( Photo Provided )
The Charlatan’s KATHERINE BOONE talked to out-going Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) president Brittany Smyth about what she feels she achieved this year, what she regrets and her advice for future executive.
This is an abridged version of the interview.
The Charlatan: What had you hoped to accomplish during your term as CUSA president and did you achieve those goals?
Brittany Smyth: There were a couple of broader things I would like to have seen done. Some of it was an update to the bylaws and policies CUSA had, some were issues that I saw CUSA had last year [with the] vice-president (internal) and wanted to get that stuff fixed. Some were issues we had last year with the fake clubs that were created and [I] wanted to put some new policies in place to prevent that from happening again.
Also, just some work at the Board of Governors and Senate level to see some changes there, moving forward on the election stuff for student reps on the Board of Governors. I wanted to see what was going to happen with that and try and play a role in those changes. Keeping them from going online as well was something that I really wanted to be a part of and trying to focus back on our service centres as well, trying to diversify some of our programming, reaching out to different students and trying to get more people involved in the association.
TC: Do you feel you achieved these goals?
BS: Some of them, yes. The clubs report for sure we finished up and I think we made some really great changes to some of the bylaws to try to avoid things like that from happening again.
We managed to keep the Board of Governors election a paper ballot, which was really great, although there’s still some work that needs to be done there.
I think the service centre has really expanded a bit more this year as well. We brought in a lot more new people who are involved in the association now, which is really great. It had its ups and downs throughout the year, but I think we definitely made some great steps.
TC: Do you feel you succeeded in representing the interests and needs of the students at Carleton? Why or why not?
BS: I think so. I mean, it was an interesting year for sure, I can’t stress that enough. It had its ups and its downs, but I think generally it’s been pretty good. We managed to do some great advocacy — the Nov. 5 day of action was really wonderful. We had so many students out. We had some really great successes with it as well and we made some wonderful steps forward just as students broadly.
We won the system of needs-based grants and a bunch of other wonderful stuff, which is definitely moving in the right direction for students. It’s been a good year and we’ve had some great success. It’s had its downs as well, but I think generally speaking it was pretty good.
TC: If you had the opportunity to re-do or change any decision from this year, what would you pick and why?
BS: I don’t think that’s an overly tough choice — I would definitely say the November council meeting and definitely doing the Shinerama motion over again. Now looking back at it, we can definitely see what we could have done differently. We meant the best of intentions with it. No one on our council at all meant for that to be how it was interpreted or anything like that. Hindsight is 20/20, so we definitely know what we could have fixed there.
TC: How do you think it should have been handled?
BS: Looking back, we should have defeated the motion and get the writer of the motion to rewrite it to include different whereas clauses, because [the whereas clauses] were the real issue. The whereas clauses only reflect the opinions of the person motivating the motion. The intentions of the motion were really good. We were just looking into doing different charities or rotating charities. The motion had good intentions, it was just the whereas clauses that were the problem. Fixing those would have been something I would love to have changed.
TC: After the backlash you received from some students, why did you decide to run for the CUSA councillor this year?
BS: I think that besides the Shinerama stuff it was a pretty good year. I’ve been involved in the student association at CUSA for two years and at [the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA)] before that for a number of years. I really enjoy being involved. I think I’ve managed to do some pretty good stuff on campus and there’s still a lot more stuff I’d like to see done.
I enjoy being involved in the different committees and the different things happening on campus. I’m also sitting in next year as a student on the Board of Governors. I think to have a student there [on the CUSA council] who also sits on the Board of Governors is worthwhile to be able to bring back information from CUSA and from the students there.
I definitely have my controversy from this year, that’s for sure, but I really enjoy being involved on campus. I really like Carleton. I’m happy with everything that I’ve had the opportunity to do here and I really wanted to continue doing some work, so I’m happy I was re-elected. I’m excited for next year. It will be nice to be able to take a back seat to some of this stuff and still be involved.
TC: You’ve received a lot of flack for getting involved in other student governments this year (University of Ottawa’s Canadian Federation of Students referendum and York election). What do you see as the CUSA president’s responsibilities?
