On the Sept. 28 editorial entitled, “The McMaster Students Union’s lack of communication,” it was noted that a significant chunk was cut out from the archives from the Sept. 24 Student Representative Assembly meeting. This has not changed. It remains just over an hour long, a fraction of a much longer meeting, and 17 minutes of that is a break.

The Oct. 28 meeting promised topics like Aidan Johnson and updates about ward 1, discussions about the smoking ban policy and the McMaster Marching Band. The archives have the ending 11 minutes and 51 seconds of the meeting available. The rest seems to be unrecoverable.

While going through the tweets made by those in attendance or watching at home and the News article in this week’s issue will be decent resources, specifically about Johnson’s appearance at the beginning, it still pales in comparison to having the primary document available.

There were a substantial number of issues that went into this appearance such as the city’s Indigenous justice policy, the transgender protocol, the LRT, the city’s attempts to adjust Hamilton’s ward boundaries and McMaster students experiencing breaking and entering thefts. A large portion of the discussion was directly about how you and other McMaster students interact with the city. The majority of the issues discussed will continue to be important points.

An unfortunate part about this live stream corrupting is that you no longer have any way to verify the entirety of the meeting. While you may be able to place your trust in whatever source you like when it comes to updates around campus, the only way you can verify is by checking other secondary documents.

If any of these issues come up again in the future, and the majority of them likely will as we move closer to the Hamilton municipal election taking place next year, we will not have the depth of information that we could have provided. Any number of points that were not documented at the time are now lost.

It is important to understand that mistakes can happen, and technology might be a bit finicky from time to time. A backup plan would have been nice. It is simply disappointing that this meeting, the one that radically altered how McMaster interacts with the city, is the one we have the least amount of access to.

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At the Student Representative Assembly meeting on Oct. 29, ward 1 Hamilton city councillor Aidan Johnson addressed the SRA and Board of Directors for the first time since 2014.

After Johnson delivered some ward updates, he was met with contentious questions from the assembly.

Alex Wilson, caucus member (science) and Ainslie Wood resident, noted that students make up the largest demographic of ward 1, and asked Johnson if he agreed that “students deserve effective representation”. He also questioned Johnson about his characterization of ward 1’s off-campus student community as a “hygiene problem.”

Johnson responded that his use of “hygiene” was literal, not metaphorical, meaning that the community has a garbage, not student, problem.

Dodging the answer to Wilson’s first question, Johnson replied, “I’m sorry that you feel that way.”

Chukky Ibe, MSU president, expressed frustration over the fact that Johnson had not spoken in front of the SRA in three years. He also noted Johnson’s failure to sufficiently answer Wilson’s second question and alleged that Johnson characterized students as “low intelligence.”

Most of the following questions dealt with the recently passed motion to increase the number of bylaw officers in Westdale and Ainslie Wood. The program began in 2016, after Johnson stated that the McMaster area needed more help to aid the hygiene problem. The program does not address other problems within the community, such as absentee landlords for student housing.

This particular motion was met with a backlash from students, particularly Ryan Deshpande, vice president (Education) and Stephanie Bertolo, associate vice president (Municipal Affairs), who voiced the concern that “the proposal unfairly targets students who are still learning bylaws.”

Chukky Ibe, McMaster Students Union president, expressed frustration over the fact that Johnson had not spoken in front of the SRA in three years. He also noted Johnson’s failure to sufficiently answer Wilson’s second question and alleged that Johnson characterized students as “low intelligence.” Ibe asked Johnson if he “regards himself as an honest man.”

“I have never been so impressed with an MSU President,” Wilson tweeted. “Chukky Ibe’s questioning of Aidan Johnson and defense of McMaster students was phenomenal.”

Johnson reiterated that he would never reduce humans to garbage. He also stated that he would never work for a “stupid” population in the first place.

In addition, SRA members addressed the proposed change in ward boundaries, asking Johnson whether or not Ainslie Wood actually belongs in Dundas. Johnson stated that he favours the status quo.

After the discussion shifted back to the bylaw officer motion, Johnson stated that he “urges student tenants to learn bylaws.”

Bertolo noted that Johnson, in stating that students should learn bylaws, implies that bylaws are intuitive and free of legal jargon, putting the burden on them.

Johnson said students should seek out a lawyer first. “The notion that students can just 'hire a lawyer' is fallacious. We are in unsafe student housing because that's what we can afford,” Wilson tweeted in response.

The next SRA meeting will be held on Nov. 12 in Gilmour Hall.

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This is the first in a series highlighting the six candidates for Ward 1 Councillor in the upcoming municipal election.The Silhouette will be profiling each candidate in advance of the election on Monday, Oct. 27.

Ward 1 Councillor candidate Aidan Johnson has a straightforward vision for Hamilton: protecting the environment and creating a green, accessible, job-filled economy.

Johnson grew up in Westdale, and did part of his undergraduate studies at McMaster University. He now works a staff Lawyer for Legal Aid Ontario in downtown Hamilton, following his work in corporate law with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto. In high school, Johnson was involved in a campaign that challenged the Hamilton Public School Board to create policy that would protect the safety of LGBTQI students. His involvement in this campaign had him featured in Maclean’s “Young Canadian Leader to Watch For” annual listing that year.

Johnson has also dedicated his time to volunteering in the community with HIV-AIDS outreach, fundraising with PEN Canada, and is currently a member of the Ward 1 Participatory Budget Advisory Committee.

"What I am looking to do is use my financial background, my legal skills, and above all my advocacy skills to fight for all the things we need in Hamilton,” said Johnson.

His platform is focused on safer, complete streets, higher conservation standards for Cootes Paradise, fighting water pollution in Lake Ontario, growing the downtown economy and advocating for Light Rail Transit. He also wants to target crime that victimizes students in Westdale.

Johnson identifies environmental issues as his primary motivation for entering the race.

“Increasing conservation standards at Cootes Paradise, and creating an even more bio-diverse Cootes Paradise is certainly a key McMaster issue,” said Johnson. “We don’t do enough to protect it and we don’t do enough to protect the connecting land and water that feed and sustain Cootes Paradise.”

Johnson directly supports the McMarsh project and also cites the restoration effort as one of the most important projects at McMaster.

www.aidanjohnson.ca

Twitter: @voteaidan

Photo credit: Samantha Craggs/CBC

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