Diversity expected to be issue in upcoming election

Livia Fama
In Focus Reporter

The George Brown College Student Association wrapped up a two-week preparation period for its student elections Feb. 14.

“We pretty much focus on voting,” said Andrei Nilicea, deputy returning officer. “We do that by means of the outreach team which are students who work for us part- time, that’s how we promote it and we want to make sure that everything runs smoothly.”

Promotion is kept simple and consists of handing out flyers, classroom speeches and candidate debates at all of George Brown’s three campuses: Casa Loma, St. James and Ryerson.

George Brown’s elections will take place March 4-14, which is seven days longer than the HSF elections.

“We’re expecting the votership to be higher this year because a lot of the big, important positions are vacant,” Nilicea said.

Last year, out of George Brown’s 12,000 full-time students about 2,000, or 16 per cent, voted.

One of the hot issues this year expected to be brought up during the George Brown candidate debates is diversity.

“It’s a big issue,” said Yemi Thomas, vice-president of finance at the St. James Campus. “The perception is that we’re not inclusive enough, so this is a huge part of our campaign platforms.”

First-year Humber public relations student and election candidate Jeff Wood suggests getting students’ attention by approaching them face to face.

“I think if you actually get someone to stop and look at you it makes a bigger impact than if people just see a bunch of flyers here and there,” said Wood, who is running for vice-president of campus life at Lakeshore.