Candidates from five faculties—public affairs, arts and social sciences, business, engineering and design, and science—participated in a councillor debate ahead of the 2019 Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) elections in the University Centre Atrium on Jan. 28.
While the executive debate saw a big crowd, the councillor debate which followed it saw students leave as candidates took the stage.
A recurring theme throughout the debate was improving networking for students, holding execs accountable, and lobbying for the proposed changes to OSAP and ancillary fees by the Ont. government in the 2019-20 year.
Faculty of Public Affairs (FPA)
The Faculty of Public Affairs saw the largest candidate turnout. Of the 12 candidates running for six positions, seven faced off in the debate.
Kareem Al-Wazir, a second-year business law student and FPA councillor, said he wants to lobby for the OSAP changes, and make mental health resources more accessible.
He also said he wants to improve networking for FPA students by hosting more career-focused events.
“We’re set for school, but we’re not set for after,” he said.
Angeley Constant, a third-year global and international studies (BGinS) student, said she wants to improve communication between councillors and students.
“When I started this campaign, I received a lot of love and support from my friends and people that I just met, so my point as FPA councillor is to return that open-mindedness and warmth to my constituencies,” she said.
Constant also said she wants to help students understand “what they pay into as part of their education.”
Tinu Akinwande, a second-year political science student, said she wants to improve student mobilization and advocacy.
“As a minority, I know how it feels to have opportunity and to want to hold onto it,” she said. “I want to advocate for change, I want to advocate for representation.”
Dami Fakolujo, another BGinS student in his second year, said his main platform point is giving students the option to directly pay CUSA’s service centres and improve CUSA townhalls.
“Starting next year, you will have the option to not pay fees to CUSA,” he said. “I believe that giving students the option to opt-out of CUSA presents a problem that could be solved with a solution like giving students a chance to give money to these centres without necessarily being a part of CUSA.”
Ruby Ezeh, said she has four main platform points: transparency, accessibility, effectiveness, and unity.
“With these four goals, we as FPA students can thrive inside the walls of Carleton, and especially outside when we graduate,” she said.
Ezeh said she hopes to do this by increasing networking opportunities for FPA students.
Camille Houde, a first-year social work student, said she hopes to increase student engagement by expanding volunteering opportunities.
“It can be really tough to make new friends, to make new connections coming to university,” she said. “More advertising of CUSA events, better programming, and all-around better connections for off-campus students.”
Osman Elmi, a second-year student, said he hopes to improve student representation, hosting faculty events, and more accessible OSAP.
Arts and Social Sciences, Engineering, and Science
Out of six seats on council, there are only three candidates running in this year’s council elections. Of the three, only one was present at the debate: Ryan Evans, a third-year geography student.
Evans said he wants to make the campus more environmentally friendly and “enjoyable.”
Evans added that he wants to make the campus greener by using paper containers in Olliver’s and other food joints on campus.
According to Evans, the biggest problem faced by FASS students is jobs for graduating students.
Evans said he wants to improve this by helping students plan for the future.
“If they want to get a job, or if they want to stay in school—I want to make sure they’re on the right track,” he said.
Three candidates are running to fill two council seats in the Faculty of Business, but were not present at the debate.
Only one student is running for the engineering councillor position out of six council seats this year.
Cameron Davis, a first-year software engineering student, said he wants to create a committee for engineering minorities such as “engi-queers and women in engineering,” and advocate for more mental health support for engineering students.
Davis said he wants to improve communication within the faculty by hosting monthly meetings with students, and improve transparency by pushing for CUSA to have general meetings.
According to Davis, the biggest problem with the faculty is that engineering students do not interact with design students. He said he hopes to improve this by promoting unity.
The Faculty of Science has seven students running for four spots on council, but only one was present at the debate.
Hailey Graham, a second-year food science student, said she hopes to improve communication within the faculty by being listening to students, being accessible, and being approachable.
Photo by Temur Durrani
