On Sunday, November 16, the Trent Central Student Association (TCSA) held a board of directors meeting.

The reports under discussion covered October 31st to November 4th, 2025. 

The meeting opened with the mention of the Canadian Federation of Students National General Meeting, where a motion for a national student strike was defeated. 

The strike was bought fourth by SUNSCAD, a Student Union based out of Halifax’s NSCAD University in to push for the divestment and accountability within institutions in relation to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. 

SUNSCAD did not respond to Arthur’s request for comment on the matter.

TCSA VP Student Health and Wellness, Kyra Myderwyk stated “it did not pass because many locals, including ourselves, did not feel that we would be able to reach that level of mobilization of the student body on our campus, especially by this year.”

She elaborated that NSCAD has a smaller student population who are actively engaged and stated they “did not feel we have the engagement [in our] student body and many campuses echoed that.”

Also on the table for conversation was the TCSA’s presence at the Selwyn City Council meeting where councillors voted in favour of continuing service for the Link, a public transit line that connects students in areas such as Selwyn and Curve Lake to Trent University’s Peterborough campuses.

The TCSA stated that Selwyn City Council has agreed to continue Links service until the end of the next fiscal year.

Last year, the Link lost the provincial funding which kept it running, leading to the TCSA’s collaborating with the Selwyn township to extend service until the end of the 2025-2026 academic year. 

Executives also discussed the University’s Academic Freedom Policy and the creation of a committee to do a full review of the University’s Academic Freedom Policy to guarantee student safety in lectures in response to the City of Peterborough’s Mayor, Jeff Leal, using a racial slur during a lecture last spring. 

The TCSA touched on their response to Bill 33 and Bill 5 by stating “We’ve dropped more banners around campus. There were issues with administration continuing to remove the banners. So [Mickayla Simpson-Carty, VP Campaigns and Equity] had a conversation with them and they’ve agreed to allow our banners to stay up.” 

They stated they are currently in conversation with TUNA to prepare a Bill 5 rally on November 20th. Bill 5, the Unleashing the Economy Act was passed in June and outlined changes to how large projects are planned and approved. This expedites the processes for approval of extractivist projects, causing major concern for the risks posed on Indigenous Lands and the environment across Ontario.   

‍Arthur asked the TCSA if they had any further plans to collaborate with levy groups on fighting against Bill 33. 

VP University and College Affairs, Gold Jegede, stated “Yes, we are working towards creating a strategic plan that we wanna mobilize for what we’re gonna do, because as things stand, the bill is currently in its third phase of reading.”

Jegede continued, “The way things are looking, it’s looking as though it would pass before anything.” 

Additionally, he stated “We’re working as we speak to mobilize and also involve other groups beyond just levy groups, major stakeholders in education within our community.” 

‍Arthur reached out to Levy Groups Representative Sam MacAndrew for comment on whether or not the TCSA has sufficiently mobilized or involved levy groups in the fight against Bill 33. 

“I haven’t heard much about what they are currently doing to mobilize against Bill 33,” said MacAndrew.

She went on to explain that Bill 33 had been “talked about at the last Clubhouse meeting on November 6th” and “the other time it was mentioned was at a levy groups meeting on October 8th”. 

“There was consensus to talk about Bill 33 more in depth at the next levy groups meeting so maybe there will be an update about what the TCSA is working on,” she continued.

As of November 19th, Bill 33 has passed its third reading and is awaiting Royal assent. At the time of this meeting, the Bill was still awaiting its third reading.  

Despite Bill 33 being in its second reading since June 5th, 2025, and discussed months prior to its third reading on November 19th, it is unclear what actions, if any, had been taken to mobilize against Bill 33 by the TCSA.