Women’s Centre report
The SFU Women’s Centre made its annual report to board last Wednesday, Oct. 8. The centre’s recent activities included a workshop on consensus decision-making, a chill-out zone, and a solidarity night walk.
The centre has many projects in the works, one of the most immediate being a collaboration with SFPIRG to organize a bike co-op in which young girls will be taught how to fix their bikes. Women’s Centre coordinator Nadine Chambers commented on how bike repair is “deeply gendered” — something that the program will attempt to challenge.
Other future plans include a Christmas hamper food drive to provide relief for families, as well as the Hot Pink Paper Campaign. The campaign has published a non-partisan elections guide to help bring women’s issues to the table in local politics.
$10/day Child Care Plan
Sharon Gregson attended the meeting as a guest speaker to advocate for the $10 A Day Child Care Plan, an initiative that seeks to provide financial relief to parents and guardians faced with increasing childcare fees by instituting a public system in BC.
“The cost of childcare becomes prohibitive to actually having children,” said Gregson.
The plan has already gained momentum, with backing from federal government representatives and student organizations.
Gregson, along with Chambers, requested that the board provide an official letter of support for the plan, or instead, grant the Women’s Centre permission to endorse the plan independently.
The board of directors moved to grant the SFU Women’s Centre the ability to support the plan as a separate entity.
Kinder Morgan intervenor status
The SFSS is applying for intervenor status in the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline project. This would enable the board to be privy to further information about the impacts of the proposed development through Burnaby Mountain.
“[The application] is neutral. It doesn’t say that we oppose it. It just says that we’d like to intervene because we are representatives of the students who attend this campus,” said SFSS president Chardaye Bueckert.
The board moved to approve the application for intervener status. Submissions to obtain the status are due on March 4, 2015.
