Meeting with the Mayor of Abbotsford, Minister of Advanced Education and Skill Training and local MLAs:

Meeting with the Mayor of Abbotsford, Minister of Advanced Education and Skill Training and local MLAs

May 13th was a busy and exciting day for the Student Union Society Executive team. SUS President, Nikiel Lal, attended the seventh annual Mayors Breakfast on Friday morning at the Tradex, along with UFV Administration and staff. President Lal had the opportunity to discuss the work of SUS with local businesses and stakeholders within the community. Mayor Braun praised the Abbotsford community for its resilience in the aftermath of the floods and other challenges the last few years have brought.

The SUS Executive team had the opportunity to meet with the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training - Anne Kang, Parliamentary Secretary for Skills Training - Andrew Mercier, and the MLA for Abbotsford-Mission – Pam Alexis. During this meeting, they discussed various topics, including UFV student issues, student housing, and plans for advocacy in the next year. After the meeting, they all joined UFV Administration as they toured the UFV Abbotsford campus. The Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training, Anne Kang, announced the province will be funding $70.3 million into new student housing. SUS is excited about this news as we recognize the need for affordable housing and food security. After the announcement, the SUS Executives had further opportunities to connect with other MLAs and Indigenous leaders.

Additionally, there were discussions with Mayor Braun regarding the future of Abbotsford and the future plans for SUS. We are committed to ensuring that students are fully supported and can have a positive post-secondary experience here at UFV. As we continue to work with the province and UFV on advocating for students, we look forward to continuing to provide students with strong leadership. We appreciate the commitment demonstrated to our campus by the provincial government.

We look forward to engaging more with Mayor Braun and Minster Kang over the upcoming months and are very grateful for the invitations extended to our team.