A Better Concordia comes out on top

Ballot counting in the Concordia Student Union’s election came to a close at around 5 a.m. March 24, with preliminary results showing the entire A Better Concordia affiliation elected to office.

Presidential candidate and leader of the affiliation, Schubert Laforest, stated that he was “shocked” and in a state of “complete joy” that all seven team members were elected.“It was hard to wrap our heads around,” he said of their reaction upon hearing the initial results. “It’s still sinking in.”

Laforest went on to say that he wasn’t surprised by the closeness of the vote for the presidential office, approximately a 28 vote difference, and confirmed that there would be a recount of the ballots for that position over the next couple of days.

“I knew my office would be very close,” he said. “[Melanie Hotchkiss] is a formidable opponent.”

The chief electoral officer has not yet confirmed when the recount will take place, but Laforest speculated that it could be as early as Sunday, March 25.

The A Better Concordia affiliation includes Andrew Roberts for VP sustainability, Stefan Faina for VP Loyola, Simon-Pierre Lauzon for VP external affairs, Lucia Gallardo for VP academic and advocacy, Keny Toto for VP finance, Alexis Suzuki for VP student life and Nadine Atallah for VP clubs and internal affairs.

Laforest said that he felt his new executive would be at a major advantage considering they have existing relationships and developed many of their ideas together.

“We learned about our team dynamic,” he continued. “How we operate under pressure, how to be most effective as an executive.”

Having had the day to let the news sink in, Laforest said that he is ready to start preparing for the job ahead.

“We’re going to hit the ground running,” he said. “Now it’s time to prove ourselves to our supporters and our critics.”

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