You voted! They’ve been counted, and the winners announced, so congratulations to you, and congratulations to the six candidates, soon to officially be a big part of AUSU Council. Those candidates are Dur-E-Najaf Syed, Leah Campbell, Cassandra MacKay, Jesse Poriz, Meredith Charlton, and Eva Notter. You can read more about the positions of these candidates in our own recent interview with them.
And for those of you who think that voting isn’t important, I’ll point out that the difference between attaining a seat and not was only four votes.
Which means congratulations need to go out to the remaining five who ran and came so close to winning as well. And thanks to them for participating and giving students like you a chance to make a choice.
Now comes the interesting bit, seeing how they integrate into AUSU Council and what changes, if any, they bring to the group and the direction of AUSU. As I’ve noted before, this is an important period for AUSU, because on the one hand Alberta has a conservative government which is rarely terribly friendly for post-secondary students, usually resulting in higher tuitions and often accompanied by labour strife and other things that can interrupt your plans for getting an education. And on the other hand, AUSU is finding itself flush with resources lately, so how they handle that surplus to best benefit you is important to find out. After all, sometimes the challenges of having too much available can cause more problems than not having enough.
I also shouldn’t forget that I hope you’ve all had a happy Canada Day, if not also a reflective one. The controversy that has grown around Canada Day, especially with the disturbing finds in Kamloops and east of Regina and our renewed focus on our residential school history. I find myself disagreeing with those who say we should cancel Canada Day completely, as there is nothing to celebrate, but I think there is, in no small part because of our reaction now that these things are being forced into our consciousness. I feel that the difference in Canada is how we are not simply trying to sweep these things under the rug under the guise of history. It seems, at least to me, that Canada as a whole, and most Canadians, are trying to at least acknowledge how where we are not is in no small part because of how we took advantage of indigenous peoples’ lack of knowledge of our culture and systems, and how we expected them to operate within those systems anyway, backing our demands with force and attempt to eradicate their culture.
Canada is something to celebrate because, though not perfect, we’re striving to be better, to realize the unique perspectives of other cultures and welcome them into our Canadian mix.
Leaving that thought, however, I also want to point out that we’ve got a solid issue this week, whether it’s our featured music review of a new hyper-pop artist, the latest Women In Fiction, this week looking at the character of Offred from Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, or a look at the battle for habitat conservation. Plus, of course, scholarships, events, course reviews, recipes, thoughtful considerations, and more.
So enjoy the read!
