Politics is far from absent at Wilfrid Laurier University, where all major political parties are represented in student groups.
But do ideological leanings play into non-partisan Studentsโ Union elections?
For Spencer Gibara, itโs been a main motivation and facet of his campaign for this yearโs elections.
โI joined the Campus Conservatives because thatโs how I align myself โฆ but being a Conservative in general, I think I kind of want to bring more of a fiscal responsibility to the board,โ said Gibara, who is running for board of directors.
Gibara is one of two Campus Conservative club members who are running for board of directors. The Twitter bio of the Laurier Conservative group states: โTired of the mind-numbing socialism of university campuses, professors and students alike? The Laurier Campus Conservatives is the club for you.โ
Gibara explained that he decided to enter his candidacy in December of last year after hearing about the Studentsโ Union debt problem, the extent of which he was โshocked and appalledโ to learn.
Gibara believes there needs to be a better mechanism in place to evaluate whether money is being appropriately spent.
โI really want to develop a metric so that we can actually see our progress before we start pouring more and more money into one of these initiatives,โ he said.
It is not known whether any candidates have stated affiliations to other political groups, on-campus or otherwise. According to Gibara, there are other candidates that he knows to have strong ideological views.
Jonathan Ricci, another board of directors hopeful, has not emphasized his political affiliation to the Campus Conservatives through his campaign and considers it just part of his experience as a student at Laurier.
His main goal, he says, is to keep the board and president accountable and to achieve results for students, with a focus on policy-making.
โI donโt want to have my party politics be a concern for people,โ Ricci said.
Making ties between candidacy and a political party has the possibility of attracting votes to a candidate based on shared values, or having the opposite impact, making it a risky tactic.
Ricci was not concerned about how his politics would impact voters, because it hasnโt been a factor in his campaign.
โIโm overwhelmed by the amount of support Iโve been getting,โ he said.
Gibara acknowledged that his openness as a Campus Conservative could be a consideration for voters, but heโs not concerned about the influence on actual results.
โIโm sure it could definitely alienate people, but I only want people to vote for me if they actually believe in me as a candidate,โ he said.
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