BS: The CFS referendum at the University of Ottawa, I think, is actually incredibly important to Carleton students. We are one of the founding members and founding locals of the Canadian Federation of Students. To have students in Ottawa all united through the federation is incredibly beneficial to students here at Carleton. In Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, all the students in the entire province are part of the CFS and they’ve seen tremendous successes across their province in terms of tuition fee reductions and freezes year after year and all different great successes. To have students united like that is incredibly beneficial. I think that especially here in the nation’s capital it is beneficial to have all of us working together in the federation. I think that campaigning at the University of Ottawa for the CFS referendum was absolutely something that I should have been doing and that CUSA should have been involved in because it’s directly related to what’s happening here at Carleton.
The York University elections are completely different. I did that simply as my own personal thing. I have friends at York and a good friend of mine was running in the York election. I haven’t taken any time off all year, with the exception of two days in the summer, so I took three days vacation and went down to York to help out. I also visited a friend of mine while I was there and just kind of hung around. I wasn’t there as the CUSA president. CUSA made no endorsements to any team in the York elections and CUSA had nothing to do with it. I was there on my own dime, on my own time just helping out a friend.
TC: What do you want to do after you graduate?
BS: I’m not sure yet. I keep changing around the different things I want to do. I still have a couple of credits left, because I changed my minor and my concentration this year, so I’m still coming back for some more courses. As a potential backup plan I have the courses I’d need for teacher’s college. Ideally I’d like to do work with youth, but kind of more like a troubled young offenders type thing. I’ve always wanted to get into policing, so I may still go that route, but working in high schools with troubled youth would be something I’d love to do. . . . Working as CUSA president is definitely not any political training for me.
TC: So why did you decide to get involved in politics?
BS: To be perfectly honest, I don’t even know. I look back at my years here at Carleton and I’m not sure how I got here. It was one of those instances where I just kept getting involved and really enjoyed it. In my first year I was a floor rep for RRRA, and my second year I was a res fellow. From there I was a vice-president (administration) at RRRA. I really enjoyed that and ended up running for vice-president (internal) here at CUSA. I had an awesome year [as vice-president (internal)] and really loved the work that the student association did. I really think that we play an important role on campus advocating for students. I wanted to continue and so I ran again for president. It’s been an interesting five years. I just really enjoyed it and I really believe in the work that students are doing in the province and in here at Carleton specifically. I’m really happy to be a part of it.
TC: You’ve held several roles on councils during your time at Carleton. What’s been the most enjoyable and why?
BS: I really enjoy CUSA council. This year has been a lot of fun and I really enjoyed being the vice-president (internal) as well. I’m really organized and I like the organizing part as far as CUSA council and things like that go. I enjoy the meeting settings and things like that, so I enjoyed my role as vice-president (internal) a lot. This year, as well, was fun. Each year has been so different, and each [role] is so different from another that it’s hard to compare them all. I really enjoy sitting on the Board of Governors as well. It’s always pretty interesting, and it’s so different. RRRA is really fun, too. It’s more basic than CUSA. It’s about having fun. I honestly don’t think I can really pick a favourite.
TC: After a controversial election process, how do you see next year’s executive working together?
BS: I think it will be interesting. I’ve only ever been involved when it’s a full team. RRRA runs on a full team ticket and the last two years I’ve been involved [where] a full slate has won all the positions. It’s been a number of years since there’s been a mix. It’ll be interesting. I think that everyone will still learn to work together. It may be a little difficult for everyone to adjust, but there are a lot of good people coming in and I think it will be good. They may have their issues, but it’ll be interesting to see. There are definitely benefits to having an entire team. When you’ve prepared to run, you go over what it is you want to do and especially for decisions you need to have everyone on board. It can be difficult if not everyone is on the same wavelength or has the same idea for some things, but it usually goes to a majority vote within the executive when it comes to things that not everyone is on board for. As long as people can make a decision and stand by one another, I think it’ll be a good year.
TC: What advice would you give to next year’s president?
BS: It’s hard to say. Everyone is so different. Even just looking at the last couple of years and the presidents I’ve known here — very different. What I’ve done and what I wanted to do was very different from what [past presidents] wanted to do.
I guess after this year I would say to read your motions carefully, but on a more serious note I would say just have fun. Some people take this too seriously and can get too wrapped up in it. It’s important to realize that it’s a student association. I would recommend a taking step back and just looking at what’s in the best interest of students. This is definitely no stepping stone for some grand career in politics or anything like that and so I would say not to take advantage of the position. But don’t take it too seriously. Always work your hardest. It is important, and everything you do obviously has consequences for the students. Make sure you’re always doing what’s in the best interest of the students no matter what.