After an eleven-day campaign period, Jovan Popovic was elected president of the MSU for the 2023-2024 academic year

On Jan. 26, Jovan Popovic was elected president of the McMaster Students Union for the 2023-2024 academic year.  

On Jan. 26, Jovan Popovic was elected president of the McMaster Students Union for the 2023-2024 academic year.  

Amarah Hasham-Steele, NEws Editor

Popovic's campaign prioritized student engagement with the MSU, student athletics and the commuter experience. Some of Popovic's campaign points included securing more funds for MSU clubs, revitalizing the Welcome Week experience and increasing student engagement through sporting events.

Approximately 10.5 per cent of McMaster students voted in the election, or 2,902 students out of a total 27, 690.

The minimum number of votes required to elect a president was 1231. Popovic was elected with a total of 1,326 votes.

This is a developing story.

C/O Travis Nguyen, Photo Editor

President-elect Simranjeet Singh discusses this year’s low voter turnout and his hopes to rebuild student engagement with the MSU

On Jan. 27, after a three-day election period, Simranjeet Singh was announced as the president-elect of the McMaster Students Union, winning 65.7 per cent of the votes.  

Out of 27, 149 eligible voters, only 3,107 students, or 11.4 per cent of the eligible student population, chose to cast their votes. According to Singh, the online nature of the campaigning period may have contributed to the low voter turnout.  

“When I, for example, gave class talks, it probably wasn’t as impactful [as in-person class talks] just because of the nature of how online courses are delivered,” said Singh.  

However, Singh also noted that the voter turnout for MSU elections has been trending downwards for a few years, even prior to the onset of the pandemic.  

“Even though 2020 and 2018, for example, were only two years apart and they were both in a pre-pandemic landscape, there was still a vast difference in voter turnout,” said Singh.  

“Even though 2020 and 2018, for example, were only two years apart and they were both in a pre-pandemic landscape, there was still a vast difference in voter turnout."

Simranjeet Singh, MSU President-elect

Singh explained that the decline in voter turnout may be due to a disconnect between the programming offered by the MSU and the needs of the students.  

“I certainly hope that with some of the changes I hope to bring forth, we can ensure that students are receiving the services and resources they need, and then hopefully are more engaged,” said Singh.  

According to Singh, helping students to better engage with and understand the MSU is one of his key priorities. Singh highlighted how students are often not aware of which services are offered by the MSU or how to access them. This is a problem that he hopes to address in his term as president.  

“Because we have such a low engagement, there's a disconnect that exists between what [students’] needs are and what the MSU is able to accomplish. And I hope, if we can change that, we can set ourselves on a path where students are more aware of what MSU services [there] are and the MSU is better able to actually serve their needs,” said Singh.  

“Because we have such a low engagement, there's a disconnect that exists between what [students’] needs are and what the MSU is able to accomplish. And I hope, if we can change that, we can set ourselves on a path where students are more aware of what MSU services [there] are and the MSU is better able to actually serve their needs."

Simranjeet Singh, MSU President-elect

Aside from hoping to increase student engagement, Singh stated that he also hopes to create lasting change within the MSU, making an impact that will be noted by students in years to come.  

“I hope that the impact that I have is big enough that people can look back in a few years or next year and say ‘this was a turning point,’” said Singh.  

As well, Singh emphasized his intentions to work with community partners and levels of government beyond McMaster. Singh explained that, in forming these relationships, he hopes to ensure that student advocacy is received and acted upon.  

However, Singh recognized that not all of his campaign points are equal in scope.  

"I think I’ll have to balance between trying to understand what is a goal that I can accomplish quite quickly and immediately, and what is a goal that I know will take many years to do, but that I can make significant progress on,” said Singh.  

"I think I’ll have to balance between trying to understand what is a goal that I can accomplish quite quickly and immediately, and what is a goal that I know will take many years to do, but that I can make significant progress on."

Simranjeet Singh, MSU President-elect

Overall, Singh emphasized his intention to make a lasting positive impact on the MSU over the course of his term, highlighting the importance of considering student voices in this process. He stated that throughout his campaign he had heard the opinions of a variety of students, which was important for understanding what kinds of changes need to be made.  

“The questions [students] asked, the concerns they had, the feedback and critiques they gave of my campaign points, what they felt I could do better and where I could improve. . .that was a very, very insightful experience, and I really hope to take some of that feedback and actually apply it,” said Singh.  

Starting May 1, Singh will officially take office as MSU president for the 2022-2023 year.  

C/O Denver Della-Vedova

Meet Denver Della-Vedova, one of the candidates running to become MSU president 

Denver Della-Vedova is running for re-election as the McMaster Students Union president. After graduating as a life sciences student in 2021, Della-Vedova was acclaimed to the position of MSU president for the 2021-2022 year.  

His platform features three main pillars, which collectively highlight a total of fourteen major points that he hopes to address in the role of MSU president. These three pillars are amplifying diverse voices, prioritizing student stability and keeping momentum.  

Amplifying Voices 

Della-Vedova wishes to continue the MSU’s relationship with the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities. In his platform, Della-Vedova states that this group has played a key role in lobbying the federal government for students’ interests and he proposes a $1 fee to ensure that the MSU maintains their member status. Della-Vedova also commits to advocating for Indigenous students and undergraduate research funding.  

