of the video. It seems like The Coast hasn't been following the blogosphere as closely as I. Given the performance of the Young Conservatives at the NDP nomination meeting I would have suspected them before the young liberals. If you also compare the line about having a cabinet member in Jack Layton's government to every Conservative Candidate's stump line "[Atlantic Canada] needs a member of government", I think the suspicion gets even stronger.

I, like The Coast bloggers, don't have any sure answers as to who is actually behind the mask of JMcDonaldNDP2008, but I felt the need to balance the debate of the blogosphere, with what seemed to be unrealistic (though entertaining) suspicions.

In other news, check out this great video of Garth Turner getting interviewed live on CPAC, while he doesn't seem to realize he is on air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5l5q-wspXo

Liberals Make Big Promises

2008-09-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

Original Blog Posting

So, if you haven't yet had a chance to check out the Liberal Party announcement on PSE, check it out. Or, if you just want the basics, keep on reading this blog!

A Liberal government promises to make the following investments in Post Secondary Education through a 20 year education endowment fund:

200,000 needs-based bursaries of up to $3,500 per year
100,000 access grants of up to $4,000 per year for groups under-represented in post-secondary education
Guaranteed student loans of $5,000, regardless of parental income
Expansion of the post-graduation student loan interest free repayment period from six months to two years
Reducing the student loan interest rate to prime
A guaranteed universal education grant of $1000 for each full-time student in Canada each year - to replace the Harper tax credits program
Increase tricouncil research funding by more than a third of its current value

These are just the highlights from the liberal plan. The cost, over 20 years, is estimated around $25 Billion. This is a big step up from the 50-50 plan announced by the Liberals in the 2006 election. It is clear that much more thought was put into this proposal than the last.

So, before getting too much into the criticisms of this platform, I must say that what they've promised is good. I wouldn't take away anything that is here. Obviously, the more money we can put into these programs, the better. This plan will increase access opportunities for Canadian youth who currently aren't participating in our PSE system. Unlike the Green Party plan , the Liberals have put forward a system of grants that is fully costed. We don't know the specifics of how the plan will be administered, or what the exact criteria will be for qualification for grants, and likely won't hear much about it until (if ever) the plan is implemented.

What's missing?

There is no significant mention of how the Liberals would work with the provinces to deliver this program. Aside from working with the provinces to ensure fairer provincial student loan practises and increasing aboriginal representation in the PSE system, we don't hear much at all. The responsibility for education has long been in the jurisdiction of the province, based on the understanding that each province has specific needs, and that blanket approaches don't neccessarily work nationwide. A dedicated transfer to the provinces for post secondary education is really what is needed.

Nova Scotia, in particular, desperately needs reform to the Canadian Social Transfer, the funding formula for transfering funding to the province for Post Secondary Education. The problem with the formula, is that it doesn't credit provinces like Nova Scotia for taking students from other provinces. Essentially, students from out of province make up about one third of our student population, but their tax dollars don't follow them to Nova Scotia.

Another critical element missing from the Liberal platform is Early Outreach. We know from the great research that the Millenium Canadian Scholarship Foundation has done that certain demographics of our population need early outreach programs like Pathways to ensure that they are aware of the educational oppotunities available to them after high school, and to ensure they are prepared for university once they arrive. No matter how many new programs we introduce, we need to pursue early outreach programs to ensure the opportunities available to Canadians are equally clear to all demographics.

The liberals made an announcement on childcare and early learning later in the day, but it's not clear exactly what the early learning programs will incorporate.

CASA and CFS have both responded to the announcement differently. “Tuition fee increases eat away at the value of any student grant, and we were disappointed that there was no commitment to work with the provinces to cap and reduce tuition fees,” Katherine Giroux-Bougard, National Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. “Increased federal transfers are key to protecting families from future tuition fee increases." I'm with her on this one.

“CASA believes the measures proposed by the Liberal Party will help students and families cope with the accelerated costs of education,” said Zach Churchill, National Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. “The proposed plan, if implemented, can significantly enhance access to post-secondary education system, by providing funding to students who need it the most, while helping to lower the epidemic growth of student debt in this country.”

And thus my dissatisfaction with federal advocacy groups. The CFS response was too teethy, and the CASA response wasn't teethy enough.

Liberal Announcement on Education

2008-09-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Liberals announce education platform Analysis to follow...

Liberal support for students and research will build 21st-century economy

LONDON – A new Liberal government will significantly increase support for students and increase investments to support research to help more Canadians succeed in the 21st-century knowledge economy, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion announced today.

“We have to increase support for students to make sure university and college is accessible to all Canadians. The future productivity and economic success of Canada depends on the investments we make in research and development today,” said Mr. Dion.

To that end, a new Liberal government will make post-secondary education more accessible by:

simplifying support measures for students by replacing complicated and often irrelevant tax credits that don’t benefit students with an education grant that will be delivered four times a year, putting money in the hands of students when they need it most;

providing 200,000 needs-based bursaries of up to $3,500 per year by the fourth year of our plan to help reduce the number of Canadians for whom cost remains an insurmountable barrier to education;

providing 100,000 access grants of up to $4,000 per year by the fourth year of our plan for those who are members of groups that are traditionally under-represented in post-secondary education;

ensuring that every student is eligible for a $5,000 student loan regardless of parental income; and

guaranteeing a lower interest rate for all student loans, extending the grace period on repayment post graduation from six months to two years, making that grace period interest-free and extending the time that individuals have to repay their student loans.

