The University of Ottawa Students’ Union’s (UOSU) 2024 General elections have begun with the campaign period running from Feb. 3 to 17. Voting is open from Feb 15 to 17, giving students three days to vote through their student emails, or in person on campus. Students in the Faculty of Social Science (FSS) have seven candidates to rank on their ballots.
The Fulcrum spoke with the seven candidates for the five FSS seats on UOSU’s BOD. What follows are the transcripts of their answers, lightly edited for readability.
Fulcrum: Can you introduce yourself?
James Adair: My name is James Adair, I use he/him pronouns. I am a third-year University of Ottawa student studying political science and public administration and I was one of five members of the Board of Directors for the faculty of social science last year.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: I’m not very well known like many of the other candidates, unfortunately, I’m a first year, which is a lot of fun, obviously, a new player to the game. I’m in Political Science and Public Administration, which is fun. I have a very big passion for student leadership and having more active student voices and all that kind of stuff. I’m the first-year rep of the young liberals.
Rayne Daprato: My name is Rayne Daprato, I use she/her pronouns. I am the current student life commissioner for UOSU and I am running to be one of the FSS board directors.
Angel Geneau: I’m Angel Geneau, I’m 18, a first-year doing a double major in psychology and criminology. I’m from an hour away from here in the Cornwall area, so I’m used to Ottawa, it’s not a huge adjustment for me. I’m in the Indigenous Student Association (ISA), I’ve been in it since I started here and I’ve been trying to do as much as I can in it and this is me trying to broaden that.
Rhys Matthew: I’m a second-year student in political science and communication. I’m a proud rural Ontarian. I grew up 45 minutes, just outside of Peterborough, Ontario. And I’m really looking forward to the chance to be able to serve students on the UOSU board of directors.
Tatenda Musundire: My name is Tatenda Musundire. I’m a first-year political science student here at the University of Ottawa, I’m from Saskatoon from a Zimbabwe family and I have an interest in music production, true crime and student government. And these days I spend a lot of time trying to keep my steps up and survive midterms.
Ian Reid: My name is Ian Emery Douglas. I am a second-year student studying Policy at the University of Ottawa. I’m a member of the executive on the University of Ottawa Young Liberals, been doing that for a few months. I was a member of the model Parliament Committee where I handled the media. So I think I’m pretty experienced.
Fulcrum: How would you describe your current relationship with UOSU?
James Adair: I know a lot about UOSU. I am very aware of how it works. I’ve obviously been very involved in a lot of the decisions for the past year. I also think it’s going through a period of change though, so […] it’s an odd relationship.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: To be honest, quite non-existent. I believe a lot of first years won’t have much to say because UOSU is just kind of like an entity that’s kind of there in the worst-case scenarios. Every so often they’ll do an event for you like during 101-week they were very active and you don’t really hear much from them. Or like you just don’t know what’s going on with them ever unless you’re really really keeping up.
Rayne Daprato: I’d say it’s a good one, very close. As an executive, I get a very specific and hands=on understanding of all facets of the work that the union does, which allows me to really understand what we’re trying to do, and understand the intricacies of all the different arms of the work that we do, whether it be student life on the very fun side of things, or some of our more equity-based services or, helping students with their livelihoods kind of side of things.
Angel Geneau: Pretty well, I know a lot of the UOSU current directors, I’m friends with a lot of them. I had a really good opportunity to attend a meeting between the UOSU board and climate justice uOttawa, the ISA with RBC and during that, I got to meet and become friends with a lot of people on the board already. So I have a relationship with Rayne and Maisy, I think we’re friends.
Rhys Matthew: So I’m a newcomer to student government. However I have had I’ve been engaged in activism in the past, I’ve been engaged in other partisan political activities, but I am a newcomer to student politics and the UOSU.
Tatenda Musundire: Well, currently I’m really excited to start serving on the First Year Council in terms of an official capacity related to UOSU. But otherwise, I would say my background is more of an incoming first-year student, just trying to get a grasp on what the functions of UOSU are and trying to understand what impact can I have in improving those functions and making sure that to the best of my ability, everything is running in a way that benefits myself and my peers.
Ian Reid: I mean, relatively disconnected, but I think I know a lot of people in it. So inherently, I am told a lot. I live with Ryan Chang who is someone who is quite involved [President of UOVotes]. So I end up hearing things you know, usually if something happens, I hear about it. But from a personal level, I’m not super involved. But I know what’s going on and I always vote.
Fulcrum: What do you see as the role of the Union at the university?
