Whatever the results of this election, two things are certain:
- The voter turnout will be low.
- The new SRC needs to get its act together.
Lately, the Students Representative Council has been receiving flack for its Harper-like governing style.
Steve Hildebrand previously wrote that the SRC doesn’t want the student body to know when an election happens due to the chance that they may lose their power. During this election season, some friends of mine didn’t even know when the election was.
Likewise, the SRC’s impeachment of one of their former representatives wasn’t very popular with the student body.
If the SRC wants to continue to hold the trust of the UNBSJ student body, it should actively pursue it through actions and not just words or the rare snarky social media comment.
There are many ways that the new SRC can do this, but in this article I will only discuss three main points: a more transparent administration, more involvement with the student body, and greater encouragement for participating in voting.
The SRC’s Harper-like governing style has alienated a large percentage of the student body. I will simply state that the SRC should act in such a way that it sustains the confidence of the majority of the student body. Their previous actions, such as impeaching a member of the SRC while he is away visiting his sick father, do not encourage the student body that the SRC is behaving morally, much less do they instill confidence in the SRC’s governing abilities.
I also feel that the SRC could benefit from being more personable. Once in awhile, the SRC hosts events at UNBSJ. You may not have heard of them, but they exist trust me!
The new SRC should actually advertise the events that they plan on hosting to the student body in person. If a person I am talking to is excited to be attending an event they know about or are hosting, I’d be more willing to see what all the fuss is about.
If the SRC put a greater effort into getting the student body excited about events, especially when an election is commencing, then the student body would be more inclined to view the SRC as an institution worthy of their attention.
Although the issues that the SRC deals with are obviously not as important as those dealt with on a municipal, provincial/territorial, or federal level of government, they still should be viewed as consequential and important. These are the people who are representing UNBSJ’s student body as a whole, to higher levels of government; we as students should be able to have confidence in them.
