1. Which platform point is your main priority and why?
The strategic plan for the MSU. This is a point that allows every other platform point to be worked on in the most efficient way possible, as well as making sure it will be dealt with in the long-term. The strategic plan would allow MSU departments, SRA members, and Vice-Presidents to write year-plans that align with the goals of the organization as a whole. It also allows the students to understand the priorities of the MSU, and will help when initiatives like BoD Press Conferences, or Advisory Committee meetings are implemented so people can understand where the MSU is versus where we planned the MSU to be.

It also allows the MSU to have long-term goals that aren't lost in transition because nobody thought to write them down in an official place. The strategic plan is KEY for the MSU to become relevant, and to get things done.


2. What experience do you have that demonstrates how you are most qualified to fulfill the role of MSU president?
My most relevance experiences have been those where I talked to students on the campaign trail. I had a lot of ideas before, but after talking to students I understood what they really needed to make their education and student lives much better. My priority now is to fight for the best education, and best resources that McMaster can give us as students. We need these things so that we can prosper when we leave Mac!

The little known secret is that the University knows all of this. I had meetings with Peter George and McMaster's Vice-President Administration Roger Couldrey, and they knew all the gripes we have. What we need now is a committed and informed student body, and I want to be the person pushing for formal communication. This is about McMaster students and they need to understand what the MSU is doing.


3. A difficult situation arises and you find that you strongly believe that the best thing for the MSU is not the same thing as what the majority of the students think. What do you do?
The only reason for this situation to occur would be if I have information that is influencing my opinions that the students do not. This would mean that the MSU has done a bad job of communicating the proper information with students. I would personally do as much as possible to raise the awareness of the situation so that students understand my viewpoints, so that they can form views with as much information presented. If there is still a difference in mindset, I would need to find out why.

The good thing about my platform is that these situation should never occur. Between the formal lines of communication I want to have: press conferences, and advisory committees, plus the strategic plan by which to make decisions by, and a policy-based approach to lobbying, the students will understand how the MSU makes its decisions, and why these decisions are made.


4. Many students on campus feel that these elections are bogus; that the MSU president doesn't contribute much to their educational experience. What do you say to this? How will you seek to change these attitudes, if you do plan on doing this?
I have felt, and stated, that the problem is that the MSU feels students are apathetic. I think that student feelings of "bogus elections" is their opinion into the workings of the MSU. I have been one of those students: jaded and cynical about the role of the MSU in my student life, until I started looking into the ways the Presidency can work for students. It is important to be as open as you can, because people have to trust you.

During my preparation to the campaign, and during the campaign itself, the main thing I have found is that students would care about the MSU if they knew what was going on. When we fix this, we will get students involved, and when we show results, students will accept the MSU's role in their student lives. It comes down to consistent communication, and consistent results.


5. Buttered toast always lands butter side down. A cat always lands on its feet. What happens when you butter the back of a cat?
Why would you butter a cat? That isn't part of the strategic plan.


6. There have been many concerns over the efficability of the SRA and the MSU's ability to locally advocate for students. You often hear "the SRA doesn't do anything." What plans to you have ensure that next year's SRA will improve in this aspect.
In my view, the SRA has focused a lot of time on internal issues and governance. This is important sometimes, but right now with budget cuts, and a new University President, the MSU needs to be a very big player in the future of the University. A lot of cynicism about the power of the SRA and lobbying efforts are unfounded. The MSU has always had power, they have just focused on different things.

The best way to make sure lobbying is effective is to have an engaged student population. Again, this goes back to communication. If students are aware that the MSU is fighting for issues they care about, and students understand what has been done, and what needs to be done, it makes everything a lot easier to organize when the MSU needs the student voice to be loud, and to show the University that we care about certain issues. The MSU has not done that very much. We don't see enough of the MSU acknowledging our priorities as students, and this is what I am going to change.


7. What concrete plans to you have to improve communication between the MSU and students.
Monthly Board of Director press conferences where the BoD has a presentation in the atrium of what the MSU has done in the previous month, how far the MSU has progressed on its projects, and then the ability for students to ask questions that concern them. If anything, the first debate in the Atrium showed that if the MSU makes an effort to communicate, students will come and listen and ask questions. We need to use this principle a LOT more.

Monthly Presidential Advisory Committee meetings - Regular students feel there is a lot of red-tape that prevents their voices from directly being heard. We need to get rid of this and have a set time and place for students to come voice their issue. I am not a fan of open-air office hours, because it allows the President to ignore duties and talk to friends. We all get lazy, and we all get tired but we need to have formal structures in place to make sure that people know where to go to voice their opinions.

Presidential Review Committee - A committee of interested students whose jobs it will be to hold my MSU accountable, and publish unbiased reports on the progress of projects and promises.

We need formal structures in place so that we cannot blame lost emails, or other priorities for students not learning about issues.


8. The MSU is supposed to provide services and be the voice for students, yet is also expected to make money with some businesses. When do you feel one may be sacrificed for the other?
I think that the money made by businesses needs to be used to support the services and advocacy. The MSU has clearly outlined which of its departments are expected to generate revenue, and which of its departments are services. We need to stick with these distinctions reasonably. For example, Union Market is a business unit, and we need to make sure it stays profitable. This means that we need to assess the costs of new ideas. If these costs would drive Union Market into the red, we need to reconsider. If these costs would allow student life to be better, while still allowing UM to operate in the black, then this is a project to consider. If this is a cost that is outweighed by the benefits… well that's an easy sell.

The best part about my platform is (again) a strategic plan which would allow us to best define how to balance making money with providing services. Right now the MSU does not have a concrete way to determine how to balance all of this, and the students are suffering because their money is used to bail-out the businesses which aren't performing up to expectations.


9. What is your stance on making McMaster a greener, more environmentally friendly campus?
There is already a big shift within the University to make Mac a greener place. We need to make sure the MSU is on the same page, and use MacGreen to keep in communication with the Office of Sustainability to make sure that we are all working towards the same goals, at the same pace.

Next I also want to make sure that we are reducing the amount of garbage on campus. Coffee cups and water bottles are two of the biggest sources of garbage, and we need to cut down on their usage so that we can keep Mac's grounds a lot cleaner. We already have the MacGreen mugs, and we already have water-bottle filling stations on water-fountains. We just need to start using them, and coming up with good incentives to do so. Between free coffee at Union Market, and more water-bottles being sold for cheap on campus, we can help the process.

Next, I've heard rumours that the University wants to start developing and expanding into Cootes Paradise. I am strongly against this. I've grown up in Westdale, and love the area of Cootes Paradise and think that it was an important part of my childhood, as well as one of the best environmental areas we have left. There is a group on campus advocating for an "open-space" act to preserve Cootes Paradise, and I am strongly in support of this and have every intention on aiding in this initiative.

"The Executive Board shall make management and strategic planning decisions on behalf of the SRA with respect to the MSU, including but not limited to part-time staff, services, and operations;"

This was conducted this year and will be finalized within a few meetings. Current MSU president Vishal Tiwari has said, during Executive Board Open Session Minutes, that the process of developing a long-term objectives plan should be done so with as few hands in the cookie jar as possible to get a streamlined process.

How do you plan on taking this away from the EB and completing it on your own terms?