James Adair: I think the role of the union is twofold. I think it’s to advocate on behalf of students, especially on the issues that they care most about towards the University and central administration. And I say I think the second main role should be cultivating community spirit on campus and delivering services to students that they actually find useful and valuable.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: The role of the union is to be a student voice and to represent students. We have Student Associations, Student Union, and the people who oversee it, so it’s more like adding a student voice to higher ground and providing services to students. They provide a lot of good things we pay for, like health care that they provide for them and just simple little things like that. It’s students’ access to resources they need but also helps them like there’s also like, they have like a feminist Resource Center or like the legal like they can like they have legal health and stuff. So it’s like just a very valuable resource for students.
Rayne Daprato: I think first and foremost, I see it as an organizing body. It’s the main way that student groups, whether that be services, clubs, or RSGs [Registered Student Governments], are able to communicate their needs to other students, as well to the university. So we are able to organize, as I mentioned, the fun side of things, but then also, we’re able to advocate directly with [the[ university about what our students want and expect and need from the institution that we’re all a part of, [that] being University.
Angel Geneau: I just see it as a way to try and make positive change. I guess that’s definitely my whole goal with everything that I do at uOttawa. I just want to make the world in general something better. So I want to improve what I can and maintain what’s already good. Like I just want to make things progress in the way that it needs to progress and maintain what needs to be maintained.
Rhys Matthew: So I think in my mind UOSU is two really important jobs. It has number one to advocate for students in the same way that a labor union advocates a worker advocates for workers in relation to their employer, UOSU needs to advocate for students when dealing with the university and furthermore, I think UOSU is a force for change as a force for advocacy, a force to do better in the world.
Tatenda Musundire: I see it as representing students as a body and advocating to the university as an institution, what they’re looking for and what they want. That also means being an institution that upholds student events, improves student life, advocates for bilingualism on campus, and essentially being accountable to the students for the student experience. So where the university is mainly focused on academics, the Student Union kind of is your complaint box as a student.
Ian Reid: I think their role in my opinion is to represent the students and to fight on the behalf of the students. You know, in the case that the university administration, you know, is trying to make changes, trying to hurt the students. Union also helps collect fees in order to give benefits to students. This is health insurance, which is important because otherwise students would have to fend for themselves and having the union there as some over negotiator between health providers, and the students that really helps students a lot with that as well.
Fulcrum: Why do you think UOSU has struggled to engage students?
James Adair: I think there has been, for a while, cultural issues. I would say there’s a culture almost of apathy, but I also think I would say one of the largest issues with COVID.
Because we came out of an old collapsing union into a new union, right as COVID happened, or like around that time, I don’t think it allowed a lot of the foundations to be set up or a lot of that kind of generational care to be established. So I’d say there’s both been the feeling of like, apathy among some people in UOSU, and then also just issues related to when that actually came into being if that makes sense.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: One, students just aren’t generally very optimistic in politics like 7% voting shows you people don’t want to be involved. And [two], I don’t think there’s necessarily a push to get people involved. As much as they don’t want to, there’s no one going out and being like ‘you guys should’, like [making] a bigger push.
Rayne Daprato: I think we are missing a streamlined communication strategy. We are a massive organization that, as I mentioned, has many facets to the work that we do. And I think right now, we’re lacking an organized way to explain what we do for students. Because many students know part of what we do, but there are very few who understand the depths and the extent of the work that we do. So I would say we’re just lacking a streamlined and coherent or cohesive message. And we’re making progress we’re getting there.
Angel Geneau: I think that there are a lot of issues with younger people being involved in politics in general, I think that a lot of people aren’t interested in it because it wouldn’t really make a difference. And I think that that’s what we really need to show is that, in numbers like politics can make a difference. Voting can make a difference, like this can be something that can impact everybody, not just like at uOttawa but in general, voting makes change. Voting for the people who you think genuinely will represent you will help you in a way that will make a difference.
Rhys Matthew: I think UOSU has struggled to engage with students just because I think the majority of the student body doesn’t see the good work UOSU does; they have a communication problem. We need to reach out more to students, we need to become more of a part of their life, more a part of their student life, be more involved in their day-to-day and help and that’s how we engage more.
Tatenda Musundire: I think there are a number of factors that come into play, first of all, as a political science student, and somebody who has always been super involved in extracurriculars, I’ll be the first one to say that most people don’t have, I think, an innate interest in student politics, and extracurriculars. So I think the type of students that are the most likely to vote, most likely to be informed, most likely to ask questions and attend town halls and general meetings, that doesn’t really represent the majority of students. So even with UOSU’s efforts to advertise themselves, I think they’re kind of I would say the cards are kind of stacking in a way that there has to be a greater effort on UOSU’s part to connect to students especially because they are the organization that represents students. I think students don’t have a great understanding of all the functions that UOSU does and there’s a lot of misinformation as well about what UOSU is up to and what things are their responsibility as well.
