The turnout for last week’s Arts Undergraduate Society elections was a relatively healthy 14.4 per cent. What the AUS didn’t have, though, was enough candidates. Five of the 10 elected positions, including the presidency, were acclaimed.
This is an all-too-familiar story in McGill student politics. It’s rare to find a Students’ Society or faculty association executive without at least one acclaimed executive. In the past decade, one in every four SSMU executives have been acclaimed, according to the Tribune’s records. This year, within the four largest faculty associations (AUS, the Science Undergraduate Society, the Engineering Undergraduate Society, and the Management Undergraduate Society), approximately one in three executives were acclaimed.
Management Undergraduate Society President Celine Junke called the problem “huge.”
“Ideally, you want every position to be contested,” said Tais McNeil, the chief electoral officer of Elections McGill.
Acclaimed candidates aren’t always unqualified—they can often be as passionate and committed as those who are elected. But history, at least, shows that acclamation is risky. Last year’s Arts Frosh lost the AUS $30,105 under the management of acclaimed AUS Vice-President Events, Nampande Londe. Faculty associations sit on thousands of student dollars, but there is nothing to stop an unqualified candidate from getting their hands on them.
“This is the second year I’ve run without an opponent. I was ready for [one],” said Jade Calver, who was acclaimed as next year’s AUS president on Wednesday.
The Reasons
Current student executives say that the problem isn’t student apathy, but the nature of the positions.
“It is a very difficult job,” said Dave Marshall, the current AUS president, who was also acclaimed. “It’s a huge time commitment and it’s a lot of time away from your studies. In many cases, it requires you to take a fewer number of courses. Students, particularly international students, will take a look at a role like this and say, ‘If I get involved in a student association, I’ll have to pay another $15,000 to stay an extra semester.'”
Marshall’s year has been particularly stormy. After the AUS’s drastic Frosh losses, the federal and provincial governments seized three years of the organization’s back taxes, the City of Montreal sued the AUS over a misplaced poster, and the university administration withheld the Society’s student fees because of unfiled audits. It is therefore not surprising that students aren’t eager to run for executive positions.
Moreover, some portfolios require serious technical expertise, especially finance and operations and external representation positions.
“[These positions are] very technical, they’re very difficult, and some students are intimidated by them,” McNeill said.
Unsurprisingly, these positions are the most commonly acclaimed.
“A lot of people say that it’s indicative of student apathy, and I don’t think that that’s absolutely correct,” Marshall said. “If you look at the number of people involved at the AUS, if you look at the people who are unpaid and stick around our offices and do great things for our students, that’s not the case. You won’t get any more qualified candidates involved, because the people who really want to be involved are already involved in the AUS in some capacity.”
While apathy isn’t the main reason for the problem, it seems hard to believe that it does not play a role. This year’s paltry 14.4 per cent AUS election turnout was one of the “highest ever,” according to Marshall.
The Solutions
There are a number of possible solutions. Marshall said that the university should compensate student executives.
“When I look at my fellow student leaders across McGill, I know that they’re doing amazing things, and it’s sort of a shame that a lot of them won’t get the recognition they deserve,” he said. “There really is an obligation for the university to put their money where their mouth is, when they say that they support student leaders.”
He suggested that they might subsidize the extra semesters that executives often have to stay, as is the case at some other universities in Canada. The student executives of the colleges at the University of Western Ontario, for example, are exempt from tuition during their periods of service.
According to McNeill, some think getting rid of some executive positions and reallocating their responsibilities is a solution. Marshall, however, said that this would overburden the executives who remained.
There is an awareness of the problem in the faculty associations, however, and some signs that change may be coming. Earlier this year, the MUS effected changes in its administrative structure which make most of its executive positions appointed. The students elect a 13-member Board of Directors, including a president, which then appoints six executives.
“We saw the election process as not the most ideal way to select the most qualified candidates,” Junke said. “Appointing is something that we do not regret right now.”
Marshall noted that the acclaimed position that caused the most problems for the AUS last September, VP events, drew three candidates this year. Occasionally, students aren’t as apathetic as they’re made out to be.
