Anne-Marie Roy—President
Fourth-year communications with minor in French
Twitter: @a_mroy
Website: Action2013.ca
Affiliation: Student Action
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
One of the things I’d like to do is continue fighting the administration about tuition fee hikes, but also tackle the issue of hidden fees. Despite the fact that we pay very high tuition fees, we have to pay to get a transcript printed; we have to pay fees for convocation; as well as paying for tuition fees in two split payments. Those are the kinds of fees I want to tackle.
The other thing I want to do is strengthen the student voice. I’d like to bring general assemblies to the student federation. I think there has been a lot of talk and buzz about that on campus and I think that students at the University of Ottawa are ready for that.
Why should students trust you to lead their federation?
I’m very passionate about issues like I mentioned earlier, and I have been working on a lot of different student issues for the last few years through the board of governors and vp communications. I’d like to humanize students, I’d like to change the perspectives that we have on different issues so that students feel represented by the federation and also by me leading the student federation, so I think that definitely having more feedback with students and connecting with students is going to be important.
Geoff Parent—President
Third-year nursing
Twitter: @nursegeoff
Website: GeoffParent.com
Affiliation: Together Ensemble
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
First and foremost, I really want to help build that sense of community across the campus. There are a few very small things that can be done to do that. First off is listening to the students when they actually have issues. I very much believe, especially for campaigns or policies, that you’re better off working from a bottom-up approach than a top-down. It’s seeing what the students want or need and bringing that forth and advocating for it.
I’d like to have the student federation continue on the path it’s currently on, making sure we can be viewed as role models in the community at large. And that’s not just on campus. As students, we have the ability, we have the skills, and we have the know-how to be some of the best leaders in our community.
Why should students trust you to lead their federation?
I deal very well with high-stress situations. Through both training and experience, I deal very well with strong personalities and difficult people. I am able to see both sides of an issue in order to make sure we can reach effective negotiations and compromise going forward. I clearly have the passion for this, with the amount of time I’ve been around. I have the drive to do it. And I think that those are some of the qualities I will bring forth as a student leader.
Nicole Desnoyers—vp Equity
Third-year women’s studies with
minor in aboriginal studies
Twitter: @NikiDesnoyers
Website: Action2013.ca
Affiliation: Student Action
Why are you running?
I’ve been working on different campus-based campaigns for a couple years now—around fighting tuition fee increases, gender-based violence, respect of Indigenous rights—and I just thought that this position would be a great opportunity to continue this work at a larger scale. Because it’s the first year, we need someone who understands the mandate and who understands the work and can get in and shape that mandate for future years and set the tone for what a vp equity should be doing on a campus.
The vp equity is responsible for addressing issues of discrimination and inequality on campus. Why should students trust you with such an important task?
I’ve lived this. As a queer woman, I’ve lived violence for being queer. As a Métis woman, I’ve experienced sitting in a classroom and not hearing my history or the history of my people being presented, and seeing a revised history that comes from a colonial education system. I’ve lived these things. I have different identities that have brought on different instances of discrimination on this campus and like I’ve said, those identities definitely don’t cover the scope of discrimination that exists on this campus. I take this incredibly seriously and I think that the key reason is that I want to listen to students and I want to work with students.
I think that students should trust me with the position because combined with my lived experiences, my willingness to work with different communities, and my excitement to work with different communities—that and the fact that I’m ready to work with a fantastic team that wants to do lots of great work with improving the U-Pass—I think that I would be the best vp equity.
Marc Jan—vp Equity
Fourth-year double major in philosophy and physics
Twitter: N/A
Website: ANewDay2013.com
Affiliation: None
Why are you running?
Over the past few years, I’ve gotten a lot more involved on campus in terms of student politics and student associations and volunteering in general, and it’s just the natural progression of things to eventually head toward the SFUO.
I essentially realized that there was potential for something that was important to me, and obviously, as I like to say, I’m a concerned student.
The vp equity is responsible for addressing issues of discrimination and inequality on campus. Why should students trust you with such an important task?
One thing I should probably highlight is the fact that the position actually has a responsibility that exceeds just dealing with discrimination. Yes, in a sense I’d be taking care of certain social issues which involve discrimination with certain services … but I would also be responsible for things like the different clubs on campus.
The [Women’s Resource Centre] used to have a phone line; you used to be able to call in whenever you wanted to and talk about whatever you wanted to. To me, that’s a brilliant idea, because as much as offering a safe space is great, it’s not the individual’s space.
I want to find a way to connect the community a lot more than just having to bring them in and having them available if people want to ask questions. But a lot of that has to come from the services; it has to be in the restructuring of the services and figuring out ways like using a phone—and obviously I want to do a lot more campaigns.
