AUSU attends CASA Advocacy Week in Ottawa!

During the week of November 14 to 18, 2016, the AUSU Executive team (President Shawna Wasylyshyn, VP External & Student Affairs Julian Teterenko, and VP Finance & Administration Kim Newsome) attended the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) Advocacy Week in Ottawa. CASA represents over 21 Student Associations across the country (which AUSU is a part of), and has around 250,000 post-secondary student members. CASA advocates for a Canadian post-secondary education system that is accessible, affordable, innovative, and of the highest quality.

During Advocacy Week, CASA met with 160 Members of Parliament, Ministers, Senators, and public servants to advocate for post-secondary education in Canada. The focus of the meetings were primarily about changes to the Canada Students Loans Program, increasing support and funding for indigenous students, and investing in student employment during and after education.

Some of the people that our own AUSU Executives met with personally are MP Rona Ambrose, MP Larry Bagnell, MP Michael Cooper, MP Colin Fraser, MP Garnett Genuis, Senator Elizabeth Hubley, MP Matt Jeneroux, MP Pat Kelly, MP Mike Lake, MP Kevin Lamoureux, MP John Nater, MP Raj Saini, and Senator David Wells.

AUSU Executives had a successful week advocating for student issues in Ottawa and are looking forward to what improvements the federal government makes to Canada’s post-secondary education system!

Click here for more info about Advocacy Week.

AUSU also hosted a Meet & Greet in Ottawa while the executives were there. It was a great success! We wish to thank all the members who came out – we had some great discussions and received valuable input that we will bring forward with AU!

Check out pictures from the Ottawa trip below!

LEFT: AUSU VPFA Kim Newsome, President Shawna Wasylyshyn, and VPEX Julian Teterenko.
RIGHT: AUSU President Shawna Wasylyshyn (second from right) and CASA delegates with MP Garnett Genius.

    
LEFT: AUSU VPEX Julian Teterenko (third from left) and CASA delegates with MP Rona Ambrose.
RIGHT: AUSU President Shawna Wasylyshyn and MP Michael Cooper.

    
LEFT: AUSU VPEX Julian Teterenko and CASA delegates with MP Pat Kelly.
RIGHT: AUSU President Shawna Wasylyshyn (right) and CASA delegate with MP Raj Saini. 

   
LEFT: AUSU VPFA Kim Newsome (second from left) and CASA delegates with MP Kevin Lamoureax. 
RIGHT: AUSU VPEX Julian Teterenko (right) and CASA delegates with MP Mike Lake. 

     
LEFT: AUSU VPFA Kim Newsome (right) and CASA delegate with MP John Nater. 
RIGHT: AUSU President Shawna Wasylyshyn (second from left) and CASA delegates with MP Matt Jeneroux.

  
LEFT: AUSU VPEX Julian Teterenko (second from right) and CASA delegates with Senator Libbe Hubley.
RIGHT: AUSU VPFA Kim Newsome (second from right) and CASA delegates with Senator Cools staff. 

LEFT: AUSU VPEX Julian Teterenko and VPFA Kim Newsome getting ready for our Ottawa Meet & Greet!
RIGHT: A great turnout for our Ottawa Meet & Greet with some engaging discussions!