Josef Spence – Contributor

At 6 p.m. on Sept. 18, the candidates for the SRC by-election took the stage at the Gait to discuss their thoughts and vision for the SRC. This SRC Debate Night took place at the midpoint of the campaign period, giving candidates the opportunity to rally support before official voting began.

Photo courtesy of Student Representative Council

With a modest attendance of students from all backgrounds in the university, the event gave students the opportunity to witness the rhetorical abilities and quick-thinking skills of the candidates as they answered questions. It also allowed candidates to showcase their campaign platforms in an organized, in-person setting, as their supporters watched them in action.

Debate nights are a standard part of the SRC election campaign process, though previously only the candidates running for executive positions on the BSR participated in them. However, with the change in structure last year, debates were extended to all of the Board Directors. This change in structure effectively eliminated any difference between the board executive and the rest of the board by making the executive members — that is, the president and the vice-president — board directors with extra responsibilities. As per the SRC bylaws and policies, all members of the board represent the SRC in equal capacity, and the executive members are themselves Board Directors with extra responsibilities, such as serving as chair of the board. Thus,all candidates for the board are expected to participate in the debate event.

There were two segments of the debate: a period in which candidates answered questions they had previously received and had the opportunity to prepare answers for, and a period in which candidates tackled questions posed by students in the crowd.

For the first segment, Taylor Morgan, the SRC extra manager and moderator of the debate, directed questions to each candidate. For each question, candidates had a minute to give their response with the possibility to comment a second time after all the other candidates had answered, though none of the candidates made use of the rebuttal opportunity.

The questions in this segment were broad, focusing on the candidates’ general ideas but also the practical implementation of those ideas. For example, one concerned the manner in which the candidates planned to live out the SRC mission in their possible directorship, while another asked about potential areas of focus or initiative they might adopt if they won.

An intermission placed between the segments allowed the candidates to mingle with the observing students for 15 minutes before beginning the second segment of the debate. It also gave students the opportunity to submit questions to be asked in the second segment. Electoral officer, Karen Dymond, selected student questions for the second segment. The candidates did not know in advance what these questions would be.

In the second segment, candidates could ask to speak to the question; otherwise, the moderator, Morgan, recorded their decision to decline to answer. These questions included issues such as the ability of candidates to manage their time and how they were planning to support the diverse needs of students.

The debate proved successful for Emmy Mugisha, Forest Riddington, and Chouette Irebe, as these candidates won election to the SRC on Sept. 23.