Jay Forcier
Even if it means more competition, Jay Forcier says they’re excited to see so many candidates turn out for this year’s executive committee elections. Getting people involved on campus is one of their biggest priorities.
“I want people to be engaged in the process,” Forcier says. “If I run for election again next year, I want twice as many people also running against me.”
If you’ve hung around the tabletop RPG club, you might have met Forcier as they were the student group’s president and a familiar face on campus. Forcier is also already a MacEwan graduate, and a registered social worker after completing a social work diploma program.
They’re now continuing on in the bachelor of applied human service administration program, and running in this year’s election for vice-president (governance and finance).
Forcier is very open about their identity as a member of the Métis Nation of Canada, and a trans man, and says it’s important that other students with similar experiences know they’re not alone.
Looking at their platform, Forcier is focused on accountability in governance, but they’re quick to point out that this goes both ways. While executives need to know what their roles and responsibilities are, and what powers they actually have, voters need to be aware too.
“I believe a more informed, involved voter base makes for stable democracy,” Forcier says.
Part of their plan is to craft “know-your-role” guides for both students and SAMU executives — short lists of what each role can actually do, and the things they explicitly can’t do.
Forcier explains “I can’t change tuition. That’s not something that’s within my power to do. However, I can go on the board of governors and explain, like, ‘hey, this is where students are struggling. This is what the grievances are. This is what needs to change.’”
As a first generation student, Forcier knows coming to university can be an overwhelming experience. Many parts of university life, like student research for example, were news to Forcier. If elected to vice-president (governance and finance) they want to make sure students like them know about all the resources, supports, and opportunities that MacEwan and SAMU offers.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Forcier remembers having to rely on supports like the pantry, and noticing a lack of quality food items.
“I thought I was going to be the first person to die of scurvy in the 20th century, in Alberta, it was really rough. So, and I don’t want anyone else to go through that.”
So when it comes to a budget, Forcier wants to make sure that student funds are being spent wisely so that students keep having access to support and resources like Breakfast Club and student groups.
This might mean spending less on events like Fall Fest and Winter Fest, but for Forcier, they’d rather focus funds on raising the overall quality of life for students than focus on the one-day events.
At the end of the day, for Forcier, it’s all about balancing the costs with what’s best for students — who themselves have to balance so much. On that note, when asked about last year’s decision to freeze any price hike to SAMU membership fees, Forcier says, “you can’t get blood from a stone,” adding that they’re not interested in upping costs if elected.
By Liam Newbigging
Andrei Santiago
Andrei Santiago may be new to MacEwan and Edmonton, but he’s been diving headfirst into campus involvement since his arrival last fall. His newest challenge? Running to be the SAMU executive committee’s next vice-president of governance and finance (VPGF).
Santiago is in his first year of his bachelor of commerce degree, majoring in accounting and minoring in finance. He moved from his home in Hinton, Alta. into MacEwan’s residence last September, replacing his views of distant mountains to the closer giants of Edmonton’s downtown skyline.
VPGF is an internal position, which means that if he is elected, Santiago would attend meetings with both the executive committee and students’ council while overseeing internal budgeting and finance at SAMU. Santiago would also bring reports to the board of governors meetings, during which he says he would advocate for students by working to lower tuition and non mandatory fees.
Santiago was on the student council of his high school in Hinton and made his way to university after a gap year. He says, “when I got to MacEwan, I wanted to take it as an opportunity to really expand my horizons.”
In the past seven months, Santiago has balanced a full course load while taking on the role of finance executive for both the Filipino Barkada Club (FBC) and the MacEwan University commerce club. On top of these two clubs, he is a general member of the MacEwan University accounting club and participates in residence events and MacEwan’s Community Nest program for first-years.
When Santiago wanted to learn more about SAMU’s students’ council, he held a total of five weekly meetings with SAMU’s current president, Gabriel Ambutong, and Joe A. La. Torre, the current VP of governance and finance. During their initial meeting on Jan. 30, Ambutong told Santiago that the executive committee elections were coming up and encouraged him to add his name to the list of nominees.
Santiago decided to run for VPGF to tackle monetary issues for students. He knows firsthand how affordability is top of mind for students as he is currently using student loans to pay for his housing at residence and his tuition. He also wants students to be more informed on how their money, especially the mandatory SAMU fees, are spent.
A priority for Santiago is to adjust the mandatory $102 per term for the sports and wellness fee. He says, “from what I’ve found…there’s three main reasons as to why I think students can’t take advantage of that.” He lists off how the gym is usually full regardless of the time of day, how MacEwan’s gymnasium caters to events and sports like rec league and professional leagues so there’s not very many options to drop in, and how many MacEwan students who commute from all across the greater Edmonton area may prefer to workout in gyms closer to home. His hope would be to make the fee non-mandatory so students could opt out, or to at least reduce the mandatory fee.
During his term, if he felt an allocation of funds was inappropriate, Santiago says he would seek advice from his peers. He says, “If I’m making an action, I want to make sure that, like, all biases in my head are out of the way, I want to hear everyone’s thoughts on that.”
SAMU’s executive committee is no doubt a step up in student governance for Santiago. “In my high school, there were only 300 students,” he says. Santiago says his meticulous nature and penchant for organization would be required for the role of VPGF, especially considering the responsibility of dealing with SAMU bylaws and student finances.
As tuition fees and the cost of living rises, he says, “it kind of sucks that this is the reality that we are in…I hope that I can change something about that.”
by Rebecca-Lynn Reeves
Photos supplied
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