Three new members to join executive committee in November
After seven days — two more than anticipated — the University of Ottawa Students’ Union by-elections have concluded with 8.47% turnout, the most all time for a by-election in the union’s short history. Three members are set to join the union’s executive committee, four are set to join the Board of Directors (BOD), and one will join the University Senate.
Executive Committee
The executive committee will be filled out by three new members. Anne Hyppolite will become the communications commissioner; Alex Stratas the advocacy commissioner; and Emilia Bah the student life commissioner — pending ratification by the elections committee, the BOD, and finally undergraduate students at the UOSU’s general assembly.
All races for positions on the executive committee were uncontested. All candidates were elected with similar levels of approval and disapproval. Hyppolite received 64.6 per cent approval, Stratas 69.1 per cent, and Bah 67.5 per cent.
The members of the executive committee, while holding seats on the BOD, are also in charge of the day-to-day operations of the union and work full time. With that in mind, commissioners must be part-time students unless they are international students or are enrolled in faculties which do not permit part-time study.
Board of Directors
Despite a crowded ballot overall, just one race was contested. The single seat on the BOD for the faculty of medicine had two candidates, Jean-Paul Azzi and Xavier Legare. Azzi prevailed with 60 per cent of the vote to Legare’s 36.7 per cent.
In addition to Azzi, three other members of the BOD were elected. The BOD as a whole is made up of the executive committee and up to 23 other members who represent their respective faculties by voting on motions at monthly board meetings and holding positions on various committees. Only members of the candidate’s respective faculties were permitted to vote on their representatives.
In an uncontested race, the three vacancies in the faculty of science had three candidates: Moveen Galathure, Ibrahim Ghani, and Ahmed Mohamed. All received enough votes to be elected, with 66.2 per cent, 44.1 per cent, and 45.2 per cent of the vote, respectively. However, Mohamed was disqualified at some point during the election. Chief electoral officer Ben Cameron was not yet able to comment on the reason for disqualification in time for publication.
For the Telfer School of Management, Gary Chao was the only candidate for the single vacancy. Chao was elected with 70.5 per cent of the vote.
Referendum & University Senate
The health sciences seat on the University Senate had two candidates: Colton Chaput and Fred Rugria. Chaput edged out Rugria by just four votes; 43.3 per cent to 42.2 per cent. Only students in the faculty of health sciences were able to vote on the race. The senate, which is made up mostly of professors and faculty members, sets the university’s educational policies.
One referendum question was put forth to members of the Canadian law program. It asked to them to vote on recognizing and funding the Association étudiante du Programme de droit canadien (AssoPDC). The question passed, 31-1, and a levy of $20 per semester for students enrolled in the program passed 29-4.
By-Election Logistics
By-elections have taken place each fall since a 2019 referendum in which undergraduate students chose to be represented by the UOSU, after the previous union’s agreement with the university was terminated due to fraud.
The previous record for turnout in a by-election was 7.7% a year ago. General elections, which take place in the spring, have seen higher turnout three times: 2019 (16 per cent), 2020 (12.4 per cent), and 2022 (8.5 per cent).
This year, the UOSU piloted in-person voting, both outside their office in the UCU and outside the dining hall. Volunteers — mostly from the club uOttawa Votes — staffed these tables and facilitated on-site online voting.
Elected members of the executive committee and BOD will not take office until after the Autumn General Assembly (AGA). Motions to bind and direct the activities of the UOSU can be submitted by and voted upon by any undergraduate student at the AGA. The assembly is set to be held no later than Nov. 30.
After an issue was discovered that limited the ability of co-op students to vote, UOSU allowed two extra days of voting after fixing the error. By-election results are still unofficial. The current BOD will vote to ratify them at their meeting on Sunday which begins at 4 p.m. assuming approval by the elections committee. The full results can be found on UOSU’s website.
- Editor’s Note: The original headline that accompanied this story referenced eight new board members. Only seven were elected. This was changed at 5:05 p.m.
