Summary for newsletter: the 30th of September 2021 at Dawson was a very significant day for it was a day to honour those who had to go through the trauma of residential schools under the government's orders. But the lessons, knowledge and intentions embodied that day should and must last eternally as several students pointed out. Many different branches of the school helped organize it so that students could become better-informed and show their support through small gestures such as signing a pledge, donating to charities, wearing an orange t-shirt, supporting Indigenous businesses and going to the march. To read the full article, click here. < Back Summary for newsletter: the 30th of September 2021 at Dawson was a very significant day for it was a day to honour those who had to go through the trauma of residential schools under the government's orders. But the lessons, knowledge and intentions embodied that day should and must last eternally as several students pointed out. Many different branches of the school helped organize it so that students could become better-informed and show their support through small gestures such as signing a pledge, donating to charities, wearing an orange t-shirt, supporting Indigenous businesses and going to the march. To read the full article, click here. Reconciliation Day Written by Sophia El Bakir On 30th of september 2022 was Truth and Reconciliation Day. Students came in numbers wearing orange shirts and showing their support for Indigenous peoples as well honouring the healing journey of residential school survivors. CONTEXT: Campus Life and Leadership (CLL) has been doing Orange T-Shirt Day in collaboration with the First People’s centre since 2017. But this year took a particular importance as it happened in a very interesting context. For the past months, there has been a lot of media coverage on the unmarked graves in which thousands of children from residential schools were buried, as well as on the disappearance of countless Indigenous women. STUDENT ENGAGEMENT That week, CLL had sold t-shirts throughout the whole week, helped Indigenous people to conduct workshops, and started a student pledge. “We wanted to figure out what we can do with students so that they can consider and understand and take responsibility for their own education because we know that they are not always taught this in school.” --Billi-Jo Poirier, organiser within Campus Life and Leadership. Thus, they came up with the student pledge, a list of promises, encompassing our basic duty to get informed, to induce affirmative actions, and to take awareness of settler privilege in this society. These pledges were put around the upper atrium and volunteers encouraged passers-by to read it, and if they agreed, to sign it. Then on the 30th, many students came in an orange t-shirt. Some also went to the march for Indigenous people’s rights. The DSU and its clubs also helped raise Indiginous people’s voices. Indeed, the communications team used the DSU’s social media platforms to create stories and posts in order to promote Indigenous artists, writers and other influencers. As for the clubs, they were setting up charities for clean water in reservations and the Dawson Feminist Union was promoting the Native Women’s Shelter and raising donations. Throughout the whole week orange t-shirt pins and buttons were distributed, its ultimate goal raising awareness. Later, many students went to the march because they believed that the institutions were not doing enough to help Indigenous people’s, because they wanted to do their part in repairing the harm they caused and because they realize that colonisation is a system that is still present today. “I think this part of Canada’s history is a shame, and I think we should hold each other accountable for what happened and learn and move forward without forgetting about what happened.” -- Student at the march Celebrating Truth And Reconciliation Day is a great gesture, but as many students have said during their interview, it remains infinitesimal when looking at what can be done. Summary for newsletter: the 30th of September 2021 at Dawson was a very significant day for it was a day to honour those who had to go through the trauma of residential schools under the government's orders. But the lessons, knowledge and intentions embodied that day should and must last eternally as several students pointed out. Many different branches of the school helped organise it so that students could become better-informed and show their support through small gestures such as signing a pledge, donating to charities, wearing an orange t-shirt, supporting Indiginous businesses and going to the march. To read the full article, click here. Project Gallery Previous Next