Maddy Orr—vp Equity
Second-year international development and global studies
Twitter: @maddyjorr
Website: MaddyOrr.com
Affiliation: Together Ensemble
Why are you running?
I am running because I really enjoy everything I’ve done on campus so far, in terms of being involved with 101 Week and running Girls Night and being involved in some competitive sports clubs, and that kind of thing.
I think there’s a lot of opportunity for growth on our campus in terms of co-support between groups and promoting between groups and that kind of thing. And I think the opportunity to work in a position where I get to communicate and network and build relationships with the different services … I think it’s a really cool opportunity and it’s something I am so passionate and so excited for.
The vp equity is responsible for addressing issues of discrimination and inequality on campus. Why should students trust you with such an important task?
I am a bit of a workaholic and I’m very passionate about everything I do. I don’t take anything lightly—everything I do is 100 per cent and you can ask anyone I know. I’m super organized, super driven, and I really care about what I do.
Eliminating discrimination is a pretty hefty task; it’s not something that’s obvious. The way I would do that would be to start and not stop. It would be to get the ball rolling and push it all year long. I’m a big fan of student-run campaigns, I’m a big fan of social media, I’m a big fan of engaging students—like tying in loose ends that wouldn’t normally be involved. Everything will be a collaboration. It’s not ever going to be a just-me thing—it’s going to be a teamwork project.
Brad Lafortune—vp Services & Communications
Fifth-year double major in biology and Spanish
Twitter: @TheBradacus
Website: Action2013.com
Affiliation: Student Action
Why are you running?
I’ve been implicated in the SFUO for a while, just on campus in general with a lot of different organizations and services and things like that. Also being a Francophone student, I think that having bilingualism on our campus is just a huge advantage for most students. I mean, I lived in Calgary for a good majority of my life and in Calgary, that’s hard. That’s why I chose to come back to Ontario to go to university and that’s why I chose the U of O: to get back involved with the Francophone community. So that’s why I want to do it, really—I want to do what I can to improve bilingualism on our campus and also work on the services, which are so amazing.
The vp services and communications is responsible for promoting the SFUO’s visibility on and off campus. How do you plan on increasing student awareness of the federation’s services?
I already think that with the new website, it’s improved a lot. But [there are] some features I think our website should have. One I really want to work on with the vp equity is to create a hate response—like an anonymous hate response submission. That way if students see harassment or vandalism, if it’s either by a peer or by a professor—if a professor says something and they don’t know how to handle it or they don’t know what to do with that information—they can submit it anonymously online, and we’ll take care of that or send them to appropriate resources.
Just keeping [the website] up to date is the biggest thing you can do, so when you’re on the website and you see the first few slides, you can be aware of what’s going on.
David Eaton—vp Finance
Fourth-year international development
Twitter: N/A
Website: Action2013.ca
Affiliation: Student Action
What relevant experience do you have that would translate to the position you are running for?
For the past two years, I have been a member of the Board of Administration (BOA). With that position, I have served as a member of the finance committee. I have had a very hands-on experience dealing with the budget of the student federation, approving budgets, making sure that they’re balanced and reflect the needs of students. I have also served as services coordinator for the SFUO. I am very familiar with the inner workings of the budgets of all 12 services, making sure that they’re being spent in a way that meets all the programming needs for our many members on campus.
The vp finance is responsible for the SFUO’s budget. How would you make sure funds are properly allocated?
We want to make sure that we are in constant contact with students. Whether it is through clubs, sports teams, even non-varsity teams, making sure that we are addressing their needs as well; making sure that we have funds available specifically for teams that do not necessarily get funding from the university; making sure they get the same sort of treatment as varsity equipment teams do; and making sure funds that already exist—such as the Francophone fund, the philanthropic fund, the green fund—are being respected, and they also reflect what students are looking for in terms of access to funds.
Roy Younes—vp Finance
Fourth-year major in economics with minor in business administration
Twitter: @1RoyToy
Website: N/A
Affiliations: None
What relevant experience do you have that would translate to the position you are running for?
Off campus, I have worked for my father’s business. He owns a construction company, which has revenues of over $3 million. I have worked in the accounting section, as well as sales, and I know how to deal with large scales of money. I know how to allocate money, I know how to manage money, I know how to take risks—not major risks, but risks to improve the company or the union, which is the SFUO that I would be working for. I think with my knowledge of economics and business I’d be able to also bring in my skills learned through education, as well as real-life experience.
The vp finance is responsible for the SFUO’s budget. How would you make sure funds are properly allocated?
