The Strand sat down with Ally Johnston, candidate for the Board of Regents in the 2018 spring VUSAC elections, to chat about her platform which focuses on the importance of increasing sustainability in the Victoria College community.
The Strand: Why did you choose to run for the board of regents?
Ally: I served as counselor [on VUSAC] this year, and I really liked the sort of intro to student politics, but I wanted to take it a step further. I felt like the Board of Regents would be a good place to apply the skills I learned, in terms of what student life is about, where there are some flaws in Vic, and to also learn some more to better help the student body.
You mentioned some “flaws in Vic.” What are they, and what do you plan to do to fix them?
I think when I applied to Vic, and I think when a lot of other people applied to Vic, it was known as this more forward-thinking place that’s very artistic, where people care about things like the environment, about equality, but there seems to be this kind of cognitive dissonance within Vic as an entity, because those values that a lot of the students have aren’t really applied to our policies. That’s where I think the Board of Regents comes in, because we could work to divest from fossil fuels. This is one of the main things I’m working towards, but also to put in place some policies or some resources for students who may feel unsafe because of their identities.
A big part of your platform focuses on sustainability and fossil fuels. Why did you choose to run for Board of Regents instead of Sustainability Commissioner?
I think Jared [the current sustainability commissioner] is doing a great job, and he is running for reelection and I would really like to see what he does next there. I also think that the Board of Regents is the place to work on divestment—which is not how Victoria itself runs say, waste disposal, but it’s where it chooses to place its money which also has a large impact but in a different way.
If you get elected, what are the main short-term and long-term goals of your platform?
So, sustainability is a long-term goal. I know Alexa Breininger has been on the Board, and she was talking about how it is a very slow-moving body, so that would definitely take a long time to come to fruition. For short-term [goals], I would like to see upgrades to all online resources for international students looking to come to Vic, and also for students to know where they can get help if they need it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
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