Elections General Elections are done once a year in the spring time to elect: DSU Executive Officers and Student Councilors . Interested in learning more about the DSU General Elections ? Here are the important information to keep in mind. For more details please read the DSU Constitution found in the Governance Documents page. For any other inquiry please do not hesitate to contact general@dawsonstudentunion.com Positions in the DSU: DSU Executive Officers (8 positions) President Vice-President Operations & Services Vice-President Finance Vice-President Academic Affairs & Advocacy Vice-President Student Life Vice-President External Affairs Vice-President Services and Equity Vice-President Internal Affairs & Communications Student Council (16 positions) Creative & Applied Arts (3) Continuing Education (3) Science, Medical Studies & Engineering (5) Social Science & Business Technologies (5) Past General Elections Spring 2021 Spring 2022 By Elections 2022 For recent updates, information and announcements please follow @dawson_elections on instagram. To contact the Elections Commission team please visit their page: here . TIME LINE AUGUST 30 - SEPTEMBER 7 : Nomination Period SEPTEMBER 8-18 : Campaign Period SEPTEMBER 19-22 : Polling Days HOW TO VOTE Vote : here Instructions: 1. Click link above (linked above) 2. Sign in with your Dawson College email (example.example@dawsoncollege.qc.ca ) 3. Vote for DSU Executive positions 4. Choose the Academic sector you belong to and vote for the candidates of your sector's councillor(s) CANDIDATES DEBATE (September 16) CANDIDATES RUNNING Executive Officers Vice-President Finance Sabrina Vuong (ACE) Stefano Pangilinan Vice-President Internal Affairs and Communications Gabriela Aragon (ACE) Adam Semergian Vice-President Student Life Kevin Labossière (ACE) Student Councillors Please click on the candidate names to access their IG campaign. Creative & Applied Arts (CAA) Jacob Boily Deidra Robinson Continuing Education (Conted) Mohammad Parsa Parthib Chakroborty Science, Medical Studies & Engineering (SMSE) Brenda Truong Social Science & Business Technologies (SSBT) Nate Gervais Athi Thilagaraj Jessica Maguire

Referendum 2021 On May 13th and 14th 2021 , students will be asked to vote on three referendum questions. The questions shall be concerning the amendments of the union`s By-Laws and Consitution, the addition of a Student Insurance Group Plan as well as a modification of the membership fee. How to Vote? Students will be able to vote virtually on https://dsuelections.simplyvoting.com/ . Each student will receive credentials to log in and vote by email. Make sure to check your personal or Dawson email on the day of voting! Students will be able to vote starting on May 13th at 12 a.m. until May 14th at 4 p.m. New DSU Constitution Students will be asked to vote on a new constitution for the DSU. This new document will serve as the union`s By-Laws and Constitution and shall be one of the Union`s most important documents. The Union`s constitution has to be updated to ensure that it never becomes obsolete. Unfortunately, due to a complicated amending formula, the By-laws had not been updated in almost half a decade. Our team made a commitment 9 months ago to have a new constitution by the end of our mandate. We hope to make good on that promise. To find more about the incoming changes with the new constitution, please consult both documents below. Referendum Question Do you ratify the Constitution of the Dawson Student Union, which was approved by the Board of Directors on April 26, 2021, and by the General Assembly on April 27, 2021, to be the official General By-Laws of the Dawson Student Union and replace all previous documents? Student Group Insurance Plan Students will have the chance to vote on a new insurance plan. This plan will cover students for health, dental, travel while also offering a mental health service, telemedicine service and legal assistance service. The plan will be offered by a well-established student insurance plan provider called StudentCare. They currently offer coverages for universities such as McGill, Concordia and the University of Toronto! For more information on StudentCare, you can visit their website https://www.studentcare.ca/ Students were surveyed on the matter and the results indicated that our members wanted a complete insurance plan. Results of the Survey can be found here . Students can find more detailed information on the plan by clicking here . Referendum Question Do you ratify the addition of the DSU Health and Dental plan, approved by the DSU Executive Committee on April 29, 2021? The plan would be funded by an optional fee of a total of 183$ for a twelve(12) months coverage which includes mental health, health coverage, dental coverage, travel insurance, legal protection, and telemedicine? Members will have the choice to select according to their needs whether they want coverage for all the mentioned above or select the coverage they need for either dental (50$ per year), only health (50$ per year) or additional services which include telemedicine and legal protection (83$). Specific coverages will be listed below. The DSU student health and dental plan fee would be added to Annex A of the DSU Constitution. The health and dental plan fee to cover the cost of the plan would be considered part of the DSU membership fee under an Act respecting the Accreditation and Financing of Student Associations, R.S.Q., c. A-3.01. All DSU members would be able to opt-out of this fee on an annual basis during an opt-out period set up under the provisions of the plan. Modification of the Membership Fee Students will also be asked to vote on a new membership fee. This would be the first modification in over 10 years. It is important for the union`s long-term financial health that the fee be revised on a regular basis. For more information on the student fee modification, click here. Referendum Question Do you ratify setting the membership fee in Annex A of the Dawson Student Union Constitution from $19 to $22 per semester for full-time students and from $9.50 to $11 per semester for part-time students to reflect the increase in inflation from last time the fee was set in 2011? The fee would be revised every three (3) years according to the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and rounded to the nearest half-dollar. In the event where a fee increase is not ratified, the amounts mentioned in Annex A of the new constitution for fees would be changed to the current fee levels set in 2011 previously mentioned. If you have any questions concerning the referendum questions, please feel free to contact general@dawsonstudentunion.com. For any questions on logistical and voting matters for the 2021 Referendum, please contact elections@dawsonstudentunion.com. New Constitution Additional Information on the New Constitution

