Lily Polenchuk The University of Alberta Students’ Union’ (SU) kicked off the 2025 election with the Augustana Forum on February 25. But already one vice-president (operations and finance) (VPOF) candidate is pulling ahead of the others. Nathan Thiessen’s strength in ideas and communication were on full display at the forum. Ryley Bazinet and Levi Flaman weren’t quite as strong.
Flaman relied a lot on the fact that he has served in the role of VPOF for two terms now. While that does mean he has experience, it’s hard to argue that you need a third term to finish the work you’ve been doing for two years. Flaman’s opening statement largely focused on continuing his work of reducing inefficiencies with the SU. The only new thing he added was that he would focus on time and process efficiencies instead of financial efficiency.
One of the specific things he wants to improve is the process for student groups. However, Flaman has talked about this in both of his previous terms. So why, if he hasn’t made enough progress on that after two years, should students trust him to follow through this time?
When it came to Bazinet, his focus was almost entirely on reducing student fees by taking a salary cut. While this isn’t altogether a bad idea, the impact on students would be minimal. A $5 reduction in student fees would barely be a drop in the bucket. I’d much rather see him focus on how he would make those fees worth it to students through bettering services and making improvements to the Students’ Union Building (SUB).
For Thiessen, it was both the big and small ideas that mattered. His broader ideas of improving engagement and keeping students at the core of his work as VPOF was music to my ears. While the VPOF role can focus a lot on numbers, budgets, and SU businesses, at its core the role is still meant to serve students. Thiessen acknowledged that repeatedly throughout the forum.
More specifically, he said he intends to work closely with the Augustana Students’ Association (ASA). He specifically said he would bring SUTV to Augustana and promote Perks surveys to Augustana students. These are simple, yet meaningful ways to connect Augustana to the rest of the U of A community.
And it was clear Thiessen wasn’t saying things he didn’t intend to follow through on. The Vice-president (student life) (VPSL) of the ASA, Logan Driedger, asked all candidates about the empty promises of office hours at Augustana from previous candidates. Thiessen blatantly said he didn’t promise office hours because that’s “not what Augustana students are asking for.” Later, when VPOF candidates were asked about prioritizing non-student revenue through businesses, Thiessen simply said it wasn’t his priority. “It’s not a priority because first and foremost the priority should be Augustana students, not a budget item,” he said.
Alternatively, it seemed like Bazinet and Flaman were just catering their responses to what they thought students wanted to hear. Flaman said the SU could explore opening a Daily Grind at Augustana after the SU sees how the second location opening in University Commons goes. Bazinet instead floated the idea of helping the ASA create their own business at Augustana. Both felt like throwaway comments neither would ever really revisit if they got elected.
It’s still early in the campaign, but judging from the Augustana forum, it’s Thiessen’s race to lose.
