The Elections Committee and the Indigenous Committee are bringing back the Indigenous meet-and-greet during the first week of campaigning.
At past elections meet-and-greet events, Indigenous students met with AMS electoral candidates in the Hatch Art Gallery to discuss issues important to their communities. The event was held twice, in 2019 and 2020, but was cancelled last year because of difficulties in adapting the format for Zoom.
This year, the Elections Committee and Indigenous Committee plan to organize a meet-and-greet for the week following the midterm break. Shania Muthu, the AMS’s chief electoral officer, said she hopes candidates can “gain some more insight into what matters most to Indigenous students and how the AMS … could improve and help.”
Muthu said she plans to add structure to what has previously been a more informal and social night, introducing a period for Indigenous students to ask and submit questions for candidates in addition to time for casual socializing.
A date has not been set yet.
Kleo Skavinski, co-chair of the Indigenous Committee, echoed this desire. They said they see a more structured event as a way for Indigenous students to have their questions answered and help their committee decide the path for future events during this election cycle.
“A Q&A can definitely help clear the air for some people and also get some more interest, but I feel like that's the start of what has to happen,” Skavinski said.
They said they view this event as the start of an ongoing dialogue between Indigenous students and the AMS, and that “one or two [events] isn't enough.”
In previous years, Indigenous students have criticized candidates' lack of meaningful work on Indigenous issues beyond words of support. Muthu sees it as the candidates’ responsibility rather than the Elections Committee’s role for action to come from the event.
Despite this, she considers Indigenous issues and this event as a priority, describing the cancellation of the meet-and-greet last year as “unfair.”
“It’s quite unfair to see how long it's been pushed back … seeing [as] we are situated upon the Musqueam people's territory and how UBC does take Indigenous people’s rights and students' voices seriously.”
Skavinski, despite having “felt the same way” as the Indigenous students who have criticized a lack of work from candidates in the past, is optimistic about the Indigenous Committee’s ability to hold the AMS accountable to the concerns of Indigenous students.
“Now there's a really good push for actual action and follow through from the Indigenous community to the AMS … giving us the opportunity to make sure they're following through on what they're promising.”
Skavinski encourages Indigenous students to attend this event, saying that they are not merely there “as a service to the AMS.”
“This is an opportunity to get some answers and ask [your] own questions back to the AMS …. We will [not] be the ones answering all the questions.”
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