Kai Ng is a third-year political science student running unopposed for Vice-President External under the Students United slate.
The current President of the UTM International Cantonese Union and as a UTMSU WeChat Team volunteer, Ng writes that he wants to address the provincial government’s recently announced changes to postsecondary funding.
These changes include the Student Choice Initiative (SCI), which requires institutions to develop an opt-out system for incidental fees, and adjustments to the Ontario Student Assistance Program.
Ng also hopes to combat food insecurity at UTM and start a campaign for the upcoming federal election that discusses student issues and provides information on how to vote.
Addressing the relationship between the UTMSU and the Canadian Federation of Student (CFS), Ng hopes to use the research and campaigning resources that the CFS provides to lobby the federal and provincial governments and to connect with students across Canada.
Ng believes that the recently announced 10 per cent domestic tuition reduction will be “beneficial for students,” but also notes that international students and workers will disproportionately face the effects of the cuts as the university has to make up for the reduction in tuition.
He also believes that the SCI is a threat to student unions and other levy-funded groups and hopes to run a campaign to educate students on the resources provided by student unions as well as lobby the university to protect levy-funded groups as they are “essential to student life.”
