What is wrong with the SSMU? What things would you fix?
We promote this mentality both internally and externally of “us versus them,” and even at times “good versus evil.” And it’s just so combative and so inconducive to real progress and it gets to the point where people not only get coloured into these certain spectrums, but also, it’s almost as if only one side can win. It’s either us or the administration, its either QPIRG or Conservative McGill, one councillor or another, and it marginalizes the minority and it doesn’t really do anything for the student body. And ultimately we spend so much time combating against each other when we should really be working with one another and we don’t do enough of that.
How would you tackle GA reform next year?
You can implant short term mechanisms to change stuff like marginalization of the minority, things as simple as: if one third of the body wants to go to an online vote, then you should be able to go to an online vote, if we hit room capacity and people still want to get in, by default you go to an online vote. However, there are two overarching issues: the SSMU doesn’t provide proper forums for discussion and if anything, the GA is used as a fallback for frustrations people feel, whether its issues that have to do with the SSMU or issues that are completely external to the SSMU. The second is student apathy. The reason we don’t hit quorum is not because the GA isn’t advertised well enough, it’s not because the motions aren’t advertise well enough, it’s just that students don’t care. And is this a book you can rewrite over one year? No, but promoting that sort of culture will ultimately benefit the GA.
What do you think SSMU should do about Jobbook?
Letting the past issues regarding [President Newburgh] and Jobbook overshadow the possibility of there being an amazing service for students would really come at the detriment of bettering student life and if the contract is amazing and if the council or executive or whoever decides that this is something that could truly benefit student life, then we would be failing our student body in not signing on to something like that. But it depends on the contract, it depends on the service. But we have to understand that we’re only here for four years and that our relationship with Jobbook will ultimately extend so much farther down the line and we can’t look at the situation in such an enclosed bubble.
One of the president’s most important goals is being a liaison to the administration. What is your relationship like with administrators such as the principle, deputy provost and provost?
I think we take a very negative approach in the way that we address the administration. We often times take such an entrenched stance in our issues without being able to understand the issues that they are facing as administrators and as people who are trying to not spend money that they don’t have.
