The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) by-elections were held on Tuesday, October 25 and Wednesday, October 26; at both campuses, Camosun students voted in new student representatives to the CCSS student council.
Callum Harrison was elected as the Lansdowne executive, Srijani Nath the international director; Draco Recalma is now the First Nations director, and Ellen Young is the new off campus director.
Rima Durah, Mitchell-Auger Langejan, Malcom Rorvik, and Wyatt Matthews were elected as directors-at-large for the Lansdowne campus, while Chris Lineham, Sukhdeep Kaur, Bikramjit Singh, and Arpit Gulati were elected as Interurban’s directors-at-large.
CCSS external executive Rachael Grant says she is looking forward to working with the new student representatives to improve the lives of students. She says, however, that she was hoping that more students would have voted this year.
“We’re always looking to up our voter turnout; however, it continues to be rather low,” says Grant. “Something that we are looking into down the line is online voting to increase participation. Ideally, it would be great to see more students at the polls, and that’s something we continue to strive toward.”
437 students voted this year during the elections; 247 students voted at the Interurban campus, and 166 students voted at the Lansdowne campus. 24 votes were also cast at the Saanich Adult Education Centre. Despite the low numbers, Grant believes that it is very important for students to come out to the polls and cast their ballots.
“It’s important that students vote because the board of directors at the student society makes important decisions in regards to students; also, we’re entirely funded by student money,” says Grant. “So these students are representing you; these students are making decisions with the money you spent when you paid your tuition. It’s in the breakdown when you pay your tuition; there are student fees, so being able to participate in our elections means having a say in who gets to represent you, and that’s really important.”
Nath, the new CCSS international director, was ecstatic when she realized she had been elected to her position. She says that, to her, it was more than just an election.
“This position gives me a great opportunity to really connect with the school, and to the students,” she says. “It gives me a chance to listen to them and do something beneficial for all of us. I feel much satisfaction being an international student in a school like Camosun, where everyone has always been so helpful.”
Nath believes that tuition fees are too high, and that government grants should be more accessible. She says the CCSS wants to try to lower tuition fees and ask for more grants for students.
“That is one of the major policies that the student society has worked toward for the past few years,” she says, “and I have helped them and will continue to help in their outreach programs.”
New off campus director Young has been serving on the board of directors since 2013, but in a different position.
“Ever since I started at Camosun I’ve always run for Interurban director, because that’s where I was situated, but this semester I’m working as a co-op student,” says Young. “So I work during the day until 4 pm, then in the evening I have a couple of classes, and I found out that a lot of campus services close around 4 pm, so I’m never able to get there on time to access those services. Then I realized, ‘I bet hundreds of other students have the same story.’ So that’s what inspired me to run, when I realized that these services are closing way too early, and I just did not realize that until I became a co-op student.”
Young says that it felt good to get elected again, and she looks forward to implementing positive changes for the school.
“I’m compelled by the opportunity to make a difference, and I just want students to know that there is someone who is willing to speak for them,” she says.
Grant believes that the elections went very well overall, and she says that there were no unforeseen complications.
“There were a lot of contested positions, which is a really positive thing to see,” she says. “The wonderful thing about working on the board with the student society is that it can be anything you make of it. So I’m really excited to see what our new reps bring to the table, and I’m excited to get to know them.”