Executive report card
Justin Bell, Managing Editor
Ryan Bromsgrove, Opinion Editor
Alexandria Eldridge, Editor-In-Chief
Jan 25, 2012
Farid Iskandar - A-
As VP (External), Farid Iskandar’s major task is external advocacy, and he’s been involved heavily with efforts by both the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations and the Council of Alberta University Students. Regulation of mandatory non-instructional fees has been a major issue since the introduction of the CoSSS fee, and on that note, Iskandar has focused his efforts on moving that forward at the provincial level.
Through CAUS, he lobbied two of the Progressive Conservative contenders for the premiership — including Alison Redford — the now provincial Liberal leader Raj Sherman, Alberta Party leader Glen Taylor, and NDP MLA Rachel Notley. Thus far, the government has been resistant to committing to any real reform, but Iskandar’s continues to monitor the issue, ensuring the student voice does not fall silent. Going forward, to increase awareness and support for regulation, Iskandar’s been working on changing the angle of attack to make the issue, in simple terms, not boring.
Action against textbook price premiums was another promise in his campaign. These regulations allow Canadian publishers to charge up to a 15 per cent premium on foreign titles. Lobbying through CASA on this issue has been met with bipartisan support — though it’s unclear when this support will turn into action.
For many students who reside outside of Edmonton, voting in the provincial election comes with a degree of difficulty. To combat this, Iskandar’s lobbied through CAUS to get on-campus polling booths. The ultimate decision for polling stations for multiple constituencies rests with the legislature, which would require opening up the Elections Act. But he has secured the promise of advance polling stations for Edmonton-Riverview’s subconstituency for the next provincial election.
Faced with uncertainty over the next provincial election — and thus the next major opportunity to get post-secondary issues in the public eye, Iskandar’s done a great job lobbying for change on behalf of students. Regulation of MNIFs, copyright reform in favour of more effective and cheaper education and removal of textbook price premiums may have been done with varying degrees of success. But given that interests more powerful than CASA and CAUS oppose them, Iskandar’s continued to fight on.
Comments
Submit a comment
All comments must be approved by a moderator before they will be visible, and may take up to 48 hours to appear. Comments may be no longer than 5000 characters.
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
Winning at cheating: a not so comprehensive guide
03/30/2012
Life is hard. There’s no secret or manual — we’re all just sort of playing it by ear. There’s no right or wrong way to go through life, just an easy way and a hard way. The hard way involves work, dedication, motivation, aggravation, archaeological excavation, rhyming skills, etc. So we can all agree the hard way is way too hard. It’s clear you need to take the easy way out. After all, with great effort comes great responsibility.
The Gateway Opinion Podcast Sells Out!
For the final show of the year, Ryan, Darcy and Adrian sit down for an hour and talk about stuff they like.
