On March 3, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) hosted a debate for the union’s 2025–2026 executive candidates to expand on and answer questions about their platforms. The debate was scheduled to run from 4:00–6:00 pm, but it started half an hour late due to technical difficulties. 

Members of the INSPIRE UTSC and RISE UTSC slates faced off, marking the second SCSU candidates’ debate hosted by the union. Of the 12 candidates, 11 were able to join, with the INSPIRE Vice-president (VP) Equity candidate missing the debate because of an exam. 

The SCSU allowed students to submit questions to a Google Form prior to the debate, but students could only ask general questions to an executive position and not to individual candidates. The form also noted that submissions do “not guar[a]ntee” questions would be asked, as the Chief Returning Officer would review all submissions and select specific ones to ask candidates during the debate. The Varsity submitted six questions, one for each executive position. 

Here are some of the key moments and questions from the debate.

Vice-president, Campus Life 

The debate began with VP Campus Life candidates Rafay Malik (INSPIRE) and Emeka Okolo (RISE). 

When asked about one core issue the SCSU has faced regarding events and event planning that they want to address, Malik stated that not all SCSU events have the best turnout. 

He believes planning more ahead of time will allow students to make time for events in between their academic schedules. Malik also emphasized creating an events calendar on the website to have a better method of keeping track of SCSU events; currently, the union’s website only features past events, while its new events are promoted on its socials.

Okolo responded by saying that events often tend to be promoted a few days before they start, and also brought up his idea for an events calendar that would feature SCSU, UTSC, and department events in one organized location. 

Vice-president, Equity 

Of the two VP Equity candidates, only RISE UTSC’s candidate Christine Villa was able to attend. 

When asked about their campaign promise to improve mental health support and how they would encourage students to use these resources, Villa emphasized that there’s a general dissatisfaction with accessing mental health services on campus. 

In response, they want to “foster community and the sense of creating community care groups” because “the administration does not care about [students].” 

In their Instagram campaign post, Villa mentions they will introduce a “dedicated SCSU bursary to assist students financial support for ADHD and ASD assessments,” but, they did not specify how they plan to engage students in the bursaries and resources they proposed. 

Vice-president, External 

The debate then moved on to the VP External candidates Ayesha Ashraf (INSPIRE) and Fawzia Elhag (RISE). 

When asked about both candidates’ “bold plans” to implement a U-Pass and how they plan to implement it during their term, Ashraf noted two main barriers: negotiating with TTC and Metrolinx, and making the U-Pass affordable for students. 

Ashraf proposes working with U of T’s four other student unions as well as worker unions “to increase the buying power of students at UTSC” when negotiating.

Elhag responded that UTSC was set to have a U-Pass in 2008, but students rejected the idea because there was a no-opt-out fee of $240 per semester. “Although it is fair for those who use transit, it would also be unfair for those who do not,” said Elhag, adding she also wants to advocate for a U-Pass that includes TTC and GO Transit.  

“I won’t necessarily be promising the U-Pass itself, but it’s more of making a referendum available for all students to vote upon a new idea for how the U-Pass can be implemented that makes costs lower,” said Elhag. 

Vice-president, Academic and University Affairs 

Next were VP Academic and University Affairs candidates, Heba Reeyaz (INSPIRE) and Maya Khan (RISE). 

When asked about both candidates’ promise to implement a Credit/No Credit (CR/NCR) extension, Reeyaz mentioned a survey put forward by U of T student unions in 2024 that asked students how they’ve used the CR/NCR policy and how it has affected their mental health. Reeyaz noted that the survey received about 1,500 responses from the U of T community. 

Reeyaz believes that the main issue holding back the CR/NCR extension is finding a system to allow students to see their final grade before deciding to CR/NCR a course while respecting the deadline by which professors and registrars need to submit final grades. 

Khan emphasized her own campaign of extending the policy, and the importance of U of T student unions campaigning together for an updated CR/NCR policy. 

