Letter to the Editor submitted by Jacob Macauley:
As a past member of the UVic Bank of Canada (BOC) Challenge team that’s presented in front of the Bank’s leading economists, I am concerned around the UVSS referendum tying increases of fees to inflation with a maximum cap 2%.
In the past, inflation has hovered around 2%. This isn’t a certainty going forward: even the BOC has expressed this uncertainty regarding inflation in its latest monetary report published in January. The BOC has set a target range for inflation between 1%-3% over the next couple of years ,which puts the UVSS maximum cap directly in the middle of this range.
This could put the UVSS in a disadvantaged position going forward if inflation increases to above 2%. If inflation hits above 2%, the UVSS will be in put into a position paying for the increases of costs of providing services to students and not being able to increase fees to match these increasing costs. The difference will have to be made up through budget cuts or increases in revenues through other means. This measure being proposed in the referendum ties the UVSS hands to the economic uncertainties of inflation, potentially threatening the vital services to students.
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