Safety and student space still remain primary goals to tackle
Jacqueline Perlin
Assistant News Editor
@jackieperlin
Another year, another student election, another win by the incumbent slate.
The results of the York Federation of Students (YFS) elections came Saturday with little surprise when the York United (YU) slate swept the polls in an overwhelming win over the opposition slate, Free York University (FYU). The winners were announced March 26, after the polls were closed and ballots counted.
“All the candidates more or less played fair and stuck to the rules outlined to them in the YFS Elections Bylaws,” said chief returning officer, Cécile Des Vignes in an email to Excalibur. She noted that while a number of demerit points were handed out for reasons such as using unapproved campaign material, there were no disqualifications, marking this the first YFS election without a single disqualification, according to YFS executive director Hamid Osman.
Every candidate running on the YU slate for executive and director positions won their seat, including the three returning members of the executive team: Vanessa Hunt, Alastair Woods, and Robert Cerjanec.
Hunt, who is returning for her second term as YFS president, says that the win is a reflection of the hard work and effort her slate put into the election.
She says that many of the YFS’s main priorities will remain unchanged going into next year, such as issues with safety and student space topping the concerns.
The implementation of the remaining Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC) recommendations—specifically with reference to the mandatory women’s studies or equity class—is a major element.
While this is something the YFS has been working towards over the past year, the recommendations that have yet to be addressed prompted Hunt to throw in her bid for a second time.
“That is part of the reason I wanted to come back,” she says, explaining that the YFS has engaged in “heavy duty” research to support the implementation of an equity or women’s studies course, and that they intend to bring their research and work to the university and have the York senate approve the recommendations.
“We’re all very excited and happy, but also very humbled,” says Hunt of their win and the YU slate’s upcoming challenges, noting the strong support she received from students during the campaign period.
