Concerned members of the SFU Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) presented their petition against the international student health and dental plan, Guard.me, to the SFU administration on the morning of Feb. 25.
After collecting approximately 600 signatures from international students and community members, the group marched through campus to rally support before delivering their petition to SFU’s associate VP student services, Tim Rahilly.
“We’re just going to reiterate our demands, which we’ve been telling him for quite some time, and really just hope that they finally say yes,” explained Orion Kidder, TSSU organizer. “The ultimate goal is essentially to give students back the choice of whether or not they want that two months of health insurance when they first arrive in the country.”
The Guard.me plan has come under considerable scrutiny over the past few years. All new international students are automatically enrolled in Guard.me, which offers health and dental care to international students, as they aren’t eligible for a Canadian health care plan for the first two months that they are in the country.
The TSSU is particularly concerned that Guard.me automatically re-enrols students in the plan, which costs over twice the amount of the previous insurance plan. The group is also upset with the fact that SFU receives a five per cent return out of every fee collected.
“This is clearly an unreasonable plan,” said Kidder. “It’s more expensive than it needs to be, it doesn’t actually solve the problem it set out to, so [I ask students to] help us.”
The TSSU did just that when they toured campus on Wednesday morning, knocking on doors to ask students to join them in presenting the petition to Rahilly.
Reagan Belan, the TSSU chief steward, spoke with The Peak as the group walked around campus. “[This is] an issue that’s close to our heart,” she said. “Even though we are a workers’ union, we are also students.”
Upon entering the Maggie Benston Centre (MBC), the students encountered Rahilly, who happened to be in the building at the same time. Kidder seized the opportunity to present their petition to him in a public space.
“The very simple nature of it is, we think our members deserve a choice,” Kidder told Rahilly. “If it’s that important to get them medical coverage, there are better ways to do it.”
Rahilly replied that he has been following the matter closely and is familiar with the concerns of students. “I would like to find a way that, with the GSS and the SFSS and other stakeholders, that we can make sure we’re taking care of our students. That’s our main concern.”
Rahilly went on to say that the university has not yet renewed its contract with Guard.me, but that they cannot remove or switch providers immediately due to logistical issues.
Kidder said after the meeting that he was mainly pleased with how the conversation went. “We feel like we made an impact,” he stated. “We’ve really made it clear to the university, and Tim Rahilly in particular, that [the situation] can’t stand the way it is.”
However, he felt that there were still many steps to be taken towards a solution: “In the future, we really need to have full, meaningful consultation.”
