Behind the scenes of the CSA by-election
While some aspects of running in the CSA by-election were rewarding, overall it was a trying experience. It was rewarding in that I met lots of new people, heard more feedback about students’ experiences, and developed strategies to address some of these concerns. Running against a friend, Emily Vance, for the position of external affairs commissioner was unfortunate, but it was also a plus: she was a great support—answering late-night questions, encouraging me, and listening to my rants.
The downsides, however, abounded. To begin, nominees must read the 76-page CSA by-law document and 53 pages of policies. This wouldn’t be too difficult if it weren’t for all the errors—not just syntax errors, but also the referencing of other parts of the documents that do not exist (appendices, for example). Then the nomination package was released. The first one was outdated; the second copy left out important documents and was also riddled with contradictions. For example, the by-laws stated that executive nominees must gather 100 seconding signatures, while the nomination package only had space for 75; information was asked of the board of director nominees, but not the executive ones; and we were asked for 300-word statements when the by-laws instructed they were to be 150 words. This resulted in the nomination period being informally extended.
Contradictions continued throughout the campaign and voting period. Candidates were allowed to run who should not have been eligible according to the by-laws; guidelines around slate candidacy were disregarded; policies around social media use, campaigning off campus, and in residences were vague and unclear; voting commenced three hours after we were instructed it would, and ran 10 hours longer than it should have.
Overall, I knew running in the by-elections would be difficult, but I never expected them to be as poorly run as they were. I will be the first to say that working for the CSA in the past was a great experience; however, under the current leadership it seems as though things are deteriorating.
-Amber Sherwood-Robinson