Ian Reid: I mean, I can’t speak for years in the past but I feel like inherently students at university, they don’t really care all that much about a Student Union. I think people are very much wrapped up and concerned about their own things and student politics, especially outside of FSS because FSS, you’ll see like, like a handful of people involved like if you’ve known them, we can count them on your hand. But even then, people in FSS like poli sci people aren’t engaged with that at all. And I think part of the reason for that is just, they don’t see the point and they think of UOSU as a rubber stamp and an organization that doesn’t do anything, even though the union handles millions of dollars in finances every year.
Fulcrum: What do you think of the Boards 2023/24 term, and thoughts on news from the board this year?
James Adair: I think it was a mixed bag. I think I’ve been very open. That’s been a mixed bag. I think we accomplished a lot of very good things while also dealing with the fallout of like, the past couple boards and execs, and also dealing with a lot of heightened cultural issues on the board, like a failure of attendance, failure of people to engage in proper care. So I’d say it’s been a year that I think has maybe some of the highest highs for UOSU matched with some of our lowest lows.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: I feel like I hear a lot of good things [happened this year], like I know Delphine [Robitaille] quite well. I know that they’ve done good things with affordability or even with the food bank, they have there like helping students with the cost of living crisis, it’s very valuable resources that they can provide through there. Otherwise, not so much like, they made a record-long meeting.
Rayne Daprato: I think we’ve been able to accomplish a good amount of work, I think we’ve all learned a lot about the organization. I feel like it’s been a more internally focused year, we’ve done a lot of policy writing in terms of filling gaps in our current policies. And we’ve created new ones, which I think is a step in the right direction to be able to support all the work that we do moving forward. I think it’ll be interesting to see how we’re able to change the work that the board does in terms of making sure that it feels useful for students and not just useful for board members in future years, and I think the advocacy work has been good. As much as there’s been a lot of internal work, I do feel like we’ve gotten a lot of advocacy priorities moved on.
Angel Geneau: Again, I’m a first-year so I didn’t see everything that had happened. But with the changes that I saw from the UOSU board of directors that I know personally, I think that they’ve made a good impact. I think that they’ve worked hard throughout the year. I’ve seen how stressful they can be and I completely sympathize and understand it and them being students at the same time, I just think it’s very impressive. So I think that there are still obviously things that uOttawa can improve on but I think that they work hard.
Rhys Matthew: I think they did lots of lots of good work. However, hearing from the board as you referenced earlier communications problems. I don’t think we heard from the board all that much unless you’re involved in the community, so I think less of the work especially around RBC than they did was really good work. However, you don’t really hear from that much and that’s one of the problems we have to solve.
Tatenda Musundire: I think the board has their work cut out for them this year. In past years, especially the immediate few years that preceded this school year, there was a lot of discussion about corruption in UOSU and while a lot of that discussion turns to what happened in UOSU what were they up to why were students not feeling represented by the organization that preceded UOSU and what the board was up to there? I think there are also a lot of questions to be asked about the board’s part in that but I think this past year they’ve done a good job in trying to improve on things from the past that they haven’t done the best on and trying to get back to their focus of student advocacy and representation in the board and accountability for the executives.
Ian Reid: Admittedly I haven’t kept up to date too much about the board. I only knew that I wanted to be involved about a few months ago. But from what I do know, I think things have been going pretty nicely. I think there are a lot of representatives on there who have done a great job so far. But also, you know, I strongly disagreed with the board’s decision to recommend not ratifying the results of the CHUO and OPIRG referendums, I thought that was a complete subversion of democracy and I think it very much set a bad precedent.
Fulcrum: How would you address an interpersonal conflict between yourself and a fellow BoD member with opposing views on a BoD matter?
James Adair: I think I’ve gotten better at addressing those issues. I think when that came in, I had a will I was um, I would almost describe as like, very much like an argument. Like if I can make the best arguments, if I can convince the most people that I’m right, that will make change at the board. And I think what I’ve discovered is that that’s not entirely true. What is actually required is, the people need to trust you and know who you are and know why you’re doing things.
