punditry.ca — uncovering DSU elections

So Sarah and I, the dedicated pundits we are, tackled the grueling task of going to the T-Room on Thursday  for a few brews with the candidates and their people and a few engineering students. Sarah will have a detailed list of who attended and when they arrived for you soon enough.

I have to say it was nice to get some face time with these soon to be much sought after rising stars in the DSU who’s who. For the most part I had definitely met most of the candidates before even before this Kick Off event held at the T-room from 3 to 7 pm. I finally met the now infamous Neil Bailey and the mysterious Evan “The Maverick” Price. (Sorry Evan couldn’t help myself) and I now know what Karl Dempsey looks like but that’s about it.

I finally found out where these guys who seem totally legit but equally unfamiliar jumped out from. Let’s face it Neil and Evan are definitely not to be discounted in this election but relative to many of the people running in the election they are virtually “fresh meat” in terms of the DSU. Apparently they met at Brains For Change and having gotten a lot of encouragement from people  they decided to run in the DSU elections.

For one I am immensely impressed that Brains for Change had that kind of success in turning out not one but two candidates in the DSU election. Two, these guys are no laughing matter and in the short time I talked to them I have a feeling they are definitely on the level.   They are taking this election very seriously and definitely not just doing it for experience as some “newer” candidates have done in the past. They are truly going for the gold.

That being said there is a lot to be said for DSU experience. Going from zero to sixty against people who essentially have this kind of thing planned out for years and have been learning specifics about the job is very surprising. But this  is the DSU elections. Anything can and will happen.

The past few years has been a really exciting time to be involved with the DSU no matter how you slice it. After last year’s students vs students, NSPIRG levy fiasco which usurped the attention of AGM goers, the DSU has probably had more attention than it has in a long time, both negative and positive.

Now the new topic du jour “Secret Contracts” has potential do the same. We’re one post into punditry and already it’s a hotter topic than who’s rumored to be running in the election. This is both a positive and negative thing. Positive in the sense that the drama starved Dalhousie student population is sure to show up in droves to the next AGM in order to be part of the chair challenging, vote counting, McInnes room action. (I hope the executive orders enough pizza.)It’s positive in the sense that these topics circulating around campus are certainly decreasing student apathy.

It’s negative in several other ways. Negative in the sense that if we go through another AGM (or two) without making other necessary constitutional amendments or without discussing other student issues and spend the whole time debating a single issue then I am sincerely worried about the future of the DSU. Productivity at these meetings is important. I’d say no single issue is more important than any other. For all I know there could be a multitude of other issues students feel strongly about but we may not hear them because of people on campus and grabbing on to the latest hot topic in an attempt to be radical. Not saying the issues here aren’t important but I also feel the real issues are being overlooked in favor of “Secret Contracts” for dramatic effect.

The real issue by the way is NOT exclusivity in the contracts. I actually think the real issues are diversity of student representation, communication and  affordability and quality SUB food services. From what I gathered from the students who wrote me back after I replied to every single email I received about “Secret Contracts” last semester; communication is an issue in the sense that the services offered at the SUB are not what students want and the council and exec who have access to contracts and the ability to vote on them need to know how to represent this. Diversity of student representation ties into this in that there is a group of students on campus who obviously feel unrepresented; representation is always an ongoing uphill battle in the DSU. Affordability and quality SUB food services seems to be the main issue from which the other issues have stemmed, including the issue of exclusivity.

How can we avoid “Secret Contracts” overshadowing other important issues and still have the people involved with it heard? I think the key is communication. Not just in a “How should we vote?” way but also in the sense of how can we compromise and work on this in the future? The DSU exec is waiting for SMAC to come to them but I hope they aren’t holding their breath since SMAC doesn’t seem to be biting.

SMAC probably isn’t interested in a meeting even if they had a representative that could meet. They would much prefer to paint me and the rest of the councilors as cloak wearing evil masterminds who meet in secret and prefer to keep students in the dark.(insert self satisfying “Muuuhahahahaha” here) Most councilors enjoy feedback,  I know John Doucette has gone so far as to talk to individuals until he found one that had an opposing point of view to his own. We want to accurately represent the students or we wouldn’t be there. Believe me, we stick it to the Exec on a regular basis.  SMAC should talk to anyone on any of the execs of societies on my campus. If they haven’t met me in person they have certainly read what seems like a million emails from me. I even sent out the secret contracts motion for feedback. (PS Dear SMAC, I am not the Engineering rep as it says in your post about my CKDU interview I am the Sexton Campus Director, Stephanie Hagmann is the Engineering President and Rep)

As far as the elections go on this topic if I were running I would steer clear of the words “Secret Contracts” along the campaign trail. It’s like health care in politics; everyone knows there are issues with health care but it’s the best system we’ve got. It’s the third rail;  if you touch it you die. It’s a complex issue with no clear solution, as much as “Secret Contracts”  is. I wouldn’t build my platform on “Secret Contracts” but rather on the issues surrounding it like communication, diversity, quality and affordability of food services at the SUB.  I would also try to nail down someone at the core of SMAC if you can find one and have a sincere discussion about secret contracts just to get some perspective. That would be the golden ticket; probably a pretty rare event that is not likely to happen but the most ambitious elections candidate should definitely try.