It’s election season on U of T’s three campuses, so brace yourself for a month of campaigning by candidates running for SAC, APUS, GSU, college governments and more. But it all starts a few weeks from now with the elections for Governing Council (GC).
Twenty-five candidates are running for eight seats on the council, which is the highest decision-making body at the university. The eight seats reserved for students-four for full-time undergraduates, two for part-time undergrads and two for grad students-are out of a total of 50 seats, which are filled by a combination of faculty, administration, alumni, and government representatives.
“The Governing Council is the senior governing body of the university,” says Cristina Oke, chief returning officer for the GC elections. “It’s responsible for its academic business and its student affairs.”
But for all the power the GC holds, elections for its student representatives have had embarrassingly low voter turnout.
“It varies from year to year,” says Oke. Last year, for example, about 12 per cent of full-time undergraduate students voted, and only six per cent of part-time students. “We would of course like to increase the number of students voting,” says Oke.
Many of the candidates The Varsity spoke to lamented the low turnout, and said they were working to increase it.
Most candidates put tuition fees near the top of their list of issues, particularly with the announcement of a two-year tuition freeze in Ontario widely expected from Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government in the near future.
Environmental responsibility was another hot-button issue for many candidates. Increasing green space on U of T campuses and strengthening recycling programs was a priority.
The status of U of T’s satellite campuses, Erindale and Scarborough, interested several candidates. Most are looking for ways to give the suburban campuses more autonomy over their affairs and, more importantly, their finances.
Candidates also told The Varsity the other topics that interested them, such as affordable housing, student recreational space, and teaching reform.
But they all agreed that more students need to vote in the election. Candidates for the part-time constituency expressed their concern that their voting pool had shrunk this year. The university changed its definition of a part-time student last fall-from anyone taking less than four courses to anyone taking less than three-and the change will be felt at the polls. There were more than 11,000 part-time students at U of T last year; because of the change, that number is now roughly 7,500.
Governing Council itself is helping advertise the election to try to boost numbers.
“We will be publishing Candidates’ Statements in campus media,” says Oke, “and the statements will be on the Governing Council website by the end of the week. We have a series of posters you might have seen encouraging students to get involved with Governing Council.”
Oke echoed the sentiments of the candidates, which is that the Governing Council is the most influential group at the university, and students should take advantage of the opportunity to have their say.
“As with all elections, it’s important to exercise your franchise because it’s only as good as the voters make it.”
