Dennis Bayazitov | Assistant News Editor
Featured image: Last week’s YFS 2018 election debates saw a poor student turnout once again. | Mustafa Syed
On February 8, the York Federation of Students (YFS) hosted its 2018 Keele campus electoral debate to grant York community members an opportunity to learn more about—and to question—the executive candidates campaigning to represent York’s more than 46,400 undergraduate students.
The event ran from 10:00 a.m. to 10:35 a.m. in The Underground’s Contact Room and saw an attendance of approximately 20 people, with exactly 35 fold-out chairs arranged in front of the stage.
Another debate was hosted at the Glendon campus’ cafeteria a day prior, and attracted a similar audience size.
Despite the YFS’ access to a list of undergraduate student emails to promote their social events, and send newsletters and open letters to the community in the past, there was no mass email sent to advertise the debates. The YFS’ Facebook page, with over 10,500 followers, made no mention of the event either—they were advertised only through posters put up around campus.
The YFS Chief Returning Officer Mohammad Bilal Nisar organized and moderated the debates, requesting the Keele debate be neither photographed nor recorded, as it would make candidates on stage uncomfortable. He requested spectators ask general questions, rather than specific questions regarding candidates’ speeches.
Four of five members from UniteYU’s team attended: current YFS President Rawan Habib, campaigning for re-election; Sébastien Lalonde, for Vice-President (VP) Campaigns and Advocacy; Aminat Arigbabu, for VP Equity; and Anthony Fernandes, for VP Campus Life.
Team ABC’s Syed Atif was no longer campaigning for VP Operations at that point, nor were any independent or Momentum candidates, automatically entitling UniteYU’s Jordan Madeira to the executive position, who was not in attendance either.
One student-run initiative called Hold YFS Accountable claims that UniteYU is the incumbent slate’s current name—in power for at least 10 consecutive years—noting it changes its name every few years.
Their central points of contention with the YFS are that it is “a textbook definition of oligarchy,” claiming that it lacks transparency surrounding financial statements, and does not provide adequate student outreach for pertinent operations-based events, such as debates and past Annual General Meetings (AGMs).
Further, in “Towards a More Level Playing Field,” a 2010 Ombudsperson’s Report on the YFS Students Elections Process, former York President Mamdouh Shoukri stated YFS elections have been “intensely contested.” He wrote: “The typical pattern is that an incumbent group, consisting in the main of members of the past year’s governing party will be seeking, in effect, re-election.”
Nisar responds: “In 2010, I was 16 years old and in grade 11. It is my responsibility to follow the current YFS by-laws.”
The entire Momentum team attended the debate, with Sajeth Paskaran as the only candidate campaigning for an executive position—VP Campaigns and Advocacy.
No candidates from Team ABC, nor any independently-campaigning candidates, appeared at the event.
Further, it appeared that no formal debating occurred.
Arigbabu spoke first, unopposed. Her platform highlighted: creating “Know Your Rights” workshops, a consent culture forum, an International Women’s Day conference, and lobbying for anti-oppression, equity, and basic rights training.
When asked about the white supremacy situation she noted in her speech, Arigbabu responded: “Last year, from my understanding—I don’t go to Glendon—we got reports there were quite a few signs and racial slurs painted all over Glendon campus.”
Lalonde and Paskaran spoke next.
Paskaran’s platform focused on instilling greater accountability and transparency in the way YFS conducts its election process, engages students, and advocates for campaigns. He mentioned online voting ought to be considered, citing current annual votership is approximately 14 per cent.
Paskaran reported the YFS’ 2015, 2016, and 2017 election budgets increased respectively from $17,762, to $69,368, to $78,475; and criticized the YFS for not better promoting their AGMs, where “board members went around signing proxy cards to fill their 250-seat quorum;” and emphasized that one-day YFS free tuition rallies were not effective compared to his proposed follow-up rallies, protests, sit-ins, and student strikes.
Lalonde’s platform highlighted: lobbying for online counselling through the office of Student Counselling and Development, creating a mental health resource kit, continuing to push the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign, and initiating a student strike vote.
Fernandes spoke next, unopposed. His platform highlighted: organizing York’s first Winter Games and fall soccer tournament; do-it-yourself workshops; campus space access and mental health student services; and extending Multicultural Week, Frost Week, and YorkFest.
Habib spoke next, unopposed. Her platform highlighted: Divesting York from arms manufacturers, continuing conversations on sexual violence and rape culture, fighting for free education, organizing a strike in 2019, and building on past victories of securing a full-week fall reading week and implementing a grocery shuttle.
When asked by Momentum Schulich Director candidate Robert Kotok about the environmental impact of “putting up this many posters in a short duration of time,” Habib said, as president, she has worked towards recycling tabloid-sized paper; and ensuring “many posters that come down are taken back, so we can reuse them hopefully.”
When asked by another spectator how she intends to show YFS solidarity’ for the CUPE 3903 strike, Habib added: “I’m looking forward to being on the picket lines with them, because I recognize they need student support to be able to win.”
When asked by Paskaran why YFS has not yet implemented online voting, Habib said she does not “trust the process for a variety of reasons, including sanctity of the vote, consent, the fact it can be hacked into, and that we’ve seen other universities in the GTA experience a much lower voter turnout.”
York University Young Liberals President Gari Ravishankar says: “It’s truly unfortunate for our candidate debates to have such a small turn-out. Most students assume that these elections would be insignificant to their experience at York, but that is not true.”
“I personally hope we can use social media as a platform to showcase these debates for students in the future to be engaged in.”
“The last thing I would have expected from the current president is notions parallel to that of a Luddite,” says Matthieu Thomson, a sixth-year Philosophy student and one of the few unaffiliated students at the debate.
“To suggest the risk of online voting is hacking suggests to me either a seriously misplaced fear or a distraction from more legitimate concerns.”
The YFS oversees an operating budget of approximately $3.3 million, much of which is funded through a student levy. This financial information cannot be found online, and is typically distributed only at AGMs.
For the past three years, year-ended April 30, the YFS’ Elections expenditures, respectively, were: $17,762, $69,368, and $78,475.
Promotions expenditures, respectively, were: $9,938, $4,894, and $3,305.
“Debates are not mandatory,” Nisar says. “Per the YFS by-laws, the Elections Committee is a logistical committee made up of the YFS Executive Director, and two Board members not seeking re-election—there is no conflict here. The Elections Committee plays only a logistical role in the YFS elections.
“The by-laws of the YFS, which govern the elections process, stipulate voting will be done by paper ballot.”
When asked about why the YFS failed to take thorough steps to inform students about the debate, failed to include the opposing members running, and has continuously failed to even attempt to improve voter turnout, Nisar avoided the questions, and simply claimed the elections process is “transparent,” despite numerous claims from students that it is not.
