What’s Next? is a Calgary based monthly skill and knowledge share series started by Next Up Alumni.
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Student engagement tops priority list for new USSU president

Kris Foster, April 12, 2013, University of Saskatchewan News (link)

It was a pretty simple campaign platform really; Max FineDay just wanted to make student life better.

And it was a platform that helped him get elected University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union (USSU) president.

“I’ve been in student politics for my entire post-secondary career,” said FineDay. “I talk to a lot of students and ask ‘What do you want to see?’ I think sometimes student politics has too much pride and not enough humility to ask that question.”

FineDay didn’t have too much pride to ask; in fact he asked not only in person but through Twitter as well. “I think a few (USSU candidates) have campaigned with Twitter before, but I used it a lot. Twitter is a direct way to get a message out in 140 characters. It is a great way to share ideas with representatives.”

The ideas and comments the third-year political studies student heard reaffirmed just how important student engagement is to the USSU and the university.

“Absolutely, student engagement is a priority. It needs to be more at the forefront. Students, not just those who are in politics, but in medicine, vet med, dentistry, ag-bio, all have ideas on how to engage with university administration and the province and how to make the university better.”

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The first of these events is going to be happening in BC this October. Right on the heels of the new government taking office, PowerShift will be a moment to deliver a resounding message to politicians and the fossil fuel industry that BC won’t be transformed into a Carbon Corridor. Imagine, hundreds of youth sending a strong, clear message against pipelines, fracking and coal projects that are endangering our future. One of the goals of this PowerShift is going to be to strengthening the links between climate and tar sands/pipelines, as well as to bolster all the amazing work being done here in the province with hundreds of newly trained organizers.

We are also hoping to connect PowerShift with other groups and allies, and (for those of you in BC!) your work in BC and beyond. More information about strategy meetings, the establishment of the organizing committee and more along those lines will be coming your way in the near future.

Right now, we really need your help sharing our crowd-funding campaign to kick PowerShift organizing off. If you are able to, please considering donating to our crowd funding campaign to get this campaign up and running. Whether its $10, $50 or $500 every single contribution helps us to make PowerShift BC happen. If you can’t support financially, if you could take a moment to share this link: http://www.weeve.it/project/home/50 through your networks that would be amazing.

Thanks all for your help and support!

Karen Rooney
Next Up Sask Year 1

Get Your Vote On: Election Night Party – The place to be for election night!

You’ve registered to vote, read up on the candidates and the issues, and got yourself down to the polling station. Now it’s time to celebrate – join us after you vote for the finest election night party in town!

Bumping music will be supplied by DJ Rhek along with a live set by a surprise guest while we watch the results come in. We will also be presenting our first ever youth-led election night coverage. Watch our generation take centre stage with our own news desk, hosted by a local reporter, featuring some of BC’s best young political experts and issues specialists. We will be covering all topics youth and election related.

Date: Tuesday May 14th (General Election Day)
Time: Doors at 7pm
Location: Fortune Sound Club (147 East Pender St.)
This is a 19+ event.

Sign up for FREE tickets on our Eventbrite listing and don’t forget to invite friends out on our Facebook event. Time to get your vote on in style, folks! 

Share on Facebook!  https://www.facebook.com/events/185913048227344/

The Saskatoon group got off to a great start this year with an awesome day of orientation on October 14th and a Welcome Party that night which was attended by 16 of the 24 Saskatchewan grads as well as several advisory members and donors. (The event was held at Root Down Worker’s Cooperative Cafe – a venture that was begun by a collective of young people in Saskatoon who have worked for a couple of years to start a vegetarian cafe with an alternative economic model. Bryce Donaldson, who was in Year 1 of Next Up Saskatchewan is part of that collective. The youngest guest at the party was Aurelia Moon, daughter of Roanne Kosokowski, a participant in Year 1 and Geordie Trifa, a participant in Year 2.)

Our first 13 sessions have been awesome! We have discussed Colonization & Decolonization, Poverty, Food Security, Working Inside the Political System, Anti-Oppression, Contemporary Indigenous Issues and more! On November 3rd, we had a special weekend session to learn more about resistance to a proposed nuclear waste dump near Pinehouse, SK with community members & alumni and guests from the Committee for Future Generations in Northern Saskatchewan. On November 26th, Next Up participants acted as mentors for a Civic Youth Engagement project in connection with Saskatoon Open Door Society and Oskayak school. The Next Up participants, students from Oskayak and Saskatoon Open Door Society met in small groups to get to know each other, sat together at a meeting of Saskatoon City Council and then debriefed together after the meeting. It was an incredibly energizing evening where we got to witness younger youth awakening to the political process and becoming more engaged!

On December 17th, we held our Art & Activism session at Root Down which doubled as our holiday gathering. The group heard from presenters Shayna Stock, Monique Blom Metcalfe and Marcel Petit and then had the opportunity to work on a project in small groups with the presenters. One group made a film about youth voice, while the others made a banner and wrote poetry about the Idle No More campaign and Indigenous Solidarity. The Saskatoon group has been energized by and excited to support the growing national Idle No More movement that was born in Saskatoon.

With 13 participants this year we are already 1/3 of the way through the year, and what a great program it has been so far. The group includes a fabulous, wide variety of very knowledgeable and experienced participants whose focuses include food security, art/activism, GLBTQ activism, and community and urban development…just to name a few of the topics of expertise the group holds. Our Advisory Committee and Alumni have continued to be very involved with the program, as supports, guests, party organizers and coaches. The network of alumni, allies and supporters in Edmonton is growing and it is showing. And similarly with Alberta as a whole, the network in the province is growing. Calgary and Edmonton had a “meet up” during this year’s Parkland Conference in November, giving the present cohorts a chance to volunteer, learn, brainstorm, and socialize together. Truly inspiring and exciting to see happen in Alberta. Lindsay Ruth Hunt – Next Up Edmonton Program Coordinator

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