Consent Consent is the practice of asking permission and respecting boundaries. This practice is necessary within sex and relationships, but it is also important in all aspects of life! The Dawson Student Union prioritizes educating the student body about consent and rape culture. Everyone has the right to feel safe on campus! Check out our upcoming consent talk with special guest Farrah Khan happening during FROSH WEEK! Challenging Rape Culture Another important subject to the DSU is educating about Rape Culture: an idea that refers to society's attitude towards rape/sexual assault and its victims. This can lead to the dismissal and excusal of sexual harassment/assault, rapist behavior, and rape itself. Rape Culture is reinforced by the media and is perpetuated and upheld by society. If you wish to seek more information on these topics, feel free to visit our Gender Advocacy Centre, the Hive in room 2D.1a!

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Summary for newsletter: on the 24th of September was Climate Justice protest. Dawson has a very vibrant community of environmentalists grouped together in unity, having made posters and preparation all week for that day. An important cause that deserves to be remembered every day of the year. Click here to read more. < Back Summary for newsletter: on the 24th of September was Climate Justice protest. Dawson has a very vibrant community of environmentalists grouped together in unity, having made posters and preparation all week for that day. An important cause that deserves to be remembered every day of the year. Click here to read more. Climate Justice Week Written by Sophia El Bakir 24th of September 2021 was the day of the Climate Justice March in Montreal, and of course, Dawson mobilised to show their support to this extremely important cause. Throughout the whole week leading up to that Friday, the Green Earth Club had meeting after meeting to paint posters for the protest, organise the logistics of the march, set up a General Assembly that would cancel classes, etc. Ultimately, a compromise was made and teachers were encouraged to be more amenable to students missing class. On the day of the protest, a group of Dawson students had gathered and started marching in the halls of the college. They chanted all around the school, then made their way to McGill campus to unite forces with these university students. “ Dawson merging with McGill was really amazing. It fostered a sense of community and solidarity, which I think is super important in cases like these when we're up against huge all-powerful conglomerates.” - A student at the protest WHY THEY MARCHED While obviously not as busy as the 2019 protest with Greta Thunberg that gathered half a million people, this one still garnered thousands of people from all ages and of course, students from colleges and universities. They decide to cut time out of their busy day and take part in this act of civil disobedience for a myriad of reasons: they want to see change; they had witnessed the devastating effects of global warming during the pandemic; they want their children to live in a world where forests are not razed to the ground but planted instead. “I wanted to go to the protest because I’m frustrated by the lack of action coming from our government. After being 500 000 in the streets in 2019, we have seen little policies or initiatives,” Chloe Shepard, Green Earth Club member. Indeed, the goal of this march was to express a global frustration, so that change would be provoked. Marches are an opportunity for solidarity in the face of a crisis. Whether they are from the same school, or from the same ethnicity, people put their differences aside to send one powerful message. WHAT TO DO MORE Nonetheless, showing up at protest is not enough for long-lasting shifts to ensue. As it appears, many students have expressed concern about the ephemeral effect of Climate Justice Week. Mia Kennedy, Green Earth Club executive says, “It's incredible to see that many take time out of their day to come march,” but at the same time she amends, “I have to hold myself back from too much excitement because I know that this amount of support is temporary. The day of the march comes. Everyone is excited to talk about climate. The day of the march passes. Everyone forgets. I'm just hoping that people can get excited about the climate more than once a year. Whether it's through your vote, your habits, your way of seeing the world, there are so many ways people can positively contribute to the movement.” Summary for newsletter: on the 24th of September was Climate Justice protest. Dawson has a very vibrant community of environmentalists grouped together in unity, having made posters and preparation all week for that day. An important cause that deserves to be remembered every day of the year. Click here to read more. Project Gallery Previous Next

