Julie Insley

We engage with various elected and staff officials in the federal government on issues relevant to urban life, including the governance and financing of municipal governments. and specific federal funding and policies that affect urban life, including housing, mental health, economic development, small businesses, land use, infrastructure, urban planning and design, heritage, support for tourism and culture, immigration, skills development and employment, climate, and equity, the health of neighborhoods and downtowns as places. This has been particularly true during COVID.

Tax exemption of employer-provided transit benefits: campaign to allow employers to provide employees with a transit benefit for the journey to work that would be exempted from income tax. National Transit Strategy: development of comprehensive, integrated national policy on public transit, including elements addressing funding, land use, research, incentives and accountability. Municipal infrastructure investment: activity to promote federal investment in municipal infrastructure projects; includes pre-budget recommendations and proposals. Dedicated funding for urban public transit: campaign to implement a dedicated portion of federal funding programs specifically for public transit projects; includes pre-budget recommendations and proposals. Seeking an amendment to the criminal code to strengthen penalties for assaults on transit workers and expand the current definition of transit operators to include all transit workers. Federal investment in public transit safety and security measures.

Teacher training in Quebec. Explore opportunites to obtain funding from the New Media Research and Development Initiative and/or the Development of Official-language Communities Program to adapt a digital learning tool into French to offer opportunities for use in both official languages. Post-secondary education research. Press for an increased contribution from the Government of Canada regarding the indirect costs of research. Make representations to the Minister regarding the funding levels of various research granting agencies. Discuss Canada's Science and Technology research orientations. Explore experiential learning opportunities that would allow students to work directly with departments and agencies, including posting and providing opportunities for students. Obtain infrastructure funding under the Building Canada Plan, the Knowledge Infrastructure Program and Recreational Infrastructures Canada to: renovate and expand our athletics facilities; renovate and expand our teaching and research capability in Fine Arts at the Grey Nuns facility and; enhance and improve our overall research and development infrastructure. Obtain historic site designation for our Grey Nuns property under the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (administered by Parks Canada). Improvement of federal student aid for certain categories of students Examine the possibility of reducing the time required by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to issue study permits. Public Service Concordia Champion. Discussed how Concordia students can learn about existing opportunities in the Canadian public service.