Fulcrum 021209 Election

The

Fulcrum

Campus cries volume lxix, issue xxi

feb. 13–25, 2009

sfuo election coverage

Wolfe

Current vp university affairs takes reins of SFUO by Emma Godmere Fulcrum Staff THE MOST EXCITING race of the 2009 Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) elections also turned out to be one of the closest. Current SFUO VP University Affairs Seamus Wolfe will be returning to the SFUO executive for a third year, finishing only 442 votes ahead of runner-up Renaud-Philippe Garner. “To be honest, I’m feeling a little relieved,” said Wolfe. “I put my life and my heart and soul into this campaign. I had a lot of people behind me, and most importantly, this campaign for president was not about me—this was about the people who supported me.” Wolfe, who secured 36 per cent of the vote, also acknowledged the widespread popularity and interest that surfaced in this February’s 12day campaign. “I’m very, very proud to say that for the first time in the SFUO elections, we had an extraordinarily interesting race in each one of the races that were contested,” he said. Wolfe continued to explain that his main focus for next year is to “build a community that’s built on respect”. Garner, who ran in last year’s presidential by-elections, offered somewhat of a challenge to that promise. “I’d love to see a poll in one year’s time about how many students find [that] a community has been built and that all the goals have been accom-

Seamus Wolfe was all smiles after being elected SFUO president for 2009–10. plished,” he said shortly after results were released on Feb. 12. “I’d love to know ... if really 36 per cent, even 20 per cent of students without any coaxing will actually answer, ‘I’m satisfied.’” Third-place candidate Tyler Steeves seemed satisfied, at least with how his bid for president rolled out. “I feel like we ran a solid campaign,” he said after capturing 26 per cent of the vote. When asked if he will continue

Results Seamus Wolfe Renaud-Philippe Garner Tyler Steeves Marc Kelly

36 % 30 % 26 % 7%

to participate on campus next year, Steeves was optimistic. “I’ll always be involved, wherever I am,” said the fourth-year management student. Fourth-place finisher Marc Kelly, the deregistered sixth-year physics student who encountered difficulty campaigning before the university temporarily lifted his ban from campus, was more certain about his future involvement at the U of O.

“All the things I’ve been talking about and saying, I’m going to keep doing,” Kelly said, after capturing just over 500 votes. “I think everybody should be free to speak and decide and have influence on the political environment ... I don’t agree with the necessity to elect somebody to make decisions on behalf of others.” When asked about his direct involvement with the SFUO, Kelly was frank.

photo by Frank Appleyard

“Oh, I’ll be barging into their offices frequently,” he said. Those offices will be filled by the rest of the newly elected SFUO executives come May 1. Wolfe indicated he is looking forward to working with the fresh six-member executive in the upcoming months. “We have a very strong team and ... I’m looking forward to be able to make sure that next year is the best year of our lives,” he said.

“I put my life and my heart and soul into this campaign.“

Seamus Wolfe SFUO president-elect

BOG, Horton all business after election win BOA, Senate Ted Horton comes vp university affairs

out on top in four-way race

Board of Governors Amy Kishek

by Amanda Shendruk Fulcrum Staff

Board of Administration

THE STUDENT FEDERATION of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) will welcome Ted Horton as vp university affairs for the 2009–2010 academic year after he won one of the election’s most hotly contested races on Feb. 12. Horton, a current Faculty of Social Sciences representative on the SFUO Board of Administration (BOA), will take over the position from current VP University Affairs Seamus Wolfe on May 1. Horton secured 32 per cent of the vote, narrowly edging out his closest competitor, Jeremy Stuart, by 339 votes. “I thought it was going to be a really close race, and it was. I’m glad all the other candidates got up,” said Horton. Fellow candidates Sidney Loko and Cameron Montgomery trailed Horton with 21.6 per cent and 19.5 per cent support, respectively. Soon after results were released, Horton admitted to feeling “ecstatic”. However, he quickly got down to talking business, emphasizing that after next year he hopes students will look back and say they were better off than before. “[My] daily concerns will focus a lot on the really huge issues, and I

Faculty of Arts Scott Bédard Melanie Book Danika Brisson Michael Cheevers Robert Prazeres Faculty of Law, Common Law Arthur Dennis Stark

photo by Frank Appleyard

Ted Horton was one of three first-time SFUO executives elected on Feb. 12. think those are important, but we risk neglecting the daily lives of students,” he said. “And if students aren’t interacting with the SFUO on a daily basis, I don’t think they’re getting their money’s worth.” Although the night’s results did not fall in his favour, Loko, who helped found the West African Youth Association on campus, was ready to congratulate his competitor. “He did a good campaign,” he said of Horton. “He was out there, and he won.” Stuart, who received 26.9 per cent of the vote, also felt the results of the election were satisfactory. “There was no one I was going to be

particularly disappointed with in my race,” he said. “They’re all good people.” Both Horton and Loko had positive things to say about their competitors and the campaigns. “It was a fair campaign,” said Loko, while Horton commented on the dynamic among the four. “We all got along really well,” he said.