His second goal is environmental sustainability. More specifically, he hopes to expand the reusable container program and to consider more eco-friendly non-reusable container options. 

His third goal is to increase student advocacy engagement, which he hopes to do by providing students with an MSU Avenue 2 Learn tab, which he says should be available by summer. Additionally, he hopes to utilize the communications department to reach more students.  

His fourth goal is faculty society support. He hopes to better connect Student Representative Assembly caucuses with their respective faculties. Further, he intends to investigate the possibility of pooling resources across the MSU and faculty societies for collaborative events.  

Finally, he hopes to increase the university’s accountability and engagement, potentially by creating an accessible Instagram page for McMaster’s important updates or by creating a Linktree containing reliable McMaster news and information sources.  

Student Stability 

Under the umbrella of student stability, Della-Vedova hopes to address housing instability by raising awareness about where to access housing resources, continuing legal clinics from this year and updating the off-campus housing website.  

Della-Vedova is prioritizing financial stability in his platform. He plans to continue sharing and optimally allocating resources, to push the goals of the OUSA Responding to COVID-19 policy paper and to make jobs more accessible to students.  

His third stability-related goal is mental health; he aims to make current Student Wellness Centre services available more frequently, focus on telehealth and online booking, engage students in positive social events and follow the recommendations of the OUSA Student Health and Wellness paper.  

Finally, Della-Vedova aims to focus on food security. Specifically, he intends to work with the Food Collective Centre to get support from local businesses, looking at potentially expanding the gift card program or buying food in bulk to distribute to students in need. He also intends to make campus food options more allergy friendly. 

Keeping Momentum 

Under the umbrella of keeping momentum, Della-Vedova explains the projects that he would like to continue from this year into next year, as well as logical next steps from projects completed this year.  

Firstly, Della-Vedova wants to improve Welcome Week by implementing a better fee system involving cash advances to faculties, surveying first-year students about the effectiveness of the events and providing better organizational support.  

Della-Vedova's second goal under this umbrella is the prioritization of first-year students. He hopes to better share MSU services through the Archway program and community advisor floor meetings. He hopes to give presentations about the MSU to students in residence.  

His third goal is to improve delivery of online classes. He plans to do this by generating a set of guidelines to ensure the consistency of online course delivery in areas such as types of software, quality of lectures and availability of recordings. 

His fourth goal related to keeping momentum is to increase internal support and student government engagement. He aims to accomplish this through the previously mentioned MSU A2L page and by increasing communications between the Board of Directors and the SRA. Further, he plans to circulate the “Who’s Who in the MSU” document more widely and to lengthen board terms by two weeks to allow for more training time.  

Finally, Della-Vedova aims to improve Student Accessibility Services. He draws attention to the accessibility barrier of requiring a diagnosis from within the last five years and he proposes offering incentives to notetakers so that more students volunteer for this job and are compensated for their work.  

To learn more about Della-Vedova's platform, visit his Instagram page @denverformsu2022.  

C/O Simranjeet Singh

Meet Simranjeet Singh, one of the candidates running to become MSU president 

Simranjeet Singh is a fourth-year biomedical discovery and commercialization student at McMaster. Currently, Singh serves as the McMaster Students Union’s associate vice president: services. He is currently running to become the next MSU president.  

Singh has provided a platform of five core foundations: student wellness, building a stronger community, environmental sustainability, creating more equitable education and career development support.  

Student Wellness 

Singh emphasizes his commitment to student wellness. 

He wants to increase collaboration between the Student Wellness Centre and various student groups around campus, including the MSU. To facilitate this, Singh proposes the creation of a Student Wellness Centre Advisory Committee to serve as a direct liaison between the SWC and leaders of various student bodies. With this, he wishes to increase the number of support groups and staff at SWC enabling a more students to access the service. Singh also hopes to expand Thrive Week, a service offered by the SWC to teach students about stress management and anxiety He believes Thrive Week is underutilized and looks to better inform student societies of the event to garner greater engagement. 

Building a Stronger Community 

Singh proposes a number of solutions to strengthen the McMaster and Hamilton communities.  

He wishes to work with Metrolinx to expand bus service during Welcome Week and reintroduce cancelled express buses. Singh states that this will ease the commute to McMaster for off-campus students and allow the city to plan effective transit routes when taking into consideration peak student times. 

To address housing concerns, Singh wants to conduct a study to determine average rental prices, availability and demand in Ward 1 of Hamilton by collaborating with partners such as Spark: A Centre for Social Science Research Innovation and the MacPherson Institute. The findings of this research study will serve as evidence to advocate for a more affordable housing market for renting students.  

Singh wants to utilize his own experiences of working with provincial and municipal governments to help inform students of their rights and obligations as tenants.  Singh believes this initiative will increase student awareness of bylaws and their rights which will better equip them to navigate finding off-campus housing. 

He wants to support students facing income insecurity or poverty through support increased and bursaries, specifically through the McMaster Access Strategy, a group dedicated to aiding students from marginalized communities in Hamilton access post-secondary education.  

Singh will advocate to implement the Hamilton light-rail transit as soon as possible.  

