Official results for the 2016 VUSAC Elections were posted on Friday, concluding what has been an interesting and at times controversial election season. Rahul Christoffersen and Stuart Norton were elected Co-Presidents with 312 votes, achieving a 66% share of the vote.
Steve Warner was elected Vice-President, External, along with Golda Greenspoon as Vice-President, Internal and Hannah Brennen as Vice-President, Student Organizations, who, together with the Co-Presidents comprise the judiciary of the 2016-17 VUSAC Board.
The new judiciary brings a wide variety of experience to the new council, both from previous VUSAC positions and from other student governments. Warner served as Vic’s UTSU rep over the past year, while Norton, Christoffersen, Greenspoon, and Brennen all served in a variety of positions on VUSAC.
The newly elected Council ran on platforms largely related to the streamlining of VUSAC functions and working to make VUSAC more accessible and approachable to students and organizations alike.
In a previous interview with The Strand, Norton and Christoffersen said they intended to begin their tenure as co-presidents by appointing an interim Equity Commissioner, a position that had no candidates in the election. “I don’t want to go a full summer without an Equity Commissioner,” Christoffersen said. “We are both very conscious that we are both cisgender, male, [and] white [or] mixed-race students. We want to be able to engage with equity issues both as allies and student leaders.”
Equity was a contentious topic in the election, with the absence of a candidate for the position resulting in a great deal of dialogue around the issue. All candidates have expressed disappointment in the absence of an electable Equity Commissioner, and hope to work to appoint someone to fill the position until an election can be held in the fall.
Many students felt that the campaign took a personal turn toward the end, as various posts on social media were seemingly aimed at certain candidates in a negative manner. In one of these posts, Christoffersen criticized presidential candidate Chris Knipe for appropriating the language of equity to support his campaign goals without actually addressing the issues at hand. Both of these posts drew criticism, as many students felt upset both about the personal direction that the campaign had taken, and about the use of equity topics as campaign pieces.
As Victoria College student Laurent-Philippe Veilleux put it, “It’s disappointing to see the personal turn that the presidential race in the VUSAC elections has taken. An important point of differentiation which has long separated VUSAC from the UTSU elections was that the forum of discussion was limited to issues and candidates’ platforms rather than going negative about other candidates.”
With the campaign now over, the newly elected council is ready to hit the ground running and begin to fulfill their mandate. “We’re very excited to begin our work with the new council,” said Co-President-elect Stuart Norton. “There is a lot to be done, with the most pressing concern being how we integrate Commuter and Equity portfolios without those elected Commissioners.”
