DAWN OF THE WINTER 2021 ELECTIONS: Congress Weekly – March 19th 2021

Written by Si Wen Shen
Edited by Bhromor Rahman

Strava Initiative
Veronique Champoux from Student Affairs has proposed an inter-club competition through an app called Strava, which can track the distance and route the users jog or bike. Many students are already familiar with the app, having used it for online gym classes. The goal is to have members within a club gather enough distance to travel to places like Los Angeles or Florida. During discussions on this topic, prizes ranging from 300-1000$ were proposed to be awarded to clubs that participate the most, though the final, confirmed amounts will be announced in the coming weeks. 

This initiative will help clubs stay active and to gather funds, as it has become much harder to do fundraisers online. 

Intercollegiate Running Event
The Charities and Volunteering Committee, in collaboration with Amnistie Internationale de Brébeuf has organized an intercollegiate run for charity. Running a certain distance will yield donations to charities in Montreal by the sponsors. Therefore, students will have the opportunity to sign up, run and fundraise as part of the club!

Due to its similarity to the Strava Initiative, Veronique wondered if these two events could be merged together, but Allison has pointed out that this is an event originally planned by Brébeuf and that the MSU does not have the authority to merge it with its own activity. Moreover, the goal of this event is to fundraise money for Montreal charities, while the Strava Initiative is to encourage Marianopolis clubs. 

Delay on Merch due to COVID
In light of the COVID-19 situation, shipping and product distribution has been heavily impacted, therefore the MSU hoodies will be arriving with a delay. The manufacturer has promised to deliver them before summer vacation starts and Congress will sign a contract with them to assure this. If the deadline cannot be respected, Congress will receive a full refund and in turn refund the students. However, if any students do not want the hoodies anymore due to the delay, they unfortunately cannot be refunded. An email detailing the delay will be sent shortly to students who have ordered. 

Wellness Boxes
The Wellness boxes are almost ready! Tristan has yet to set a date for the distribution, but it will be within the next two weeks. They will be distributed at Wayne’s, not at the same time as the MSU merchandise. 

One remaining product in the boxes has yet to arrive, and Congress members will have to assemble the boxes, but that won’t be a problem. As the current president of MSU Congress Laurence Liang has commented to MWR, “Some people here have read the communist manifesto and have no problem forming an assembly line” [Note from Laurence: purely for comedic relief, not necessarily related to political affiliations 🙂 ]

MARCHarity
It is currently Happiness Month! Makes sense, since we had March Break. MARCHarity is the month to make yourself and others happy, especially amidst the quarantine. Keep a lookout for the self-care posts in the MSU media platforms and on Charities and Volunteering’s Helping Students Help Others Facebook group!

Town Hall Date
The Town Hall for Winter 2021 will be held online in the first week of April. The precise date has yet to be determined, so stay tuned!

Arts Workshops Social Activities x Artists for Society Club
Social Activities and the Artists for Society Club have organized various art workshops with pro artists that are open to all students. These professional artists are masters of different kinds of mediums and forms. The participation fee is very low, around 10$ for each workshop, which can range from 2-6 hours (6h workshops are over the course of 2 days, 3 hours per day). Each workshop can have around 15 participants, and the seats fill up fast. If you liked your experience, you could also donate to the artists!

Congress Endorsements for Climate and for Discrimination Statement
During the meeting, Congress held a few internal votes concerning the endorsements of statements and recent events relating to climate and discrimination. As some members have pointed out, a few of these issues are slightly out of the scope of our student government. 

As a result, concerning the climate, Congress endorses demanding the Canadian government to attain carbon neutrality by 2030. 

In light of the recent mass shooting in the USA and hate crimes during COVID-19, MSU Congress “stands in solidarity with marginalized groups that have been discriminated against, and endorses the usage of ‘hate crimes’ to describe targeted, discriminatory actions.” Moreover, they will also share a statement “recognizing that discrimination against the Canadian Asian community has been present before COVID, as part as part of a historical system of oppression that encourages violence and xenophobia: discrimination has only been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

2021 Congress Elections
Campaign week for the 2021 MSU Congress President and Vice-President is almost coming to an end! As usual, the MWR will be holding interviews with the 5 candidates and host the debate (linked below). The interviews will be happening on Wednesday, and make sure to tune in to the debate on Thursday, March 25, at 7 pm (also linked below)! The link will be posted on the Facebook MSU webpage. Audience members can ask questions to the candidates through the comment section during the Q&A section.

If clubs wish to endorse any of the running slates, please contact the ERC and obtain the approval of the majority of your active members. 

In 2 weeks, it’ll be the elections for the Coordinators! Again, there will be interviews, and the debate will be on Thursday April 8th.

Editor’s note: Elections are in a few days (28th and 29th of March) on Omnivox! Who should you vote for? Should you even vote? Here are the 4 videos you need to make a decision: