The biggest challenge by far in Myriam Zaidi’s portfolio this year was tuition, which the Quebec government announced on March 17 would increase by $325 per year over the next five years. Zaidi took a strong stance against tuition from the beginning.  The website tuitiontruth.ca, which she re-launched this year, was a significant step in relaying tuition information to students.  The research and information presented on the website gives students a good reason to attend protests. However, the scholarship on whether or not low tuition correlates with university accessibility is far from conclusive, and the website only presents one side of this debate. More importantly, it doesn’t present any alternatives to tuition hikes. Zaidi should be commended for her efforts to rally students, but the Tribune would have liked to see SSMU work towards increasing financial assistance as well.

Zaidi should also be applauded for her role in setting up the Charity Fund and working with the Charity Committee, which will distribute the new student fee, although the Tribune still has some lingering concerns about how the fee will be allocated. We’re concerned, however, about reports that Zaidi has been late to or absent from meetings with various groups both on and off campus and has not always responded to emails in a timely fashion.

With the motion to reform the GA and SSMU President Zach Newburgh’s involvement in Jobbook dividing their team, this year’s executives often had difficult working together cohesively.  Zaidi’s decision to bring a Judicial Board complaint against Newburgh for his involvement with Jobbook seemed unnecessary, as Council had already taken disciplinary action with its censure of Newburgh in early February. Unlike many of her other admirable efforts throughout the year, this action seems to have been divisive rather than constructive.