“Innovation, new ideas and processes are key components of productivity and ultimately, future economic growth. The direct and indirect funds we invest in research and development today will drive the economy of the future,” said Mr. Dion. “It is also important to support projects that reach beyond the barriers of their discipline.”

A new Liberal government will increase research and development support by:

increasing support for the indirect costs of university-based research by more than 60 per cent to $500 million a year;

enhancing support for Canada’s three granting councils by 34 per cent;

creating an Interdisciplinary Sustainability Fund of $100 million to enable scientists, researchers and graduate students to undertake projects that extend beyond the barrier of their disciplines; and

extending the tax credit for private sector research and development so that even companies who are not currently making a profit will have an incentive to invest in research and development.

“Support for learning has been a long-standing Liberal value and under a new Liberal government we will make the investments in the post-secondary education and research needed to ensure Canada can compete in the 21st century,” said Mr. Dion.

The Rae Revival?

2008-09-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

Dion did Halifax yesterday. After announcing the details of the new Liberal drug plan, he tried his best to invigorate a crowd of grits at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

Before Dion's speech, however, Bob Rae fired up the crowd with a five minute speech in support of Dion and in sharp criticism of Mr. Harper. As far as political speeches go, this one was high up there. Regardless of whether or not you agreed with what he was saying, you had to give him mad props for the delivery. For a play by play of this speech, see this article from the Hera ld. No wonder Garth Turner labeled Rae "the sum of all conservative fears" in a blog posting when he was still in the running for the Liberal Leadership.

Dions speech was... interesting. I'm not sure how many liberals were wondering why they hadn't elected the other guy while Dion was stumbling through his stump speech, but the thought was mentioned by some observers.

There were no major announcements in this speech. Dion tried to quote a line from Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry be Happy, but ended up just telling everyone to be happy. Thanks Stephane. I needed a boost.

I'll lay off Dion for now though. The liberals are set to release their education platform within the hour so expect a press release and a blog from us. I am hoping I'll have better things to say about Dion and the Grits later today.

I Say N-D, you say... urinalyis.

2008-09-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

Original Blog Posting

Here's a (shaky) video I shot at the Jack Layton announcement on student loan debt forgiveness for family doctors yesterday.

(Facebook users will have to click the link to view it)
Part 1 (Introduction)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVGBxp80zwo

Part 2 (Student Announcement)

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit2?ns=1&video_id=xKXyc74uNS0&next=%2Fmy_videos2%3Fpi%3D0%26ps%3D20%26sf%3Dadded%26sa%3D0%26sq%3D%26dm%3D2

Dippers be trippin'

2008-09-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

Jack Layton rolled into Dal this morning to talk about health care with local med-students (and non-medstudents). The big announcement
was about expanding the number of seats available in medical schools, and in line with that increasing the funding available for students wishing to pursue studies in family medicine.

Here's the meat for students: "[The NDP] plan will forgive student loans for health care professionals who stay in family practice for ten years." In addition to this, the plan also commits to creating "50% more training spaces in Canada for doctors and nurses" as well as fixing the foreign credentials program to increase the number of foreign doctors.

Initially it appeared that the plan would forgive debt after graduates stayed in a program for 10 years, but when questioned by a reporter Mr. Layton seemed to do a double take and clarified that this funding would be made available up-front, when students graduated and began their carreers, putting a strange emphasis on the ability of the tax system to reclaim that money should they break their committment to family medicine.

The reason, Layton stated for rewarding students who stick with family medicine as a practise, was to ensure that their mountain of debt didn't lure them into specialist studies (and more debt) in order to pay off their original debt. He also mentioned that they based the idea for this program off of a conversation he and Alexa McDonough had with a group of med-students just last year.

I spoke with one of Layton's policy advisors after the announcement, and mentioned that we were concerned about how up-front affordability is a bigger concern for students thinking about med-school. Consider the fact that the average Nova Scotian student leaves their university degree with more debt than their counterparts in any other region of Northa America. A reward of student loan forgiveness 5 - 15 years down the road may not be that inticing after already accruing a mini-mortgage. Consider also the fact that many Med Students take debt of other forms, such as bank debt and lines of credit, which seem to be overlooked completely by this plan, as with the Green plan, and as with any plan that focuses solely on Canada Student Loan debt.

I'll have a video of the announcement to upload later in the day, stay tuned.

Your Candidates...

2008-09-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Original Posting from: http://dsu-vped.blogspot.com

On Friday morning the CPC announced their candidate for the riding of Halifax. They were the final major national party to announce their candidate for this riding. So, I've done my worst and snooped around to find out as much as I can about your choices. Thank me later. In alphabetical order, by party name, here you are:

Conservative Party of Canada: Ted Larsen

Occupation: Small Business Owner

Facebook Supporters: 103

Website: http://www.tedlarsen.ca/

Ted's facebook page says he is a single parent of three, former advisor to the premier (it doesn't say which premier, but I'm assuming Hamm). There's not alot of info out yet, his website isn't up yet, and his FB supporters seem to be mix of people from Halifax and a smattering of Conservative supporters from across the country including some other candidates.

