student politics – The Dagligtale News

BY: ALEX HO, VP COMMUNICATIONS, ASA

This is the second article in a series on the upcoming provincial elections, encouraging students to get involved with provincial politics and civil politics in general. The first article can be read here.

What’s up AUGangstars?

There has been a lot of talk these days about the upcoming provincial elections. When is it? Where is it? How do I get involved?

Well… no need to worry, we are here to answer all your questions!

The election will be called by the Lieutenant Governor, Lois Mitchell (since 2015), and will consist of a 28 day election period where the political parties will be campaigning to try and win your vote. This is a crucial time of year for all eligible voters to engage with provincial politics and help to decide who will be leading the province for the next four years. Although the election has not yet been called, we know it will take place this year sometime between March 1 and May 31 in 2019… SO KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED!

What Can I Do Between Now and Then?

We highly suggest you register to vote in advance! You may already be registered, but WHO KNOWS (you should know)?! Better safe than sorry so don’t be silly and check your eligibility. You can check or even register to vote by visiting voterlink.ab.ca. Once you have checked your voter eligibility or have registered it is important to know what riding you will be voting in. Lucky for you, this can be found also be found on the same page.

Education is key!

You will need to review the political parties and all eligible candidates in your home riding. Their platforms will outline many important objectives they will work towards in hopes of bettering your community. Knowing what each party values and what changes you would like to see in your community will greatly influence your voter choice and leave you feeling more confident in your vote! If that’s too much, you can also take a fun little quiz and see how your values align with the various political parties! EXCITINGGGGGGGG!!!!!

Although understanding what each party is trying to offer you as an active member in government, it is important to also think about what you as an individual would like to see. Public education, post secondary education, taxes, health programs, construction / infrastructure, community opportunities, and many other things are key targets that affect you immediately; not only as a student, but also as a functioning member in society. These are all important issues that should be on your mind as you review the parties, their platforms and what promises are being brought forward in their potential leadership.

But It’s Only Four Years!

Yes, we understand that their term is only four years but look at how much you’ve changed even within the last seven months in school. Time doesn’t seem like much but when it comes to policies and our everyday lives, things can change quite rapidly and it isn’t always the way we wanted. Promises that parties make are just promises, but for voters it’s the reason we elected them in the first place. That means it’s our job as a community to hold our elected government accountable and to choose the future that we want. Four years can go by extremely quickly, which means that the government also has to efficiently bring change, the details of which should be outlined in detail provided by their platform. The time is now and it’s our right to vote, our right to shape the future and our need to ensure that government follows a mandate that we want!

BY MEGHAN JOBSON

On Oct. 10 and 11, Augustana voted for their first and second-year ASA representatives. The candidates presented compelling discussions during the Candidates’ Forum the previous Thursday on a variety of topics including on and off campus living, and sexual violence among students.

When asked about working with residence services and how they plan on tailoring their goals to incorporate residence, Richard Li, who ran for first-year rep, discussed his ideas to open up the floor to incorporate more discourse with residence services. Elizabeth Turner, who also ran for first-year rep, focused her response on communication and, like Li, open up the doors for discussion with students. Dawson Mantyka, who was elected first-year rep made a distinguishment in his response between the ASA and residence services saying his position as ASA rep doesn’t include residencies because that is the mandate of the RA’s. Devon Baranowski, the elected second-year rep, agreed with Mantyka saying that he wasn’t concerned with residence in his platform because there is a difference between a resident and a student. He went on to discuss how the ASA is concerned with the more academic side of the student experience, not the residence side, however as he put it, “the ASA will always be there for a student.”

Taylor Johnson, ASA president then asked how the students plan to address issues that off campus students face even though most of the candidates live on campus. Baranowski responded that most of the issues that off-campus students face pertain to schooling which is where the ASA could step in and try and help, saying that it is kind of an unspoken rule that the ASA is there for off campus students. Mantyka suggested anonymous drop boxes to reach out to off campus students. Turner pointed out the importance of becoming an approachable voice and allowing students to feel heard. Li responded with bringing up the off campus rep position.

When the candidates were asked how they plan on bringing awareness to, and helping prevent sexual assault and sexual violence on and off campus. In their responses, the candidates discussed education as a potential way of prevention, relying heavily on the Keith Edwards talk that has been part of the first year seminar courses the last two years. However, they also all explained that due to the vastness of the issue, there isn’t a lot the ASA can do in order to prevent it other than education and awareness. Mantyka even went so far as to say that the issue spans far beyond what he feels his capabilities are and should be dealt with at the governmental level and said “at the end of the day there are people who are going to do things that aren’t socially acceptable.”

Augustana voted the week following the forum, on Oct. 10 and 11 and elected Mantyka as the first year rep and Baranowski as the second-year rep.