I’ve spoken with the current vp finance, [Adam Gilani]. I had a meeting with him and he mentioned that in the past, his predecessors were really bad at managing those funds because they didn’t have certain knowledge on how to manage spreadsheets, for example. So some funds were misallocated and money was being lost. So what I want to do is work closely with him, even after he is finished being an executive. He is beginning to rebuild the spreadsheets and the process of managing the money, so I want to keep working with him to make sure that money is properly allocated to certain funds and not one penny is lost.
Chris Clarke—vp University Affairs
Fourth-year double major in political science and environmental studies
Twitter: @Clarke_2013
Website: Clarke2013.com
Affiliation: None
Why are you running?
I had a chance to run for this same position last year. I am very thankful for that experience. What I had hoped to do is represent an alternative viewpoint that really isn’t the status quo of the SFUO. Generally speaking, we have had some interesting opinions on very central issues to students. I want to provide a flipside to that. So this year, I’ve taken notes from what happened last year and I’ve developed a little bit more of a campaign that is very focused on the issues that are happening on our campus. I hope to be able to represent students’ issues on campus rather than seeking to affect change from the top down, as some candidates have done in the past.
This position requires you to work directly with the U of O administration. How will you make sure students’ interests are equally represented at the administrative level?
I would work to identify common ground with the administration. We as a student body are their largest stakeholders. They have a natural tendency to want to improve our educational experience on campus. I want to basically take student opinion to the administration so that we can craft course options that are relevant to our needs, and not just the administration.
Christopher Hynes—vp University Affairs
Third-year conflict studies and human rights
Twitter: @Chynes0810
Website: Action2013.ca
Affiliation: Student Action
Why are you running?
Something that motivates me is the time I spent working with students at the SFUO food bank, where I’ve been employed for almost a couple of years now. So I really see students’ needs on a daily basis.
Interacting with the administration, I’ve had a lot of interesting questions asked like, “Is it true that students party away all their money and then go to the food bank because they know it’s free?” It can be disconcerting when you hear members of the administration and people who work for university services say things like that. To me, that says there’s a huge disconnect between students’ reality and what the administration thinks students’ reality is. Also, I think student life needs to be made better now and action needs to be taken immediately.
The position requires you to work directly with the U of O administration. How will you make sure students’ interests are equally represented at the administrative level?
I would focus on making sure that across the board, student interests are heard. For example, the coalition I’m with—the Student Action Coalition—we’re definitely interested in making sure general assemblies happen on our campus.
Marilyn Tourangeau—vp University Affairs
Fourth-year English with a minor in music
Twitter: @noreenmarilyn
Website: MarilynTourangeau.com
Affiliation: Together Ensemble
Why are you running?
I have been really involved on campus since I started school. I have spent four years on the Undergraduate English Student Association (UESA). One of the positions that I have held on that executive is University Affairs, and it is a position that interests me a lot because you get to do a lot of background work like working with administration, or [organizing] the U-Pass. I like working with a variety of people and I really like working with students, so with the campaign committee, you really get a chance to meet people and hopefully in the next year get a chance to encourage student initiatives and get people to do their projects. I am a really big support person rather than an upfront public person.
The position requires you to work directly with the U of O administration. How will you make sure students’ interests are equally represented at the administrative level?
[Federated bodies] are the ones that have the contacts with students, so if you use them as tools to know what’s going on, then I can represent students much better knowing. As someone who works for either the SFUO or for UESA, I know what English students want, but I don’t know what engineer students want—I would talk to their [university affairs] or their executive. Something that I really want to do is meet with the entire executive as a whole, and visit their offices just to touch base and to see what is going on.
Patrick Marquis—vp Social
Third-year civil engineering
Twitter: @pat_marquis
Website: PatMarquis.com
Affiliation: Together Ensemble
Why are you running?
Right now I’m the vp social for the ESS, the Engineering Students Society, and I just had a blast. It was so much fun, and I got so much good experience. I just wanted to move up to the next step and see what I could do with a bigger budget and have a bigger role on campus. I just want to see what I can give the students and make sure there’s always something going on.
The vp social is responsible for planning and executing events for the socially and culturally diverse undergrads at the U of O. How would you make sure those events cater to as many students as possible?
I feel like sometimes when you try to make an event to cater to everybody, you try to please everyone but end up pleasing no one. I think it’d be better to have a bunch of different types of events throughout the year instead of a bunch of events that try to please everyone. So in terms of music, instead of always having a type of concert that would generally please everyone, have a pop concert, a rap concert, a metal concert, so that you could at least have every student go like, “Sweet, SFUO is putting that on? I’ll go!” You can do that with any type of party and any type of event. I think having an array of stuff would be more beneficial and have more value.