Environmental Sustainability 

Singh also focuses on increasing environmental sustainability across campus.  

Singh will create a waste management initiative to better understand what waste is produced at McMaster facilities and offer solutions to help this waste be reduced and safely sorted. Believing this to be an overlooked issue on campus, Singh hopes to work directly with facility services, McMaster University Student Center management and the office of sustainability to perform audits to document waste production on campus and brainstorm how this waste can be sustainably managed.  

Singh looks to work with various faculties to develop more sustainable lab practices. He hopes to launch a pilot project that catalogues waste in labs, especially as it relates to the use of plastics. The findings from this project will create a list of best practices to implement within labs to reduce waste.  

Singh wants to work with hospitality services to better understand production of food waste and craft methods to reduce waste production. He has a two-fold plan. First, reduce overall production of excess food waste by campus services. Second, distributing waste generated to disadvantaged students and Hamiltonians experiencing food insecurity.  

Creating More Equitable Education  

Singh aims to create a more equitable educational future for students. 

Singh wants to increase the adoption of open educational resources to reduce and even eliminate textbook costs. He will advocate to substantially increase funding for OER and push to include this as part of the professor tenure process. To kickstart this, Singh will collaborate with the Associate Vice Provost, the OER committee and McMaster Libraries to implement OERs permanently within McMaster’s practices. 

Furthermore, he plans to introduce job opportunities in which students may work as research assistants to help develop OER alongside professors. This will better student-faculty relations and alleviate professors of the responsibility of developing OER, hoping to implement them faster. 

Singh looks to increase experiential learning opportunities to give students more hands-on skills. In collaboration with the office of community engagement, the Student Success Center and MacChangers, he hopes to reintroduce cancelled experiential learning opportunities. 

Singh intends to work towards a tuition freeze and a reduction in any more increased tuition costs. Singh plans to advocate for a moratorium on increase in tuition for the next three years and work with the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance to develop province-wide strategies to increase university funding outside of students.  

Career Development Support  

Singh hopes to increase career development support.  

He aims to increase online chat hours of the Student Success Center to allow students more opportunities to communicate within the department.  

Singh plans use the MSU to help support students with resumes, cover letters and other applications. 

Singh hopes to foster a greater number of educational opportunities so students learn of opportunities that exist after graduation and gain necessary insights into potential careers. He hopes to centralize information about existing career supports and create more networking opportunities in tandem with faculties, student societies and the SSC.  

To learn more about Singh’s platform, visit his Instagram page @vote4simranjeet. 

C/O Simranjeet Singh

Simranjeet’s Singh’s platform offers an ambitious number of ideas to various issues  

With a whooping 26 platform points, Singh brings forth a myriad of solutions to pressing issues, but not without question of feasibility. Singh’s platform hinges on extensive collaboration with numerous organizations within McMaster University and the city of Hamilton.

Student Wellness  

Singh proposes to increase the Student Wellness Center’s collaboration with a variety of McMaster Students Union groups and clubs by creating a Student Wellness Centre Advisory Committee. It would serve as a hub for student leaders to communicate their findings and concerns to the SWC.  

However, current services of the MSU already connect with students through peer support services. The creation of such a committee poses a question of redundancy given that volunteers of these services can already direct students to specific resources, such as the SWC.  

Furthermore, Singh looks to increase the number of group counselling sessions and operating hours of the SWC and to allow students access these services outside of working hours.

Rosanne Kent, the director of the SWC, confirmed Singh had consulted with her regarding this and that his goal is indeed achievable. In fact, the SWC has already been slowly increasing capacity through this academic year with the intent to bring back pre-COVID-19 service in the future.  

Building a Stronger Community 

While Singh’s desire to collaborate with Metrolinx to expand bussing and reintroduce cancelled express bus routes may be ideal to reduce student commute times, Singh does not detail any consultation with Metrolink to address the feasibility of these changes. These bus routes were likely cancelled due to reduced student ridership because of online classes and the trajectory of McMaster’s reopening remains uncertain in this current climate of the pandemic.

Singh has communicated with John McGowan, general manager of the MSU, about ensuring that bus services are reflective of student needs once students return to campus. McGowan stated that he believes his goal is achievable.    

He also hopes to encourage Metrolinx to fast track the development of the Hamilton light-rail transit line. Given that the development of the LRT line is dependent on a host of other stakeholders whose schedules differ from that of students’, Singh has not provided detail as to how actionable this goal can be.  

The feasibility of Singh’s goal to introduce student discounts to a significant number of local Hamilton businesses also raises questions given that the actual implementation of this is dependent on the businesses’ desire to do so.  

Singh wishes to lead a large-scale study to determine average rental prices, student experiences with off campus housing and use those findings to better inform students of their rights as tenants and advocate for a better housing market. He consulted with McMaster’s associate vice provost, Kim Dej, who expressed support for this study. 

However, despite the support from Dej, Singh fails to mention how this goal would accomplish something different from the resources already offered to McMaster students.  

Environmental Sustainability  

Many of Singh’s suggestions under environmental sustainability are already undertaken by the university on a regular basis with community partners. For example, Singh’s proposal to work with Hospitality Services to reduce food waste and address student food insecurity is addressed by the student-run MSU Food Collective Centre with non-profit projects. Hospitality Services are also aiming to increase its purchasing of local produce.  

