What have you accomplished this summer?

Over the summer, it’s been a lot of gathering information and putting out information and keeping track of what’s been going on, particularly around the student movement. We also put a letter together in regards to a potential change in federal policy regarding student immigration. They asked for comments from student unions; so along with my political attaché and some of the other execs, we put together a letter and sent that in.

I’ve also been organizing street teams during frosh. We had groups of people out in the Milton-Parc neighbourhood giving out water and food and making sure that Froshies were safe. I’ve been talking about having people living in apartments in the Milton-Parc neighbourhood serve as resource people for students who are just moving into their own apartments for the first time. There’s a lot we could do to try and improve the relations between students and the other members there.

What are your long-term goals for the year?

One of my personal goals is to continue to make political issues relevant and accessible to people who aren’t already super knowledgeable and involved. There are a lot of issues that I would like there to at least be more conversations around—like what’s happening with the economy or the environment. There are specific issues like the tuition hike that can really divide people, but there are also a lot of issues that we need to realize are going to affect all of us one way or another. We should try to make that information accessible for people ,and then find ways for people to get involved in whatever capacity they’re most comfortable with.

How do you see your role as the VP External with regards to the student movement this year?

A lot of it depends on what the other students decide to do. Whatever happens, I will relay that information as those things continue to take place. Students who are already active here can find ways to organize themselves, but I think another big part of my position is having very basic intro-level information available, especially for first-years. If the PQ ends up having their big summit about education, then I think that’ll be a really interesting opportunity, because education and access to education don’t just involve the price of tuition. As an English school with many international students, it would be a very interesting debate to have on campus. One way or another, I want to be a source of information but also be as receptive as possible to the different opinions that there are on this campus.