The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) held its fall student elections from Wednesday, October 22 to Friday, October 24.
A total of 602 students voted in the election, down from 688 in last year’s fall elections. CCSS external executive Terence Baluyut notes that the turnout for this election was low, which is typical for a fall election.
“There was a low turnout, which has historically been common for us at the fall-time elections,” he says. “One of the reasons for this is the positions being filled are director-at-large positions, which fewer people run for.”
Acacia Tooth was voted in as pride director. Two of the Lansdowne director-at-large positions were filled by Aleah Peterson and Angela Chou. Several positions still remain unfilled, including four Interurban directors-at-large and two Lansdowne directors-at-large, as well as one off-campus director position. (As of press time, these results had yet to be ratified at a November 10 student society board meeting.)
“We were not able to fill these positions, which is unfortunate,” says Baluyut. “We will be putting out a notice soon for people so we can have these positions filled, so we can have proper representation on our boards.”
Baluyut says it’s important to highlight the ongoing post-secondary funding concerns that all students are now facing.
“The ongoing cuts the college has been doing just to balance their budget are affecting our students directly,” he says. “A few days ago I was contacted by students from the science and hospitality departments who said they couldn’t move forward with their programs because the courses they needed were not being offered.”
Baluyut says that being involved in student politics is an opportunity to amplify students’ voices.
“I feel grateful that not only do I get to voice my concerns,” he says, “but I also feel the responsibility to bring forward all the voices of my fellow Camosun students.”
Baluyut says it’s important that students know of the ongoing issues he and the other board members are fighting for.
“I think it’s really important to highlight that if there is a moment to step up, now is the perfect time,” he says. “We are trying to build momentum in terms of raising awareness about the challenges we have been having, not just in our institution, but across the province.”
Baluyut says that he hopes that more students will get involved in post-secondary advocacy—this is something that can be done by running for the remaining open positions.
“Just last week I was with the BC Federation of Students meeting with MLAs in parliament trying to tell them about the chronic underfunding that has been happening in the system,” he says. “This is the moment to step up, and hopefully there will be some more people within our student body who will take on the responsibility of bringing forward the voices of Camosun students to the people who make these decisions.”