Team Unity Can Shake Up the Status-Quo at Concordia University
The 2017-2018 CSU elections are ongoing.
There are groups with great ideas and interesting platforms. However, the case for the “third party” should be made this time around. Team Unity is a team of two: Amina Chemssy and Eddy Kara-Sarkissian. The pair of them has a good amount of student politics experience between them. Both participate heavily in extracurricular activities and have devoted a lot of time to student life. From my understanding of their proposed policies so far, it is a very social-democratic platform. This platform aims for equality, ensuring easier access for services and a CSU that aims to represent as much of the student body as possible.
An interesting aspect of their platform is their desire for online voting. If passed, this will make the voting process easier. Ensuring ease of voting and participation is key to having higher turnouts. Furthermore this team wants to take a more student-driven, bottom-up approach in how the CSU operates. The CSU is a very big umbrella group where there are diverse amount of clubs, implementing a “one-size-fits all” model will not be the most optimal. They want CSU to implement the policies that meet the club’s needs first rather than have a large organization dictate how clubs should operate. This approach could potentially avoid often very protracted conflicts between the CSU and their sub-organizations.
Team Unity will also make the effort to increase their contact with the student population. All too often criticism against the CSU has been leveled at them that they are out of touch, or inaccessible. Potentially, this causes low turnouts. As students ask, “why should I participate if the government is unresponsive?” Team Unity could improve the situation by various means for example, by improving online services and informing about opportunities or by reaching out to students of all departments and clubs, they might get students more involved in student politics.
Life for university students is tough; many work-part time, many are treated unfairly or lack the access to services. Student politics can make life a bit easier. That’s why many students want a responsive student government. Team Unity’s platform makes services more efficient, will increase voter turnout, bridge the gap between departments and end discrimination. Hence, putting this team in CSU alongside other qualified, dedicated candidates brings about positive change for our school.
Mardig Bidanian
