Green Referendum
The SFUO elections are taking place on February 9th, 10th, and 11th. All undergraduate students will receive emails to their uOttawa accounts giving them a pin for online voting. This year sustainability has been a topic brought up by many candidates and is central to two of the referendum questions.
The Green Referendum asks students to contribute $2.00 per ($1.00 per part-time student) to assist with the SFUO’s Sustainable Development initiatives. This levy would help to ensure that no matter what the priorities of the SFUO that year, sustainable development initiatives are still being supported. These funds would help in creating a visible Sustainability Center where all students, clubs, and federated bodies could go to learn about sustainability and how to access resources such as the Green events subsidy for clubs. The Bike Co-op being created at Lees campus would also be supported by this levy, ensuring that students will have an accessible space to ensure their bikes run safely. Funds could also go towards expanding student garden space, Green Kits in 101 Week packages, greatly reducing the SFUO’s environmental footprint, and creating a sustainability library accessible to all.
The UPass has finally been passed at City Council for a price of $145 per student per semester, a great bargain compared to the $242 (or $283.50 for an Express pass) that students currently pay per semester. Now we need to vote on it in referendum to see if this is a price that students will accept. The UPass will encourage students to take the bus rather than drive, improving air quality and decreasing our CO2 emissions. Having more students leaving their cars at home will also mean less student space will be taken up by parking and the downtown core will become less congested. Like at so many other universities across Canada, the UPass will give all students an affordable way to get around.
Check out all of the candidates platforms at www.vote.sfuo.ca
-tasha
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