Student Presentation to City Transit Commission: U-Pass

Photo by Mico Mazza - © The Fulcrum

For those who are interested, I'm posting a link to the presentations made by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), the Carleton University Students' Association (CUSA), the Carleton Graduate Students' Association (GSA) and the Graduate Students' Association of the University of Ottawa (GSAÉD) to the City of Ottawa Transit Commission public meeting that took place on Wednesday, November 16 2011.

Part 1 (Student submissions begins at 42:22)

A recent uOLeaks post suggested that during this meeting, the Transit Commission was informed that the SFUO provided a cheque to the City of Ottawa at the beginning of Fall 2011 and that it was returned due to NON-SUFFICIENT FUNDS. Skip to 1:17.38 of Part 1 to listen to this interesting exchange. After claiming that she was not aware of the NSF cheque referred to in Councillor Desroches' question, Elizabeth Kessler admits that "I think there was a late cheque." Councillor Desroches then goes on to ask the City Treasurer who confirms that a cheque was in fact returned due to NSF. This is extremely embarrassing and absolutely unacceptable. It is thus not surprising that City Councillors couldn't be bothered to work with the student unions on this or any other issue.

Such grave mistakes should not be expected from an incumbent V.P. finance who should know very well how to manage the SFUO's bank accounts.

Also, I have provided links below to various documents referenced during the submission and also other pertinent documents:

Letter from Alain Mercier to Student Representatives U-Pass Program

Re: U-Pass Program Information Update and Outline of Next Steps - Letter to Alain Mercier

CUSA-SFUO Lobby Document - Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of the U-Pass Program

Reality Check: An Examination of the Factual Errors, Specious Reasoning, And Omissions in SFUO-CUSAs U-Pass Lobby Document

Budget 2012 - City of Ottawa - Transit Commission Draft Operating and Capital Budget

Response to Inquiry CC-20-11 - Desroches - U-Pass Oct 3 2011

The Fulcrum has also published an article in regards to the U-Pass.

U-Pass: SFUO, CUSA, GSAÉD, GSA failing students

Image credit: Drives in Circles - http://drivesincircles.blogspot.com/2011/10/count-on-us.html

Wow, it's been over a month since my last post!? It's been busy as I'm sure all of you starving students can attest to! Anyways, I finally got my hands on a copy of this document, entitled Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of the U-Pass Program: An Analysis, (credit to people @ uOleaks.com) produced by the University of Ottawa Graduate Students' Association (GSAÉD), the Carleton University Graduate Students' Association (GSA), the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) and the Carlteton University Students' Association (CUSA) which was presented to Mayor Jim Watson and Transit Commission Chair Diane Deans at an October 7, 2011 meeting. Unfortunately, I only became aware this afternoon that representatives from all four student unions were appearing before the City of Ottawa's Transit Commission this morning (and no, not thanks to any communication from Paige Galette).

From the article in the last link which appeared in the Ottawa Citizen, it looks as though our student representatives were literally laughed at during the Transit Commission meeting:

Gloucester-South Nepean Councillor Steve Desroches asked why he should take the word of two graduate-student statisticians who did the student unions’ calculations over that of the city’s own treasurer. Cumberland Councillor Stephen Blais pointedly laughed at the idea that students in farther-flung suburbs might walk or bike to downtown campuses. Knoxdale-Merivale Councillor Keith Egli questioned the idea that a typical trip to Carleton from his ward could take 30 minutes longer than it used to when the whole voyage is only supposed to be 31 minutes according to OC Transpo’s online trip planner.

Sounds like it was a pretty pathetic performance by our student "leaders". Although, in principle, I support the idea of having a U-Pass that is affordable for students, I will never support a U-Pass which is FORCED upon students regardless of where you reside. Personally, I barely have to walk 5 minutes to get to campus. Yes, I do pay more for this convenience. However, I also am forced to pay nearly $300 extra for a U-Pass that I would otherwise not purchase in the first place. 

And to make things more interesting, Charlie Taylor prepared this document that purportedly points to many problems with the document produced by the student unions. What is quite amazing here is the fact that Mr. Taylor is a former provincial Green Party candidate. However, he reportedly is very much against the U-Pass program. As a former City of Ottawa mayoral candidate in the last municipal elections, Taylor staged a protest against "an unethical $290/year tax on walkers and cyclists." He was also interviewed by the Public Transit in Ottawa blog back in July 2010.

The Transit Commission voted in favour of increasing the price of the U-Pass to $180/semester or $360/academic year. All 4 student unions have committed to holding a referendum on the future of the U-Pass in the spring. If students cannot opt out of this expensive venture, then it should not continue.

UPDATE

Boy, somebody looks pretty pissed!