Sarah Farquharson
Contributor
York hosted a public discussion on housing bylaws and safety for the second time in two weeks, and again, almost no students showed up to voice their concerns.
The meeting, which was held September 28 in Stedman Lecture Hall A by the City of Toronto’s Municipal Licensing and Standards Division (MLSD), was organized to discuss issues within the Village community.
In attendance were city officials, members of York administration, landlords, and home owners who reside in the campus-bordering neighbourhood.
Absent once again, however, was Councillor Anthony Peruzza of Toronto Ward 8, who was not in attendance at the first public discussion.
The York Federation of Students (YFS) estimated that over 5,000 students, faculty members, and staff live in the Village—almost 10 per cent of the York population.
Rob Cerjanec of the YFS believes students weren’t given enough time to make it out to the event due to the short notice given.
“I don’t think it was apathy,” he says. “Sometimes students live very busy lives and sometimes things come up. It’s extremely hard on such a short time frame to get people out to such an event […] but really, there’s no simple answer.”
Despite the YFS handing out invitations to individual houses in the Village, some students had no idea the event had even taken place.
“I didn’t hear about it at all,” says Carlos Franco, a third-year student. Rhianna Paul, also in third year, says she had midterms that week and was far too busy to make it to the event.
But many said had they known about the event in advance, they would have attended.
“I definitely would have gone,” says second-year Amit Praharaj. “It’s very strange, the situation here.”
Vp students Rob Tiffin agrees that students often lead busy lives, and that it was good they received representation.
“Students have a lot of different commitments, and they may or may not believe they are able to have an impact,” he says, noting that students were still represented through both university and YFS presence.
Tiffin, along with Simon Burke—president of the Village at York Resident’s Association—spoke on behalf of residents and students living in off-campus housing. Nevertheless, the meeting itself was mostly used as a platform for landlords and residents to voice their grievances.
As of now, there is no third meeting scheduled.
