CampusOpinion

BoG candidates both promise to defend CSJ with different approaches

Though candidates focused on different things, both had strong ideas at the CSJ forum.

The Board of Governor (BoG) representative candidates in the University of Alberta Students’ Union (SU) election continued their campaigns on February 26. Angelina Raina and Karina Banerji detailed plans for how they would represent Campus Saint-Jean (CSJ). Their platforms differed on how to best advocate for the francophone campus, despite agreeing that it needs firm advocacy. 

Maintaining and promoting French at CSJ is a goal which Raina and Banerji reinforced throughout the forum. CSJ is a necessary stronghold for the francophone community in Western Canada. It remains the only French-language post-secondary institution west of Manitoba. Both candidates have promised to decrease language barriers between CSJ and North Campus. 

Raina promised to express the importance of CSJ if elected as the BoG representative. She took a firm stance that there should be “nothing about CSJ without CSJ.” Raina said she would also advocate for the continuation of renovations at CSJ. These renovations have already reached the initiation stage, and will provide much-needed infrastructure. Raina promised to continue to secure sustainable funding for this project. Her promises would allow for the growth and progress of our university’s francophone community. 

Banerji took a different route for how to best meet the needs of CSJ. She put strong emphasis on the importance of breaking language barriers across the university. Banerji hopes to ensure that students at CSJ and North Campus have access to university resources — namely peer support and research positions — in both languages. She plans to advocate for online and in-person accessibility of resources and information in French, and is personally looking to make her own platform fully bilingual. Banerji remained focused on language equity between CSJ and North Campus throughout the forum — highlighting an important issue for francophone students. Raina’s commitment to securing sustainable funding for infrastructure at CSJ is a tangible plan. However, Banerji’s targeted focus on the French language could be a stronger move for securing CSJ’s support.  

The BoG candidates were divided in how they would address the unique issues facing CSJ. Raina has a two-pronged plan to utilize the “tight-knit community” of the CSJ students and alumni. She hopes to find prospective domestic and international francophone students through alumni outreach and advocate for further funding. In contrast, Banerji hopes to allocate more resources toward CSJ’s current student population. She plans to bridge the language barrier by using feedback from anonymous student surveys. Is it better to vote for future outreach, or for improving current language access? The latter has the potential to bring CSJ and the North Campus closer together. 

The BoG candidates each put out strong platforms at the CSJ forum. Raina focused on securing the plans for infrastructure development, and developing in-person relationships at CSJ. Banerji committed to her broader plan of “accessibility, affordability, and advocacy,” and will be advocating for the accessibility of French across the U of A.  From the North Campus, it would be great to see an increase of French resources sooner rather than later. However, building for the future of CSJ might require Raina’s approach. Students at CSJ will have a tough decision to make in March.

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