Green Party of Canada: Darryl Whetter

Occupation: Writer, Dalhousie Professor

Facebook Supporters: 26

Website: http://darrylwhetter.greenparty.ca/

Whetter recently announced he would be a candidate in Halifax when he removed his name from the ballot in Cumberland-Colchestor Musquidoboit Valley, the riding currently held by Conservative Party Outcast Bill Casey. The Greens then said that Casey would not be opposed, as he was already an "honorary green". Whetter gets props for keeping a regularly updated blog since the campaign began. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much evidence of a strong campaign from his end yet, but I am waiting to be proven wrong.

New Democratic Party of Canada: Megan Leslie

Occupation: Community Lawyer

Facebook Supporters: 192

Website: http://www.meganleslie.ca/

Given Halifax's strong dipper tendencies, it is not surprising that Ms. Leslie faced a tough race to secure her nomination as the NDP candidate. Leslie has been in Halifax for a while, taught at Dal, worked in the community and has established a strong network of supporters on her own. The NDP had 1041 members in Halifax as of last monday. Leslie inherets a strong campaign team from Alexa and the FIVE provincial ridings held by the NDP within the HRM. There was a lot of talk at her nomination meeting about electing the candidate who can keep this riding NDP. A tad too partisan for my likings, and I'm looking to the other candidates to make sure she doesn't get a free ride.

Liberal Party of Canada: Catherine Meade

Occupation: Will, Estate and Property Lawyer

Facebook Supporters:12

Website: http://meade4halifax.com/

Meade has sought the grit nomination before, to no avail. She even forgot to take down her last campaign website and fooled some local journalists into going to the wrong spot for this years nomination meeting. She's been active in the Rainbow Action Project, has a plethora of post secondary education and seems to have a resume full of community involvement. I'm looking forward to hearing more information on this candidate, as with Mr. Larsen.

Living on debt row…

2008-09-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, the Greens are the first party to unveil their post secondary education (PSE) platform. There were three major parts to this announcement. Boosting support to the CSLP and bursary programs, increased transfer payments to the provinces for PSE and a forgivenes of 50% of your student loan for completing your degree or certificate program."Young people in Canada deserve a quality education that doesn't leave them with a debt sentence,” Green Leader Elizabeth May says, stealing a line from another federal lobby group who have yet to launch a campaign website. But, back to the Green Plan.

The first two announcements shouldn't count for much yet, because there aren't any dollar figures attached to them. Increased support for CSLP and bursary programs is obviously a good thing, but how much increased support are we talking about? How will the bursaries be awarded? Based on need? Underepresentation within the PSE system? Parental income? "Students need to hear more details about their proposals," CASA National Director Zach Churchill states. "Specifically, we would like to see the Green Party target the increases in bursary funding towards raising the participation rates of underrepresented groups, such as Aboriginal students and students with disabilities.”

Increasing the transfer payments to the provinces is definitely a good idea. A dedicated transfer for PSE is an even better one. Another problem with the PSE system that Elizabeth May (and all NS politicians) should be attentive to is the fact that the Canada Social Transfer (the fed-provincial transfer mechanism for PSE, among other things) is delivered on a per-capita basis, which doesn't account for the number of students studying in a province. Nova Scotia is a net importer of students, and per usual gets the proverbial transfer payment shaft. Essentially, Ontario sends their students here, but their tax dollars don't follow them. This has led to our provincial government choosing the short-sited root of charging differential tuition rates to out of province students. Any increased transfer payments to our province ought to be calculated on a per student basis, otherwise we'll continue to get a smaller share of the PSE pie.

The major announcement from the greens, 50% student loan forgiveness upon completion of a PSE program, is intriguing. It makes me think of the Liberal's 50-50 plan from the 2006 election, whereby the government would pay 50% of a student's first and last year. I am slighlty baffled by both of these approaches, they both use the magic number "fifty", both are obviously aimed at decreasing high university drop-out rates (of nearly 15% across canada), and both seem as if they were thought up a few minutes before the announcements were made (which, for the Liberals at least, is true).

The nifty-fifty green deal is worth examining. On first glance, a few things jump out. It's definitely good for students with student loans, as well as former students still struggling with debt. In fact, if I were a graduating high school student it would appear to be a huge incentive to get a student loan, as opposed to some other type of credit. But most interestingly, this plan would also forgive 50% of the debt of graduates, which would be a HUGE investment, given the amount of student debt already accumulated in canada, which the CFS debt-tracker charts at almost 13 billion at the time of writing. The Greens might be unprepared to make a budgetary committment this big, but the point is moot since they have a slim chance of forming government anytime soon.

Do you like handcuffs?

2008-09-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Stephen Harper decided to make a pit stop in Halifax this morning. Just days after Halifax Conservatives lost their candidate because of a criminal record check gone bad, the big cheese rolled into town. It's no surprise that that this particular campaign stop was made at Chamber of Commerce at a special breakfast. His announcements, however, took an interesting twist.

This is still the exciting portion of the election campaign, when platforms aren't yet released and we're hearing about new proposals every day. Harper picked this campaign stop to reify some ideas that we should expect from the conservative party. His speech was heavy on the principles of free trade, competitiveness in the global market, and encouraging foreign investment in the Canadian economy. He emphasized the conservative government's eagerness to become competitive in the global uranium trade, and their opposition to the Liberal Green Shift. Nothing new here, really.

