Carleton University’s Students’ Association (CUSA) is holding a referendum to increase the food bank levy to meet the demand for food and basic living essentials for undergraduate students.
The campaign aims to increase the student levy of $2.98 per semester to support the Unified Support Centre (USC) Emergency Essentials Assistance Program in response to rising inflation costs.
Last year, CUSA council approved the centres referendum for increased funding but due to voter turnout below 15 per cent as required by CUSA’s financial referenda, the ballot was annulled.
The voting period for this referendum lasts from Oct. 16 to Oct. 18.
The program provides fresh produce, canned goods and hygiene products in hampers to students in need. Students can request up to two hampers per month, each expected to last for about one week.
Student requests for hampers have jumped to more than 400 per cent between 2022 and 2023, according to the USC’s website. The current cost of the hamper is valued at about $30. The majority of contents are donated by the Ottawa Food Bank, while the rest are funded through donations and the USC budget.
In favour of the motion, CUSA vice-president (internal) Logan Breen and associate vice-president (executive relations) Aiden Rohacek both supported the levy increase and hoped to expand aid for an additional hamper per month for students struggling with food insecurity and affordability.
“By creating this levy, we can ensure that students can always have support,” Rohacek said at an Oct. 10 debate. “We can ensure that students, for less than six bucks a year, can have support and peace of mind that if they need food, they can get it.”
Rohacek said the benefits outweigh additional costs, providing affordable essentials for students and allowing them to avoid inflation costs at a grocery store.
Chairing the opposition at the debate, Ethan Buss argued students are in a cost of living crisis, and it is not the time to be increasing costs. He proposed relocating existing fees, such as the UN World Food Programme, toward food insecurity programs at Carleton.
“Everything is going up. The real question is if we’re going to increase that cost with yet another fee,” Buss said.
Buss said the vast majority of Carleton students shouldn’t have their fees increased for a small subset of students.
But Breen argued this subset is increasing, amid hamper demands and USC funds nearing depletion.
“We want to ensure that on a basic level, students have the resources available to be able to continue their studies and their life at a very fundamental…level,” Breen said.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Buss intended to reallocate existing levy fees towards programs such as the UN World Food Programme, rather than food insecurity programs at Carleton. The Charlatan regrets this error.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