I would say the biggest interpersonal thing I found is that I was obviously the one of the main pushers for you, OSU to get its board of directors to like finish filling out banking information that took basically almost like an entire term to do and that causal tension with people who were like, Why are you doing this? Why are you singling people out and stuff like that? And a lot of people were also very scared. They’re like, why, like, Is this about my behaviour, something like that. And I think it requires talking to people and going like, this isn’t about any one individual’s behaviour. This is about your behaviour, especially if you have fill out the form which a lot of people had fill that form, but it was about like a culture of people were scared of being called out because no one was really sure if they were going to be called out so they were talking to people and making people feel like they were being heard.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: Just good politics; you’ve got to recognize everyone’s opinions. You’re not going to necessarily agree with everyone on it. It doesn’t necessarily need to be accomplished to have a healthy conversation discussing the differences because there might be something in your philosophy that’s slightly different than theirs and seeing others’ perspectives could be important because they can represent other students and other views. So understanding this talk may appear to be the best solution. I guess it gets to like that, like, okay, point. Obviously, get other people involved with it. Like just like a small dispute, just talk it through and understand other perspectives.
Rayne Daprato: I think I’ve definitely had experience with it, whether it be at the board level or in committees — I currently chair three committees and sit on three more — so I have lots of time spent with board members throughout the month. I think the main thing is truly the classic answer of just listening, and really trying to come up with an answer that fits what everyone wants, even if it means tabling a motion or saying we need to go back to the drawing board and really work together to come up with something that works for everyone. Because in my experience, most of the time conflicts aren’t necessarily like ‘I disagree completely with what you’re saying’ and it’s more so either ‘I disagree with how you’re going about this’ or ‘I disagree with a piece of what you’re doing’ and usually those conflicts are easy to manage once you have time to sit and talk about it and work through it.
Angel Geneau: I think that everything can be really helped with discussion. I think that it’s the most important thing when disagreeing on issues. I’m someone who is very open-hearted, I love listening to different opinions and perspectives. And a lot of times I do change my mind because if you genuinely sit down and listen to somebody, it really does make a difference and not just showing up with your pre-formed opinion, you have to be able to open up and understand people. So I think that’s what I would do.
Rhys Matthew: I’m really straight up but I’m also a person who tries to work towards compromise always. So, if we can follow up on an amicable solution, that is obviously what I work towards. However, I understand that there are going to be some times where we will disagree in which case I will always respect that other board members opinion and just respectfully disagree with them.
Tatenda Musundire: I think the first thing I would do is remind myself that we’re not just two students who have opposing views. Our job is not to just meet with our friends on the council, and chat about what’s happening at our school, we represent our constituents, we represent people that have voted us in and so we have to remember that our personal feelings can only be one part of everything that we say and we do with each other as members of the board. So that would be my first step. I think further would be identifying how much time we have to discuss specific facets of the issue and remembering that as two people on the board, our job is not to work against each other and try and come out on top in a ruling or something that we’re trying to pass where we’re supposed to be two members of a team working towards the greater goal of advocacy for all students and accountability in our Student Union.
Ian Reid: Well, I think if the conflict was getting especially heated, I think there would have to be some form of intermediary so that issue can be fixed because I wouldn’t want to be on the board of directors and then have somebody else on the board who hates me and I hate them back. I think that’s completely unproductive. I think you need to be able to work with each other for things to go smoothly. But in terms of just a mild disagreement on something: at the end of the day, we’re always going to disagree on some things, but I think it’s kind of working together to try and find what is the best option we can do. That makes everyone happy, and we benefit students. So it’s just working together in that sense, but sometimes that might not be possible, and we might just have to have a vote on it. If people disagree, they can disagree. If people agree, they agree and it’s a democracy. So whichever side has more support, that’s going to be a decision that’s ultimately going to be decided on.
Fulcrum: Are there any policies you are looking forward to introducing to the Board of Directors?
James Adair: There’s a handful. But I’ll go with just one: I think that it’s well past time that the board had a committee on the housing crisis in the housing situation. This is partly been inspired by some work that a friend of mine has been doing at the Western student union, where he has been working towards having a Committee on Housing and they proposed actually forming a tenants Association for Western students. But then it’s also, I think, inspired by just the situation in Sandy Hill has gotten significantly worse in the past year, I think, because of the fact that the university seems absolutely given up, whatever responsibility it has on housing. So I’d say the big one is moving a Committee on Housing at the board to look at what the current situation is and come up with actual solutions.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: I have ideas, but they’re not necessarily very formulated yet. I definitely agree with a lot of [ideas from] James [Adair], who obviously has a lot more experience. Also a lot of like the housing and continuing to like push for more food support and stuff. I guess to make more students engaged I’m always planning on having more students and more voices. I haven’t been that active on Instagram, we’re working on that. I’ve done a couple of class talks so far, and just talking with students and stuff, and seeing what they want to try and to engage more of a student voice in the student government.
