This past Friday, October 28th, the VUSAC by-election Town Hall was held at the Wymilwood Lounge in the Goldring Student Centre. Of the candidates present at the Town Hall, were Jade Jones, Hamboluhle Moyo, Tania Kengatharan, and Thomas Lynch—with Sharon Tan absent. The candidates spoke on their involvement at Victoria University, with experiences ranging from extensive to limited. Additionally, each candidate voiced what initiatives they, if voted councillor, would like to contribute and work on throughout the upcoming year.
Candidates are running for three available councillor positions that were not filled during VUSAC’s earlier Fall elections.
Between councillors—sometimes referred to as members-at-large—duties are spread diversely across the council. When each candidate was asked what specific area they would like to be involved with most under their position, Jones stated her skills sets to be in event planning, thus making Scarlet and Gold an exciting possibility. Through a position as a member-at-large, she hopes to improve equity and sustainability interests. Kengatharan also explained her interest in the equity, as well as commuter, commissions. Her vision is to create safe, inclusive spaces for all students.
Moyo stated that his main area of interest as a councillor on VUSAC would be the Arts and Culture Commission, where he hopes to increase visibility of any events and clubs supported by VUSAC. Lynch, having the richest record of campus experience, says he plans to invest his time on VUSAC’s internal matters, as well as the equity commission’s portfolio.
In the recent wake of events and controversies circling Professor Peterson and related free speech campaigns, it has become crucial that student government remains aware and active. To address this need, the current VUSAC co-president, Rahul Christoffersen, proposed that candidates speak on their involvement regarding such controversial issues. Moyo responded that the knowledge available to VUSAC should be best utilized when representing the student population: “I suggest we take the students at Vic, their general needs and wants, and try to incorporate it themselves.”
Following Moyo, Kengatharan stated that all voices Vic should be heard and understood. She believes that VUSAC must be able to represent certain views so that our campus can be a safe space and student government can be a place of support. Lynch concluded that VUSAC should remain a political institution, and with that comes political obligations. In making VUSAC a safe space, for instance, Lynch explains that “we have to be careful not to represent the small vocal minority that’s disproportionate to everyone else.”
Jones, who claimed that she was not heavily involved on campus in her first year, said VUSAC is based upon students, and “the goal of that is to represent your peers.” She spoke more specifically on improving awareness and involvement among students by learning what works for students: “Whether it’s from an individual, or listserv, people will get involved and they will continue.”
Moyo followed Jones’ statement about working to understand what suits students best, expressing that VUSAC should “spice it up” and continue to explore other avenues for reaching students. Moyo included that the student body is “a general term” in that it is “exactly what it entails, which is putting the students first,” and VUSAC should aim to achieve as such. Experiences of having presidents who were accessible to students has resonated with Moyo in previous years, and he hopes to continue promoting that through his work on VUSAC.
Kengatharan added that the best way to spread awareness about campus events is through word of mouth, and that VUSAC should aim to be accessible and provide a space for people to express their opinions.
In response to a question from Sustainability Commissioner, Jamil Fiorino-Habib, about which current initiatives should be phased out, Kengatharan encouraged book and clothing swaps, which would introduce further sustainable routines for students to consider and practice. Lynch answered Habib-Fiorino’s question on sustainable practices with his plans to raise awareness on Vic’s current waste output and recycling system. In the current system, paper and plastic recycling is mixed, along with waste and organics. There is currently no compost system at Vic.
During the Town Hall, as well as on the official Facebook platform, Lynch expressed that another large issue within VUSAC is the aforementioned ‘VUSAC bubble,’ along with other ‘sub-bubbles’ in the Vic community. To work towards resolving this long-standing problem, Lynch suggested in his Facebook post that VUSAC members do not use the office as a social place—which decreases its approachability. Lynch encouraged the deconstruction of such bubbles, rather than mere conversations on the matter.
Voting is hosted at voting.utoronto.ca from October 29th-November 1st.
