Candidates' Forum summary (part 1)

Take note of the abbreviations:

• SU: Students United
• CS: Clean Slate
• RC: Regressive Conservatives

All citations are paraphrased - it's hard to write everything verbatim without a keyboard.

Introductions

11:27: I'm here, let's roll!

11:28: There are posters everywhere from all three slates, in direct violation of the bylaws. Glad to see they're being enforced.

11:29: The CRO explains how things will work and reminds everyone there will soon be time to ask all of our "burning questions"... right after she asks all of hers.

There are about 30 people sitting down and another 35 standing up to watch. This is one of the best crowds I've ever seen for a debate. We'll see how many of them are hacks.

11:30: The CRO introduces the candidates "from left to right"- directionally, and politically! (I wonder if she did that on purpose.)

SU: Jonny Sopotiuk introduces his slate. Sid, the VPSS candidate, is the senior Resident Advisor at Arthur Mauro. Wow, that's a huge advantage, since resident students vote in much greater numbers than communiting students. He emphasizes his slate's diversity; they have the most visible minorities! A good diversity of academic backgrounds as well. Reasonable applause.

CS: Troy Unrau tells us about his slate. He's winging it, while Jonny had a written speech. Unrau's pretty good at the impromptu, but this speech should have been prepared. He doesn't look as organized. He's also emphasized that the rest of his slate is part of ASBC, which is not terribly diverse. Equivalent applause.

RC: Pierce Cairns delivers a rousing speech. He starts with humour: "We're older and whiter than ever. Wait, that's John McCain. That's a joke." He says the Manitoban called him to ask if he was a joke slate. "Is it a joke that people have torn down our posters and drawn swastikas on our foreheads? The joke here is the administration." Here's another: "You know the story with the boy who cried wolf? I'm the wolf." I gotta say, he knows how to get people's attention. (Hindsight note: This will turn out to be the best speech of the day, bar none.) So far, the loudest applause.

Questions (Pre-determined)

11:36: The CRO looks a little flustered after that last speech by Cairns. She explains that she has a number of questions, some that she has prepared and some that have been submitted by students.

Question #1 (candidates for President): What is your position on the tuition freeze?

SU: Sopotiuk wants "fully affordable and accessible post-secondary education for all students" but accepts there are problems with the current funding framework. Am I the only one who thinks that he didn't answer the question? He didn't even say the words "tuition freeze".

RC: Cairns wants a tuition freeze forest fire. (The line's starting to get old.)

CS: Unrau proclaims a middle-of-the-road approach. The freeze was good when conceived given the rampant increases in the 1990s, but is no longer as useful. He advocates for a graduated tuition increase with moderate annual increases.

Question #2 (candidates for VPSS): How will you ensure that UMSU events cater to the academic, social and cultural interests of all students?

11:41: RC: Dinning calls UMSU events a large waste of time and money. His argument would have been much better if he would have cited even one event he considered a waste, but the statement by itself makes him look harsh and radical, which I guess is what he wants.

CS: Heska says the current UMSU website looks like something you would make in a grade five HTML class. She also wants less CFS posters on bulletin boards and more event adverts. She doesn't directly address the question of how he'll make them cater to various student demographics.

SU: Rashid wants a winter carnival, heated beer tent, international students week, a new vision for resident students, etc. I wonder if anyone will ask him how much these ideas cost. He makes the same mistake as Heska of not answering the question, which is how and not what. (Hindsight note: This question would mark the beginning of boisterous applause (and increasingly annoying hooting and hollering) in support of all SU answers.)

Question #3 (candidates for VPA): How does this position relate to individual students on campus?

11:45: Duong (CS) gives an answer about what the position does. Then Tripple (SU) answers. I can't tell the difference. Cairns (RC) will eliminate the position and delegate the work to "directors," but I'm not sure what he means by this.

At this point, a reliable pattern emerges: Students United and the Regressive Conservatives have the greatest number of hacks in the audience. Each of their answers generates considerable applause; Clean Slate's answers produce only light applause.

Question #4 (candidates for VPE): How will you mobilize students politically?

11:48: Bruce-Nanakeain (SU) wants to better-promote events through pamphlets. I'm not sure what this has to do with politics. Perhaps she means to advertise political events.

Singer (CS) cites the lack of communication between students and UMSU as the big problem. He also bashes the U-Pass. (He must read this blog!)

Cairns (RC) cites FDR talking about the Arsenal of Democracy (although I can't find this citation anywhere on the Interwebs). I think Cairns' exact quote was "the mobilization of peace is a step-wise process," and Cairns feels that student mobilization should follow the same approach. When students are ready to mobilize, they will. Not the greatest of analogies, but it makes him seem well-read.

Question #5 (candidates for VPI): What are your top three priorities for UMSU's budget?

Dinning (RC) wants to restructure the budget, and reallocate money that goes to student groups. I didn't hear a third priority.

Rajotte (SU) says consultations, accountability, and transparency to Council. The consultation process is a bit of a joke - no one wants to attend a meeting about budgets. Accountability is difficult given the nature of student politics; there's no incentive to be accountable when you have nothing to gain.

Brine (CS) wants to increase travel and conference grants to student groups (having sat on the UMSU Council committee that deals with this sort of funding, I would say this is some of UMSU's best-spent money), she wants budget consultations but criticizes how they're currently run, and wants more transparency.