Student Action candidate earns first-ever vp equity position with 46 per cent of vote
Sabrina Nemis and Jesse Colautti | Fulcrum Staff
Photo by Justin Labelle
NICOLE DESNOYERS HAS been elected as the first-ever vp equity of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) for the 2013-2014 term.
One of the five winning members of the Student Action affiliation, Desnoyers received 46 per cent of the vote, according to preliminary results. She was followed by Together Ensemble affiliate Maddy Orr and independent candidate Marc Jan.
“I feel like I can’t breathe right now. I just can’t believe it,” Desnoyers said minutes after the results came in.
Desnoyers looked relieved after a hard-fought campaign.
“I was out there talking to people every day from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.,” she said. “I was talking with students and I got a chance to sit down with people and have personal conversations. I really got to know the students on our campus from across the faculties.”
Despite not coming out victorious, Orr—who earned 40 per cent of the total vote—maintained a positive attitude in a tweet sent out early Friday morning.
“To all [Together Ensemble] supporters, thank you. It’s been a pleasure being a part of such a wonderful team of people,” she wrote.
Independent candidate Marc Jan had more pointed words to say about his campaign against Together Ensemble and Student Action affiliated candidates.
“It was frustrating. It was extremely frustrating,” he said.
Competing against the resources that an affiliation can provide, Jan found it hard to find the time to connect with a wide range of students.
“As much as I could cover two or three classes in one time slot, they had people in every single class in every single building,” he said. “I’ll agree that’s somewhat inequitable.”
The new vp equity will be tasked with promoting a discrimination-free campus and fighting inequalities within the university. Desnoyers said she wants to immediately focus on two specific elements of her platform, the task force against racism and the bilingual audit.
