With city representatives pushing their political platforms in the midst of November’s municipal election, The Concordian took to the university halls and asked students their opinions on the upcoming election.
On November 6, eligible Montreal voters will head to the polls to select their representatives for the next four years. The city consists of 19 boroughs and 57 electoral districts and on election day, voters will choose the city mayor, borough mayors, city councilors and borough councilors.
With this, many Concordia students have noticed ads for the election campaign and are fed up with how it is being handled.
Dollard-des-Ormeaux resident and Concordia student, Karolina Studzinska, is annoyed to see the abundance of signs being posted in and around the island.
“We’re not blind,” said the psychology major. “The worst part is that after the election, these signs will stay up until someone throws them out. They won’t even be recycled.”
Pure and applied math student, Sonia Santana, is disappointed to see where taxpayers’ dollars are being spent.
“I haven’t heard much of the election but it’s upsetting to see what we’re paying for,” said the Laval resident.
For many students, the issue of sustainability takes precedence. Last April, the CSU elections focused on topics around sustainability as contending political parties questioned each other’s motives in advertising.
Alain Daigneault, a second-year fine arts student at Concordia, believes the posters are an infringement on public space. According to Daigneault, parties have no boundaries when promoting their campaigns.
Conversely, Concordia student Jeff Caron doesn’t think much of the poster campaign.
“The posters blend in like a face on the wall,” said Caron. “I’ve pretty much become numb to it.”
Caron, a computer science and engineering major, has noticed that as voters become less involved, local parties have become less available for their communities.
“A lot of people go into hiding,” said the West Island resident. “People will stand behind their four fences and that’s it.”
In an attempt to encourage voter turnout, the city of Montreal issued two media releases on September 19 and 21 entitled “It’s important to vote!” The releases explained the period of revision for the list of voters and offered a reminder that a valid proof of identity must be given at the voting booth.
“Voting is a fundamental right of our democracy and a right enshrined in the Montr