Rayne Daprato: I’m definitely looking to continue to write more policy that codifies the relationship between the RSGs and the UOSU because they are a massive part of students life and right now very few rules any standardized [practices exist] around them. So that’s definitely one piece and then also codifying club funding policies and best practices for that, because that has been one of the number one things lacking with this current year. And I look forward to being able to codify how that should go to make sure that as many clubs as possible are getting funding, and that it’s an equitable process.
Angel Geneau: Not particularly. I am hoping to work closely with the ISA at the same time and hopefully, incorporate a lot of indigenous issues if I can. I just want to make the best positive change that I can for uOttawa and for everybody, especially in the social science faculty because that’s my faculty but I think that there are generally things we can improve on but at the same time, my most important goal is just to look out for the best interest of everybody.
Rhys Matthew: I want to focus on issues you see around the student housing around the housing crisis right now. With students. Students, they’re on the front line of the affordable housing crisis. I hear students every single day talking about how they’re unable to find affordable rentals/affordable housing. So really pressuring the university to step up there. Taking a bigger role in that and really looking after our students on the housing front, that would be my number one priority.
Tatenda Musundire: Well, my first priority when it comes to being elected to the board of directors would be figuring out what the main priorities were from the board that preceded myself. I think as a first-year student, I have the unique perspective of kind of walking into the university setting that is a result of decisions made by people who preceded me. So my first step before introducing a lot of my own policies would be trying to kind of get the lay of the land in terms of what are the dynamics at play, and what policies are already up in the air or were voted on in the past referendums that we can touch on, before we start introducing things that are representative of other first years like me who are also trying to get their bearings.
Ian Reid: Yes, a big one for me, is having there be more accountability with clubs in protecting their members. Recently I came out and posted a document regarding my experiences of being abused at an event and the club executive at the time did not do anything about that. It wasn’t until I became a member of the executive and I brought the issue back up again that something was finally done and appropriate action was taken against the member. So that whole experience it just, it hurt me a lot especially the fact that I did not feel supported. I did not feel like the exec cared about what happened to me. So that’s something I need to look into of like what avenues we can go down. You know, it probably involved funding for clubs and whatnot and making sure that clubs are making sure that their members are safe, and that when their members are faced with a situation where they’ve been hurt by another member of the club, that action is taken, so that person can feel safe coming to future events. And they actually do from the future events. And I mean, to that extent, mode parliament as well, that’s something I was involved in. I know several people don’t do the event because they feel like they’re like they felt uncomfortable with specific people. And I think having there be avenues for those people to like, safely come forward so they can feel safe attending things because a lot of times people aren’t able to do stuff they love because there’s somebody there who just makes them extremely uncomfortable and makes them feel unsafe. So all to say, in summary, I want to put a motion through to have like an actual stance on this in the UOSU that clubs need to be held more accountable for the safety of their members because, at the end of the day, it’s kind of clubs who have the authority at their events.
Fulcrum: What committees would you be interested in joining as Director and why?
James Adair: Currently, I am on Funds and scholarships, services, advocacy, and the executive oversight committee. And I would like to not be on as many of those committees. I think I would like to stick to advocacy, executive oversight, and probably leave an empty spot to participate in the housing committee if that is something that happened.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: Probably Exec Oversight to encourage transparency, make sure everything’s going alright, we don’t want someone running rampant with power. And probably, I feel like finances is one of the most important, especially like I said, with the cost of living crisis hitting students especially hard. Just making sure that we’re spending the money where it should be, and we’re not taking away from what the students are giving.
Rayne Daprato: So my initial answer is to sit on all the ones that I’m sitting on right now, but I also don’t know if I have time to sit on six committees next year. So I think I’m mostly looking forward to governance because it is one of the most efficient committees when we get work done. And it feels like that’s some of the most like innovative policy that we have written and we’ll be able to write comes from governance committee. And then funds and scholarships, because we have the levy coming in in September of the emergency hardship fund, so that’s gonna be really interesting. And then student life because student life is my baby.
Angel Geneau: There are a few different committees that I’ve been interested in. I’m very much into things on campus, social activities, I really enjoy those as well as like, initiatives to bring more things to uOttawa like art, I think that we could use a lot of art on our campus in comparison to other places. Or things like more activities to bring more people in. We already obviously have a lot of activities, but I think that we need to advertise them more, get people who aren’t interested, stuff like that.
