This past week, UTSU vice-president, external candidate Sana Ali announced her intention to forfeit her candidacy in the face of what she called thinly veiled “attempts to squash dissent and individuality within the team.” This marks a controversial departure from the type of “unity” that seemed so crucial to the UTSU success during the candidates’ debate two weeks ago. Ali’s exit was announced in an open letter on Facebook Wednesday afternoon, while presidential candidate Munib Sajjad was campaigning at the Mississauga campus.
Despite wishing the other candidates well, Ali’s open letter was rife with concerns over the Renew slate’s methods and direction heading into the election this week. She criticized the slate on several points, including the fact that the union’s mandate has changed “almost imperceptibly from past incumbent platforms.” She went on to voice disappointment for having been brought on to fill a space and “bring visual cultural and social diversity” rather than for her insight and experience. Specific questions about her day-to-day role as vice-president, external were answered with vague platitudinous responses and statements reinforcing the need to “work together.” Ali accuses the incumbent team of being hive minded in their approaches to issues and for failing to change their approach from year to year. She reveals that the statement under her name on the UTSU Elections and Referenda website was not actually written by her — in fact she suspects the only original statements not composed from a template were those written by the independent candidates.
In addition to these criticisms and more, Ali’s letter speaks to a growing concern over the undemocratic nature of the union in past years and the danger that things do not seem likely to change.
Ali’s resignation comes at a time when university politics are already precariously unstable with a number of colleges and faculties exploring available options that would see them no longer paying fees to the UTSU. The issues Ali raises in her open letter echo many of the concerns voiced by other student leaders around campus in the past. She speaks to the failure of the union to effectively represent students as individuals, particularly in the face of the recent heated exchanges over fee diversion. She says, “When a student’s union stops thinking of people as individuals that it is answerable to but as a troublesome group because they are voicing valid complaints, it is a problem.” Students who oppose the union have been demonized and accused of bigotry or ignorance. Internal dissent is quickly dismissed in favour of the superior experience of long-term members. What Ali believes the UTSU lacks and desperately needs to extend a hand to opposition and allow for mutual respect, which she cites as being crucial to fostering open dialogue and creating representative policies.
Ali’s resignation is not only brave but also demonstrative of a deeper character and integrity that some believe has been absent from other UTSU candidates in the past. She is forthright in her concerns and has articulated them respectfully. By calling attention to the kinds of issues that some campus leaders have been citing as grounds for separation from the union, her forfeiture will almost certainly strengthen their argument. Her statements have also revealed the type of petty behaviour that should concern any thoughtful member of this university. We should expect more from our elected representatives than the close-mindedness and egotism recounted in Ali’s account of her time with team Renew.
Alec Wilson studies Political Science and American Studies.
