Maggie Knight: President

From renegotiating the MoA to leading the charge on GA reform to assisting pepper-sprayed students on Nov. 10, Maggie Knight has been the face of SSMU throughout the semester. Her clear vision, approachability, and determination have helped voice students’ concerns to administration in this politically-charged semester. 

The Tribune especially commends Knight’s diplomacy and political tact since she took office. She has managed to navigate controversial situations like the MUNACA strike and MoA negotiation while remaining objective and always putting the needs of her constituents above her personal views.   

Knight has a clear version of SSMU—one that is democratic, transparent, and accountable. Knight has done everything in her power to uphold one of her campaign promises: a commitment to increasing transparency. This semester’s strategic summits and town halls—while often sparsely attended—have proven to be an excellent forum for discourse. However, the GA lost quorum and the strategic summit to reform the GA was under-attended. Despite Knight’s best efforts to reform many parts of SSMU, students haven’t reciprocated, and these events have been sparsely attended, leading some to wonder if student apathy is here to stay.

Carol Fraser: VP Clubs and Services

Carol Fraser, SSMU’s VP Clubs and Services, has done an excellent job with such a broad and expansive portfolio. She’s been very informative and fulfilled her duties effectively in the face of a number of challenges this year, including the MUNACA strike and SSMU’s new Memorandum of Agreement with the McGill administration. She has worked closely with clubs regarding name changes, advanced room bookings, and information regarding building hours under the strike. She has also been very accessible, holding office hours and keeping in close contact with heads of clubs, and has been a source of positive energy in a tense and stressful semester.

Shyam Patel: VP Finance

Shyam Patel has been an effective VP Finance so far. Earlier in the year, Patel stated that he wanted to make the budget more accessible, and he has done just that. Patel’s presentation of SSMU’s budget was almost as clean as his suits. Earlier in the year, Patel had plans for a student-run café and claimed that he would resign if it didn’t come to fruition. The café seems to still be under-wraps, but for the pure sake of keeping Patel around, we hope it opens soon. Students should hope to see more of this hands-on VP in the semester to come.

Joël Pedneault: VP External

Although the Tribune has had a difficult time deciphering the correct pronunciation of the VP External’s first name, Pedneault has demonstrated a strong capacity and dedication to the fulfillment  of his portfolio. Communicating as eloquently in French as he does in English, Pedneault is a competent representative of the undergraduate student body. He campaigned extensively on the issue of tuition increases, so his strong work promoting accessible education this year comes as no surprise. He has appeared multiple times this semester in local and national news, discussing the MUNACA strike, the disciplinary action levelled against him, and the police actions of Nov. 10.

From his work with the Mob Squad and other activist groups, it is clear that Joël is immensely passionate and works incredibly hard for the causes he believes in—including workers’ rights as it pertains to the MUNACA strike and tuition hike increases. The Tribune appreciates Joël’s commitment to these issues and commends his work thus far as an executive who can clearly articulate students’ concerns.

That said, next semester we hope to see a clearer bigger distinction made between his personal activism and his role as a SSMU exec. The VP External represents the student body to the outside world—a diverse group of over 20,000 students who have differing views. As an example, while it was important for him to speak at a press conference for MUNACA in early October, his unwavering support for MUNACA’s demands may be at odds with the views of some of the SSMU members.

Emily Yee Clare: VP University Affairs

This semester, Emily Yee Clare, SSMU’s VP University Affairs, faced several challenges in terms of negotiations with the administration. Along with Maggie Knight, Emily played a pivotal role in the negotiation of SSMU’s Memorandum of Agreement and the Shatner lease with the administration. In particular, she fought hard to keep the use of “McGill” in the names of clubs and services. The Tribune commends her decision to abstain from the Council vote on the MoA. As a negotiator, she believed she had a vested interest in the matter.

Throughout the semester, Clare demonstrated tremendous commitment to SSMU activities and was a regular face at the many strategic summits, town halls and consultation events the executives have organized. She has been effective in establishing dialogue with different sectors of the administration. Finally, the Tribune admires Emily’s dedication on the night of Nov. 10, when she spent several hours at the SSMU office providing support and company to students who were affected by the riot police. She has demonstrated that she cares for students and deserves recognition for her dedication. We are confident that whatever curveballs next semester brings, she will face them head-on.

Todd Plummer: VP internal

You might recognize the name Todd Plummer (aka “Plumm Sauce”), SSMU
‘s VP Internal, from the listservs he periodically sends to all SSMU members. This year, he changed SSMU listservs from a long email with too many ads into a brief paragraph with a link to the SSMU website, containing all the week’s notices for those interested. The Tribune really appreciated the new system, and was somewhat confused as to why halfway through the year, he returned to the old system.

Todd also oversaw Frosh, now called Orientation Week, and successfully implemented the administration’s new rules on alcohol consumption. Four Floors, one of SSMU’s staple events of the year, also occurred smoothly and successfully, and Homecoming was a much smaller event this year—probably for good reason. Overall, Plummer has done a great job in fulfilling his portfolio. We look forward to the exam time puppies he has promised throughout the year during Council. The puppy event is now just a general dog event, where students can come to pet dogs to de-stress, but we appreciate it all the same.