Singh’s suggestion to collaborate with the Office of Sustainability to develop a waste management strategy to audit the total amount of waste produced on campus within a year is an ambitious idea. However, such an audit might not be an accurate reflection of McMaster’s waste production given possible reduced student and staff presence on campus amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this would require a close partnership with the city of Hamilton. Singh has not stated if he has consulted anyone with the city. 

Creating More Equitable Education  

Singh's suggestion of a provincial tuition freeze with the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance does not consider that the MSU and the OUSA already officially hold the position of freezing tuition.  

He hopes to advocate for a province-wide initiative that will support university funding through avenues outside of the pockets of students themselves. Singh plans to work with the MSU vice president of education given the VP’s delegatory position at OUSA meetings. He has consulted the current VP Education, Siobhan Teel, who expressed support for Singh’s idea. However, Singh’s platform does not provide further elaboration on how this funding will be acquired.

Singh’s desire to advocate for reduced textbook costs by replacing them with Online Educational Resources is valuable as a means of encouraging more equitable education. He has conversed with associate vice provost Kim Dej, who stated that introducing more OER options is feasible.

However, Singh points out that McMaster lacks OER funding. He plans to introduce student research assistant positions to support the development of OERs but does not clarify whether there is adequate funding to do so.

Career Development Support  

Singh’s suggestion to create more opportunities to aid students in their career development with the creation of services that aid in resume writing and applications are already offered by the university’s Human Resources Services. McMaster provides networking opportunity events in the form of Volunteer Fairs as well as many career events hosted throughout the year by the Student Success Centre and student-run clubs such as the McMaster Undergraduate Research in Science Association.  

Singh has extensive ideas; however, his platform would benefit from further clarification as to how his approaches will differentiate themselves from many of the services already at works within McMaster.  

MSU president-elect acclaimed for the first time in at least 40 years

For the first time in at least 40 years, the McMaster Students Union president-elect has been acclaimed. At the end of the 2021 nomination period, MSU Elections received only one candidate and Denver Della-Vedova became MSU president-elect.

According to Silhouette archives, an average of 6 candidates per year have ran for the presidential position from 1990 to 2000. Notably, the 1994 election had 12 candidates. General Manager John McGowan, who has been with the MSU since February 2002, is not aware of a president ever being acclaimed.

Oussama Badran, a third-year kinesiology student and other students have raised concerns.

“We're not getting a choice in a president that definitely has power and is getting a paycheck on our dime. So I just need to know why is this happening, why didn't [the MSU] do a better job of advertising and actually, in particular, why didn't they just extend the deadline?,” said Badran.

The end of the extended nomination period came on Jan. 21. According to MSU Chief Returning Officer, Hargun Grewal, the nomination period was extended to match the extended winter break and to ensure students had the opportunity to run.

With one candidate, Bylaw 7/A section 3.3.1 was enforced. “If the number of valid nomination forms submitted is fewer than or equal to the number of available positions, the CRO shall declare all nominees duly elected by acclamation.”

With one candidate, Bylaw 7/A section 3.3.1 was enforced. “If the number of valid nomination forms submitted is fewer than or equal to the number of available positions, the CRO shall declare all nominees duly elected by acclamation.”

The MSU Elections department is responsible for upholding and enforcing the elections bylaws of the MSU, including 7/A. They act as impartial arbiters to ensure that elections are run in a fair and transparent manner as the bylaws outline.

Badran felt that there was a lack of communication from the MSU about these procedures, including the possibility of an acclamation and about the election itself.

Current MSU President Giancarlo Da-Ré discussed the result and the bylaw that dictated it.

“What we have seen this year is the impact of an acclamation of the MSU president. Evidently there are some students that feel that they did not get to know the candidate before the results were announced, which I think is a fair concern to have, a fair frustration from students,” said Da-Ré.

The bylaws that govern the MSU and its elections are subject to change. According to MSU Associate Vice-President: Internal Governance, Michelle Brown, the Board of Directors have tasked her and the Internal Governance Committee to do a review on bylaw 7/A.

“I think it [the acclamation] warrants a discussion at the [Student Representative Assembly] level where we can follow our normal democractic processes. I know that the Internal Governance Committee is aware of these frustrations from other students and as they do with other policies and bylaws throughout the year, they're looking into bylaw 7/A to see if this is something that should come to SRA. I definitely think that it's something that can come to SRA for discussion, debate and I look forward to being a part of that debate,” said Da-Ré.

"I definitely think that it's something that can come to SRA for discussion, debate and I look forward to being a part of that debate,” said Da-Ré.

The IG committee is composed of six voting members and the AVP IG, who is the non-voting chair. The voting members include four SRA members and two non-SRA MSU members, though other MSU members are welcome to participate in a non-voting capacity. Della-Vedova is currently one of the four voting SRA members on the committee.

“I think it's important for me, as the chair of the committee, to try and stay as impartial as possible so that I can try my best to help facilitate an unbiased conversation within the committee and so that we can make the best suggestions possible to the SRA,” said Brown.

According to Brown, a committee member will usually lead the bylaw review, conducting research and proposing evidence-based ideas. Research includes studying procedures from various organizations, like student unions and governments.

