SSMU ELECTIONS 2018

The SSMU President is the leader of the SSMU executive team, in addition to being a key player in interactions with the administration. The President is the only undergraduate representative on the Board of Governors, and sits on Senate. The President is also responsible for the maintenance of SSMU’S governing documents and the enforcement of its Constitution and Internal Regulations. Furthermore, the President is tasked with supporting the rest of the executive team as need arises. Corinne Bulger

Bulger is a U2 Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies major with a minor in Indigenous Studies at Mcgill. She is currently an Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) Representative and Floor Fellow at New Residence Hall, as well as a former Rez Life Coordinator. As an AUS Representative she has had to sit in on the AUS and SSMU Council meetings, which have contributed to her experience in governance. Her involvement with residence life has both trained her in event planning and established an understanding of the supportive environment necessary for the interpersonal relations within the SSMU Executive Council.

Her platform revolves around three aspects: creating a community space in the aftermath of the SSMU building closure, evaluating the progress of certain projects such as the Our Turn Sexual Violence Policy and the Milton-parc Relations, and lastly, increasing the accessibility of governance practices such as voting, referendums, and the General Assembly. Bulger stated that the transparency of governing documents and the translation of some of these documents, such as the SSMU Constitution into French, are also aspects which she wants to focus on.

Bulger conveyed a concern towards the amount of privileged candidates running for executive roles and expresses her desire to make “our governing bodies more inclusive.” In terms of governance reform, she cited the mandate to the AUS reformation on their hiring practices as a source of inspiration to base this desire off of. The mandate strongly encourages marginalized groups to apply for executive positions.

Bulger states that her long-term goals as President include creating a positive environment and focusing on teamwork and empathy between different executives on SSMU. She emphasizes the necessity for strong and close relationships between the executives of SSMU in order to increase the overall empathy of the SSMU Executive Board.

Tre Mansdoerfer

Mansdoerfer is a U3 student majoring in Electrical Engineering. He is an Engineering University Society (EUS) Senator as well as a former EUS SSMU Representative. Mansdoerfer’s platform focuses on three aspects: rebuilding faculty relationships, engaging current student concerns, and focusing advocacy on student needs.

As Senator he sat on the Legislative Council for the past two years, and he explains how he has witnessed apathy from most faculties on the council. He cites the impeachment of the Management President over the past two years as well as the lack of involvement of EUS within SSMU. He emphasises his hopes to strengthen inter-faculty relationships. He also describes the lack of involvement in the Round Tables, saying that only four out of the five presidents attended. In order to increase attendance, he expresses a wish to reach out to faculty presidents and establish a more personal relationship with them.

In regards to engaging current student concerns, Mansdoerfer wants to reform the structure of the General Assembly (GA) as well as the Board of Directors. He proposes a lowering of quorum in the GA because he does not believe that high turnout should only occur for assemblies addressing issues students are most passionate about such as the Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) campaign. In the past, Mansdoerfer has expressed his belief that SSMU should remain relatively apolitical about “external” issues. He would also like to make the Chair of the Board of Directors a non-voting member as it is undemocratic and he would like to invite two alumni representatives on the Board in order to strengthen its structure.

Overall, Mansdoerfer’s platform stresses a dedication towards involvement and representation of all faculties in SSMU as well as a campaign revolving around “restor[ing] faith in the student society.”

Endorsement: Corinne Bulger, with reservations

Both candidates, Bulger and Mansdoerfer, demonstrate extensive involvement in respective Faculty representation at SSMU and an understanding of student politics. However, Bulger demonstrates a more streamlined plan as a President, as she draws on her experience with student engagement and administrative work, both through her intensive involvement in Residence Life and as an Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) representative to SSMU. While Mansdoerfer’s experience also speaks to his work, his platform only focuses on issues that pertain to student involvement and fails to provide a consistent framework that is aligned with the President portfolio.

Bulger’s platform highlights her dedication to advocacy for increased student participation in government, but fails to propose a concrete solution to SSMU’S inaccessibility. Bulger expresses her intention to follow through on SSMU’S more positive initiatives, including work with the Milton Parc community and Gender Neutral language in SSMU legislation. However, Bulger only commits herself to addressing the inadequacy of SSMU governance and its relation to student body representation, and thus fails to take a stand on significant political debates, like the SSMU- AVEQ affiliation question. Her goals regarding governance reform, while admirable, are not concretely outlined at this time.

As she presents a hopeful candidate, the Daily endorses Bulger, with reservations.