VP Student Life
Chloe Muñoz
Experience:
During the debate, Muñoz cited experience on the Inter-Residence Council (IRC). In her pensketch, she says that being an international student has given her experience in adapting to new environments.
Platform:
Muñoz’s policies include ratifying the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine, fighting tuition hikes, ensuring the quality of student services, and holding bi-semesterly mixers to meet with members of the McGill community. In her pensketch, she specifically named access to mental health services such as the Peer Support Centre, keepmesafe, and Nightline as a priority. She hopes to hire professionals to work with student services in addition to student employees to improve the quality of services provided and to help maintain consistency through student employee turnover. Finally, she will continue to work on current VP Student Life Nadia Dakdouki’s project of creating a guide to provide comprehensive financial guidelines for club executives.
Avin Ahmadi
Experience:
Ahmadi has experience on several residence councils: the IRC as well as the Community Equity and Engagement Committee (CEEC) and Environmental Residence Council (ERC). She also has experience in event-planning and community engagement, per her pensketch.
Platform:
Ahmadi wants to make it easier for students to start, run, and join new clubs, and she would like to look into streamlining the process to start new clubs. She hopes to increase health and recreational coverage for students and provide greater variations in MiniCourses offered. She believes that there is currently a lack of communication between SSMU and the student body, and would address this by promoting the McGill app and using this app to facilitate communication with students.
Endorsement: YES to Chloe Muñoz
The Daily’s editorial board endorses a “YES” vote for Chloe Muñoz. Through the pensketch and the debate, Muñoz demonstrated a solid knowledge of the VP Student Life mandate and current projects and presented detailed plans for her mandate. Furthermore, she addressed a commitment to advocating on behalf of issues that are important to many students as well as the Daily’s editorial board, such as the ratification of the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine and the fight against tuition hikes.
VP Sustainability and Operations
Meg Baltes
Experience:
Baltes is pursuing a degree in Sustainability, Science, and Society.
Platform:
The position of VP Sustainability and Operations was only reinstated last year, and Baltes is passionate about making this position more prominent within SSMU. One of her priorities is making the University Centre feel more like a “student hub” and encouraging students to spend more time in the building by bringing in more vendors in addition to Gerts. She hopes to enhance communications about sustainability certifications that clubs can receive and make sure that SSMU events follow sustainability regulations. She is particularly interested in working on improving the sustainable waste management initiatives on campus. Finally, she suggested more transparency surrounding the use of SSMU fees paid by students, particularly during the campaign for a Base Fee Increase.
Endorsement: YES for Meg Baltes
The Daily’s editorial board endorses a “YES” vote for Meg Baltes. Baltes demonstrated a solid understanding of the position and knowledge of the work current VP Sustainability and Operations Hassanatou Koulibaly has done since the position was reinstated. We believe that it is important to promote student spaces and resources on campus, and we agree with her policy to make the University Centre more welcoming and attractive to students. It is also important for SSMU to uphold their sustainability regulations, and this requires clear communication with student groups, as Baltes promises to do. Finally, we believe that it is essential that SSMU remains transparent and accessible to students, particularly concerning financial matters.
VP External
Coordinating News Editor Emma Bainbridge works in the Office of External Affairs and did not participate in this endorsement due to a possible conflict of interest.
Michal Ekiert
Experience:
Ekiert is a law student with an undergraduate degree in political science.
Platform:
As VP External, Ekiert would concentrate on government lobbying regarding the tuition hikes, francization, and affordability. In his platform, Ekiert expresses that he is committed to ending Islamophobia, antisemitism, and other forms of discrimination while promoting human rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of demonstration. He hopes to support anti-oppression initiatives and “enhance community-urban relations” – by, for example, strengthening McGill’s ties to the Milton-Parc community. In the executives’ debate, Ekiert communicated a desire to find common ground with the McGill administration, the Montreal police, and the Quebec government and expressed his support for the SSMU Base Fee Increase. Ekiert would wait for the conclusion of the legal proceedings to ratify the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine.
Hugo Solomon
Experience:
Solomon has been involved in community-based activism for several years.
Platform:
Solomon’s platform centres student-led political and social justice causes and champions transparency, intersectionality, and accountability. He promises to support the ratification of the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine, to stand with the Mohawk Mothers in their fight for justice, to protect student activists from police intimidation, and to fight alongside McGill and Concordia against discriminatory tuition increases. Solomon also aims to update the SSMU External website, to undertake a review of External finances, and to speak directly with students to understand and address their concerns.
Endorsement: YES with reservations to Hugo Solomon
The Daily’s editorial board endorses a “YES with reservations” vote for Hugo Solomon. Although Solomon lacks experience working in a political or bureaucratic environment, he demonstrated a thorough knowledge of SSMU policies and of SSMU-McGill relations in both his pensketch and the executive debates. His commitments to protecting student activists against police intimidation and ratifying the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine better reflect student needs and demands than those of his opponent.
VP University Affairs
Abe Berglas
The Daily would like to disclose that the majority of our editorial board has worked with Berglas, as they served a term as Sci + Tech Editor in Winter 2023 and a term as Copy Editor in Fall 2023. This endorsement is thus inevitably part of a conflict of interest.
Endorsement: YES to Abe Berglas
Berglas’s platform emphasizes accountability among our student community and McGill. They would like to: improve accessibility on campus, especially for disabled students; demand more equity and transparency from the administration; and advocate for student rights and interests. They display an excellent knowledge and understanding of university affairs, and their experience in student governance as both VP UA and Recording Secretary of the SSMUnion are important assets. Berglas’s roles in Queer McGill, the SSMU Equity Committee, the Gender and Sexuality Advocacy Committee, Queers for Palestine, the Student Union Democratization Initiative, and more clearly demonstrate an extensive background of hands-on advocacy and engagement. All of their goals and priorities are emphatically shared by the Daily, as detailed in our Statement of Principles.
The Daily’s editorial board therefore endorses a “YES” vote for Abe Berglas.
VP Internal Affairs
Zeena Zahidah
Endorsement: YES with reservations to Zeena Zahidah
Zahindah’s platform focuses on building a more inclusive, welcoming student campus culture,and generally enhancing the student experience through a shared sentiment of belonging. In particular, she would like to prioritize first-year communications, sustainability on campus, and the inclusion of francophone students. Zahindah does not possess clear experience in managerial or internal communications and organizing, which may partially explain the vagueness of her platform thus far. A more concrete and fleshed-out presentation of her priorities would have made her campaign much more convincing.
The Daily’s editorial board therefore endorses a “YES with reservations” vote for Zeena Zahidah.