El-Falou is a third-year majoring in geospatial data science and minoring in computer science and psychology. This past year, El-Falou has been on the board of directors at the UTMSU, installing bidets in the Student Centre and aiding in initiating the Palestine Committee. He is also an advocacy director at the Muslim Student Association (MSA), organizing fundraisers and awareness campaigns for global crises such as those in Sudan and Palestine. 

If elected, El-Falou wants every UTMSU executive to have daily, one-on-one conversations with students. In fact, his own campaign focuses emerged from talking with students: OSAP cuts, affordability of food on campus, and transit. 

For food affordability, El-Falou, along with his slate, plans to introduce $5 meals at The Blind Duck and increase the frequency of Free Dinner Fridays.

On transit, El-Falou highlighted particular connections to campus that need improvement: the frequency of the 199 UTM Express North bus, the hours of the 126 Burnhamthorpe Express bus, and the lack of a GO bus connection. 

Based on conversations with student groups like the MSA and Catholic Student Association, El-Falou will also advocate for bigger multifaith spaces on campus.

Da Silva’s experiences include working with the Centre for Student Engagement (CSE) and International Education Centre (IEC), peer mentorship with STEAM days, mentorship for prospective students, working as a Black Access to Educational Excellence (BAEE) ambassador, and she is currently co-president at Caribbean Connections and VP Administration of the Black Students Association.

Her campaign focuses on creating a club coalition where she wants “student voices, the clubs, to be at the forefront of most events and other things that we’re having on campus.” Da Silva also wants to create a global crisis committee, further adding, “We know a lot of students and their families are going through different things, especially being in Palestine and Congo, Haiti, Sudan, and other countries. We just want to make sure these voices are heard.”

If elected, Da Silva wants to “have a great relationship between clubs and the UTMSU, they should be at the forefront. We should be proactive and not have them as an afterthought.”

Gao’s experience with the UTMSU includes serving on the board of directors for Division I, as a VP Internal associate, and she is currently a WeChat Coordinator. In an interview with The Varsity, Gao said, “I’ve become familiar with the internal portfolio. And in this role, I’ve provided support… for many initiatives, but I’m running to be the VP now because I want to be the one leading these initiatives.”

As VP, Gao wants to represent the entire student body, sharing how, “as an international student myself… I know how scary things can be coming to a new country, and not just [for] Chinese students, but all international students… I want to… make sure they feel at home on campus.”

Gao wants to focus on the UTMSU’s housing campaign, “when students move from a new country, they often don’t know the laws and regulations when finding a place to live, and many students face unsafe living conditions… we want to make sure that students are not exploited, and that’s why we are planning to lobby [the] city council to ensure that housing protection for students are strengthened.”

Dhamija is a third-year UTM student pursuing a commerce specialist. In addition to his experience as VP External, he has been a part of many campus groups, including Digital Enterprise Management Association (DEMA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Enactus.

Dhamija’s campaign focuses are transit advocacy and tackling food insecurity. During this past term, he successfully advocated for the implementation of weekend routes for the 110 bus. 

His other points of advocacy include expanding the hours of operation for route 126, better service for the Brampton 199 bus, and a GO bus to UTM. Despite campaigning for these advocacies last year, he explains, “​​They’re still in progress… and work still needs to be done on those… Things don’t happen overnight… advocacy, especially in transit, it’s a slow, slow process.”The UTMSU began Free Dinner Fridays at the Blind Duck last year, and Dhamija “want[s] to increase the frequency of free dinners on campus.” He also wants to “introduce something called $5 meal deals at the Blind Duck, because food on campus… [is] super expensive… I don’t get a meal for less than 15, 20 bucks.”

“I know what it’s like to be a student and not feel like you have the support that you need,” Al-Habash told The Varsity, reflecting on her early years at UTM, “That’s why I’m running for this role. I’ve seen what it’s like to get that support.”

Al-Habash hopes to apply her experience as a LAUNCH Leader with the Centre for Student Engagement and an Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology (ICCIT) Mentor to help students navigate university resources: “I realized that for me, that was my goal, to enter a position where I can actually make those resources easily accessible for students.”

Al-Habash said that her involvement with the UTM Muslim Students’ Association, Digital Enterprise Management Association, and Women in Law Association has exposed her to the academic and professional needs of students. Her work with UTMSU’s Palestine Committee inspires her to continue UTMSU’s student advocacy initiatives for other student groups and students from diverse backgrounds.If elected, Al-Habash would work with registrars and student unions across U of T’s campuses to eliminate exam deferral fees and make the Second Attempt for Credit policy applicable to failed courses instead of just passed ones.