The committee will discuss and debate ideas, including ideas from other members and MSU parties, until they have formed a cohesive proposal. That proposal is then circulated to the SRA, discussed and debated at assembly, then voted upon.

Approval from the SRA results in bylaw changes, while a rejection would send the bylaw back to the IG committee, restarting the revision process.

Deputy Returning Officer, Alison Hacker, discussed that her and Grewal as the DRO and CRO, respectively, have been invited to an internal governance committee meeting on bylaw 7/A.

“On behalf of the elections department, we believe that this is a fair conversation to be had and we are again in full support of supporting the review of this bylaw as needed,” said Hacker. “We do our best job just to uphold the bylaws, offer transparency in times when there's a lot of confusion, such as now and offer as much support to any of these investigative processes as they work to make elections more equitable moving forward.”

Another of the four SRA voting members on IG is Simranjeet Singh of SRA Science. This is his second term on the assembly. Singh believed there should be a vote of confidence for MSU president, either by the students or SRA. He also spoke in favour of a minimum number of candidates and an extended nomination period until that number is reached.

Currently, he believed that the SRA would be better suited to take the vote because of the existing procedures for vice-presidential elections, which include a vote of confidence in the case of one candidate.

He acknowledged criticisms of the SRA as ill-informed but believed a presidential vote of confidence could be easily incorporated.

“I also fear that if there’s only one candidate, that it’s sent to a student poll, because students wouldn’t have as much background before they would go ahead and vote, we might just get a confidence vote, essentially, no matter what. I don’t have evidence to back it up, that’s just my fear based on my understanding, so it could definitely be wrong,” explained Singh.

A key distinction between MSU presidential and vice-presidential elections, particularly around acclamation, is their respective electorates. As McGowan explained, the president is selected from the general student population while the vice-presidents are elected by the SRA.

“The rationale is probably due to the want of the SRA to ensure that there’s not just a candidate that comes forward, but also the diligence and screening those candidates,” said McGowan.

To Singh’s fear of guaranteed confidence, in the 2020 presidential election more students abstained than voted for the third place candidate. While abstentions do not necessarily mean no confidence, there is evidence that the student body would vote with just cause.

Badran discussed a shorter campaign period in the event of one candidate as a chance for the student body to determine if they have confidence. He also believed there is merit to an SRA vote of confidence, but also discussed the importance of student voice.

“I feel like this [proposed bylaw changes] is supposed to represent us. How are you supposed to represent us if you can’t get our opinions straight from the source? Student government is wonderful, but sometimes you really need to listen to the people you're representing instead of making an assumption,” said Badran.

"Student government is wonderful, but sometimes you really need to listen to the people you're representing instead of making an assumption,” said Badran.

An SRA vote of confidence also raises questions on which SRA would cast the vote — the incoming SRA, as with vice-presidents, or the outgoing assembly who are now used to their roles, as Singh discussed. There are many options to consider in the bylaw revision process, including options not mentioned in this article.

“Denver’s ABC’s” significantly lack detail, research and plans for execution

Though “Denver’s ABC’s” address some timely concerns, like tuition and MSU clubs, his platform significantly lacks in research, consultation and detail, both in terms of specific plans and execution.

Significant Concerns

Della-Vedova hopes to use the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance more effectively to reduce tuition. Tuition is an important issue, especially with increased financial barriers during the pandemic.

The MSU and OUSA are bound by their policies. The official stances of both the MSU and OUSA on tuition are: The province should freeze tuition across all programs until a fair-cost sharing model is restored. Then, tuition increases for all programs should be capped at inflation.

Della-Vedova’s platform is in direct violation of these policies. Regardless of COVID-19, OUSA and the MSU have not changed their tuition policies. Both policies are subject to amendment by the MSU Student Representative Assembly or by the OUSA General Assembly, which would likely not meet in his term until the end of October 2021. Della-Vedova will likely face significant challenges to advocate for tuition reduction.

The campus safety point does not address racial profiling or sexual violence prevention and response. In June 2020, the SRA, including Della-Vedova, passed a motion to call for the removal of the head of security services and an end to the special constable program. This motion became the official stance of the MSU. Yet, Della-Vedova does not promise to achieve either of these goals.

In June 2020, the SRA, including Della-Vedova, passed a motion to call for the removal of the head of security services and an end to the special constable program. This motion became the official stance of the MSU. Yet, Della-Vedova does not promise to achieve either of these goals.

Della-Vedova cited a campus climate survey and census from this year for student feedback on campus safety. However, through the Silhouette’s fact-checking, we could only find last year’s provincial government SVPR climate survey. Della-Vedova does not mention any past or ongoing efforts of sexual violence prevention or response.

There is a significant and noticeable lack of consideration for issues of racial justice and justice for equity-seeking groups on campus in Denver’s ABCs.

While there are points around international student representation, financial aid and increasing physical accessibility on campus, there are no points on justice for Black, Indigenous and students of Colour, 2SLGBTQIA+ students, women and survivors.

A is for Accessibility

Della-Vedova promises to ensure the safety of immunocompromised individuals in the return to campus. However, there are no details for how he will accomplish this. No consultations, such as with key return to campus groups, are noted in the platform.