While Harper was quick to critique the Green shift, saying it was bad for Canadians, bad for business, and will ultimately have a negligible effect on the rate of greenhouse gas emissions, he was short on alternatives. While the Harper Conservatives claim to have a better tax plan, PMSH didn't even attempt to suggest he had a better plan for GHG mitigation. Environmental groups have said this all along; is this a sign the conservatives finally giving up on the eco-vote?

After the breakfast we stuck around to try and get some face time with PMSH, and unfortunately didn't get as much face time as some people, but I did get a handshake and told the prime minister we were looking forward to hearing platform announcement about post secondary education. "We're crunching new things up everyday," he replied, "and can't make all our announcements in one day." A few minutes later we met Peter Mackay, and he hinted to us that in we should look to expect some new announcements on Debt Relief programs for those of us with student loans. Debt relief, as the conservatives have promoted, is great for the students who are here now, but is a reactive measure and doesn't show any commitment to increasing access or affordability in our PSE systems. I'll blog more about this once the official announcement is out.

Speaking of announcements, only one party has made an official announcement about PSE, this one. The Greens are looking to offer a type of university completion award, that will forgives 50% of your student loan once you complete university. So, debt relief. I have a feeling this isn't the same kind of debt relief the Cons are talking about. Wait and see.

The Green Party PSE plan has got to be taken at face value as well. Remember two things: not everyone leaving university with debt, has student loans. Lines of credit are very popular, as are coupling university expenses with parent's loans for better interest rates, or convenience. Secondly, this plan seems to be the result of half-think, something that is still in the incubation stage. I'm not saying its a terrible idea, I think it might even bring students into the PSE system. I think it needs more work, and it bears striking resemblance to the plan released by the Green Party last election .

For those of you who clicked on this post for the racy title, it's actually a quote from Stephen Harper (remember tough on crime) during his tour around Halifax today...

University students want to vote

2008-09-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

From today's Herald:

Alliance: Many in local schools not considered city residents
By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter
Fri. Sep 5 - 4:46 AM

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Dalhousie University Student Union vice-president Mark Coffin says that legislation that will prevent thousands of university students in Halifax from voting in the municipal election is ‘out of step.’ (Tim Krochak / Staff)

Thousands of university students in Halifax won’t be permitted to mark an X for a city hall candidate.

Provincial legislation prevents many of them from voting in the Oct. 18 Halifax municipal election and that’s unfair, says the chairman of the Halifax Student Alliance.

"It’s out of step," Mark Coffin said in an interview Thursday.

Students with a family home elsewhere in the province are allowed to cast a ballot but only in the district where their family lives.

"So students who live in a different part of the province will not be permitted to vote in Halifax, the place where they spend the majority of their year," Mr. Coffin said.

Out-of-province students who have lived in the city since July 18 — three months prior to the election — can vote.

But Mr. Coffin said many students go away for the summer to work, so they’re likely out of luck.

Students who come to Halifax for university have strong feelings about the city, he said.

"A lot of them would like to stay here but many of them don’t because there aren’t as many opportunities here as elsewhere. But maybe by giving them the vote, they would be able to shape the direction of Halifax and possibly create more opportunities for themselves when they’re done school and looking for employment."

The chairman of the coalition, which represents the interests of more than 20,000 university and college students, would like to see the eligibility for municipal election voting fall more in line with federal rules.

"In a federal election, you can choose to vote for a candidate in your home riding or your school area," he said.

And while most students will likely get to vote in a federal election, rumoured to be called for Oct. 14, he said municipal politics often have a greater impact on people.

"There’s a lot more potential for change in what students see locally." It’s also a landmark election year, he said, because it coincides with the 250th anniversary of democracy in Canada, a movement that started in Nova Scotia.

"We’ve just gone through a whole series of events and campaigns put on by the provincial government that said it’s important for youth to vote."

Mr. Coffin’s alliance has written to Municipal Relations Minister Jamie Muir requesting a change in the legislation. But a department spokesman said it’s unlikely anything could happen this fall.

Any change would have to go to the legislature for consideration, communications director Donna Chislett said Thursday.

"At this point in time, with the House not in session and with no consultation having been undertaken, it would not be a change that would be possible before the upcoming municipal election," she said Thursday.

She stressed students aren’t being excluded — they just have to vote in their hometown.

If nothing can be accomplished before Oct. 18, Mr. Coffin said, the alliance will focus on getting things changed for the next election in 2012.

"We’d love to have it changed now so that we can have a ‘Get out to vote’ campaign and actually encourage our students to vote."

The sheer number of university students in Halifax — Dalhousie alone has 15,000 — could make them a force to be reckoned with, he said.

"In elections, there are usually one to three thousand people who turn out to vote, so students are potentially the swing vote. So it’s definitely important for the students and for the candidates running."

( apugsley@herald.ca)

Student Alliance Schools Halifax

2008-08-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I spoke with Kyle Shaw, Editor for The Coast. Here is the editorial from this week's edition of The Coast:

Student alliance schools Halifax
Halifax Student Alliance is a new local alliance of students, was built to take on City Hall's slow grind.

by Kyle Shaw
write the author

You'd expect Halifax to give more of a shit about its student community. Tens of thousands of vibrant minds arriving each September, as natural as the tide coming in, are a resource to make any other city drool. But not this town, where municipal services like Metro Transit and the police go beyond apathy to treat their student customers with contempt. For an example, read "Jaywalking to justice" on page 60, about how one student got welcomed to his new home by a police officer and wound up in a legal nightmare.

