Illustration by Katie Doyle
Voting for the Fall 2021 SAGBC Elections began on December 1 without any candidates running for offices of director of communications and internal and director of operations, its two highest executive positions. Additionally, no candidates were put forward for the role of preparatory and liberal studies centre representative.
The Dialog is funded by SAGBC.
Out of the five positions initially made available for elections, SAGBC found candidates for only two positions, despite extending the nomination period.
The two positions which will be contested until voting closed on December 8 were educational centre representatives for the business and community services and early childhood educational centres.
Running candidates released their agendas to GBC students during the campaign period.
The role of community services and early childhood representative was contested amongst Alex Chan, Elise Patterson and Gehna Rajwani.
During the campaign period, candidates released statements outlining their electoral promises ahead of the election.
For her platform, Rajwani emphasized the need to help new students by explaining how GBC’s Blackboard works well in advance of starting classes.
Patterson says she will prioritize facilitating appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities, those with familial commitments and other extenuating circumstances.
Working on transforming mental health stigma and barriers is one of Chan’s main goals.
It’s a two-horse race between Chahat Pusha and Marion Shevlin for business centre representative.
Shevlin promises to facilitate transparency in the dealings of SAGBC according to her statement, while. Pusha, on the other hand, did not submit a statement before the SAGBC deadline.
It is still unclear how the duties and responsibilities of the top two director positions will be fulfilled in the next term and how it would affect the day-to-day operations of SAGBC.
Charles Wilson, the chief returning officer of SAGBC told the Dialog that there are a number of provisions in the Association’s by-laws to deal with interim vacant positions.
“I would assume the board of directors would use these provisions to chart a course forward at the December board meeting,” he said.
A recent amendment in SAGBC by-laws made it a mandatory requirement for the top two director positions to have no more than a 50 per cent course load, while also increasing the required work hours for both positions to 28 hours per week.
This could have played a pivotal role in the lack of candidates, as it made it virtually impossible for international students to run for these top two positions.
Canadian immigration requires international students to be enrolled as full-time students and limits them to 20 hours of work per week.
The amendment could have created complications for domestic students in running for the top two offices as well. Becoming part-time students would require a much longer time to graduate.
They would also have to take course availability into consideration. Many programs offer certain courses only once a year.
Wilson, who originally proposed the amendment, had no comments when asked about its impacts or connection to the lack of candidates.
“I do not speak to any potential candidates, so I would not be able to opine on why there were no candidates for these positions,” he said.
He also noted that there have been occasions in the past when no candidates were certified for positions, and in every such case, the positions were filled in accordance with the by-laws.
The possibility of a by-election is also an option for the board of directors.
“The board of directors could call a by-election for January, but in all likelihood it is not advisable because of administrative issues,” Wilson said.
If the board chooses a by-election, they would have to explore all the potential issues that different election dates could produce, he added.
Students can vote in the election online here.