This section includes education and resources on student housing, such as tenant rights and signing a lease. He hopes to work with campus stakeholders, including Residence Life and the Society of Off-Campus Students. It is unclear whether Della-Vedova has consulted with these groups. Further, his platform does not acknowledge or differentiate between similar initiatives.

Della-Vedova hopes to receive and address student concerns around proctoring software and to improve hybrid learning. He plans to streamline student-professor communication and he wants the MSU to be a leader in physical accessibility, such as ensuring McMaster complies with provincial standards.

He hopes to advocate for parking cost changes and for more online course options to alleviate parking needs. There are no details on how he will accomplish these tasks.

B is for Better Advocacy

Della-Vedova wants to continue federal advocacy for international students and provincial advocacy around tuition regulation. He plans to build upon the international student task force implemented by MSU President Giancarlo Da-Ré and create long-term goals.

He plans to create an off-campus international student seat on MSU First Year Council and work with the Student Success Centre to understand and deliver on the needs of international students. It is unclear what consultation has been done or how he plans to achieve these goals.

C is for Community

Della-Vedova’s prioritization of mental health can be appreciated with the overwhelming nature of the pandemic. He plans to create an online booking system at the Student Wellness Centre but his platform lacks detail on how this would be accomplished or if he has consulted the SWC.

Della-Vedova’s prioritization of mental health can be appreciated with the overwhelming nature of the pandemic.

Della-Vedova suggests a survey to understand student struggles this year. The McMaster virtual learning task force ran the fall 2020 experience survey and is currently implementing its recommendations. Della-Vedova does not mention this or differentiate his idea.

He plans to address academic concerns for current and incoming students, discuss academics with the vice-provost on academics and include current first years in Welcome Week 2021. He plans to restructure Welcome Week with MSU Spark and Maroons; however, these services do not plan Welcome Week.

He plans to continue improvements on the MSU website and create an Avenue to Learn tab for MSU updates. He does not provide further details.

He plans to work with the Clubs Advisory Council on shaping the future of MSU clubs. This is timely as students were outraged this past fall by policy changes. However, Della-Vedova does not specify the changes he would like to make or provide insight into how he will accomplish these goals.

MSU President Giancarlo Da-Ré discusses election “what ifs?”, advice and engagement

The McMaster Students Union Elections department announced a one-week extension of the MSU Presidentials nomination period from Jan. 14 to Jan. 21, 2021. The extension was announced the morning of Jan. 13 via social media — one day before nominations were set to close. The reason for the extension was unclear; however, it was likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

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A post shared by MSU Elections Department (@msu_elections)

The nomination period opened on Dec. 2, 2020 and ended at 5:00 p.m. on Jan. 21, 2021. The extended nomination period would delay the start of the campaigning period. Campaigning was supposed to be from Jan. 24 and end on Feb. 4 at 4:30pm, while the voting period would be from Feb. 2 to Feb. 4 at 4:30pm. 

However, MSU Elections announced on Jan. 22 that at the end of the nomination period one nomination had been received. Denver Della-Vedova has been acclaimed MSU President-Elect for the 2021/2022 term. 

In an interview with the Silhouette prior to the acclamation, current MSU President Giancarlo Da-Ré discussed his experiences with running for MSU president, offered advice to candidates and shared insight on how the campaign period may play out.

"We want students to know about all of our services, all of our offerings and benefits that they have as a part of the MSU. But also we're not trying to contribute to that stress and that Zoom fatigue,” said Da-Ré.

"We want students to know about all of our services, all of our offerings and benefits that they have as a part of the MSU. But also we're not trying to contribute to that stress and that Zoom fatigue,” said Da-Ré.

As the MSU Elections department operates with a degree of impartiality from the MSU elected officials, including the Board of Directors, they made the decision to extend the nomination period. Da-Ré noted that earlier this year, he discussed electoral engagement with his counterparts at student unions across the country and noted that they shared concerns of lowered engagement due to a virtual learning environment. 

“All the options to engage with friends and with MSU services are online. I don't blame students for wanting a break from all that. And so we've naturally had to take that in consideration from the MSU, where obviously we want students to know about all of our services, all of our offerings and benefits that they have as a part of the MSU. But also we're not trying to contribute to that stress and that Zoom fatigue,” said Da-Ré.

However, Da-Ré remained hopeful that even with potentially fewer candidates, the election could see an increase in voter engagement from previous years. When asked what he hoped to see from the candidates, Da-Ré was interested to see how candidates would find new ways to campaign. 

“I think it's up to candidates to ensure that they're creating opportunities to engage with voters and for voters to engage with candidates how those voters will want to engage with candidates,” said Da-Ré. 

An entirely online MSU presidential election has never happened before — a stark contrast to the typical in-person tabling that many candidates do within the McMaster University Student Centre.

Da-Ré was also curious to see candidate ideas for supporting students through the pandemic. He acknowledged that students have been struggling with the pandemic and online learning, while noting how ideal supports differ among students.

He expected that candidates would discuss student supports as a key issue of the campaign, similar to how the Student Choice Initiative was an issue of importance during his run for office in 2020.

"What is your overall reasoning for running for MSU president?" said Da-Ré.

