In Saskatoon, Max FineDay ran another successful campaign rejoining the University of Saskatchewan’s Student Council. Max and NUBC1 Alum Tria Donaldson teamed up to write a piece for Rabble.ca about working on NDP Leadership candidate Romeo Saganash’s campaign inspired a generation of young Indigenous people.

Andrea Cessna (NUSask2) has been working on a project called Voice Avenue. “From breakfast to bridges, we give you a glimpse of some of Saskatoon’s well known areas, plus some of its secrets. The intention behind Voice Ave is to provide media technology training for those who don’t have access to equipment/space etc. Every week at the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre, Voice Ave offers a sort of Media boot camp. I’m so proud to be part of the awesome Voice Ave Team and working with fellow Next Uppers and the Saskatoon Anti-Poverty Coalition – all of whom are very passionate individuals focused on positive change within our community.” Here’s a sample of their work:

Julia Dalman (NU Edmonton alum) has been coordinating a Global Cafe to connect Edmonton high school students. They have been working towards making the Global Cafe into a physical hub and about 60 volunteers have signed up to participate from groups including the Parkland Institute, Make Poverty History and the Council of Canadians. Read the article from the Edmonton Journal for more info and stay tuned!

Three NU alumni were featured in Alberta Council for Global Cooperation’s latest issue of their top 30 under 30 magazine! The magazine, “highlights the Top 30 youth from Alberta and the Global South who are actively making positive change in their communities, locally and globally.” Check it out here. Congrats to Erin McFarlane (NUCal1), Chris Chan Yeng Philips (NUEdm3), and Laura Collison (NUEdm2)!

In BC, Anna McClean (NUBC5) has been working with Leadnow.ca as their Local Organizing Coordinator. She and 3 other NUBC5 participants are were busy organizing actions in each of the provincial and territorial capitals to highlight the real costs, both financial and social, of the Omnibus Crime Bill. Following this, they plan to continue creating and supporting Local Action Teams across the country that will be ready to take action and speak up for a more just, democratic Canada. Check out the video they put together here.

Jenni Mathers (NUBC5) writes, “Thanks to Next up I have been able to connect with some people from the community to do some work on the Min Age Campaign. In BC it is legal for Children to work as young as 12 years old. There are very loose regulations for employers around child workers. Employers only need to obtain a permission slip from one parent and have the child supervised by an adult who is over 18 in the workplace. As part of the CAW, we have managed to get together a working group in hopes of changing these laws. Next up has provided us with reports and has got us in contact with First Call, a child advocacy group, and the employment standards coalition. Our working group will be having their second meeting shortly and we are making progress.”

…and that’s just scratching the surface!

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