On October 24, the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) held its seventh Board of Directors (BOD) meeting, where members discussed their recent “creative activism” against Bill 33. This included lobbying efforts to change credit policies, revise land acknowledgements, and modify special consideration requests.

Week of Action

The UTMSU hosted a Week of Action from October 20–24, with each day featuring a different activity opposing Bill 33. On Monday, October 20, UTMSU members attended a rally at Queen’s Park.

A “fallen campus” themed escape room was held on October 20 and 21, with a graveyard of all student services to showcase student life in the event of Bill 33 being passed. VP Campus Life Lois Ogunnubi shared that she “think[s] students really got the message behind [the escape room].”

On October 23, the UTMSU held a Doug Ford costume contest and an MPP postering campaign, during which nearly 650 emails were sent to students’ local MPPs to “vote no” to Bill 33.

The Week of Action concluded with “blackout day” on October 24, where the UTMSU suspended all their Student Centre services for two hours to give students an insight into how student life would be without a student union.

If Bill 33 passes, funds for events and projects will be limited. To prepare for this, Vice President (VP) Internal Rui (Owen) Zhang has been working with the UTMSU’s accountant to collect every executive’s preliminary budgets to “ensure that spending remains transparent, reasonable and documented properly.”

Truth and Reconciliation lobbying

President Andrew Park said that the Committee to Indigenous Justice (CIJC) is lobbying to amend the existing land acknowledgement and provide Indigenous peoples an opportunity to have their voices heard during the amendment process. 

The UTMSU is also lobbying for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to be recognized as a valid reason for Indigenous students to request special consideration for extension on coursework. Currently, special consideration requests are granted only for circumstances outside of students’ control, with listed acceptable reasons including illness, injury, disability, religious observances, or other unplanned and unforeseeable circumstances. 

Credit policies

Since 2022, the UTMSU has been lobbying to extend the credit/no credit (CR/NCR) deadline to after students receive their final grades. The Office of Registrar currently lists the deadline for courses with a final exam as the “last day of classes in the term in which the course was offered.” For courses without a final exam, the deadline is before the due date of the final assignment. 

VP University Affairs Manaal Fatima has been collaborating with the University of Toronto Students’ Union, Arts and Science Students Union, and Scarborough Campus Students’ Union to prepare themselves for the “types of arguments that administration will make with regards to ethical standpoints as well as academic standing audits.”

Fatima is also lobbying to amend the Second Attempt at Credit (SAC) policy so that it applies to failed courses, similar to policies at other institutions. When repeating a passed course, the second attempt will be designated as an “extra” and not count towards GPA or degree credit. SAC allows students to request that the first attempt be “extra” and the second count.