"What is your overall reasoning for running for MSU president?" said Da-Ré.

Da-Ré reflected on his experience running for MSU president. He noted that it was challenging at first but that he ultimately enjoyed the experience, especially interacting with students and understanding their priorities. 

“I had a lot of fun with it, chatting with folks, but you do feel like you are under a microscope for the duration of the campaign period. So it takes a little bit of time to get used to that level of scrutiny and then ideally, if you can kind of get past that a little bit or get used to it, then it starts to be lots of fun,” said Da-Ré.

When asked to offer advice to candidates or those who hoped to run, Da-Ré shared that he sought advice and reflected a lot before his campaign.

“One of the most important things for folks, just when you're thinking about running or when you're building your campaign or your vision, is why you want to run. What is your overall reasoning for running for MSU president? If you can really solidify your vision for campus and your reason for wanting to run for MSU President, ideally have that vision and that reasoning, that “why” is reflected in everything that you’re trying to do,” said Da-Ré.

"That “why” is reflected in everything that you’re trying to do,” said Da-Ré.

Da-Ré also expressed gratitude to the potential candidates for stepping outside of their comfort zones and supporting students. 

“Thank you to all these candidates for committing their time during school and for trying to build a better MSU community for students. Students need a little support right now and we're doing what we can do to try and leave the MSU in a better place than we found it. I want to thank the candidates for looking forward to continuing that work and supporting students during some difficult times of tribulation,” said Da-Ré.

Due to a lack of engagement seen during COVID-19, questions surrounding how many students would run for MSU president arose. If no candidates were to come forward by the end of the campaign period, Da-Ré hesitated to speculate but believed that the nomination period would likely be extended; however, the decision would be up to the MSU Elections department.

If only one candidate ran MSU president, according to Da-Ré, the MSU bylaw states that the candidate would be acclaimed MSU President-Elect.

“3.3.1 If the number of valid nomination forms submitted is fewer than or equal to the number of available positions, the CRO shall declare all nominees duly elected by acclamation.”

“3.3.1 If the number of valid nomination forms submitted is fewer than or equal to the number of available positions, the CRO shall declare all nominees duly elected by acclamation.”

On Jan. 22, the MSU Elections Department announced on social media that one presidential candidate application had been received. Denver Della-Vedova has been acclaimed as MSU President-Elect for the 2021/2022 term. 

 

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A post shared by MSU Elections Department (@msu_elections)

Da-Ré took to social media to congratulate Della-Vedova. “Very excited to start the transition process and to watch Denver strengthen the undergraduate experience at McMaster,” wrote Da-Ré.

The Silhouette will be posting more MSU presidential elections 2021 coverage in our annual Presidentials issue on Feb. 1, 2021 available on Issuu.

This article has been edited as of Feb. 11, 2019

A previously published version of this article misquoted Ikram Farah. The quote has since been updated.

Students are often at a standoff with the MSU president. A commonly held belief is that the President cannot get things done, while presidents themselves often feel that they are misunderstood by the student body. Looking back at former presidents, we can see the difficult realities of their jobs. However, each MSU president has many opportunities to enact change, and it is their responsibility to work within their limitations.

It’s hard to keep all the eggs in one basket

“When someone is running for president they are running on 12-15 platform points, but that is not your only priority, you are a CEO, you are a manager of the whole institution,” said Ikram Farah, former MSU president for the 2018-2019 school year.

Every MSU president has and will continue to struggle with balancing priorities. Consulting past presidents and critically examining a previous year’s struggles is meant to help incoming presidents plan for the year ahead. New president-elects are given the opportunity to do this during their training period under the current MSU president, which lasts from February to April of each year.

Even with this transition process, neither Marando, Farah nor Monaco-Barnes were prepared for how much time would be taken up by priorities unrelated to their platform points.

“I didn’t realize how much of my time would be taken up with chairing various meetings, SRA, clubs, committees, events, and other things that you don’t really see the president do until you are in the role yourself,” said Marando.

During the transition period, outgoing presidents still have their own responsibilities and incoming presidents have their academics. It is unclear exactly how many hours are spent orienting.

“[After March] you’re out, and the new person’s in, and it’s up to them and their team to carry on their objectives but also carry on ongoing projects to full term,” said Justin Monaco-Barnes, former MSU president for the 2016-2017 school year.

Limitations of the transition period may negatively impact a president’s future ability to establish continuity, balance priorities and prepare for unpredictability. Farah faced the impact of the Ontario Student Assistance Program cuts and the Student Choice Initiative. Responding to these events took up much of her team’s time.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” said Farah.

Continuity is key

Longevity, according to Monaco-Barnes, can be an issue with a one-year term. A president must continue previous presidents’ work while attending to their own platform points and responsibilities. Marando, Farah and Monaco-Barnes highlighted the added pressure that comes from students wanting tangible results.

“. . . A lot of people probably don’t know I sit on groups that improve the university IT plan, or work on mental health support in classrooms. People don’t see all the time and energy that goes into working with our full-time staff and supporting business operations of the MSU. I think that if there isn’t a big promotion of something, people think nothing is happening. In reality things may span over a years — such as our new student space expansion — requiring a lot more resources than one might think,” said Marando.