Both Loko and Stuart plan to soon graduate. Stuart will graduate in the summer with a political science and history degree, while Loko will finish at the end of the semester. Montgomery, a current Faculty of Arts representative on the BOA, was not available for comment. —with files from Frank Appleyard and Emma Godmere

32 % 27 % 22 % 19 %

vp student affairs

Lamarche cruises to victory by Megan O’Meara Fulcrum Staff

photo by Ross Prusakowski

Michèle Lamarche secured an easy win in the 2009 SFUO elections.

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MICHÈLE LAMARCHE MAY have failed to receive the support thrown behind last year’s unopposed vp finance winner Roxanne Dubois, but the new vp student affairs nevertheless impressed voters, securing 86 per cent of the vote. This is Lamarche’s first election to the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) executive. “I was kind of hoping it was going to be a little bit higher because [Dubois] got 91 per cent last year, but I am … a little hardheaded and strongly opinionated, so some people don’t approve of me,” explained Lamarche. “I was happy with the results overall.” Due to the fact that she was unopposed, Lamarche didn’t let her campaign take over her daily life. “All my print material was sent before I found out that I was unopposed

Faculty of Education Myriam Bérubé Faculty of Engineering Brandon Bay Faculty of Health Sciences Osama Berrada Laura Raschotte Kyle Ryc Telfer School of Management Khadijah Kanji

Results Ted Horton Jeremy Stuart Sidney Loko Cameron Montgomery

Faculty of Law, Civil Law Bruno Gélinas-Faucher

so I still went ahead with all that,” she said. “At the same time, I still go to school full-time and work full-time so I decided not to take as much time off and I didn’t skip any of my classes.” When asked what she will do first when she takes over the position in May, Lamarche emphasized the importance of collaboration within the SFUO. “I’ve been on other executives before and I’m on the [Student Association of the Faculty of Arts] executive right now, so [I know that] you have to first find out what the executive’s priorities are,” she explained. “It depends on what the executive as a team wants to set as goals.” Despite being near-certain that she would be victorious, Larmarche was nevertheless thrilled about her new position. “I’m really excited to get started,” she said. “I’ve wanted this for a long time.”

Faculty of Science Matt Alteen Richard Mah Jim Rae Faculty of Social Sciences Aminka Belvitt Iain Brannigan Peter Flynn Cam Gray Sarah Jayne King Kyle Simunovic Faculty of Medicine Marie-Ève Bérubé

Senate Telfer School of Management Andrei Huranchyk Faculty of Arts Melanie Book Faculty of Science Alex Bevington Faculty of Social Sciences Kyle Simunovic Faculty of Medicine Andrew Boozary Faculty of Health Sciences Shamin Mohamed, Jr. Faculty of Law Bruno Gélinas-Faucher

vp social

Guillaume ready to go

New vp social wants to begin work as soon as possible by David McClelland Fulcrum Staff IT WAS A close race for the position of vp social in the 2009–2010 Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) executive elections, with fourth-year social work student Jean Guillaume securing 55 per cent of the vote to edge out Zoom Productions coordinator Alexandre Chaput. “I’m definitely happy,” said Guillaume after the results were announced. “I want to start to work on everything I’ve planned, everything I’ve promised. I’m going to make sure they’re going to happen.” Guillaume campaigned on a platform that promised to create inclusive and multicultural events, in addition to having more and bigger events. Guillaume felt that the inclusive nature of his platform reflected some of the reasons why this year’s election had a record 27 per cent voter turnout. “This shows how when we don’t leave people behind [people get involved],” he said. “My first point in my platform is inclusivity. We can see the difference [and] we can see the results

when everybody gets involved.” Chaput felt that the campaign had been difficult, but rewarding nonetheless. “It definitely got more intense in the past couple of days where students actually got to vote,” said Chaput, who went on to say that he felt that the election had only been lost in the last few days of class presentations. Chaput also noted that the election had been very good for Zoom Productions, and was quick to note that he planned on remaining involved in the U of O community through Zoom. “Zoom has been extremely present during the elections, and it’s really put us on the map, and I can only thank my co-workers [and] my employees for that,” he said. “[It’s] literally put us on the map in terms of getting students to realize we exist.” “There [are] big projects that Zoom is doing. Mainly, I’ve been working on new renovations of the office, and more visibility towards Zoom,” he continued. “That’s something I’d be interested in working with next year.” Meanwhile, Guillaume is eager to start working towards his goals and election promises. “I’m going to start to work as soon as possible. I would say tomorrow, to start to make sure that I’m going to come and deliver what I promised,” he said. “I’m very happy and excited because I’m going to bring a lot of change.”

