Saad Shoaib, a third-year arts student, is running uncontested for AMS VP external on a platform of student affordability and AMS transparency.
Shoaib has served as the AMS associate VP external for the past year under current VP External Kalith Nanayakkara whose office lobbied for student affordability amid COVID-19, student interests during a provincial election and pandemic U-Pass exemptions and subsidies.
With federal student loan interest currently suspended through 2022 due to the pandemic, Shoaib intends to work with other Canadian undergraduate associations through Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities (UCRU) to lobby for a permanent suspension.
“During my time as the associate VP, we lobbied the federal government through UCRU to eliminate interest until 2022. And this established a clear policy precedent: students are going to be an essential part of Canada’s economic recovery from this pandemic, and they need to be well supported,” Shoaib said.
Continuing on the theme of student affordability, Shoaib intends to lobby for a provincial cap on tuition increases, saying that while UBC has its own policies restricting tuition increases, “this needs to be solidified on a provincial level.”
On housing, he promised to lobby the province to invest $450 million in student housing to reduce student financial hardship. Shoaib said he would support ongoing work at the AMS to pursue an AMS-owned housing co-op as another solution to student housing woes.
“It’s essential that students are offered more affordable housing,” Shoaib said.
Over the past year, the VP external office has also had some controversies. In September, Shoaib was pictured with Nanayakkara and other AMS staff gathering in their Nest offices without masks in violation of AMS COVID-19 policies.
During debates, the candidate distanced himself from ThePlug, the reason for Nanayakkara’s conflict of interest review. Shoaib said he only did data analytics for the group and left in January.
Shoaib also stressed the importance of advocacy with the University Neighbourhood Association (UNA), saying he’d be “loud during the meetings [with UNA representatives].” In the past year, the UNA moved to remove the AMS’s voting rights on its board.
Shoiab pledged to make the office of the VP external more transparent.
“I mean, real transparency, where students are being informed on the happenings of the AMS and its external affairs office — this is something that the AMS has failed to do over the past few years,” he said. “And I hope to change that if I’m elected.”
Voting is open online from March 1 until March 5. This article is part of our 2021 AMS elections coverage.