The main reason any government can get away with treating students badly is turnover. A student activist who wants something---lower tuition, late-night bus service, a clothing-optional campus---can be passionate and vocal and organized and morally right, but the bureaucracy always has time on its side. Those wheels of change move a lot slower than a Bachelor degree.

Students are getting increasingly sophisticated about dealing with this problem, forming student organizations that can carry the torch while individual students come and go. The biggest such organization in the country is the Canadian Federation of Students, lobbying the federal government on students' behalf since 1981. The newest is the Halifax Student Alliance, demanding better from city hall since last November.

The HSA was formed in response to the regional municipality's epidemic of muggings and beatings. While Haligonians of all stripes---young and old, student and civilian---had been getting pounded on neighbourhood streets for years, city hall didn't care until fall '06, when an American visitor was stabbed to death outside a bar. Facing that potential tourism disaster in a media spotlight, mayor Peter Kelly woke up to the problem and convened the Mayor's Roundtable on Violence.

A study took place to figure out how violence was hitting residents, but it happened over the summer of 2007, effectively excluding the student experience. That oversight, whether by accident or design, was the last straw. The student unions at Dal, SMU and other local schools got together to launch the HSA, then polled their combined membership---over 30,000 students---about violence.

Current HSA chair Mark Coffin, who's also the education vice-president at the Dal Student Union, says the information HSA gave the mayor resulted in a 60-page section of the roundtable's report. And it showed students are more likely to be victims of violence than their civilian counterparts.

Coffin's career as a student politician is probably nearing its end---he's going into his fourth year of an environmental science degree---but the HSA's in it for the long haul. Just the third municipal lobbying group of its kind in Canada, after Calgary and Edmonton, it is the only one with a paid executive director and long-term funding guaranteed from its members, who each pay $2 per year to the organization. The HSA is focused on the upcoming municipal election, determined to make violence and Metro Transit key issues. Hopefully for all of us, they will succeed.

"It's in the best interest of the Halifax economy," Coffin points out. "Students contribute about $300 million annually according to Donald Clairmont, author of the report on violence, so if Halifax doesn't treat its students right, and if we're not making sure that Halifax is an attractive city and a safe city and an easy to get around city, then that number is slowly going to start to shrink. And it's going to have an effect on the wider community."

DSU Radio Show - August 26th

2008-08-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

DSU Radio Show - August 26th

Special Guest: Andres Fuentes, VP Education From the University of Waterloo Federation of Students who joined me to talk about post secondary education, the problems facing undergraduate students in Ontario and across Canada, and the ever-looming never-arriving federal election. (Click image to download)

A Living and Learning Community

2008-08-06T11:19:00.001-07:00

Like it or leave it, Halifax is a student city. It's not just a city with half-a-dozen universities dropped in the middle of it, rather it is a city with multiple campuses that are both communities of their own, and are intricately and awkwardly woven into a much larger community. This creates challenges for our municipal officials when tackling difficult issues like public safety, public transportation and urban design.

Believe it or not, student's pump over $300 Million into the HRM economy each year, benefiting not only the universities that are busy inhaling our tuition fees but also our local businesses and entrepreneurs. While most don't pay property tax directly, we rent from landlords or universities who do, and many live at home with parents who pay property tax.

Proactive planning for a student friendly city isn't going to be easy. The problems our city students face aren't going to be solved simply by adopting new policies and putting money in new projects. A grassroots, multistakeholder approach is what is needed. Student unions and student associations need to be involved, university administrations need to be involved, the HRM obviously needs to be involved, and community members need to be involved.

In order to solve the problems our city faces, we need to begin to break down the campus-community divide. Student's on campus all too often live and think in a bubble, nescient to the neighbouring environment. Neigbourhoods can often make students feel isolated when they move into their first apartment; treating them as a problem first and a neighbour second. I'd say a real solution would require cooperation from both sides, but the reality is that any affable agreement is fundamentally going to require students be viewed as members of their community, and likewise accepting the responsibilities of being such.

There are several things we can do to start encouraging this kind of movement. Universities can begin offering credit for applied learning initiatives that challenge students to put their learned skills to help our community, as Don Clairmont suggests. Student associations like the DSU can (and do) work with existing community associations to help solve some of the problems our neighbourhoods are facing. The municipality can take a leadership role, and ensure consultation with students is a priority.

Earlier this year Dalhousie, Saint Mary's and NSCC students joined together to fund the Halifax Student Alliance (HSA), a municipal advocacy group that works on behalf of students to make our city a safer, more affordable, more youth friendly place to live. This year will be the first year the HSA will be fully operational, and we're working to achieve our goals by doing many of the things I've already mentioned, and many more. If you're interested in getting involved, learning more about our issues or speaking to your campus HSA rep, drop me a line at dsuvped (at) Dal (dot) ca .

- Mark

Bridging the gap

2008-07-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a great example of the kind of work student's can be doing through classwork to bridge the student-community divide. Read on...

From the Chronicle Herald (http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1069904.html)

Students weigh in on future of famed waterfront

By BEVERLEY WARE South Shore Bureau
Sun. Jul 27 - 4:31 AM

LUNENBURG — A community theatre, sewage treatment plant and heritage resource centre. You could see all three if students asked for their ideas for the unused property on Lunenburg’s waterfront have their way.