Rhys Matthew: So obviously right now I’m focused on getting elected. However, I would be really interested in joining the finance committee as my as my number one choice but also executive oversight is something I’d also like to consider, just because I’m really passionate about, and one of the reasons I’m running is just for greater transparency, better accountability. So on the Finance Committee, I would be able to get a better oversee the the UOSU’s use of funding and the use of funds and then same with executive oversight, making sure that our executives are accountable and transparent and are doing the job that they’re elected.
Tatenda Musundire: Well, UOSU has a lot of committees, but I think the first couple of committees I’d be interested in are executive oversight and governance. Those are kind of some really strong committees to be on if you’re really committed to advocacy, and holding our executives accountable. But I’m also a huge proponent of extracurriculars and unity between clubs. So being a part of the club’s committees, and, communications and engagement would go a long way towards making sure that our clubs are feeling supported, are feeling heard, and that there’s communication between the different clubs and the Student Union.
Ian Reid: Clubs committee would be one based on you know what I just said there with the whole accountability thing. Finance is also one I remember hearing about that. That one interested me a big deal just because I like handling finances in the sense that I like seeing the numbers and making sure that money isn’t being spent where it shouldn’t be spent as well. You know, I don’t want to see excess money being spent on like snacks for the office, if it’s not needed, should we think otherwise? That stuff could go towards bursaries, which is, you know, extremely important that students can have money to afford their tuition, especially as the cost of living keeps going up and up.
Fulcrum: What would you characterize as the biggest challenge UOSU faces today? How would you address this challenge in your capacity as a Director?
James Adair: I think the biggest tangible challenge is the upcoming budget cuts.
But I think that’s more that’s a result of the challenge of, of interest and, like accountability. I think it’s the result of people not feeling like us who’s hearing them or just not really caring about what you’re doing. So from like a personal side of things, I want to commit to continuing to engage in these like transparency and accountability, stuff that I’ve been doing, like sharing monthly updates on what I’m doing at the board and what the board’s doing. From a broader institutional standpoint, I think UOSU needs to get much better at one brick ending itself. Like the the soccer game that was happening in UCU, which had massive attendance but it was like three days until someone realized ‘maybe we should put the UOSU like banner up front’, despite the fact that that was like basically entirely funded by UOSU. I think the other thing is we have to get out of the whole — and this is very, maybe hypocritical to say — but we have to get over the the Poli Sci bubble. There are like 40,000 other students at this university who don’t feel like they’re being engaged and don’t feel like they’re being listened to.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: The student engagement is definitely one of the biggest ones. Seven per cent voting is not acceptable. So just be trying to find ways to get students involved or even like seeing more communication between the board and the students; like the directors themselves. Personally, I didn’t know who the directors were, and I was quite close with a couple of them and I only found that out because I started running and I started looking into it. And it shouldn’t be that difficult to know who’s representing you, you should know by the time. [We need] a more direct line between the board and people, and make the effort to get people involved.
Rayne Daprato: I think the biggest challenge is probably a misunderstanding of what the union does, I think we really are making a huge breakthrough, it feels like at least this year, and students are beginning to understand that we exist. But I think I’ve seen a massive misunderstanding or just like lack of understanding of what we do, because it feels like clubs, folks, understandably, like the only thing that we deal with clubs, when there are lots else going on, folks in services, only think that we deal with services, etc. So I think that’s the main issue.
And in terms of how I, on the board of directors would work to solve that, it’s really just working with the students that I represent, which is all of them, but specifically those from FSS and meeting with them and making sure that like, every time we meet as much as we’re hearing from them about their priorities, it’s also clearly explaining to students everything that we’re doing, and making it sound interesting, and not just throwing lots of policy gibberish at them, because that’s another quick way to turn off any student who isn’t a poli sci major.
Angel Geneau: I think student interest is probably the most important and biggest issue right now. I think that with COVID and everything, people became very dull and uninterested in things and it’s all like, obviously, it’s been going on for a while now, but it’s still something that has impacted a lot of us, like my entire high school career was altered cause of COVID. And it’s something where I’ve noticed people just need to get out of this, locked-down hibernation mentality, like we need to go out, we need to experience more, we need to get people engaged and show them what we can be doing instead of what we’re just currently doing.
Rhys Matthew: I think apathy is likely the biggest challenge that UOSU faces. It’s something I referenced earlier. All students whether they care about student politics or not pay Student Union dues they pay dues to UOSU and I think a lot of the time, they also don’t recognize the work that UOSU does, which leads to a lot of apathy, and it leads to a lot of irresponsible ideas, especially around spending cuts. We saw that in the last referendums that came forward on Student Union due cuts. I think apathy is the was his biggest problem and to solve that to engage more, and do more, do more for students.
