Lochlann KerrEvery year, The Gateway hosts a panel to discuss the Students’ Union (SU) election. This year’s panellists provided their insights on the candidates running, student politics, and who students should vote for in the 2025 SU election.
Opinions expressed by the panellists do not reflect those of The Gateway.
The Panel
This year’s panel included:
- Areeha Mahal: The Gateway 2021–22 News Editor, former Deputy Arts and Culture Editor, and former Deputy News Editor
- Mason Pich: fourth-year political science and religious studies student at the University of Alberta, former SU arts councilor
- Habby Zoud: second-year philosophy student, secretary of the Campus NDP
The Candidates
Karina Banerji, a third-year biological sciences and economics student.
Angelina Raina, a third-year political science and economics (combined honours) student, 2024–25 SU arts councillor, and General Faculties Council (GFC) faculty of arts representative.
All three panellists agreed that Raina’s social media presence was the strongest. Pich described it as “a fun campaign.” Mahal agreed, and said she thought that Raina’s “light-hearted” approach is a good way to make student politics more accessible. But, Mahal has found that Banerji’s posts have reached her more, though she said this may be due to her algorithm or other factors.
In terms of forum performance, Pich thought Raina performed the best. He noted that Banerji and Raina have stood “for quite simple things,” although both have “relatively achievable campaigns.”
Mahal noted that Raina has experience both in the SU and with GFC, which “showcases a bit in how she speaks and how she presents her point.” She agreed with Pich that Banerji’s and Raina’s platforms have “a lot of similar themes.”
“For me, [Raina’s performance] seems to be a bit stronger at the moment, but I wouldn’t say it’s by a landslide,” Mahal said.
While not the case for other races, Zoud said he was “pretty happy” with both candidates. He noted that both intended to continue the work of current BoG rep Adrien Lam, which Zoud described as “very strong.”
Panellists discuss the candidates’ platforms and focuses
The Gateway asked panellists which candidate has identified the most important focuses for students.
Both Banerji and Raina have raised “strong points,” Mahal said. While Banerji has spoken mostly about accessibility and advocacy, there are “things that I think I would prioritize a little bit more,” Mahal said.
Raina has talked a lot about affordability, which Mahal thinks is on a lot of students’ minds. But, Mahal is not sure how many of Raina’s platform points are feasible during the BoG rep’s one year term.
“Content wise, I feel like [Raina’s] points are what I would be most concerned about as a student. [There] are also slightly more specifics of what she would do. My only hesitation there is tangibility.”
While Banerji’s goals may seem more realistic, if Raina were able to achieve her goals, “there would be a stronger impact,” Mahal said.
Both candidates have shown Zoud they could succeed in the role, but Zoud thinks that many of Banerji’s goals seem to overlap with the portfolio of vice-president (academic)(VPA). Raina, however, seems “more focused on advocacy” which suits the portfolio of BoG representative, he said.
Pich had some concerns with Banerji’s platform as the BoG representative’s ability “to actually accomplish goals is very minimal. You’re drastically outnumbered in BoG.” For this reason, he thinks advocacy should be the primary concern of the BoG representative.
Banerji has stated that if elected, she would work with the university to standardize and streamline BearTracks registration for embedded certificates. Although she could potentially convince university staff to work with her on that, Pich thinks “it’s going to be tough.”
Alternatively, Pich said Raina’s platform focuses more on advocacy, such as her promise to advocate for affordable tuition. While advocating against tuition hikes won’t necessarily result in a guaranteed outcome, “it’s something that I think all students expect of a BoG rep to do,” Pich said.
“It just seems like [Raina’s] platform aligns more with what the BoG rep should actually be doing, rather than what they say they should accomplish.”
Who will win: three votes for Raina
Who should win: three votes for Raina
