The executive candidates from all three slates running in the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) elections battled it out in a live debate the evening of Jan. 27.
Executives debated issues such as rising tuition fees, safe spaces on campus, and financial transparency.
All three presidential campaigns presented a platform to make student living more affordable.
Dan Crich, presidential candidate for ACT Now Carleton, said he thinks there should be a solid campaign on campus to advocate for lower tuition.
Fahd Alhattab with Your Carleton said he is willing to fight for lower tuition fees but cannot promise to lower them. Alhattab added he “won’t make promises he can’t keep.”
Ahmadou Gitteh, presidential candidate for Change CUSA said he wants to create jobs for students and advocate for lower tuition. He expressed his support for the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) and their “Drop Fees” campaign.
Defederating from the CFS was a hot topic during the debate. There have not been CFS materials in CUSA service centres since 2012, and Crich said students should be informed about the CFS before CUSA issues a referendum about it.
Alhattab agreed that students should be informed and pointed to CUSA’s CFS review committee and its final report, released last semester, that called for a defederation referendum. He said the committee has done a good job, and supported the call for a referendum.
When asked about collaboration with the Graduate Students’ Assocation (GSA) Crich said he planned to work closely with them and didn’t want to see anymore division on Carleton’s campus. Gitteh said the GSA and CUSA are “one in the same,” while Alhattab said he is prepared to build a relationship with the GSA.
Abdulla Alromaihi, ACT Now Carleton’s candidate for vice-president (finance), said he wants to sit with clubs and societies and work with them to manage their money. He said he believes clubs and societies need more funding and he wants to help them “be more frugal with their money.”
Change CUSA’s candidate for vice-president (finance), Gurinder Singh, said he wants to balance the budget while Craig Handy, with Your Carleton, said he wants to achieve a transparent and accountable budget.
Handy said his team plans to implement an online delivery system for Haven Books so students can pick up books they ordered online on campus.
Singh said he will make sure CUSA businesses are equipped to deal with their finances by using his extensive financial experience.
ACT Now Carleton’s candidate, Roy Sengupta, was the first to speak during the vice-president (student issues) debate. He argued students have been abandoned in terms of their tuition and financial support, saying many students he knows had to drop out of university because they couldn’t afford it.
Sengupta criticized Your Carleton’s unreliable track record in fighting to lower tuition and said the current executive doesn’t fight when they need to fight in terms of student issues.
Ashley Courchene, Change CUSA’s candidate, noted he was the only Indigenous student running in the election and said he wanted to push for more recognition of Indigenous issues on campus. He also criticized CUSA’s track record and argued his team had the experience to lower student fees.
While Courchene said CUSA should strive to create a safe space on campus, he acknowledged it’s possible to have both free speech and safe space on campus, that they can balance each other out, and the terms are not mutually exclusive.
Sengupta mentioned the “Fuck Safe Space” shirt controversy and further criticized the current executive for not supporting his safe space motion after the scandal.
“It’s shameful council chose to vote down a motion to reaffirm safe space policy on campus,” Sengupta said.
Maddie Adams, the Your Carleton candidate for vice-president (student issues) outlined how her slate would create a safe environment for students and that she wants to pick up the current work of vice-president (student issues) Maddy Porter to better CUSA’s sexual assault strategy.
Adams also said improving health plan coverage and increased library hours would benefit students. In response to the proposal of extended library hours, Courchene said he hadn’t heard one student complain about the issue. After multiple students in the audience raised their hands to say they would enjoy increased library hours, Adams countered and described how the policy would create more jobs for students.
Candidates running for vice-president student life said they want to make the campus more inclusive. Shonalie Raha running with ACT Now Carleton said frosh is “catered towards one type of person” and said it should be more multicultural.
Your Carleton candidate John Mesman said he wanted to bring back the CUSA street team and bring a box office into the student life centre. Sean Smith from Change CUSA said he wants to start the Carleton Olympic Games with a flag waving ceremony.
The debate for the vice president (student services) position centered around listening to students to improve service centres.
Frena Hailekiros from the Your Carleton slate suggested the creation of a Ravens Cart that would deliver food to students around Carleton during exams. Hailekiros also advocated for improving the services in the multifaith centre.
Sadia Wamunyu from the Change CUSA slate promised to collaborate and work with the administration to improve service centres.
“The first step to achievement is collaboration,” she said.
Chany Singh of ACT Now Carleton promised to increase outreach to students so they know which services are available to them on campus.
Sofia Dala, the current vice-president (internal) and candidate for the same position for the Your Carleton slate said she wanted to create a CUSA oversight committee. David MacMillan, the candidate for ACT Now Carleton, and Rasha Choudhury, the candidate for Change CUSA, both disagreed with the creation of the committee and said that CUSA council already does the same thing.
MacMillan said he wants to make the website for clubs and societies better as the current site is “terrible” and that “booking spaces should be as easy as getting a coffee at Rooster’s.”
Choudhury said she wants CUSA to fully support councillors and provide them with better training.
Voting for CUSA elections takes place Wed. Jan. 28 and Thurs. Jan. 29 with results released Thursday evening.
