Helen ZhangFollow along for commentary on the second forum of the Students’ Union elections, featuring all the presidential, vice-president (student life), and board of governors representative races, as well as the referendums and plebiscites. Starts at 12 p.m.
Talia Dixon, a candidate for VPSL, begins her introduction by talking about the need for bold change. To accomplish this, she plans to have a Students Union that is centered around climate justice and promises champion the rights of Indigenous students. Further, Dixon promises she will fight for students who parent by ensuring the SU offers child-friendly events and specific programming for these parents, as well as creating a Family lounge on campus. Together, this plan feels very broad and detailed, making for a bold introduction to Dixon’s campaign.
– Mitchell
The next candidate for VPSL, Katie Kidd, begins her introduction by discussing her younger sister’s recent acceptance to UAlberta. While happy for her, Kidd worries the issues her sister will face around safety on campus, discussing the issue of sexual assault in campus and her fear that, if her sister chooses to live in lister, she may be forced to live alongside her perpetrator. To prevent this Kidd proposes advocating to have the University hire a Sexual Assault Prevention Coordinator, stating that it is embarrassing this hasn’t been done to this point. By showing her own personal stake in the issue of sexual assault, Kidd gives a strong opening that promises bold action on the issues of sexual assault on campus.
– Mitchell
The two experienced presidential candidates, Luke Statt and Joel Agarwal, seem to be continuing to run as though they are being hired for their same position but on a larger scale. Joel made much ado about nothing by speaking about student advocacy, and Luke Statt talked about a nation-wide alumni association to increase funding to the Students’ Unions here and around the country. Yiming Chen’s introduction was stronger, as she started by apologizing to students about the failures of the SU, then outlined how she planned to fix them. All in all, the presidential race feels strange so far.
– Payton
There was a weak battery of questions between Luke Statt and Joel Agarwal, who both answered with approaches from their previous positions in the executive again. It makes one wonder if they will be effective as president, since they appear to be solely focusing on one executive portfolio rather than the comprehensive position of president. When asked a fair question about a financial initiative which passed under his term by Yiming Chen, Statt floundered, blamed the decision on council, and told Chen that she could learn more from him about the situation later. How does this help the students at the forum? Don’t we deserve to know?
– Payton
The first question in the VPSL race is posed by Dixon to Kidd about advocating against the post-secondary cuts of the provincial government. Kidd responds by stating her opposition to the government’s cuts, and additionally focuses upon advocating for the provincial government to open an inquiry into sexual assault on campus. This statement, while not necessary providing details about opposition, allowed Kidd to introduce a strong point around sexual assault on campus. Dixon follows this by giving a passionate response about needing an activist in the role to start grassroots organizing. However, I really question how much of this organizing is actually carried out by the VPSL, as this is primarily the role of the VP External. While this is passionate, I’m curious how Dixon would accomplish this.
– Mitchell
During the question period between candidates, Dave Konrad spoke a whole lot but didn’t say much of substance. While he was asking his question to Albert Hu, he spent the first half insulting him for not having his platform available yet, and was cut off because he ran out of time. His question, which was in regard to student apathy and appealing to the Board of Governors, was answered with a short and sweet response from Hu about knowing exact numbers. When Konrad was allowed to give a response, he stuck with his usual line of promoting interpersonal relationships, and strangely said that, “we don’t work with numbers in our families.” It was a confusing question and a confusing final response, and judging from this as well as his performance at the Lister forum, this will be the line Konrad tows for the whole election.
– Payton
In her question to Dixon, Kidd asks Dixon why she would centre much of platform around advocating for free transit, given that this is already required in the mandate for the VPSL. Dixon pushes back against this by saying that a there is a difference between being mandated to do something and championing, saying that free transit was core belief for her before SU mandated it. Kidd replies by saying wants to fill gaps in the role of VPSL instead of trying to perform what is mandated of them. Overall, the VPSL race thus far seems to be about what a VPSL should be, with Dixon and Kidd both putting forward bold but different visions for expanding the role in the SU.
– Mitchell
When asked what they would do differently from Akanksha this year (if anything), Statt and Agarwal said they think she did a great job, and Statt in particular would only change the response to the UCP budget. But that’s better than Agarwal, who didn’t mention anything concrete at all, and instead used the mic to spout his platform points. Chen, when given the stand, seemed to throw shade at Statt by saying that the SU can’t blame committees and councils for every mistake they make. It seems to be getting spicier in the presidential race!
– Payton
The first general question to the VPSL candidates comes from current VPSL Jared Larsen, who asks how the candidates would advocate for the hiring of sexual assault prevention coordinator, especially when considering the current advocacy done by the SU to date. Kidd really stands out here by stating that the issue is that the Dean of Students doesn’t care. To fix this, Kidd promised to spearhead a letter-writing campaign that would have students share their experiences with sexual assault with the Dean. On a first look, this is a brilliant plan, one that differs from current advocacy efforts and might result in substantive changes.
Dixon, however, states that many women have shared their experiences with sexual assault and it hasn’t led to real change. Instead, Dixon would focus on grassroots organizing, putting pressure both internally and externally on UAlberta. Further, Dixon promises to have the SU hire a sexual assault prevention coordinator if the University continues to not hire this position. While I applaud Dixon for promising to get the role hired in some capacity, her answer on advocacy is weak and doesn’t offer any new ways to expand advocacy. Given how much Dixon has drawn on her experience as a grassroots organizer, I was hoping she’d have a more detailed plan on how to organize instead of broad statements about action.
– Mitchell
Logan Fletcher, student and Social Media and Communications Associate for the SU, just asked a question about budget management and change under the new presidency. This question not only panders to their own job, but the president’s job in general.
– Payton
Correction: a previous version of this post referred to this student as the Students’ Union’s Manager of Marketing.
Thanks for joining us today folks! See you next forum.
– Payton
