New vp services and communications ‘thrilled’ about students’ agreement with platform
Adam Feibel | Fulcrum Staff
THE SWEEP OF Student Action candidate winners at this year’s Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) elections was kicked off with an unopposed win for vp services and communications candidate Brad Lafortune.
The fifth-year double major in biology and Spanish was part of a series of wins for the Student Action team. All five affiliated candidates garnered the most votes in their respective categories when the election results were announced shortly after 2 a.m. on Feb. 15.
“I’m thrilled,” said Lafortune. “I’m glad the students agree with the amazing platform and vision that we had for them.”
The vp services and communications position—along with the vp social position—had only one candidate in the running, but there was potential for students to vote against him taking the role. However, Lafortune was voted in with just fewer than 3,000 votes for and 664 votes against, according to preliminary results.
“I wasn’t in this for myself—I was also in this for Student Action in its entirety,” he said. “Of course I was worried, but I also had faith in our team.”
The Student Action candidates will go on to comb through the many ideas their affiliation wishes to pursue and figure out what they want to “hit hard” when the new executive takes office in May, according to Lafortune.
“We came at this with a unified platform, and a unified point of view, and with a lot of concrete things we wanted to do for the student body,” he said. “They wanted to see action on our campus, and that’s what we’re going to do for them.”
The vp services and communications is the vice-president of the SFUO. He is responsible for maintaining contact with the U of O media relations office and other media on campus, and undertakes other marketing, promotion, and communication matters at the university. He also oversees the Food Bank, the Sustainable Development office, Foot Patrol, the Peer Help Centre, and Zoom Productions.