Professor Steven Mannell said his students’ goal is to infuse life into the area while preserving the historic town’s UNESCO World Heritage Site designation.

The 10 students, taking their Masters of Architecture degrees at Dalhousie University, will be presenting their ideas at a week-long exhibition beginning Tuesday.

Mr. Mannell thought it would be a good idea to focus on Lunenburg’s past and future after speaking with friends who live in the town.

"They’ve lived there for generations and they feel some sense of ambivalence toward the future of the town," particularly in light of Clearwater walking away from eight wharves, 24 buildings and 5.7 hectares in 2003. "Suddenly there’s this big vacancy."

He said the people he’s spoken to are also ambivalent because the success of the tourist industry has been a mixed blessing. Mr. Mannell said families have told him they are worried about what’s going to be there for their children to do when they grow up.

"It seems those who are able to live there are the wonderfully wealthy who come from elsewhere. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for local people to live there."

The community-based development agency Lunenburg Water Association took responsibility for the properties in 2005 and while it has found some new owners and tenants, many buildings are still not used — or are not used to their full potential.

The work began with a group of 14 students last summer. As part of their studies of Lunenburg’s heritage, they built a dory. "Dozens of students were working on the waterfront with the Picton Castle and Bluenose II. Suddenly, there were a lot of young, energetic people and that presents a different tone," Mr. Mannell said.

A summer stroll in Lunenburg often means encounters with older tourists. Young people bring a different dynamic, Mr. Mannell said, and that’s something the community should consider when it looks at redevelopment.

This year’s class picked up on the work of last year’s students. "They spent a few weeks looking at the physical and cultural history of Lunenburg," Mr. Mannell said, studying how Lunenburg evolved from a British colonial defence town to a seafaring community and how that transformation affected culture and values.

The students also studied more recent physical changes to the town as a result of tourism, looked at the state of these buildings and considered how they could turn them into something useful and attractive to the community.

They looked at a number of sites, including the old forge, Clearwater’s former fish plant and the Bluenose 2 shed. Ideas include community theatre, a music hall, sea school, youth hostel and worship space.

"It’s unlikely you can take one idea off the wall and hand it over and start construction," Mr. Mannell said.

But he hopes the ideas will stir discussion that will get the community moving.

The students’ projects will be unveiled at 6 p.m. Tuesday at 182 Montague St. and on display until 1 p.m. Friday.

( bware@herald.ca)

God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian

2008-07-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

(This) goes for dumdums too

I came across this piece today. Even though I´m on vacation, and even though this really doesn´t have a whole lot to do with my job, and even though most students aren´t even in school right now, I felt a strong need to bloggit. That was a run-on sentence, but if you read on, you´ll see that Vonnegut says I can do that.

Call me a nerd, but writing papers is one of the most enjoyable experiences there is. Nothing beats that satisfaction of crafting (what I think is) a master essay that hits all the right buttons. Vonnegut has always been a favourite of mine, and this instructional essay written by him helps me understand why. For any first years that might be checking out this blog, I highly recommend his advice. You might not get a great grade on your essay, and your prof just might suggest you seek some sort of psychiatric counseling, but you°ll have fun writing your paper!

How to Write With Style by Kurt Vonnegut

Newspaper reporters and technical writers are trained to reveal almost nothing about themselves in their writings. This makes them freaks in the world of writers, since almost all of the other ink-stained wretches in that world reveal a lot about themselves to readers. We call these revelations, accidental and intentional, elements of style.

These revelations tell us as readers what sort of person it is with whom we are spending time. Does the writer sound ignorant or informed, stupid or bright, crooked or honest, humorless or playful-- ? And on and on.

Why should you examine your writing style with the idea of improving it? Do so as a mark of respect for your readers, whatever you're writing. If you scribble your thoughts any which way, your readers will surely feel that you care nothing about them. They will mark you down as an egomaniac or a chowderhead --- or, worse, they will stop reading you.

The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not. Don't you yourself like or dislike writers mainly for what they choose to show you or make you think about? Did you ever admire an emptyheaded writer for his or her mastery of the language? No.

So your own winning style must begin with ideas in your head.

1. Find a subject you care about

Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.

I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way --- although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. A petition to the mayor about a pothole in front of your house or a love letter to the girl next door will do.

2. Do not ramble, though

I won't ramble on about that.

3. Keep it simple

As for your use of language: Remember that two great masters of language, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. "To be or not to be?" asks Shakespeare's Hamlet. The longest word is three letters long. Joyce, when he was frisky, could put together a sentence as intricate and as glittering as a necklace for Cleopatra, but my favorite sentence in his short story "Eveline" is this one: "She was tired." At that point in the story, no other words could break the heart of a reader as those three words do.

Simplicity of language is not only reputable, but perhaps even sacred. The Bible opens with a sentence well within the writing skills of a lively fourteen-year-old: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

4. Have guts to cut

It may be that you, too, are capable of making necklaces for Cleopatra, so to speak. But your eloquence should be the servant of the ideas in your head. Your rule might be this: If a sentence, no matter how excellent, does not illuminate your subject in some new and useful way, scratch it out.

5. Sound like yourself

The writing style which is most natural for you is bound to echo the speech you heard when a child. English was Conrad's third language, and much that seems piquant in his use of English was no doubt colored by his first language, which was Polish. And lucky indeed is the writer who has grown up in Ireland, for the English spoken there is so amusing and musical. I myself grew up in Indianapolis, where common speech sounds like a band saw cutting galvanized tin, and employs a vocabulary as unornamental as a monkey wrench.

