Drédyn Fontana is running for president on a platform focused on decentralizing power within the AMS and listening to the student body on which issues the society should prioritize.
Fontana is a fifth-year international relations and electrical engineering student whose previous experience includes having served as a student senator, the Engineering Undergraduate Society’s VP academic and AMS VP academic and university affairs. Fontana was removed from office after an inquiry into his performance in fall 2024, but has since claimed he is planning to sue for wrongful termination, alleging he was removed out of retaliation.
One of his priorities would be connecting clubs and constituencies with resources available to the AMS. This includes supporting groups organizing food pantries by placing bulk orders through the AMS Food Bank, which would get a larger volume of food out to students at a lower cost.
Fontana also plans to provide students doing advocacy work with training and other services the AMS has access to, because “there's a lot of institutional knowledge that can be shared about how it works to advocate,” he said.
He disagrees with current President Christian ‘CK’ Kyle’s “lack of consultation with students,” citing how the last annual general meeting did not meet quorum, and the special general meeting “seem[ed] not very much in good faith.”
Canvassing, as well as creating more working groups and caucuses, are also part of Fontana’s plan to increase communication. “We should be actively going out and listening,” he said.
He also noted that the level of transparency should be improved, but that’s “just the first step.”
“If we are transparently not doing what students want us to be doing, all we're doing is making students mad. So it shouldn't just be transparency … it should [also] be creating more opportunities for students-at-large to have a say in the direction of the AMS.”
Fontana also said he would ensure better checks and balances are implemented to hold AMS executives accountable.
“There's been a … centralization of power into the president's office, and I don't think that is an effective method of governance,” he said.
According to Fontana, executives could hold themselves accountable through the student court, which “balanced the authority of council with the authority of the executives.” It was abolished in 2020, but Fontana proposed bringing it back.
He said executives can “stretch their authority” to get what they want. “If we can create systems which balance those pressures, I think we can create a more fair system for our students,” he said.
Fontana also wants his executive team to feel heard. He believes the president should be willing to support executives in achieving goals outlined in the platform they were elected on — this is part of his plans to address the high rate of executive turnover and fix the “issue of stability and toxicity.”
As president, Fontana believes the best way to support his team would be to sit down with each VP, understand their goals and “create one cohesive vision as an executive team.”
“We don't know better than what the students want with their student union … it's not my student union. It's still the students’ student union.”
This article is part of our 2025 AMS Elections coverage. Follow us at @UbysseyNews on X (formerly Twitter) and follow our election coverage starting March 3.
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