Reda El Maazi is a second-year arts student. He has been involved in UBC E-project competitions, winning $500 and a month-long internship in Downtown Vancouver for an app he helped to design. He is running on a platform of affordability, sustainability, integrity and student empowerment.
Describe your platform and what makes it different from those of other candidates.
There are four points [that] I want to emphasize when I will be elected as a student rep to the Board of Governors. There is sustainability, affordability, there’s empowering student voices and there’s integration. One of the most important aspects that I want to focus [on] during next year will be affordability because I believe that fees — including tuition and housing —have been very expensive for the last few years, especially for international students who come from so far, but also including Canadians from all the provinces in Canada. This is why I will vote a systematic “no” for any increase of tuition. I believe there are other ways to fund and raise money. I understand that there are difficulties regarding the balancing sheets of the budget of the university and I just saw that they have asked students … if they can raise the tuition by two per cent, three per cent and so on. I think it’s a pity for such a big university to systematically raise tuition, especially last year they increased tuition 10 per cent for incoming international students and increased the housing [fees] by 20 per cent.
It’s become clear that UBC has become bipolar between the rich and the poor — the poor who need to get two, maybe three, part time jobs during the summer and during the academic year to provide themselves food, shelter and so on. There’s no bad thing with being rich, of course, as a student and being able to afford [UBC], but we are a public institution and it is our right to study at UBC as international and national [students].
One key point is empowering student voices and I will be the first one to hold office hours weekly for students. So during those office hours, I hope that the BoG will give me an office — whether at the NEST or wherever it is within the UBC campus — and I will listen to all UBC students including undergrads, graduate students, female, male, international, national ones. With all the information they have given me, I will take surveys — as I’ve taken method research in psychology and sociology — and I will take all that information and give it back to the BoG. I will speak as a student rep ... to the BoG and once we have reached a decision with the BoG, I will give … my answers and our consensus back to the students. At this point, I will release a statement, but students will feel free to come and discuss with me any inquiries.
Also if you noticed during the elections, all the AMS … my opponents, basically are all posting posters all around the campus. The other BoG [candidates], Veronica Knott and Aaron Bailey, are, to my knowledge, not using posters, but they have seen on the first day that – maybe I’m just assuming that – they have seen me using this medium and are trying to get my strategy to get votes.
What drew you to this specific position?
Many students are complaining about the affordability of the university [and] the fact that their voice is not heard. I really wanted to … make a difference on the UBC campus. As I’ve said before, it’s a great university and I believe there are great things to be done. But if you continue this way, we are going to go through a polarization between the rich and the poor and that [will have] a negative effect on such a great public institution in Canada.
What are the challenges facing this position in the upcoming year?
The main challenge would be to empower students and make sure that their voice is listened to. To my knowledge, there are 22 votes within the BoG. I know that one vote is not enough, but I will make sure that I will influence … the others to reach the decisions that will ease the lifestyle of the UBC students. Because if you think about it, the UBC student body is the most important component within the UBC community. It’s ours, it’s yours. We are more than 50,000 in Vancouver. Faculty [and] academics are very important, but we the students are the most important ones — international and Canadian.
What is the most important person or body to cooperate with?
I believe the person that ... I look forward to working with is the other person voted as the student representative for the BoG. I believe that we can make a make a force, that unification makes trust and that the person who will be with me. We will need to have some consonance regarding our ideas … and the BoG regarding all the decisions of UBC students.
What would you say is your weakness is?
I don’t think I have a particular weakness. I think I’m great. I think I will be the best student representative for next year along with the person who will be next to me as well. One thing I don’t have compared to Aaron and Veronica is the fact I’m not a fifth-year student, I plan to graduate in fourth year. I don’t plan to graduate in seven or eight years like Veronica. I have not met as many people as them. If you look at their Facebook groups, they have so many more people that are backing them up — both Aaron and Veronica. I’m the outsider. I’m proud to be the outsider. I intend on representing the UBC students. I intend to be great. I intend to be their voice. That’s the most important thing — to be their voice.
But other than that, I have great strength. I have great job experience. I speak four languages. I’m very close to UBC students. I’ve won the UBC E-project. I’ve won $500 and a month-long internship in Downtown Vancouver. I have a lot of experience. I have a business degree from Kings College and I understand the financial pressure. I’m here for all international and Canadian students.
Note: There are 21 members of UBC’s Board of Governors, not 22.
Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.