Macy Wong The vice-president (operations and finance) candidates had another opportunity to address students — specifically Indigenous students — at the 2024 Indigenous Students’ Union (ISU) forum. The last three forums have shown Joachim Bony grounding his campaign in students’ needs. Now, Levi Flaman is finally catching up. At the ISU forum, Flaman honed in on the specific struggles that Indigenous students are facing regarding housing and transit. Meanwhile, Bony’s connection to students remains stronger, but how he plans to address student needs is still too general.
Flaman’s specific ideas on how to address housing and transit showed a much better understanding of students’ needs than in previous forums. Flaman suggested the establishment of a Students’ Union (SU) housing committee as a way of addressing the housing issues that disproportionately affect Indigenous students. Additionally, he expressed that he sees the renewal of the U-Pass contract as an opportunity to be more forceful when it comes to safety on transit. He didn’t specify the specific changes to the contract he would push for. But, his answer showed significant improvement — a desperately needed one.
Bony remained consistent with his student engagement and was able to identify issues specific to Indigenous students. He addressed concerns about the SU’s transparency and the need for more support for Indigenous students, as well as their organizations. However, Bony still struggled when it came to solutions. A simplified financial report was the most specific idea from Bony on how to address transparency issues. While this would make it easier for students to see how the SU is using its resources, we need more tangible ideas from Bony across the board.
Like Flaman, Bony wants to optimize the use of resources, but wasn’t clear on how he would do that. While Bony has a strong grasp on what issues exist, he’s still struggling to address them.
ISU President Sophie Martel asked both candidates how they would address the housing crisis, which disproportionally affects Indigenous students. Flaman once again brought up creating a housing commission to look into another SU housing program. He noted that it’s a long-term solution, but offered possible short-term solutions through private investors. Now, I’m skeptical of how much help private investors would be. However, I’m glad Flaman is thinking about both the long and short-term needs.
Bony’s answer focused less on creating more student housing and more on making sure Indigenous students have support from the SU in other areas. While the supports in place for Indigenous students are important, it didn’t really address the question.
When the open forum period began, the focus shifted to Palestinian students. The VPOF candidates, specifically, were asked how they would address their concerns. This was undoubtedly a curveball for candidates at this forum, but both made an effort to address the concerns raised. Ultimately, Flaman’s understanding of what is within his control made his answers more effective than Bony’s.
For example, the Single Source Cold Beverage Policy is up for renewal, and candidates were asked about the ethical implications of working with Coca-Cola. It was no surprise that Bony pointed to further consultation and consideration of student concerns when looking at this agreement. Flaman seemed to have a better understanding of this policy, but his answer was still vague. Both candidates continuously failed to clarify their ideas. But, Flaman ultimately came out on top. He pointed out that students have the final say, since they vote on the renewal of the policy.
The final question of the forum gave both candidates the chance to share what programs, opportunities, and collaborations they’d provide to the ISU. The question was open to all candidates, yet Flaman chose not to answer. He previously had made the choice not to answer an open question at the Campus Saint-Jean forum, as well. While Flaman’s campaign has become progressively more grounded in students’ needs, he should be taking these opportunities to address concerns.
Alternatively, Bony took the opportunity to reiterate what he heard from Indigenous students during consultations. Bony said that getting Indigenous students to enroll and keeping them enrolled was an issue of significant concern to the ISU. The VPOF wouldn’t have direct control over something like enrollment, but Bony still came up with ways to help. He pointed to improving outreach and bolstering support for Indigenous students as a way to help mitigate these issues. Like the other ideas he’s had, the execution is still unclear.
It’s beginning to look like a closer race. Flaman showed that he is aware of students’ concerns, unlike previous forums. While it’s an improvement, it still concerns me that it has come so late in the race. However, he was able to offer a more specific vision of how to improve the SU’s operations than Bony. As much as I love how grounded Bony is in students’ concerns, he’s running out of time to prove that he equally knows how to address them.