In some of the more remote hollows of Appalachia, children still grow up hearing songs and locutions of Elizabethan times. Yes, and many Americans grow up hearing a language other than English, or an English dialect a majority of Americans cannot understand.

All these varieties of speech are beautiful, just as the varieties of butterflies are beautiful. No matter what your first language, you should treasure it all your life. If it happens to not be standard English, and if it shows itself when your write standard English, the result is usually delightful, like a very pretty girl with one eye that is green and one that is blue.

I myself find that I trust my own writing most, and others seem to trust it most, too, when I sound most like a person from Indianapolis, which is what I am. What alternatives do I have? The one most vehemently recommended by teachers has no doubt been pressed on you, as well: to write like cultivated Englishmen of a century or more ago.

6. Say what you mean

I used to be exasperated by such teachers, but am no more. I understand now that all those antique essays and stories with which I was to compare my own work were not magnificent for their datedness or foreignness, but for saying precisely what their authors meant them to say. My teachers wished me to write accurately, always selecting the most effective words, and relating the words to one another unambiguously, rigidly, like parts of a machine. The teachers did not want to turn me into an Englishman after all. They hoped that I would become understandable --- and therefore understood. And there went my dream of doing with words what Pablo Picasso did with paint or what any number of jazz idols did with music. If I broke all the rules of punctuation, had words mean whatever I wanted them to mean, and strung them together higgledy-piggledy, I would simply not be understood. So you, too, had better avoid Picasso-style or jazz-style writing, if you have something worth saying and wish to be understood.

Readers want our pages to look very much like pages they have seen before. Why? This is because they themselves have a tough job to do, and they need all the help they can get from us.

7. Pity the readers

They have to identify thousands of little marks on paper, and make sense of them immediately. They have to read, an art so difficult that most people don't really master it even after having studied it all through grade school and high school --- twelve long years.

So this discussion must finally acknowledge that our stylistic options as writers are neither numerous nor glamorous, since our readers are bound to be such imperfect artists. Our audience requires us to be sympathetic and patient readers, ever willing to simplify and clarify --- whereas we would rather soar high above the crowd, singing like nightingales.

That is the bad news. The good news is that we Americans are governed under a unique Constitution, which allows us to write whatever we please without fear of punishment. So the most meaningful aspect of our styles, which is what we choose to write about, is utterly unlimited.

8. For really detailed advice

For a discussion of literary style in a narrower sense, in a more technical sense, I recommend to your attention The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. E.B. White is, of course, one of the most admirable literary stylists this country has so far produced.

You should realize, too, that no one would care how well or badly Mr. White expressed himself, if he did not have perfectly enchanting things to say.

In Sum:

1. Find a subject you care about

2. Do not ramble, though

3. Keep it simple

4. Have guts to cut

5. Sound like yourself

6. Say what you mean

7. Pity the readers

From http://literature.sdsu.edu/onWRITING/vonnegutSTYLE.html

Textbooks are sexy (Part 2): Homeward Bound

2008-07-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

I’m writing this post while sitting in the airport on my way back to Halifax, which is fitting, because everything I’ve learned this week tells me that the solution to dealing with the high costs of textbooks begins at home. As I mentioned in my last post, Dalhousie faculty and instructors are the ultimate decision makers when it comes to choosing and negotiating textbook orders for you. Alternatives, though there are few, need to be made apparent to students on campus before they’ve made their textbook purchases for the year.

Each year profs are approached by marketing representatives from the major publishing companies. Obviously, professors of larger classes are the target market, giving publishers the biggest bang for their book (Har har…). Profs can be (and usually are) offered lucrative deals from these reps. If, lets say, a prof is considering ordering “Campbell Biology” (Gazzilionth Edition) they may be offered full copyright access to countless images and diagrams for their slideshow, teaching aids, technological supplements for course websites, and more. Often times, profs aren’t even given a price for the text book until an order has been made. And, if your prof accidentally spent too much time on the beach over the summer and failed to order their course texts until August, the cost of your textbook just jumped over the moon. The list goes on.

An interesting tidbit that came out of our meeting with the publishers was the availability of digital texts for courses. James Reeves, president of Neilson Publishing’s Higher Education Division, argued that a large majority of their books were offered in digital format at roughly half the price, but, he concluded, it was pretty evident from sales that students preferred hard copy. This, of course, took us by surprise, as a straw poll quickly revealed that not a single student in the room was aware of this service. Think of the money that students could save (or better yet, the money we could curtail from the publishers) if students in our huge first year courses were able to purchase digital texts for half the cost of the hard-copy.

There is a long list of actions we can take here at Dal to mitigate the financial burden of textbook purchases on students. I’m in the process of developing an action plan for the year that consists of meetings with faculty members, student awareness initiatives and coordination with other student unions and bookstores.

In the meantime, if you’re as concerned about the costs of textbooks as I am, here are some steps you can take:

1. Talk to your prof. Ask them how they ordered your textbooks. Find out if they asked what the price of the books would be before they made an order. Ask if they inquired as to whether or not a digital version of the text was available at a cheaper cost. Make sure your prof knows you expect this of them.