Tatenda Musundire: Well, I think I’ll try and answer that question in two parts, or with two different answer streams. I think one problem that UOSU is facing is that in our past referendum we voted as the student body on a lot of different levies. But we also voted to decrease our membership fees as members of the Student Union. So something that UOSU now has to focus on in the next year. In two years, is increasing funding to a number of things that students have just voted on, while also making do with the reduced membership fees that students are hoping to be paying. So I think, as a member of Board of Directors, obviously your first priority would be to understand what is the plan that’s being formed in terms of addressing that. And what is the most equitable, common sense way that that can be rolled out? In our last [by-election], we only had a 7 per cent voter turnout rate, which is not great. It’s been better than in past years, but that’s 7 per cent out of every student or university, which overall is not fantastic. So my priorities would also be trying to get information about UOSU and the Board of Directors, the Senate, etc, etc. out to students as early as possible as students are coming in, in the fall, making sure they understand the structure of our university, the structure of our student union and our organizations and making sure that students are understanding: okay, you have a referendum coming up, that means you’re going to be voting on things. You’re going to be going on how much money you pay. And where that money is being used.
Ian Reid: I think a challenge UOSU does face is the low turnout and the low participation. I mean, this recent by-election saw the highest turnout of I think any UOSU by-election years, but even then I think the turnout was like 7 per cent. Very few people voted and in general license, I think only like 15 to 20 per cent voted. So if we get more people involved, then the UOUS is going to run a whole lot better. And people are gonna understand, you know, what the union is doing because I see a lot of misconceptions from people who aren’t involved who think you know, the union is just wasting money, they’re stealing my when that isn’t the case.
Fulcrum: Why do you think being new to UOSU is an asset to your candidacy?
Megan Betsworth McNeil: I guess I come from a very fresh perspective being a first year. I haven’t had the experiences of a lot of them [other candidates] and I know first years have a lot of different opinions. It’s like a breath of fresh air because obviously a lot of people who are currently running, they’re very good, but they’ve been in a while so they obviously have a lot of experience with certain things or they might see stuff a certain way because their own personal experiences. So by bringing in the experience of someone brand new that’s just come in and who is not as connected or aligned with the UOSU yet can add that new perspective.
Angel Geneau: I think that I bring a lot of good perspective. I’ve had a lot of experience with different social activities. I’ve been in a lot of meetings. I’ve done a lot of activist activism. I think that because I’m so young, I bring a good mentality and a good like, different generational view because although we’re all very similar in age because we’re within the four years, there are still a lot of different perspectives because I noticed that through talking to people on you, so we’re already fourth or fourth years who are like Wow, you’re so young and you’re still like you’re still participating in this and I just think that people in my generation like the first year is going to prove that we can do more than just the first years like we don’t have to just start university we can participate in it. We can be active we can be the ones who are going to be replacing the ones one to two years after graduating like we need to be more involved. I think that I bring a good perspective to that.
Rhys Matthew: I think I just bring a fresh perspective. I bring new ideas. And I think that’s really important for any organization, just to keep bringing new people to the table and listening to what they have to say.
Tatenda Musundire: Well, this kind of ties into some of my early responses about being a first-year overall. Walking into our university setting, as a first year as someone new to campus means that I have a fresh perspective and I can kind of weigh things a little bit more impartially than some people who have been on campus for years who have been able to settle into friend groups and to connections across AÉÉIPPSSA as a political science student and the student union. I kind of have this hunger to learn and to understand exactly what’s going on, as well as advocate for other students in my faculty, and talk to people okay, you and I have no classes together, what are some things that you’re concerned about that I didn’t even think of and how can I bring that to people, the board and people in executive who, well, they have a lot of wisdom and experience, they might not be aware of these things. I also feel like as a first-year and a second year, you are kind of the most affected by a lot of the new policies that are being enacted. So it’s important to have first and second, second and third years on the council, people that are new to the board, because those policies are kind of affecting our first and second years the most and they can work to continue mandates that are being focused on in the board and in the Student Union.
