What are the most important issues facing the VP UA next year?

Making sure that the university continues its commitment to accessible financial aid. That’s going to continue to be a priority because McGill’s committed to giving 30 cents on every net new dollar from the tuition increases to financial aid, but we need to make sure that it stays accessible.  

We need to work with the resources that we have. So looking at ways we can promote library services which are really phenomenal but underused. 

One of my platform points is the reintroduciton of the discussion for a midday break. That would be a really great university-wide policy. 

What would be your role in addressing divide between students and admin?

I would be an effective communicator. If you consult my senate speaking record, when student rights have come under attack I’ve been the one who has been the most consistently vocal at Senate. We need people who are willing to stand up and talk about these things. 

How would you address those who are critical of your role in the sixth floor occupation?

There’s an underlying issue to the occupation which has gone unaddressed because we focused on tactics, not substance. I don’t necessarily agree with all the tactics that were used. … But at the same time, I think the reason those people were up there … was the fact that the administration had taken an executive decision in our democratic process. 

We don’t serve at the pleasure of the university, we serve at the pleasure of students and we serve at the pleasure of the society that represents them. There is a minimal acceptable standard for interacting with the university: they should respect the democratic decision-making that they have given us. It’s well established that we have the power to self-determination in certain respects, and that needs to be a fundamentally protected right.

If you were a superhero what would your power be?

Maybe having a really loud voice so everybody could hear me.