Mayor meets with students

With the municipal election now complete and new council members getting comfortable in their roles, the Mayor’s Student Advisory Council (MSAC) has begun meeting again. The group, comprised of Mayor Brenda Halloran and university students, aims to promote the involvement of students in the community.

“What we’re looking for is to provide a different level of student engagement on a community level,” said Laurier fourth-year and chair of MSAC Tim Elphick. “Making sure that students are being engaged and aware of what is taking place in the community as opposed to what is happening here within the Laurier block.”

Although there were only a handful of students present, Halloran expressed her excitement at rejuvenating MSAC now that she has her entire four-year term ahead of her.

“The people who are here are excited to take it forward and we’ll build on it so I’m very excited,” she commented.

The meeting generally focused on how to get students to come out to meetings and events and how to engage the wider post-secondary populations both at the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College.

Commenting on the higher student voter turnout during the Oct. 25 election, Elphick said that statistic could be attributed to the work MSAC did last year.

The high involvement is something the group will be working to build upon.
“MSAC should be sitting there right in the council discussions and talking about student issues and how do we get students more engaged in building community,” said Halloran.

Looking forward to working with students and rebuilding the membership of MSAC, both Elphick and Halloran were confident that more and more students will be joining the group.

“To me the answers are always within the community and so we have to find those answers and just ask people to feel confident enough to contact us,” said Halloran.

MSAC membership is open to all volunteers who wish to become more involved in volunteerism, calling attention to student issues like housing and public policy, among other initiatives.