Smaller Poster Night Reveals Big List of Candidates

The Concordia Student Union’s annual elections began Monday, with the start of a two-week campaign. This year’s ballot will include five slates: Change, Fresh, Attention, Vision and New Union; a big change from last year, when the Unity slate ran unopposed.

The Concordia Student Union’s annual elections began Monday, with the start of a two-week campaign.
This year’s ballot will include five slates: Change, Fresh, Attention, Vision and New Union; a big change from last year, when the Unity slate ran unopposed.
Change, the slate with the most ties to the current Unity executive, will bring a “change in mentality,” said candidate Audrey Peak.
“We had disagreements in the way this year’s council ran the union. [We’ll distance ourselves] by focusing on our platform, instead of lawsuits,” added Peak, who is currently president of ASFA. “[The lawsuits] will be handled by the end of this year.”
The Change slate is headed by presidential candidate Kurt Reckziegel, who is currently VP human resources for the Commerce and Administration Students Association.
Also on the slate, as a candidate for VP student life and Loyola, is Samantha Banks. She is currently a member of CSU council and is a former president of Hillel, as well as a member of several pro-Israel activist groups, including one sponsored by the Israeli government.
Also running is Vision, with Amine Dabchy as candidate for president. He is currently a CSU councillor and was VP internal for ASFA this year. Also running with the slate is candidate for VP services and Loyola, Prince Ralph Osei, who is also currently as CSU councillor.
Both Dabchy and Osei ran with Unity last year, but broke with the executive early in the year.
Some councillors have recently called for Dabchy and Osei to be removed from council; a motion to remove them along with councillors Alejandro Lobo-Guerrera and Louise was introduced by councillors Bryan Solloway and Catherine Decaire and will be voted on at the council meeting this Thursday.
Fresh, a slate with little CSU experience, is hopeful the student body will want a slate that “can bring the CSU to everyone,” said Fresh candidate Joell Suss.
“I wanted to start a club where students can talk about resolutions in conflict zones,” said Suss. “But couldn’t get any help from the CSU, not even a call-back.”
The surprise of the night came when Tessa Star, a former candidate for the GO slate who narrowly lost the 2007 election, presented her own slate, Attention.
In an attempt to end “student apathy,” Star, along with her handmade posters, said she hopes to keep the CSU honest.
“I don’t know what’s happening, but things could be better,” said Star. “It’s easy to ignore a handful of students, but it’s difficult to ignore 38,000.”
While past year’s poster nights have been marked by large crowds of supporters, this year was a quieter event, with only candidates allowed to put up posters.

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