2. Check tigerbooks to see if you can get a purchase a used textbook from someone who no longer needs theirs. If you can’t find the edition you’re looking for, ask your prof to see if you can get away with using a previous edition.

3. Share a book with a friend, or use a copy of the book that is on reserve in the library.

As I continue researching this issue more, I’ll keep you DSUers who are watching from blogland posted on what else we can due. So stay tuned!

Textbooks are sexy... (Part 1)

2008-06-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended at the Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials (CRAM) conference in Toronto. The DSU was invited to participate in this forum along with a dozen other student associations and university bookstores.

The Problem

Textbook prices have been increasing considerably over the past few decades. While the cost of most goods and services have increased with inflation over that time period, the average increase in the price of textbooks over the past 13 years has been 2.8 times the rate of inflation (or CPI). The rationale behind these price increases is hidden to the consumer.

A second issue is that the increases in book prices have not directly corresponded to an increase in quality of materials received by students. Textbooks continue to be packaged with supplemental materials such as CD-ROMs and problem packs that most students (in my experience) never or rarely end up using. Often times a large portion of the written material in a textbook is never used or referenced by a professor and is unnecessary waste to a majority of students.

The Publishers

After an afternoon of discussion amongst student leaders and bookstore managers attending the conference, we spent the evening talking with representatives from the major publishing companies in Canada. While a few companies sent their marketing and campus relations representatives, Neilson Publishing sent the president of their Higher Education Division.

I wish I could say that the discussion was productive and fruitful and that student concerns were well received and taken into the decision making process, but unfortunately that is not the case. Rather than taking student’s comments and criticisms as if we were, you know, representing a large portion of their customer base, they took almost every suggestion and comment as if we didn’t put millions of dollars into their coffers annually.

Now, having spent a period of time (albeit a very short one) in the DSU I realize how hard it can be to facilitate engagement with stake holders and to get a proper grasp of exactly what it is students are looking for from us. So, if it were me being given the chance to sit in a room with the people who pay my salary, you can bet your bookends I wouldn’t try and shoot them down every time they offered what (from our perspective anyways) seemed like valuable input into generating solutions to the problems my organization might be facing.

So, for the benefit of those of you who wish you’d been in the room, here’s what went down (I’ll warn you in advance I may be paraphrasing at times, but I kid you not, this is the genuine tone of the conversation):

CRAM: What explanation is there for the drastic increase in prices of textbooks over the past decade? Specifically, why have textbook prices increased at a rate almost triple than that of inflation?

Publishers: The reality is we’re not just selling textbooks anymore. What we’re hearing from professors is that they are overworked, understaffed (fewer TAs) and underpaid, and they simply aren’t able to cope with their workload and research. For this reason, we provide them with supplemental teaching materials to help develop their lessons, mark assignments. We also include free technology supplements for students with most textbooks, which has been proven (when taken advantage of) to enhance academic performance.

CRAM: We already pay tuition to our schools to develop their lessons, pay TAs and provide income to professors. What right do publishers have to include this material in the price paid by students for textbooks? Surely the universities aren’t paying you for these services?

Publishers: These services are provided free of charge to professors, as an incentive for these professors to require their students to purchase our texts. It sounds like its not so much a problem you have with us, but moreso a problem you’ve got with your own faculty. You should really talk to them.

CRAM: It’s a problem we have with the publishers because it’s a service you’re knowingly providing when you know that students don’t want (and don’t deserve to pay for these services).

Publishers: We need to provide the service in order to stay competitive.

CRAM: Representatives from the five major publishers in Canada are in the room right now. Why not agree to cease providing these services for the benefit of students.

Publishers: That would be collusion, which is illegal.

CRAM: The major problem with the textbook market is that it is out of equilibrium. The market isn’t described by the basic principles of a free marketplace because faculty are the decision makers and students are left with the binaric decision of whether or not to purchase the book, with no perfect substitute available at a lower price (or higher quality). Textbook publishers are obviously very active in marketing their product to instructors (the decision makers), but what market research has been done to ensure the products satisfy the needs of students (the purchasers). Comparatively, what portion of your marketing budget (which translates to about 15% of the cost) is spent on market research analysis on students, to ensure that the product offered is favorable equally to faculty as it is to students?

Publishers: We don’t have those kinds of numbers off hand, but I can tell you it is relatively minimal compared to what we spend on marketing textbooks to faculty.

CRAM: What are your annual profits like?

Publishers: Again, we don’t have those kinds of numbers off hand. In fact, I find it incredibly insulting that we’re being asked these questions on the spot in some form of ambush interrogation. We weren’t even given an agenda for this meeting, so how can we be expected to participate fully in the discussion?

Editor’s note: To be fair the publishers were absolutely right; we had forgotten to give them an agenda. In fact, we didn’t even have an agenda for this meeting, the time had been slotted for an informal discussion between bookstores, students and publishers, and our questions were as nil rehearsed as the answers we got. Oops, our bad.

I could go on and on about the futile discourse that continued for another hour or so, but I think the above conversation sums up the overall outcome of the consultation. One thing is apparent though, while the textbook companies are extremely resistant to the suggestions they’ve heard from students, they are wary of the potential of this group of stakeholders.

Stay tuned in the next couple of days for some further updates on the work that CRAM did this week, including a summary of how the new copyright act will affect students and universities, on campus initiatives for reducing the cost of academic materials and the future of CRAM.