Referenda The Union may hold Referenda, on which Members may directly vote on resolutions, in accordance with its Standing Regulations . The voting process will be overseen and managed by the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) . Exclusive Services Referendum 2024 Questions: 1. Do you confirm the results of the 2022 referendum where the DSU members ratified the decision to change the legal name of the DSU from Syndicat des étudiants de Dawson to Association Étudiante de Dawson, the English version remaining Dawson Student Union ? 2. Do you agree to ratify the Constitution of the Dawson Student Union (DSU) [click to view proposed changes] adopted by the Student Council on 24 April 24 2024 to act as the General By-Laws of the DSU and to replace the previous version of the Constitution that came into effect on 1 June 2022? VIEW RESULTS Past Referenda Feb 5-7, 2004 April 27-28, 2003 May 16-17, 2022 May 13-14, 2021 Interested in learning more about the DSU Referenda ? Here are the important information to keep in mind. For more details please read the DSU Constitution found in the Governance Documents page. For any other inquiry please do not hesitate to contact info@dawsonstudentunion.com 1 Initiation Referenda may be initiated by the Student Council by a two-thirds (⅔) majority vote or Members by a resolution in writing signed by no fewer than one hundred and fifty (150). Members of the Union from at least four (4) different Academic Sectors with no more than fifty percent (50%) being from any one Academic Sector. 2 Timeline The timeline is set by the Chief Returning Officer no later than (5) days after its initiation. Notice of the question and voting timeline must be sent to the membership no less than three (3) weeks before the start of voting. Voting must occur over a minimum of two (2) voting days that each have a period of no less than eight (8) hours of voting 3 Voting All Members shall be eligible to vote in a Referendum. Unless otherwise provided for by law, this Constitution, or the Standing Regulations, all Referendum questions submitted to the Members shall be decided by a simple majority vote. 4 Quorum The quorum for all Referenda shall be three percent (3%) of the Members.

2021 Student Council Elections student council results update (march 2021) * Official Elections report On March 4th and 5th 2021 , students will vote for their student councillors for the first time in many years. The Student Council will be tasked with many important projects and will help the Executive Committee in overseeing the activities of the union. For this election period, Councillors will be given a mandate that will start once elections are past and will end on May 31st, 2021. The student council is broken down into 2 categories (program representatives and demographic representatives). The 5 demographic representatives will be selected by the Executive committee through an application process. The 12 program representatives will be directly elected by the student body. The program representatives are further broken down into 5 categories (Social science, Science, Arts, Technical and Continuing Education). Each student in a given program will be eligible to vote for the representatives for their program category. The executive committee sets the composition of the student council each year and decided that the composition would be set as follows based on the latest student body statistics: 4 Social Science Councillors 2 Science Councillors 1 Arts Councillor 3 Technical Councillors 2 Continuing Education Councillors In order to become a candidate, a student must submit a nomination form which can be found below along with 15 signatures of students that eligible to vote that support the student's candidacy. The nomination period will commence on the 25th of January 2021 at 12:00 am and end on the 22nd of February 2021 at 12:00 am . Below are the documents required for the nomination process: Nomination Form (Downloadable Word Document) Candidate`s Application Form (Online Google Form) Voting will commence on March 4th, 2021 and close on March 5th, 2021 at 4:00 pm. Results will be announced on the day of the close of the polls. These elections will be completed with the use of a preferential single transferable voting system. For any more questions on the 2021 Student Council elections, please contact elections@dawsonstudentunion.com

