MATEUSZ SALMASSI

Mateusz Salmassi has been serving in the vice-president external role since the fall by-election and is running to be re-elected this term. During his time as vice-president external, he has fought for international students’ rights, affordable housing, rent control and university fee transparency. In his platform, he notes his advocacy priorities under federal, provincial and municipal categories.

Under the federal category, Salmassi is focused on expanding international students’ rights by permanently lifting the work-hour restrictions placed on them, as he notes that it has been a strong contributing factor in why international students, — being one himself — face housing crises and food insecurity. Alongside this, Salmassi hopes to advocate for domestic students by defending the 2020–2021 doubling of the Canada Student Grant from

$3,000 to $6,000.

With a provincial election around the corner, Salmassi spoke on fighting provincial budget cuts and tuition hikes by continuing student strikes — which he is no stranger to. The tuition protest on Jan. 20, Salmassi notes, elicited a provincial response despite the fact that they were not the target of the protest. He explains that the response shows the provincial governments’ responsiveness to student pressure. Nonetheless, Salmassi notes that protests and petitions are not enough and he will look to help and facilitate student strikes similar to the U of C drama students’ strike in March of last year.

Within Calgary, Salmassi will continue to fight the housing crisis by supporting tenant groups in their advocation while advocating himself to rezone the University District to include affordable housing and