Results Jean Guillaume Alexandre Chaput

55 % 45 %

vp finance

photo by Ross Prusakowski

vp communications

Double-dip for Dubois Second serving for Séguin

by David McClelland Fulcrum Staff WINNING WITH A margin of over 1,200 votes, incumbent Roxanne Dubois has been re-elected to the position of Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) vp finance for 2009–10. Dubois captured 59.3 per cent of the vote, beating out challenger Maureen Hasinoff who took 41.7 per cent. “I feel really happy. I think the energy was always really positive and respective between the candidates, which I think is essential,” said Dubois. “A campaign has a certain rhythm and it’s really hard for me because I already have [the position this year] and at the same time I had to work so hard to get re-elected to be able to finish my job.” In spite of the loss, Hasinoff was happy with the way her campaign had gone, noting that she was proud of her hard work. “I fought hard, and it’s really hard to beat an incumbent, of course, but I worked my butt off and I tried my hardest,” she said.

For Dubois, the next challenge will be implementing the platform she was elected on, adding that she feels that the experience she gained in her first term will be invaluable in helping her do so. “The vp finance position, as I’ve been saying for a while, is really heavy in administrative tasks,” Dubois explained. “And I think having done it once I’ll be in a much better position to be able to make changes and adapt some things that I wanted to do when I came in, but kind of had to get over that learning curve [first]. “[For] my second term, one of my platform points was creating consultative budgets,” continued Dubois, noting that getting students involved in the budgeting process would need to begin before the end of her first term. “I think we will have to put [consultative budgets] in place in the next few months to be able to have this consultative budget before I [begin] my second term.” Hasinoff, meanwhile, is not ruling out future involvement in student politics.

Results Roxanne Dubois Maureen Hasinoff

59 % 41 %

by Frank Appleyard Fulcrum Staff

photo by Frank Appleyard

“I’m not leaving student politics, [and] I’m not leaving this campus any time soon,” said Hasinoff. “I’m planning on being involved for the rest of next year and until I’m finished my degree.” Hasinoff went on to say that she might run for a position on the Political, International and Development Studies Student Association (PIDSSA) executive. “I’ll probably run for [a] PIDSSA [position],” she said. “I’m considering vp external, but it’s nothing official yet. I haven’t decided [yet] … and we don’t even have elections organized yet, [so] we’ll see what next year brings.”

CURRENT STUDENT FEDERATION of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) VP Communications Julie Séguin secured an overwhelming mandate for a second term on Feb. 12, wrapping up 80 per cent of the votes in her uncontested race. “I’m very excited,” said an elated Séguin shortly after the results were announced. “I think next year’s exec is going to be good.” With little over two months remaining in her current term, Séguin wasted little time in looking ahead to next year, describing her desire to see bilingualism requirements not pose a roadblock to potential SFUO employees. “We can make sure that there’s a strong second-language learning program for people who want to work at the SFUO. If you want to get involved in the SFUO as an employee, you have to be bilingual, and I want to make sure its open to everyone,” she said. Despite an unofficial No campaign launched by SFUO promotions team staffer Tristan Dénommée and an endorsement of a No vote in La Rotonde’s Feb. 9 issue, Séguin was not perturbed by the 1,440 votes cast against her.

“I feel like it was a very small number of people [that voted ‘no’],” she said. “But I will take it seriously and take whatever feedback they have to give me.” Dénommée was pleased with the number of students who voted against Séguin, admitting that his campaign intended to shed light on Séguin’s perceived shortcomings this year, not to necessarily defeat the incumbent. “I dreamed of 25 [per cent], and the No side got 20 per cent. I think it’s a victory for the No side,” he said. In light of the opposition to her campaign, Séguin displayed a commitment to work with all students, not only those who voted for her. “I remember that last year when I won, I said, ‘I will listen to both sides and try and do my best,’” Séguin said. “No one can blame me for that. I tried to listen to 100 per cent instead of the 57 [per cent that voted for me] and I think any exec that wins lower than 100 [per cent]—which is everybody— should listen to every other platform and listen to ideas that other candidates have.”

Results Yes No

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80 % 20 %

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voter turnout

E-voting an enormous success Voter turnout more than double last year’s SFUO elections by Megan O’Meara Fulcrum Staff

photo by Martha Pearce

Students were met with laptops instead of ballots at polling stations.

