This year’s Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) general elections are upon us once again, and they’re so far looking like an echo of last year’s elections with three slates in the running.
Slates have dominated CUSA politics much of the past few years at Carleton. Students who are now in their fifth year have never seen a year at Carleton when a full slate wasn’t running.
The slate A Better Carleton gained each of their members a seat in office for three consecutive years, and the trend was only broken in the last year, when one member of Change CUSA was elected into office along with five members of Your Carleton. This break represented a major shift in CUSA politics, which in recent history has consistently echoed party politics.
Students should remember this when voting, and remember that they can vote for each position individually and are not limited to the slates. Student politics shouldn’t be an extension of the party politics that dominate our federal system.
Slates can be helpful in uniting students towards a common goal, but they can also be harmful by creating a divide between various groups of students.
Students should put party politics aside and vote for the candidates they think are most qualified to carry CUSA forward and benefit the students they govern, whether it be candidates from an entire slate, or individuals from different slates. Consider each candidate individually, and remember that a CUSA made with candidates from varying slates might be a more diverse CUSA.
