National

During the 2009 election campaign, the B.C. premier promised a province-wide U-Pass for post-secondary students across B.C. by September 2010, and the province’s transportation minister has announced that promise will be honoured.

However, Benjamin Newsom, U-Pass program co-ordinator for the Kwantlen Student Association, said he has not yet announced the U-Pass news to students because at the moment he is unsure how the government will implement the plans.

Last week, a new bill surfaced in India’s Cabinet that will, if passed in parliament, allow foreign universities to set up campuses on Indian soil. The bill could have implications for Canadian universities looking to expand their horizons and increase their connections to the burgeoning Indian community.

The Ontario branch of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) released its final report of the task force on campus racism March 22, two days after the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination.

The report assessed racist or prejudice behavior on 19 campuses across the province and attempted to make positive recommendations for change.

An Algerian-born graduate student at Université du Québec à Montréal said he was severely roughed up March 16 by Montreal police investigating a suspected suicide bomber.

Slimane Zahaf said in a statement that he was “targeted because of colour and origin” by UQAM campus security and subsequently by Montreal police. However, the police’s version of events is quite different.

Public funding for post-secondary Aboriginal students is in big need of reform, said a report released March 15 by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

The report, Free to Learn, is the first from the new Ottawa think-tank. It criticizes the current Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP) and promotes an Aboriginal Post-Secondary Savings Account (APSSA).