PRESIDENT’S PAGE
GIANCARLO DA-RÉ President
president@msumcmaster.ca 905.525.9140 x23885
To my fellow students, I hope you are staying safe, wherever it is you call home. As if this year of remote learning and province-wide lockdowns hasn’t been ‘unprecedented’ or ‘unique’ enough, our student union experienced something I don’t think anyone anticipated; the MSU presidential election was acclaimed because there was a single nominee. I would like to express some thoughts about this year’s presidential election, or more accurately, the lack thereof. We have a President-elect; his name is Denver Della-Vedova. I reached out and congratulated Denver on his acclamation last week. I’m grateful that Denver had the strength to take this step forward during a year filled with unknowns. I want to commend him for putting his name forward as a person committed to representing McMaster students. I have tremendous
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respect for people who offer themselves in service to others. Denver and I will begin the transition process immediately, and he will be taking the reins starting May 1. Denver’s acclamation has certainly raised some questions about why a vote of confidence by students did not take place, seeing as a vote of confidence is required for our Vice-President elections. I am sympathetic to these concerns and would like to address them. The short - yet not necessarily satisfactory - answer is that these differences are rules dictated within our organization’s election bylaws. As a refresher, Bylaw 7/A – Electoral Procedures (3.3.1), which governs all at-large elections, such as those for seats on the Student Representative Assembly (SRA), First Year Council (FYC), and for MSU President states: “if the number of valid nomination forms submitted is fewer than or equal to the number of available positions, the CRO shall declare all nominees duly elected by acclamation”. On the other hand, the election process for the MSU’s Board of Directors, namely the Vice-Presidents (Administration), (Education), and (Finance) are governed by the SRA. The procedure for conducting the VP elections is outlined in Bylaw 3/A - Assembly Procedures (7.5.2) which states, “in uncontested elections of the Speaker, the Board of Directors, the Executive Board, or Commissioners of Standing Committees, a confidence vote
The President’s Page is a space sponsored and used by the McMaster Students Union (MSU) Board of Directors (BoD) to communicate with the student body. It functions to highlight the Board’s projects, goals, and agenda for the year, as well as the general happenings of the MSU.
shall automatically be held”. These bylaws have been in force for decades and clearly outline our electoral procedures for the various roles and positions within the MSU’s governance apparatus. And while an acclaimed SRA seat is not new, it is an anomaly to see this situation occur during the presidential election. Therefore, it is reasonable that this occurrence has led to confusion. I have seen the frustrated comments online and on social channels and I understand that students want to know more about the person who will become MSU president in a few months. Typically, students have around 10 days, during the campaign period, to get to know presidential candidates, along with the ideas and intentions they bring to student life. This year, due to the acclamation of the President-elect by virtue of Bylaw 7/A, the results were released immediately – students didn’t get to see or hear Denver’s platform before his acclamation. This outcome seems odd I realize, nevertheless it is the correct procedure given the rule. Having said that, I believe students would like the rule revisited prior to future elections. It is standard practice for our Internal Governance committee to examine any bylaws or operating policies that cause friction. This is clearly one of those times. Therefore, I have directed the Internal Governance committee to immediately begin an evaluation of Bylaw 7/A. In addition, I have expressed my desire to have
GIANCARLO DA-RÉ President
GRAEME NOBLE
VP (Administration)
the committee’s recommendation(s) come before the SRA for debate during my term. I think this is a very appropriate discussion to have and I look forward to it. I encourage you to share concerns you have with your SRA representatives, who can amplify your voice to the Assembly. Our bi-weekly SRA meetings are live-streamed via the SRA Facebook page on Sundays at 5pm. I want to end with a message I have emphasized to Denver; let’s take this time right now to connect with each other. Denver plans to share all his campaign material and offer himself to students for feedback, consultation, and constructive criticism. I think that is a wise starting point. We must keep in mind, the MSU president is one person, but doing this job successfully is a team effort. I encourage students to take the time to digest what it is Denver has to say, and more importantly, help shape next year by finding ways, whether big or small to support our Marauder community. The global pandemic has caused a great disconnect in so many ways. Remote learning and Ontario’s emergency stay-at-home orders have undoubtedly led to a decline of engagement with the student political process this year. That said, I look forward to helping Denver transition into the role of MSU president. In addition, I strongly encourage all students to consider running for a vice-presidential role in early April.
RYAN TSE
VP (Education)
JESSICA ANDERSON VP (Finance)