Ian Reid: I think I bring a new perspective, but also I am connected enough to know people in the organization as well. I mean, of the other candidates for my position for FSS, there’s seven of us, four of them I know very well, I’d say you know, to different degrees of how well I know them, but I know them. And I know a lot of other people were in for another position. For example, there’s only one person running for Arts that’s Quanah, Quanah is somebody who I, I started attending ISA [Indigenous Students Association] meetings because I’m, I’m Indigenous, but you know, he’s somebody who I work well with, and I’m going to be excited to see him on the board, even if I don’t get on the board, I’m gonna be happy for him. But I work well with others. But I haven’t been there long enough to like, where I kind of lost the plot and it’s the kind of thing where I’ve become complacent. I am passionate and I’m motivated to working towards the best interests of the people the school I mean, I’ve been doing two books a day every day on my campaign account, because I’m taking I’m taking it very seriously because it’s a serious position. So I want the voters, the people following the accounts on Instagram just to see that I think I’m seriously I’m constantly putting out stuff and what I plan to do.
Fulcrum: How would UOSU’s BoD benefit from your unique perspective/understanding of the union?
James Adair: I think our organization really suffers from a lack of institutional memory. We have a massive turnover. We have people resigning midterm. And so I think it’s important that there is at least a handful of people from this term who have been there before. Who knows like about ongoing projects and knows how the board functions and all that kind of thing, which is why I’m very happy I’m running again. But I’m also happy that I’m not the only person from the board that’s running again. There’s like a handful of people who are running, which I think is fantastic.
Rayne Daprato: I think having a year of experience on the board, but then also in the exec office, where I’m able to see every side of the work that’s being done is something that uniquely sets me up for success as a board member. Just being able to speak to how much time gets put into the board, but then also understanding the work that the executives and staff, like the services staff, general UOSU staff, and then also all the volunteers involved, really having an understanding of what everyone is doing is something that’s going to allow me to make more well-rounded decisions and more well-rounded policy. And then also allows me to have a network of people to reach out to and doing consultation work that very few other people have access to.
The Fulcrum: Any closing thoughts for FSS students on why they should rank you first on their ballot?
James Adair: The big thing is I have both the experience and the records to prove that I can do this. We’ve had I think two resignations in the faculty social science this past term. And so there’s that there’s the fact that I have demonstrated that I can do this. But there’s also the fact that like, I’m sure that I can do well and stay accountable and stay engaged with the community and make substantial change at UOSU while also being accountable. People have elected me through stuff like monthly updates and actively engaging with students. So I’d say the fact that you and I can do it, and not only do it, I think extremely well.
Megan Betsworth McNeil: I guess my dedication. Everyone who talks to me like even people I’ve worked with on UOYL would say I’m very dedicated and hardworking, once I set my mind to something it will be done sooner or later, and I will make sure it’s done. And I constantly, just love the engagement and being very dedicated to the people I represent.
Rayne Daprato: If I were to send a message to all FSS students, it would basically be that I, as the only remaining exec who has given a full term to the Union this year, I have shown that I have the commitment to the well being of this organization. And I’m looking forward to prioritizing their needs in the coming year.
Angel Geneau: There are a lot of really good candidates and even if I’m not first I just hope to be on the ballot. I think that I really [bring a new] perspective with being so young, I think that I can make a good amount of change for a few years if I prove myself for this term, I hope that people will again vote for me running for a second year, third year, and I just want them to know that I have their best interests in mind. I’m looking more for everybody’s best interest. I want to help the majority of the social science population with different issues that are important to them and I’m willing to hear anybody out with any issues and bring forward and bring them forward even if they’re not in a political stance or even if they’re not in. I want to amplify people’s voices who don’t have the voice that they need.
Rhys Matthew: I’m a fresh perspective. I’m running because we need more transparent, responsible, accountable and capable leadership. I think that students can rely on and will be able to trust me to put their interests first and deliver results for them in the best way possible.
Tatenda Musundire: I think faculty of social science students should be first on their ballot because I’m not just committed to representing political science students, I want to represent political science and economics and criminology and psychology, everybody that I can within our faculty, and I want to do that for a number of years. So I’m committed to trying to look at the big picture in not just our four years of university, the entire faculty, but for years that follow and all of our clubs that are affected. What is the best way that we can enact a lot of the new policies that we the students are trying to raise and see come into effect at our school?
Ian Reid: I think I’m somebody who has proven he is experienced. I think I’ve proven that I’m good at what I do. I’m strong in whatever position you put me in. My endorsements, as well I’ve gotten some incredible endorsements. I’m always posting because I’m taking you the people of FSS seriously, I’m gonna let you know what my thoughts are on things I mean, just today I mean, it’s gonna be up by now because already is near post about respecting francophones that’s another important thing is so often leave like somebody speaking French in a meeting or something like that, people are always on their phones and they think this is fun time. When it’s extremely disrespectful to whoever speaking. So that’s another big thing as well. There’s plenty of stuff that I’m posting on my account. So please check it out. I’m posting a lot. Thank you.
