Danylo's platform

Danylo Korbabicz, the student director candidate for the OYL First slate, has released his platform, which can be viewed in full here: http://www.oylfirst.ca/danylo/platform/

I want to highlight a few things I think are particularly relevant:

Canadian Federation of Students Strategy

Over the past decade, various interest groups have been promoting progressive values and ideas on university campuses across this province. Specifically, the Canadian Federation of Students fosters an activist spirit that is aimed at garnering volunteers for endeavours that have not been positive for provincial liberals. Report card ratings, bombardment of liberal constituency offices, and rally events have been damaging for the reputation of Campus Clubs seeking to expand membership.

We need a strategy that communicates the goals of the Ontario Young Liberals and the organizations record on post-secondary education policy as well as several contemporary social issues (poverty reduction, environmental initiatives, aboriginal policy, etc.) We need to be more supportive of campus clubs which are interested in getting involved on campus in broader political activities and develop tools to aid Student Club presidents in dealing with the CFS.

The CFS-O has one of the most active anti-Liberal propaganda machines out there, and it is vitally important to not allow student Liberalism to be bullied or intimidated by the smear tactics of an organization that effectively is an arm of the NDP. Related to this:

Information Sharing with the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities

Campus clubs are often faced with a barrage of question regarding the liberal record on post-secondary education. This is particularly true during the course of an election. Generally, clubs are able to communicate broad campaign style statistics. These numbers, however, do not mean much to the casual observer. Information is power and we need to ensure that we give the grassroots the most reliable and convincing information.

We need to offer Campus presidents the statistics for every campus in Ontario. We can show comparable investments made by previous New Democratic or Conservative administrations. Our record is a sound one. We need to advertise it more. Graphs, Charts, and a run-down of major policy announcements or plans should be provided to Campus Clubs to spread that information on campuses.

Today was club day at Carleton, and I was working the table, and I can't tell you how many times a snide NDP'er would attack us with the false accusation that McGuinty broke his promise on tuition freezes. He said he would freeze it for 2 year, and he did. The CFS/NDP has outright lied about this achievement at every possible opportunity, so any tool campus clubs have to combat slander and promote the achievements Liberals have gotten for students is needed.

On a different note:

High School Engagement
Unfortunately, there have been significant challenges for the OYL to connect with high school students. There is an institutional barrier to this. Ontario School Boards to not permit partisan activity in schools. I am well acquainted with this reality being a former Student Trustee for the Toronto Catholic District School Board as well as President of the Ontario Student Trustee's Association. The key to getting our information to student leaders, who are more able to recruit locally, is to engage bodies which have access to this information. Student Trustees are the political representatives of students on boards of education. Typically, they are elected by Student Council presidents. We need to engage these political wings in order to bypass the current institutional barriers to partisan activity in school boards.

Contact the President of the Ontario Student Trustees Association for the contact information of all Ontario Student Trustees. Work with the Ontario Student Trustees Association to address policy goals important to them and the high school demographic. Distribute OYL information through Student Trustees who can actively give this information - without institutional barriers - to student councils across the province.

Getting students involved in Liberalism before they hit post-secondary is an important goal, and Danylo has the experience as a Trustee to position the OYL to maximize the exposure it can have to high school students.

I've written before that I believe Danylo is the best choice for student director, and the release of his comprehensive platform only serves to re-assure that he will help put the OYL at the forefront of student politics.