Anne-Marie Roy wins deputy chairperson seat for next year
Photo: Sabrina Nemis
After three years as a member of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) executive, president Anne-Marie Roy will be moving on next year to work for the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).
At the CFS annual general meeting on Oct. 17, Roy won the position of deputy chairperson for the 2015–16 school year.
“When I came to university, I wasn’t at all politically charged. University did that to me,” said Roy. “I feel like I’ve discovered a new passion for issues relating to social justice.”
The CFS is a student organization that lobbies at the federal level for issues of concern to post-secondary students. At the general meeting, member student unions from across Canada discussed campaigns to address sexual violence on campus, blood transfusion accessibility, the availability of water, and fossil fuel divestment.
Roy said that as an SFUO executive, she’s most proud of the establishment of general assemblies, the first of which will take place Nov. 17. “I’m really hoping that GAs are going to be a tool that continually forces the SFUO to do outreach, to work on issues that matter to students,” she said.
Before finishing her term this year, Roy hopes to mobilize students on issues like the war in Iraq, possibly bringing back the Student Coalition Against War, and to continue discussions surrounding decolonization, racialization, missing and murdered aboriginal women, and rape culture.
One of the biggest campaigns coming to campuses this year is the federal election-focused “It’s No Secret” campaign. Current CFS chairperson Jessica McCormick said the CFS intends to bring education and outreach about the upcoming federal election to campuses across Canada.
The group wants to have a student-centred question brought to one of the televised leaders’ debates, and McCormick said they have “the very ambitious goal of increasing voter turnout.”
Roy hopes to make use of her time at the CFS to increase visibility of national campaigns.
Joining Roy on next year’s CFS national executive are Bilan Arte, who is now the deputy chairperson, and former president of the Kings’ Student Union at the University of King’s College, Anna Dubinski, who will take over the vacant treasurer position immediately and resume the role in the next year.
