SAMU president Nathan N. Poon, vice-president (external) Alem Tesfay, external and stakeholder relations manager Parvin Sedighi, external advocacy advisor Emily Lukacs, and general manager Darryl Kostash all packed their bags and took a trip to the Calgary Stampede from July 2 to July 8 to advocate for MacEwan students.
Tesfay says the trip was filled with introductions to political leaders, and he has plans to attend again next year.
SAMU student fees funded the team’s trip, but Tesfay says “information regarding the cost of SAMU’s advocacy activities is not publicly accessible.” Although the exact cost for the trip is unclear, Tesfay described the expenses as “standard” and noted that the team did not have to pay for any of the conferences they attended. According to Tesfay, students’ council will have access to the cost for oversight purposes.
Tesfay called the Stampede “one of the largest advocacy gatherings,” and stressed that these events are important for SAMU to attend as they “are not part of any federal or provincial advocacy body.” Tesfay says that the Stampede, specifically, is “one of the first opportunities we’ve had the chance to see [the political leaders at the event].”
“SAMU is not part of any provincial or federal advocacy body, so it’s important for us to go to gatherings like the [Calgary] Stampede.”
– Alem Tesfay, SAMU vice-president (external)
SAMU decided to exit CAUS and CASA – provincial and federal student association organizations – in March of 2025. Despite this, Tesfay and Poon both took another trip to Ottawa in May to attend CASA’s 2026 Foundations Conference.
Tesfay heavily emphasized the importance of building relationships with the politicians in attendance. “There are political leaders on all three levels, ” he says. “Post-secondary advanced education funding is on a provincial level, so it’s good for us to connect with those provincial leaders.”
The SAMU team went to Calgary Stampede for the first time in 2025, and Tesfay says that although he wasn’t present last year, Poon saw many of the same people this year.
Since it was Tesfay’s first time at the event and Poon was unavailable for comment, he described the interactions the team had as “a lot of ‘Hi, this is who I am, I represent this student union, it would be nice to connect with you. Here’s my business card.”
However, he notes that student priorities were only shared with these leaders “when the opportunity comes.” The vice-president lists the affordability crisis and barriers keeping students from attending post-secondary education as talking points.
Following the event, Poon and Tesfay were granted 14 hours of time off in lieu of working the weekend.
“I think there’s definitely value in returning next year…I don’t see why we wouldn’t.”
– Alem Tesfay, SAMU vice-president (external)
While the trip proved to be more of an introductory experience than an opportunity to strengthen preexisting relationships, Tesfay says that the team plans to return next year. “I don’t see why we wouldn’t,” he says.
