U

PASS
MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
April 8, 2009
Students submit U-Pass discrimination complaint to BC Ombudsman

Vancouver --Students submitted a formal complaint today to TransLink and the Ministry
of Transportation through the office of the BC Ombudsman, seeking to overturn policy that
bars over 20,000 Metro Vancouver students from U-Pass prices offered to UBC students. The
complaint follows years of attempts to negotiate a fair U-Pass on behalf of students at
Vancouver Community College, Emily Carr University, and Douglas College. The complaint
was submitted by the students’ unions of each of the institutions, and their provincial
organization, the Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia.

“Students at our institutions continue to be burdened with paying fees that are many times
what students at UBC pay,” said Maggie Murray, spokesperson for the Students’ Unions of
Vancouver Community College. “After years of good faith attempts to negotiate with
TransLink, it’s time to elevate this case of discrimination to the BC Ombudsman.”

Students at Vancouver Community College, Emily Carr University and Douglas College
currently pay up to five times more for public transit than students on the U-Pass program.
Because students at these institutions already have a high ridership, TransLink has refused
to negotiate a U-Pass that would be comparable in price to institutions like UBC. The
complaint alleges this policy discriminates against low-income and immigrant students who
must use public transit more frequently.

‘This is a fundamental issue of fairness and affordability for students at these institutions,”
said Shamus Reid, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia.
“Our hope is for this complaint to hold TransLink accountable to low-income and immigrant
British Columbians.”

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For more information, please contact:

Shamus Reid, Chairperson 604.733.1880 (office)

Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia 778.322.7208 (mobile)

Maggie Murray, Spokesperson 604.785.7702

Students’ Unions of Vancouver Community College