Campaigns
The SFUO is YOUR instrument of political action.
There are many issues affecting our campus, and the Student Federation, as a student union, is dedicated to working towards solutions.
Many students are adversely affected by the debt they incur from the exorbitant costs of education; many are victims of discrimination, ableism, sexual harassment, and homophobia on our campus. We can deal with these problems by addressing their causes.
The SFUO supports multiple campaigns, but any success is the result of the students who participate in these campaigns. There is strength in numbers, and if enough of us work towards solutions, success will follow.
If you wish to initiate, organize, or volunteer in any campaign that matters to you, or if you want to get involved, contact your Campaigns Organizers. You can e-mail us at campaigns@sfuo.ca, call us at 613-562-5800 (ext. 2979)... or visit the student union (UCU-07) and ask for a campaigns organizer!
Current Campaigns
Drop Fees
U-Pass
No Means No – End Violence against Women
Campaign for Fair Copyright
Students for Sustainability
Plastic Bag-Free Campus
War Resisters Support Campaign
End Genocide Now: Darfur
OHIP for International Students
Drop Fees
Massive cuts to post-secondary education transfer payments in the 1990s led to increased tuition fees, reducing access to education.
A wide variety of studies show that higher tuition fees precipitate declining rates of participation among low and middle income Canadians. In 2002, Statistics Canada reported similar facts. Despite these conclusions, Ontario continues to increase tuition fees and has deregulated graduate, professional, and some college fees.
The hard-fought freezes and reductions that have been won in some provinces are under attack by those who would have students shoulder more of the financial burden. By working with our allies in the Canadian Federation of Students, and by reaching out to the community around us, we can achieve the kind of results that students in Ontario and other provinces desperately need.
Campaign Goal: Halt tuition fee increases and restore federal transfer payments for post-secondary education; Freeze tuition fees for all students at acceptable levels.
Education is a right!
Visit www.dropfees.ca for more information on the campaign.
Universal bus passes provide students with accessible and affordable access to public transit throughout the academic year. We want to join McMaster, Western, and UBC as one of over 90 institutions in North America that have this program. Bus Passes promote sustainable transportation, and provide a great opportunity for all students to explore Ottawa as a city with borders beyond the downtown core. All public transit users are also entitled to an 18% income tax rebate for the cost of their passes. However, the City of Ottawa refuses to accept a very reasonable proposal by the Student Federation based on flawed municipal research and short-sighted discourse. If we are to be make progress in the way we treat the environment, as well as true citizens of Ottawa, we must achieve our goal of an affordable universal bus pass.
Campaign Goal: Implement the U-Pass plan, as supported by a popular referendum, of $125 per student per semester.
Click Here for More Information
No Means No – End Violence against Women
Violence against women is a significant social problem in which all Canadians have a role to play in preventing. Rape is often referred to as a women’s issue, but men are responsible for men’s violence and need to encourage each other to respect the right of women to decide if, how, when, and with whom they have sex.
Canadian statistics have shown that in Canada, one woman is sexually assaulted every minute. And this doesn’t include battering, or sexual harassment, or the women who never say anything out of fear or shame. These outrageously high statistics mean that everyone knows some of the one in four women who are, or will be, survivors of sexual assault. They are people’s mothers, sisters, family members, co-workers and friends.
The most common form of violence on campus is rape. One in six women attending college or university is a survivor of rape. Men and women students must work together to raise awareness about date rape, to challenge people’s attitudes and behaviours, and to dispel common myths concerning the incidence and circumstances of sexual assault.
Campaign Goal: Eliminate rape, notably date rape, in all its forms, on our campus and in our community.
Campaign for Fair Copyright
The question of copyrights has always been important to students. The current Copyright Act strikes a strong balance between allowing us, as students, access to information while protecting the rights of copyright holders. However, recent moves have been made to strengthen the Copyright Act where digital information is concerned, in the face of popular opposition. The traditional rights of users are at stake against more potential limitations on usage and harsher penalties for violations.
Campaign Goal: Prevent the Federal Government from reforming the Copyright Act, as it already serves students effectively in its current form.
For more information visit http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/html/english/campaigns/copyright.php
Students for Sustainability
In recent years, the true impact of human activity on climate change has become more clear than ever. Accordingly, environmental sustainability has become a top priority for Canadians and polls reveal that we have high expectations for government action.
As with the peace and civil rights movements, students have played a critical role in the environmental movement for decades. Through organisations such as the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) and the Sierra Youth Coalition, students are mobilising across Canada to put pressure on politicians to take action on climate change.
Campaign Goals: Improve sustainability on campus by working with the university to decrease material waste; inform other students about ways in which they can be more environmentally-conscious; increase awareness of the consequences of wasteful activity.
For more information visit http://studentsforsustainability.ca
Plastic Bag-Free Campus
The overuse of plastic bags plays a large role in the current environmental crisis, especially in developed countries such as Canada. Plastic bags continue to threaten the natural environment and wildlife, creating excess garbage with an expected life of 1,000 years before decomposing. Students and businesses must play a role in eliminating the use of plastic bags by bringing and providing their own reusable bags to shops.
For more information, visit:
http://www.sustainable.uottawa.ca/index.php?module=CMS&func=view&id=55&newlang=eng
Campaign Goal: Eliminate the distribution of plastic bags by campus businesses; Encourage the university community to shop with reusable bags.
War Resisters Support Campaign
The War Resisters Support Campaign, a Canadian Labour Congress initiative, exists to support soldiers who object to the American-led war in Iraq. These are individuals who would rather seek refuge in Canada than face persecution in the United States for refusing to fight. Unfortunately, the Federal Government refuses to grant these conscientious objectors refugee status, and has in many cases ordered their deportation back to the United States.
Campaign Goal: Prevent the Federal Government from deporting conscientious objectors to the War in Iraq to the United States; Re-affirm Canada’s status as a safe haven for refugees in light of its history of accepting them into Canadian society.
For more information visit http://www.resisters.ca/index_en.html
End Genocide Now: Darfur
Since 2003, the Government of Sudan has been an active participant in the growth of a devastating genocide in its westernmost region: Darfur. As the conflict enters its sixth year, 30,000 civilians have lost their lives and over 4 million have been displaced.
It is essential that students make the commitment to never allow our generation to become apathetic to genocide. Together we can advocate for peace in the region, with other universities and student unions to ensure that Darfur is a priority within Canada’s foreign policy.
Campaign Goals: Have Canada commit a peace envoy to Darfur; Foster support for the targeted divestment of Sudan’s resources; End China’s biased support for the Sudanese government; Put an immediate end to the genocide in Darfur.
OHIP for International Students
There was once a time when all students received Provincial healthcare under OHIP for free; in 1994, international students were excluded from the program and are now forced to subscribe to a similar plan at a cost of upwards of $800 a year.
This is an affront to international students, who must absorb this cost in addition to almost deregulated tuition fees that are frequently over double what Canadian students pay.
Campaign goal: Re-establish access to Provincial healthcare for international students studying in Ontario.
Take Action: Contact the Student Federation’s International House (UCU Terminus) to get involved in spreading the word about why all students deserve affordable, public healthcare.
Get involved with the SFUO's Campaigns!
We are located in the SFUO’s main office, Room 07 of the University Centre.
Call us at 613-562-5800 extension 2979, or e-mail us at campaigns@sfuo.ca.