Neither candidate delved into how they would specifically implement this initiative. 

Vice-president, Operations 

VP Operations candidates Sait Simsek (INSPIRE) and Athisayaa Prabagar (RISE) took the stage next. 

When asked about what tangible steps the candidates would take to ensure transparency on union spending, budget, and allocation, Simsek began by stating that the SCSU’s website “is a mess.” He emphasized the importance of updating it to allow students to access documents more easily and publishing monthly financial reports to promote transparency. 

Prabagar also wants to update the website and stated that the union “has nothing to hide.”  She added that most financial documents are on the website already but that she would make the website more accessible for students to find them. 

President

Finally, presidential candidates Hunain Sindhu (INSPIRE) and Lalise Shifara (RISE) faced off. 

When asked about their slates’ campaign goals to promote transparency and what transparency means to them, Shifara explained how transparency is about being honest and clear in what initiatives the union will focus on. Shifara wants to introduce a Google Form for students to submit concerns and ideas for what the union should focus on. 

Sindhu responded that transparency is about accountability and making students feel like the union hears them. He wants to introduce a student needs survey at the start of the year to gain insight into what students want from the SCSU, make BOD meetings public and invite students to attend, and work with The Varsity so the student body is aware of the union’s work. 

When asked how the union will feature voices from students who commend and criticize the union, Sindhu began by acknowledging students’ frustrations and concerns on Reddit, and established that he wants to make the executives more approachable and create a committee to review complaints to the union to address student concerns. 

Shifara responded, “It’s very difficult for students to know what the SCSU does, which is why it’s very easy for them to say that SCSU does nothing.”

Shifara wants to make a strategic plan with short-term and long-term goals that would be posted on the website in order to highlight what the union was able to accomplish in a single year. 

Final thoughts: Voter turnouts and posters 

After the debate, both presidential candidates spoke to The Varsity about what they are hopeful for in this election season. 

Shifara doesn’t just want students to vote for RISE UTSC, but to vote in general. 

“I want to make sure that at least half of those students come out to vote because in the past it’s only been around like 10 per cent,  like three per cent voter turnout. This is not what we want. We want [at least] 50 per cent,” said Shifara. 

Sindhu believes that last year’s turnout was because of Regenesis UTSC’s levy increase proposal. 

Sindhu expressed his regret over seeing students refusing to vote, even just because of the candidates’ posters. “Unfortunately, our intention with the posters, or both of our team’s intentions with the posters, was the complete opposite. [It] was to try and get students to come out to vote,” said Sindhu. 

Students have made numerous posts on UTSC’s Reddit about the amount of posters spread across campus, ranging from causing them to not want to go to school, spelling swear words, and showing them crumbled on the ground.  

Shifara first brought this up during the debate. In the post-debate interview with The Varsity, she further explained, “Our exec team had a long conversation about this… and how we plan to eliminate the amount of posters. Because we read the student feedback on Reddit, we understand. As we said, we’re here to listen to students,” said Shifara. 

According to the SCSU Election Procedure Code, candidates are limited to 100 posters for each executive and 50 for each board director. Shifara said that RISE UTSC only printed 50 per executive and 25 per board director. 

In response to student complaints of not being environmentally friendly, Shifara contacted the UTSC Print Hub to use their posters for an initiative where one-sided paper is used to make notebooks.

Sindhu told The Varsity that INSPIRE UTSC spoke with UTSC’s Print Hub on March 3 to donate their paper for the same initiative. He also touched on the importance of the campaign posters for voter turnout. 

“It is important to have the physical posters so that [the] student body knows that elections are happening,” said Sindhu. “Voter turnout is extremely important. We had [approximately] 12 per cent voter turnout last year, and I think that was only possible because we had so much outreach, so many posters, [and] everyone around campus knew that elections were happening.” 

Voting is in person from March 4–6 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm each day at the Instructional Centre Atrium, Student Centre, Bladen Wing Hallway, and the Sam Ibrahim Building.