Multi-university student coalition reignites to advocate for students at city hall

The Halifax Student Alliance, a coalition of university student unions and associations that advocate for student issues at city hall, held their first meeting of the year on Sept. 18.

The group currently consists of three members — the Dalhousie Student Union, Mount Saint Vincent University Student Union and Saint Mary’s University Student Association — who are entering into their second year of membership after the original coalition disbanded in 2009. The King’s Students’ Union and Student Union of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design are in the process of joining this year.

During a Sept. 14 DSU council meeting, Orpy Dey, the student union’s vice-president academic and external, said housing will be one of the coalition’s major advocacy priorities.

First, she wants to strengthen the alliance by developing its governance framework. She also said the coalition must develop a long-term vision to allow for collective advocacy on issues affecting students across Halifax. 

Dey says there are no dues for student unions in the alliance, other than a nominal fee of less than $100.

Last year, Ethan Leckie, the DSU’s previous vice-president academic and external, chaired the first meeting of the new alliance where the coalition discussed faculty strikes and collaboration on a housing campaign.  

Dey said she intends to consult with students on housing and use those findings to develop a policy report which focuses on affordability, renters’ rights and municipal action. 

“That report will not simply be published,” she said in council. “Its recommendations will be formally brought to the relevant municipal and provincial decision-makers.” 

Dey declined multiple interview requests from the Dalhousie Gazette before publication until after the report is made public at a later date. 

The original Halifax Student Alliance was officially formed in 2007 to lobby the municipal government on issues regarding safety around the city, including an attempt for a late-night transit system which was ultimately not provided by the city.

The alliance lasted until 2009, when the DSU was the final union to cancel the $2 per student levy that supported the alliance. The union’s council thought it was inappropriate to be the alliance’s sole funder after most members dropped out for various reasons.   

Iman Mannathukkaren, the external vice-president of the King’s Students’ Union, says the KSU and the Student Union of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design are in the process of joining the coalition this year. Mannathukkaren says she hopes the alliance will help further the KSU’s advocacy goals through collective action. 

“To me it’s always [about the] strength of the collective. This alliance could be a really great way to make sure that we’re all coming together as one united front,” she says.  

Mannathukkaren also highlighted housing as a priority for the KSU. 

“This is something that is deeply important to students,” she says. “It’s not something that’s going to go away, and it’s not something that we’ll be caving on anytime soon.”

Mannathukkaren says the KSU is also discussing collaborative advocacy opportunities with the DSU and NSCAD’s student union, outside of the alliance.

The KSU was not in attendance at the coalition’s Sept. 18 meeting, but the union does plan to attend future meetings, said Mannathukkaren in an emailed statement to the Dalhousie Gazette.