The Hive The DSU Hive - Gender Advocacy Centre is a free service provided by the Dawson Student Union. Advocates for a safer school environment by offering information and education to all students and staff, including the design and facilitation of mandatory workshops surrounding consent to all DSU club executives. Provides students with access to free or low-cost materials, resources and information surrounding sexual health, sexuality and gender. referrals to other resources both in and outside of Dawson to support their needs and healing. free materials and resources for mental, physical, and sexual well-being: free condoms, lube, tampons, pads, dental dams, latex gloves, pregnancy tests, and gender gear. a couch available for chest pumping/feeding and panic attack de-escalation. A coordinator is always present to answer questions and help refer students to the specific support they need within the Dawson College or city. Offers monthly groups, workshops, and events throughout the fall and winter semesters! Student Parent Program This program aims to provide financial support to parents who are studying at Dawson College. Please note that, in order to qualify for this program, you must be currently enrolled at Dawson College as a full-time, part-time or night student and you must be the parent or legal guardian of someone under the age of 18. We accept 10 student parents per academic year (September to May). The program works on rotation in order to serve as many students as possible. 5 students per month will receive an online gift card for $75 CAD from Walmart, which may be used online or in-store. REGISTER Menstrual Product Access This program provides disposable and reusable menstrual products to any students studying at Dawson College. Please note that, in order to qualify for this program, you must be currently enrolled at Dawson as a full-time, part-time or night student. What you can receive as part of this program: - A maximum of $50 CAD worth of disposable or reusable menstrual products! You will be presented with a product catalogue via email to browse the following products: reusable menstrual cups and disposable tampons, pads, liners and period panties! REGISTER Gender Gear for Everyone This service is meant for students who identify under the umbrella term of transgender, including folks who are non-binary or gender non-conforming. In order to be eligible for this service, you must be a currently enrolled full-time, part-time or night Dawson student. What you can receive as part of this program: - A maximum of $100 CAD worth of gender-reaffirming gear! You will be provided with a PDF catalogue via email to browse the following products: chest binders, gaffs, STP devices, breast enhancers, packers & straps, padded shorts, bras, dilators and makeup. REGISTER Safer Sex Packages The Safer Sex Packages service was created with the intention of making safer sex material accessible to all students. Students are able to build a package by choosing from a variety of products offered by The DSU Hive. In order to qualify for this program, you must be currently enrolled at Dawson as a full-time, part-time or night student. What you can receive: A package of various safer sex products ranging from condoms, internal condoms, finger cots, dental dams, latex gloves and lube, up to $40 CAD in value. REGISTER

The Swap The Swap is the DSU's book exchange service where you can buy and sell books at a discounted price. The Swap on Instagram Our Features The Swap in numbers 454 Books handled by The Swap in the Fall 2024 semester The Swap received and handled 454 books, including books from previous semesters. It involved a system of putting sellers in contact with buyers, with no DSU monetary involvement! The books were all offered at 50% off the Dawson Bookstore price. 177 Total books reused 39% of the 454 books in The Swap's inventory were ultimately sold to new users! That's 177 books who were given a second life. 165 Students benefited from the service The Swap helped 165 students save money on books they would have had to buy for the full price at the bookstore, when a secondhand book is often barely used after a 15 week semester. 289 Books donated Some books were donated directly by sellers, who made the decision to offer these directly to the service instead of making a personal profit out of it. 1 952 $ Saved In total, that's 1 952$ saved for students, for an average of 24.72$ per transaction! The Swap is overseen by the VP Sustainability and Equity. For any questions, please contact: vp.sustain-equity@dawsonstudentunion.com Mail

Minutes The Dawson Student Union keeps a record of all meetings, also known as the "minutes". Please scroll below to find the past meeting minutes. If you are having difficulty accessing the minutes, please email info@dawsonstudentunion.com to request a copy. STUDENT COUNCIL (BOARD) Read More GENERAL ASSEMBLY Read More