Only one new face elected to SFUO exec after another Student Action sweep
The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) executive will remain almost unchanged from this year to next as the Student Action slate has swept the general election once again.
In what is almost a repeat of the 2013 election, SFUO president Anne-Marie Roy will return with her current slate mates to sit on the executive during the 2014–15 academic year. Joining them will be Maya McDonald for vp equity, who ran independently.
“I think one of the things Student Action was able to prove over the last few months is that we know the university and post-secondary education very well,” said Roy. “I think students saw we were able to get things done and trust in the work we’ve done.”
The results of the election were announced not long before sunrise on Feb. 14 via social media. This year’s election saw 11.6 per cent of students vote.
Roy won two thirds of the vote for president against Super Party leader Igor Antonio. Current vp services and communications Ikram Hamoud took the position of vp social with 47 per cent of votes in a three-way contest against 1Campus candidate Jesse Wetzl, followed by Super Party candidate Joyce Younes.
Nicole Desnoyers, the SFUO’s current vp equity, will replace Hamoud as vp services and communications after winning half the vote against 1Campus’ Yanéric Bisaillon and Super Party’s Marissa Harfouche.
Vp finance Dave Eaton won just short of half the votes against 1Campus candidate Arno Van Dijk and Super Party candidate Roy Younes, the latter of whom had previously lost the bid to Eaton in the 2013 general election.
Vp university affairs Chris Hynes reclaimed his role with a 63 per cent vote against 1Campus’ Kaitlynne-Rae Landry.
McDonald won the closest electoral race and will be the only member of the incoming SFUO executive who did not run with the Student Action slate. She won 48 per cent of the vote against Super Party’s Josée Younes (35 per cent) and the only other independent, Hadyn Place (17 per cent).
The win makes McDonald the only independent member to be elected to an otherwise uniform executive. The current executive has only one member who was not affiliated with Student Action. Vp social Pat Marquis, the one outgoing member of this year’s executive, ran with the Together Ensemble slate in 2013.
“There were no independents on the exec this year,” McDonald said. “So, it makes me feel good, because it will hopefully show students that you don’t need to run on a slate to win the elections.”
She said she’s excited to work with the Student Action executive, who she has worked with previously, and is looking forward to learning from their experience.
With such a low turnover from this year to next, Roy said the team has a unique advantage because they don’t have to overcome the learning curve this time around. It also means nearly all the executives will be working from a common platform.
“I really care about how the SFUO does its work, and I think it’s important we do a lot of work surround defending students’ rights and working on student fees,” she said.
