The vice-president external is the Students’ Union’s representative to municipal, provincial and federal governments. They are also the primary delegate for the many umbrella lobbying organizations the SU takes part in.
Theodore McHugh wants to take on the role of vice-president external in order to advocate for greater accountability from the university, including faculty members and professors.
While the SU has already been fighting tirelessly this year against the tuition increases and budget cuts, McHugh believes more can still be done and plans to fight to the greatest extent to meet the needs of students.
His motivation to run for an SU executive position did not begin until the pandemic after seeing how the university administration went about addressing students’ needs.
McHugh believes that over the course of the pandemic, university staff and faculty have not been held accountable to students. This has inspired him to want to create a system that specifically targets university professors and teaching staff, so that they are better equipped to provide students with the proper resources.
Although we are not sure how this system will work, McHugh only shared an anecdotal experience that largely inspired this platform point and did not elaborate further.
McHugh spoke on how his conversations with Albertan politicians over the last year make him a qualified candidate for the position, and that students should still put their faith in him even though he is uncontested.
With a provincial election just around the corner, McHugh states that he plans on working with both the UCP and the NDP over the course of the entire election process to advocate for policies in students’ best interests — like tuition hikes and budget cuts. He did not give specifics on how he plans on achieving this, or why he believes this is the best course of action.
Overall, McHugh has always wanted to be involved in student politics and wants to help students in a positive way this upcoming term.
All undergraduate students can vote YES or NO on their ballot for Theodore McHugh as VP EXTERNAL or ABSTAIN from voting.