Paul Backman said he wants to see a real change at the CSU. He is disappointed with the present government and said their honesty and integrity could – and should – be seriously questioned given their record over the past year.
“The present government has been pursuing its own agenda for the past year at the expense and against the interests of the student body as a whole,” he said.
He had serious reservations about the CSU involving itself in the heated debates that occurred over the last year over the Palestinian issue, and was deeply concerned as to how the union managed to encourage dissension within the student body over this issue.
“As much as it is a serious issue, it is not the business of the CSU to deal with this question, and it’s not the CSU’s business to alienate a large segment of the student body it is elected to serve.”
He, along with his friend and VP candidate (finance & communications) Francois Marc Dionne, were also concerned about the CSU’s idea of accountability and responsibility. “For all their rhetoric, these are also the same people who set the student’s government up to be robbed of some $200,000 by one of their own executives, and not one of them has apologized. The main suspect is still walking around while this government seems to wish that the whole thing would just go away!”
Francois also condemned their loose idea of what democracy was all about. “Their behavior as democrats could be roughly compared to that of the politiburo of the East German Democratic Republic. And we all remember just how democratic [the East Germans] were,” he said. “It is utterly absurd to believe that such a small clique should have the arrogance to believe that they can talk for the entire student body of Concordia, especially being as incompetent as they are.”
As much as they had made their point about their disappointment with the current government, Backman, Dionne and Denis Robichaud had firm ideas as to what they could contribute to the CSU.
“More than anything else, we want to be an alternative to the present situation,” they said.
Robichaud, a political science student, wished to deal with student government as would Cicero. “Let’s think about what should be, as opposed to what is,” he said, and he repeated how he hoped that there could be an expanded role for students within the government that could act as a brake against the abuse of power.
Both he and Dionne agreed that we need a true democracy, “not the rhetorical joke that’s going on right now.”
When asked about their platform, Backman said that it would be dishonest to make any kind of unrealistic promise when the finances of the CSU are so tight.
“Consider that after the fraud, either Rob Green or the next president will have to borrow at least $500,000 just to balance the budget. You just can’t make promises there is no way you could ever keep.”
He talked of good government and sound management, hopefully with the help of committed volunteers, and believed that executive salaries and perks would be seriously cut, if not eliminated, to make up for the losses caused by the fraud.
“The only serious promise I can make is to deal with executive salaries because that is the only one that is realistic.”
Robichaud said that all financial dealings would be regularly posted as honesty and integrity were at the base of their campaign.
When asked why students should vote for them, they all laughed as Dionne said: “To know the good is to choose it.”
“The present government has been pursuing its own agenda for the past year at the expense and against the interests of the student body as a whole,” he said.
He had serious reservations about the CSU involving itself in the heated debates that occurred over the last year over the Palestinian issue, and was deeply concerned as to how the union managed to encourage dissension within the student body over this issue.
“As much as it is a serious issue, it is not the business of the CSU to deal with this question, and it’s not the CSU’s business to alienate a large segment of the student body it is elected to serve.”
He, along with his friend and VP candidate (finance & communications) Francois Marc Dionne, were also concerned about the CSU’s idea of accountability and responsibility. “For all their rhetoric, these are also the same people who set the student’s government up to be robbed of some $200,000 by one of their own executives, and not one of them has apologized. The main suspect is still walking around while this government seems to wish that the whole thing would just go away!”
Francois also condemned their loose idea of what democracy was all about. “Their behavior as democrats could be roughly compared to that of the politiburo of the East German Democratic Republic. And we all remember just how democratic [the East Germans] were,” he said. “It is utterly absurd to believe that such a small clique should have the arrogance to believe that they can talk for the entire student body of Concordia, especially being as incompetent as they are.”
As much as they had made their point about their disappointment with the current government, Backman, Dionne and Denis Robichaud had firm ideas as to what they could contribute to the CSU.
“More than anything else, we want to be an alternative to the present situation,” they said.
Robichaud, a political science student, wished to deal with student government as would Cicero. “Let’s think about what should be, as opposed to what is,” he said, and he repeated how he hoped that there could be an expanded role for students within the government that could act as a brake against the abuse of power.
Both he and Dionne agreed that we need a true democracy, “not the rhetorical joke that’s going on right now.”
When asked about their platform, Backman said that it would be dishonest to make any kind of unrealistic promise when the finances of the CSU are so tight.
“Consider that after the fraud, either Rob Green or the next president will have to borrow at least $500,000 just to balance the budget. You just can’t make promises there is no way you could ever keep.”
He talked of good government and sound management, hopefully with the help of committed volunteers, and believed that executive salaries and perks would be seriously cut, if not eliminated, to make up for the losses caused by the fraud.
“The only serious promise I can make is to deal with executive salaries because that is the only one that is realistic.”
Robichaud said that all financial dealings would be regularly posted as honesty and integrity were at the base of their campaign.
When asked why students should vote for them, they all laughed as Dionne said: “To know the good is to choose it.”
Comments are closed.