Shaun “The Bulldozer” You is a third-year political science student running for president on a platform focused on bulldozing a path to make “an AMS for the people.”
The Bulldozer’s main priorities are increasing student engagement and transparency.
“We do have a pretty good democratic process. It's just, number one, people aren't aware of it and number two, a lot of times, people within the AMS aren't really doing enough work to … make [the] AMS a democratic body,” he said.
One of the main ways he plans to do this is by “advocating for a better consultation infrastructure.”
“I think we should do better work at getting people involved, getting more people participating and getting higher turnouts,” said the Bulldozer. “If we can get people not only to have this understanding of how the AMS works, but also working to make it better. I actually do think that we can make UBC a lot better.”
He said this included a minimum of 3 to 4 days of consultation time for policy decisions with the relevant groups on campus.
The 2022 AMS engagement principles include various instructions around consultation with relevant stakeholders such as how early to notify consulting parties, but does not include a minimum or maximum time needed for an engagement period.
At AMS Council meetings, campus groups have publicly complained about the timelines and results of consultation for PC1 and PC2, the AMS’ policies on respectful workplace and sexualized violence, citing they have given as little as 24 hours to submit feedback and that the results did not incorporate feedback.
The Bulldozer also said he wanted to “push” for anti-racism and work with clubs to organize different cultural events — citing the Lunar New Year celebrations which took place in the Nest earlier this month as a model to work off.
The Bulldozer also said he supports student groups who have been advocating to have UBC staff regain access to the AMS Food Bank, which is also included in one of the referendums on the ballot this year. The AMS removed staff access to the Food Bank in May 2023 due to high amounts of usage which created financial strain for the AMS.
He also said he wanted to make the financial reports more clear. The AMS anticipated a $738,000 deficit this year and the VP finance has yet to release a long-term budget plan.
Despite not having experience in the AMS, the Bulldozer believes he can bring in a new perspective.
“I can be that fresh perspective to help push for these agendas that will actually help the broader student electorate.”
On rebuilding the AMS’s relationships with resource groups, the Bulldozer returned back to transparency and by “bringing more people into the conversation” could foster “a much healthier relationship” between the two.
The Bulldozer is running against Christian 'CK' Kyle, Alexandra Smith and Brandyn Marx.
This article is part of our 2024 AMS Elections coverage. Follow us at @UbysseyNews on X (formerly Twitter) and follow our election coverage starting February 27.
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