Pre-Game Show: Ryan Kennery enters the Dojo

Ryan Kennery, the man, the legend. Shows up wearing a Sport's Jacket... And a Julie Séguin bandana. The man is a born campaigner. And in a way, it is almost unfair that he is stuck running for the BOA. If anyone was ready to run for the SFUO executive, Kennery was that person. After failing his bilingualism test, Kennery was reduced to run for the BOA. This is not a knock to the BOA. But for someone that has Kennery's ambition, it is certainly a drop down.

When I first saw Kennery last summer at a BOA meeting, he had done all he could to gather members of the Board to vote against a CFS prospective membership. He was the most set against CFS. And not only against CFS, but against a referendum. He raised valid concerns, and there was something shifty about the way the SFUO executive voted to join as prospective members without consulting the board. That being said, he was the equivalent of a Seamus Wolfe. Polarising. Political.

He will be the first to admit that he's softened his approach: "Things have cooled down. I think even Seamus would be the first to say that he's brought it down a notch."

As Kennery was speaking to us, a student came up to him to ask him about the CFS. Both Kennery and myself were in disbelief. "Is this a planted question?" neither one of us knew which way this question was going. Kennery admitted it was only the second time during the campaign that the question of CFS has come up. At the same moment, two girls dropped by and asked his name, because they had seen him in three classes.

"I love campaigning. I love it. I'm good at it. I enjoy it."

So how does he feel about this election? "It's not as dirty as passed elections. I'm having a great time, but it doesn't feel like past elections. I'm not as nervous, it doesn't feel like when I ran last year. There are more rules, it is more stringent. I like most of the candidates. I am supporting Julie Séguin, but if Picard takes it, I think he's a good guy and I will enjoy working with him."

Kennery is not the first to raise the issue of a "clean race". Melanie Wood, Fulcrum editor expressed similar sentiments earlier in the day. Likewise for Joël Larose, candidate for VP social affairs. "Everything is clean, nothing is bitter, nothing is divisive." Such it goes at the SFUO.

Probably the only area where Kennery disagrees with Seamus Wolfe, his friendly rival, is on the question of CFS. But even Kennery can read the writing on the wall. "I read your estimations on how many passionate students there are on campus on the question of CFS. I think 20 is a safe number. It's maybe a bit more, but not significantly." He half-jikingly predicts a CFS prospective membership by the month of July. "If you look at the candidates for the board and who is likely to win on the executive level, there is no doubt that by July, the SFUO will be a prospective member of CFS."

Would he consider running for the CFS chair? His laugh give him more time to answer. You could tell that his heart says no but his head says don't say no just yet. And so goes Ryan Kennery.

Photo courtesy of Jason Chiu. The SFUO Blog exclusive.