Manitoba university students will embark today (Thursday, Nov. 5) on the annual march to the Legislature for the Day of Action organized by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). While past campaigns have mostly focused on dropping post-secondary tuition fees, this year’s campaign is taking a different approach.

The Target Poverty campaign calls for the Manitoba government to implement an effective plan to reduce poverty by 25 per cent by 2015, and ultimately to create a poverty-free Manitoba.

Access to basic necessities, adequate health care and housing, improvements to social assistance and unemployment insurance and access to education and childcare are all central to the campaign.

Courtney Maddock, University of Winnipeg Students’ Association vice-president internal and treasurer for CFS Local 8, said the campaign will force government to confront these issues.

“We are hoping that through this campaign and through student and community activism that the government will see that people do care about poverty in Manitoba – especially students,” she said.

Diane McGifford, minister of advanced education and literacy, said that extending the focus of the campaign beyond tuition fees to include poverty was a wise decision.

“I think it is great,” she said. “I have actually said to many students ... that it is important to broaden your scope.”

While the campaign is undoubtedly broader this year, Maddock said the issues are relevant to students.

“Poverty ... is an issue that many students deal with,” she said, adding that many students in Manitoba are living near the poverty line.

But with Manitoba tuition fees seeing the second-highest national increase this year and with the recent lifting of the tuition freeze, some students feel that calling for lower tuition fees should be emphasized.

“It’s better to have a focus [on tuition fees] because it is more likely we can actually change something,” said Amy Groening, a third-year U of W English student. “Tuition fees can help to alleviate poverty, so it is connected ... but poverty is such a huge and daunting topic.”

Fees are still a component of the campaign, however.

“Tuition fees are definitely an important issue to students ... and it is not going to be left out of the campaign,” said Maddock.

The Day of Action begins with a pancake breakfast at 9 a.m. followed by a free pizza lunch in the quad at 11:30 a.m. At 12:30 p.m., students will begin marching to the legislative grounds. The rally begins at 1:00 p.m. To learn more, visit www.targetpoverty.ca.

Published in Volume 64, Number 10 of The Uniter (November 5, 2009)