By-election campaign: Debate summary

It is always difficult to stand out when there are more than two participants in a debate. Dean Haldenby, front-runner and current VP Finance, was probably the biggest winner in today's debate, if only because of his ability to showcase his political machine.

The room had roughly 100-120 students in the audience and they were mostly, if not all, Haldenby volunteers/supporters. He often had the best answer, or at least gave the impression of having the best answer, and when he didn't, he was never completely outmatched. He made every possible effort to please everyone, always positioning himself in the middle. Big assist to the audience. The effect of clapping and screaming after every response definitely gives Haldenby credibility and intimidated, to a certain extent, his opponents.

Joseph Wesley Richards II tried to come out strong, but the fact that the audience was practically silent after every single one his responses definitely killed his momentum. His speech was adapted to students who do note vote/do not care, and unfortunately, at events like this one, those students are not in the audience. He was constantly on the defensive and had to defend his position on the Agora which was constantly taken out of context. Considering his baritone voice and charismatic presence, he could have gotten much more out of this debate than he actually did. Also, it did not help when his two opponents seemed to be be getting cozier and cozier as the debate went on. Not a great showing by JWR2, but certainly not as bad as it seemed to be with a Dean-friendly audience. Just goes to show you the power of a political machine.

Renaud-Philippe Garner had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain from this debate. It gave him exposure, an audience and a stage for him to scream out his ideas. He was more subdued than he usually is during his class presentations, but his style definitely deserved an A. He gained supporters in the crowd, even though they will still most likely vote for Dean. His passionate plea in favour of CFS made him stand-out from Dean's "I don't know yet" response. The "common good" gained a lot of traction as well. Unfortunately for Garner, he basically said it during his closing remarks: "I am not in this to win." He also made a Freudian slip during the debate when he said "Once you're President..." to Haldenby. All in all though, it was a good showing, and it was probably accentuated by his eccentricity and the crowd's reaction.

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Interesting points:

CFS - Joseph Wesley Richards is opposed to it, but would not block a Referendum to join, Dean Haldenby does not know yet, but think there needs to be a referendum on the issue next year, and Renaud-Philippe Garner was completely in favour of joining CFS, and was obviously in favour of holding a referendum on the issue next year.

Agora bookstore: Renaud-Philippe Garner and Dean Haldenby had essentially the same position: Don't touch the Agora Bookstore. JWR2 distinguished himself on this issue by saying he is willing to look at all options to continue to make the Agora more advantageous to students, including a potential merger/joint ownership of the Follet owned bookstore in the Unicentre.

U-Pass: JWR2 came out saying there needs to be a 50% opt-out for students in financial difficulty. This seemed lost though, as many felt he meant a 50% opt-out to all students. Also, someone asked a question as to why pay 125$ for nothing when you can pay 250$ for a pass. Dean Haldenby said there would be a 100% opt-out for students in financial difficulty. Renaud-Philippe Garner came out on top on this one when he said "Who are we to judge who is rich and who is poor. What crtierias would we use?" Though his position is closer to JWR2's, of allowing an opt-out to all students, he still gained momentum with the crowed through his introduction.

On Fiscal responsibility: Joseph Wesley Richards probably had the clearest position on the matter. We should reduce spending and we should plan differently. The example on the student-run bar is the best one he gave. Last year the bar ran 80 000$ deficit. This year, the executive planned another 80 000$ deficit. "This is bad management." Dean Haldenby was in a difficult situation as he is the current VP Finance, but basically advocated for the status quo. Garner stood out once again with this response: "Surplus is not a bad thing. It shows we are doing something right." He also said that bureaucracy is not a bad thing. His answers appealed to many in the audience.

On Services: JWR2 stood out, once again, through a distinct position. "Let's review all of the SFUO services." His message got lost when his opponents grilled him on the fact that these services are funded through levies which were passed during referendums. He did raise a good point when he said the referendums and elections are not legitimate, but he was on the defensive for most of this question. His opponents seemed united on this point. JWR2 could have adopted a less controversial position by advocating a review of all levies every 5-10 years. It would have probably avoided confusion.

On bilingualism: All candidates had very similar positions on bilingualism. Strong points for JWR2's experience that he outlined. Strong points for Haldenby's concrete measure/promise to have simultaneous translation during SFUO meetings, and strong points to Garner for saying that when you give the same rights to the majority as you do to the minority, the minority ends up with less. All in all though, they all came out with similar positions on this question.

Good, respectful debate, except for one minor incident. The crowd was generally respectful to all candidates, even though it was a visibly pro-Dean audience. Students are probably the biggest winners, as for the first time in these SFUO elections (General elections included), students were given a clear option, in substance, style and personality.

Video to come later in the afternoon.

UPDATE 19h59: Part I of the debate. Part II of the debate. (Thank you Zoom)

Photo courtesy of Jason Chiu. The SFUO2 Blog™ exclusive.