Women’s representative candidate: Bilan Arte

Experience

• Involved with U of M Womyn’s Centre,
  FemRev Collective, Fort Garry Women’s
  Resource Centre
  
  Why do you think the community reps are an essential part of UMSU council?
  I think there’s an obvious need for those communities to be represented — communities that often get overlooked. If you look at the Winnipeg community, half of that is women. Even if you do have an executive or a council already set up that is there to address all the needs of the students, sometimes we can [ . . . ] forget that there are women who may have different needs or who don’t feel that they’re being represented enough in what council is already doing. [ . . . ] Community reps bring that representation back and they insist on that presence.

If elected, how would you ensure that your community is better represented on campus?
“I would try to be a lot more involved in everything else that’s going on, [ . . . ] with what [UMSU] council is doing, [ . . . ] different recommendations for policies, and trying to make sure that the Womyn’s Centre and [UMSU] council can communicate better on issues that they feel are really essential, because the Womyn’s Centre is really important for women to talk about their needs and issues that are affecting them. So if there can be a better liaison that way, I think we can really make sure that women are being represented.

How do you plan to ensure that there is effective and open communication between yourself and members of your community?
“I’m really involved with the Womyn’s Centre, so that’s a really good starting point. It’s a huge space for gathering, and [ . . . ] beyond that, by being involved with whatever issues come up and being available and making sure that people know about the position. I think concentrating on making sure that people know about this position and people understand that there is a Womyn’s Centre and there is that voice for them.

Disabilities representative candidate: Bryan Douglas

Experience

• Incumbent Disabilities representative
• Worked to create safe space on campus
  for students with disabilities
• Spearheaded launch of new UMSU
  disability website, umsudisability.ca
  
  Why do you think the community reps are an essential part of UMSU council?
  They bring a unique voice that may not be heard otherwise on council. People from the community who are disabled are a shy, meek group at the best of times. Not a lot of people identify with the disabilities group and a lot of people who are disabled have invisible disabilities here on this campus, and it’s best to have a representative like myself on council to make sure those voices are heard [ . . . ].”

If elected, how would you ensure that your community is better represented on campus?
Basically creating awareness and making sure that there are informational pamphlets and promotional information available to students. My attendance at UMSU council meetings is another key way to make sure that students are involved. They can stop by my office in Helen Glass to talk to me and ask any questions they would like to ask about what UMSU disability is up to. They can also check out our website [ . . . ] to get an idea of what’s going on.

How do you plan to ensure that there is effective and open communication between yourself and members of your community?
The best way to do that is to just approach students. I do think I’m well known to students and I’ve been trying to spend most of my year attending every event put on by either Disability Services, or by other councils involving disability, and just trying to get myself out there and reaching out to as many students as possible [ . . . ].

International student representative candidate: Ramogi Nyonge

Experience

• Helped with campaign for outgoing
  international student representative
• Served as representative on high
  school student council
• Experience leading sports teams
  
  Why do you feel the community reps are an essential part of UMSU council?
  The University of Manitoba is a very large community made up of many smaller units. For effective and efficient handling of student affairs, it is paramount that each and every community is represented at the UMSU council. This way no community is left behind.

How would you ensure your community is better represented on campus?
Through participation. I want to ensure international students participate in whatever is going on on campus. Before we do this, we have to make them aware of what goes on on campus. If we are united this can be easily done, because communication between us will be a lot faster and efficient. That is why my whole campaign revolves around uniting international students — progress through unity.

How do you plan to ensure there is effective and open communication between yourself and members of your community?
I look forward to creating liaison with the International Centre for Students and other smaller international students’ associations. In fact, we are already reaching out to them so we can establish a good relationship, know their concerns and what they expect of their representative. Facebook, I believe, is a very effective communication channel, especially with younger people like us. This, however, we will do only after the campaign is over, obviously only if I win. We are not allowed to use it during campaigns but I think it is a great tool for communicating between my community and myself.