COVID-19 Public Safety Petition

On March 11th 2020, I decided to publish a petition on change.org. This was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic after over 120,000 global cases and 4,300 deaths had been confirmed. The WHO had declared a pandemic, and there was over 100 confirmed cases in Canada, with nearly 40 in BC. There had been confirmed cases on Vancouver Island, my home, and I was working at an assisted living centre amidst my third year at the University of Victoria (UVIC). I was deeply concerned about the risk I was subjecting residents at work to, and was aware of similar concerns amongst the student body.

 

So, I decided to circulate a petition calling on Jamie Cassels, the President of UVIC at the time, to take action and protect students. Ultimately, the petition gained publicity because I had circulated it through the student body via the UVIC Memes Facebook page. Through being picked up by local news, the petition soon began to gain even more traction. I was interviewed by CTV Vancouver Island, and school was shut down three days later. Below are some excerpts from news articles  at the time.