The student space expansion came from Monaco-Barnes’ platform, whose Pulse expansion plans eventually evolved to include a new student center, the Student Activity Building.

“And then here we are, two years later, and it’s being built which is pretty cool,” said Monaco-Barnes.

Monaco-Barnes took an unpaid leave of absence to run two student-wide referenda and help secure funding for the expansion plans. During the second referendum, Ryan McDonald, the VP (Finance) at the time, also took an unpaid leave.

While the Student Activity and Pulse expansion are underway, future MSU presidents must see them through. Not all projects will survive this process.

At the end of Monaco-Barnes’s term, plastic water bottles were replaced with boxed water in Union Market. Union Market reverted back to plastic water bottles the following year. 

“I don’t know how you control that. You hope that the continuity pieces that remain in the MSU leadership wise, you hope they will continue your original messages and ideas, but once you’re gone you can’t really control those things,” added Monaco-Barnes.

If this is a known problem, incoming and outgoing presidents should prevent it from happening as much as possible. Starting from scratch, as Monaco-Barnes noted, is a waste of time.

Who do you want in the room?

As Farah said, it can be easy to forget the significant impact that an MSU President can have in advocating for students. Advocacy could result in change that students may not link back to MSU, as such changes happen over the long-term.

“We need people with ideas and strategic vision. That’s where the Pulse expansion or student activity building becomes impactful. But we don’t always need that large action. Advocating for policies that enhance student life are incredibly important too; however, policy takes time though,” said Farah.

A president will have several opportunities to advocate for students. But it is not easy to get the job done. Monaco-Barnes said that higher-ups can wait out a president that they disagree with. There is also an intimidation factor at play, as the MSU president will interact with older and more experienced counterparts.

“It’d be very easy for a president to go in and do a lacklustre job if they are not motivated,” said Monaco-Barnes.

MSU presidents will make mistakes and struggle with their jobs. Their role is difficult to fully appreciate from an outside perspective. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t point out their mistakes and challenge them to work around limitations. If we do not hold them accountable, then we may see less work being done. Is being MSU president hard? Yes. Does that mean that they cannot accomplish anything? Absolutely not.

 

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Photo by Cindy Cui / Photo Editor

On the night of Jan. 30, 2020, Giancarlo Da-Ré was in the basement of Togo Salmon Hall with a few members of his core campaign team when he learned that he was the new president-elect of the McMaster Students Union. As per tradition, the news was delivered to him by the current MSU president Josh Marando via phone call.

The ranked voting system requires over 50 per cent of the votes to elect a candidate. With 4810 students voting and 666 students abstaining, the threshold this year sat at 2073 votes. Da-Ré received 2504 votes, 431 votes over this requirement and approximately 52 per cent of the total votes that were cast.

The 2020 elections also saw a new low for the voter turnout, with only 19.1 per cent of eligible McMaster students voting this year. This marked a sharp decline from last year, especially when compared to 2014 to 2017, when voter turnout did not once dip below 40 per cent. This downward trend began in 2018, when voter turnout dropped to 28.8 per cent, and continued to 2019, when it dropped even further to 26.8 per cent.

“I was disappointed to see that the voter turnout this year had dropped again. I think this was the product of a few different factors, one of which being the low number of candidates, which would contribute to overall promotion of the election across our community of voting members,” said Da-Ré.

“I was disappointed to see that the voter turnout this year had dropped again. I think this was the product of a few different factors, one of which being the low number of candidates, which would contribute to overall promotion of the election across our community of voting members,” said Da-Ré.

Since all candidates are given five business days to contest any results and to appeal any fines, Da-Ré’s new position is still unofficial. Nevertheless, he is continuing conversations related to his platform, which highlighted accessibility, climate action and student experience.

One critique of Da-Ré’s platform is that while he claims that it was informed by 100 consultations, there were several key groups that he had not contacted by the time the campaign period began. Now, Da-Ré asserts that he has set up consultations with Maccess and the Academic Sustainability Programs Office in order to work towards accessibility and sustainability.

He also voices his desire to consult with people whose perspectives might differ from his own.

“If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from the campaign period, it is that there are many groups on campus trying to tackle different parts of the same puzzle, and that there is a lot of work I have to do to better understand those different pieces,” he says.

“If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from the campaign period, it is that there are many groups on campus trying to tackle different parts of the same puzzle, and that there is a lot of work I have to do to better understand those different pieces,” he says.

While he does not elaborate on any specific details, Da-Ré states that his consultations have helped him understand how offices and departments within McMaster interact with each other. He states that he has gained a sense of the work that has been done recently in this community, and, by extension, an idea of the work that still needs to be done.

With this in mind, Da-Ré wants to remind students at McMaster that they are foundational to the university’s community.

“Students are incredibly passionate and hard-working, and while some changes won’t be seen overnight, they have more power than they think in influencing change within our community,” he says.

Regarding what his first plans would be when he takes office, Da-Ré says, “It’s hard to say what my first plans will be a few months from now, but I look forward to getting up to speed on current initiatives and projects so that I can hit the ground running in May.”

For now, Da-Ré looks forward to the election results becoming official and to starting the transition process with Josh Marando.

He welcomes anyone interested in consulting to send an email to [email protected].

 

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