I know why you didn’t vote in the CSA elections — but why didn’t you run?

CSA executives are well paid, and often run unopposed

In a democracy, citizens have, or ought to have, options, especially when it comes to governmental leadership.

Many people the world over do not have options. China voted last weekend to scrap presidential term limits, and Xi Jinping will probably rule until he dies. Meanwhile in Russia, Vladimir Putin’s victory in this weekend’s election is widely considered to be in the bag. Putin isn’t even trying — he has hardly campaigned or put together a platform. His only threat is voter disillusionment, which might undermine him long-term. As Angela Dewan put it in an article for CNN, “The problem with an election that doesn’t look like one is that it’s very difficult to get voters excited about it.”The recent CSA elections didn’t really look like an election either. The candidate for president ran unopposed, as did the candidate for vice-president student experience. Only two candidates ran for vice-president academic, the same as for vice-president external. Only 14 per cent of the electorate cast their ballot.

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This is, sadly, how it goes at the CSA. To recap:

In 2018, Jack Fisher ran unopposed for president and won. Aidan Paskinov ran unopposed for vice-president student experience and won.

In 2017, Jay Rojas ran unopposed for president, only losing by a slim margin when reports of his past criminal convictions circulated on social media.

In 2016, before the CSA was restructured, four executive candidates ran unopposed: Meghan Wing, Zoey Ross, Ryan Shoot, and Miriam Kearney. All of them won.

In 2015, Peter Miller ran unopposed for academic and university affairs commissioner and won.

In 2014, Sonali Menezes ran unopposed for external affairs commissioner and won.

I’m sure that the list goes on.

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I get why students don’t vote — they couldn’t care less. What I don’t get is why they don’t run. CSA executive positions aren’t just fancy titles — they’re jobs. You get paid! You get paid pretty well — a salary of around $30,000! That’s nothing to sneeze at, and better than I made working retail fresh out of university.

Sure, you have to read a bunch of policy and fill out a bunch of paperwork, but this isn’t Russia. It’s not that hard. Sure, politics is a tough, thankless field, with long hours of an unhappy blend of panic and tedium. But you know what? So’s everything!Besides — to use that terrible, terrible phrase — can you imagine how good that would look on your résumé? This is a university where thousands of young people study history, politics, economics, criminal justice and public policy, international development, and many other things, presumably with at least a faint wisp of hope that it will increase their employability. And only one of those thousands of students could get their act together to run for a $30,000 salaried gig that might set them up for a plum career in management or civil service? People must really hate politics!Students love moping about the job market, but every year the CSA opens up a handful of swell positions and at least one of those positions gets only a single applicant.

Next year, do us all a favour, Gryphons. Register to run. I don’t care how you do it. Heck, pull a Putin if you want. Phone it in — skip the debate, spend 30 seconds on your platform, and go golfing. Just get a few more names on the ballot, please. Then maybe there’ll be something to discuss, and something to vote for. And that’s what democracy is all about.

Photo by Alora Griffiths/The Ontarion