THIS YEAR, THE Board of Administration (BOA) of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) moved to reintroduce e-voting into its February elections—a move that was met with overwhelming success. The SFUO elections office’s goal was to make voting more accessible to all students, especially those who are not on campus on a daily basis. Consider it mission accomplished: the turnout for this election was an incredible 27.2 per cent, more than double last year’s turnout of 12 per cent. “Today, we make history,” said current SFUO President Dean Haldenby, who announced the results to the crowd of students in the Unicentre. He indicated approximately 8,200 students cast ballots. SFUO elections chief information officer Wassim Garzouzi was ecstatic with the increase in participation. “These are the most successful elections we’ve ever had here at the U of O, and I think it’s in a large part thanks to e-voting,” explained Garzouzi. “The feedback has been ter-

rific. On the website, many people are leaving great comments and overall it’s been fantastic, so we’re extremely pleased with it.” While the increase in voters has inspired much praise, there was a technical error that left many students without their identification number needed to vote on the first day of voting, causing many undergraduate students to lose a voting day. While the committee was upset by this blemish on the otherwise-successful election, Garzouzi explained that it was not a major issue in the end. “Despite the delay, which was frustrating for everyone, I think we bounced back extremely strongly,” said Garzouzi. “We started sending out the emails [the night before] so that everyone would see them then instead of waiting until the morning.” SFUO Chief electioral officer Sylvia Lewis-Havard was pleased that this hiccup was the only real issue for the elections office. “Other than the delay in those emails, [the vote] went pretty much without a hitch,” she said. When the BOA’s implementation of e-voting was challenged at the Student Arbitration Committee shortly

before the campaign period, the ability to recount electronic ballots was a major concern. Garzouzi indicated that, if necessary, a recount could be done, but he hopes that no candidate will contest the results. “I don’t think many people are going to be thinking of contesting or anything like that,” said Garzouzi. “The Student Arbitration Committee, the Board [of Administration] and now almost 30 per cent of students said it was constitutional, so I think these are very good results for everyone.” President-elect Seamus Wolfe was pleased with the e-vote as well, though he wanted more research to have been done on the process. “There were some small problems that … we could have foreseen if we put a little more research into it,” said Wolfe. “In the end, though, I do think it helped to increase voter turnout, so that’s a good thing [and] it’s very likely that we’ll use it next year.” Lewis-Havard was proud of e-voting’s success and hopes it will be used in years to come. “I hope that everyone that had questions about how good it was or who wondered about it’s success are now happy,” she said.

27.2 per cent

referendums

Four out of six referendums pass

Students in favour of restricting smoking on campus by Len Smirnov Fulcrum Staff UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT the U of O sent a strong message through the referendums that were part of the 2009 Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) elections, voting in favor of restricting tobacco sales and consumption on campus and expanding existing student services. Four of the six referendum questions were ultimately passed. Students were united in their support for the two referendum questions related to tobacco use on campus. The Smoke-Free Campus campaign urged the university to restrict smoking to designated areas on campus. Current regulations state that smoking is prohibited within nine meters of a building entrance, but the regulations are not consistently enforced. The cam-

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paign to ban the sale of tobacco products in SFUO businesses is a similar initiative, calling for the SFUO to place student values above profits. “The Smoke-Free Campus creates a healthy environment for students to live and learn,” said Tapas Kulkarni, a member of the Yes committee supporting a smoke-free campus. “This initiative is important because we want to be fair to all students.” While enthusiastic about the referendum results, Kulkarni was reserved about increasing smoking restrictions any further. Instead, he is petitioning for a stricter enforcement of the student mandate. “The students have spoken,” he said. “I want the new SFUO to be accountable to follow through with designated smoking areas.” The referendum to increase the student donation to the Bon Appétit! Food Bank and the referendum to provide equal access to the Student Life Services (SLS) emergency fund to all SFUO student services were also approved in the election. Amanda Bradley, former coordinator of the Peer Help Centre, emphasized

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the benefit of extending access to the SLS emergency fund to six additional services. “The SFUO services have so much potential, but they are really limited financially,” she explained. “The passing of the referendum means that the SLS can help students more effectively.” The referendums to create the Aboriginal Counseling Resource Elder Service (ACRES) and to get students to donate $6 per year to Millennium Villages project to aid sub-Saharan African communities were less successful. Both referendum questions received a majority of ‘no’ votes. Many newly elected SFUO representatives are taking notice of the referendum results. Ted Horton, vp university affairs-elect, is planning to promote the issues in the coming year. “The [referendums] are about increasing student awareness of the issues on campus and their representatives getting up to speed on acting on these issues,” he said. “We will look at how the new [referendum] agendas work for two to three years, and then decide what changes need to be made.”

Bon Appétit Yes - 64 % No - 36 % ACRES Yes - 35 % No - 65 % Student Life Services Yes - 63 % No - 37 %

Tobacco Sales Ban Yes - 69 % No - 31 % Smoke-Free Campus Yes - 78 % No - 22 % Millennium Village Yes - 35 % No - 65 %