By: Vanessa Polojac
Rabeena Obaidullah’s candidacy is about breaking barriers in accessibility, integration and community. But for a platform built on student interest, it lacks certain aspects of consideration and confirmation.
Centering the platform around five pillars, Obaidullah focuses most of the first pillar on transportation with the extension of a Go bus route while also bringing the car-share service of UberPool to Hamilton and the McMaster community. Obaidullah’s platform fails to better the lives of students with these new transportation plans.
In principle, a significant number of students on campus reside in Ancaster, Hamilton Mountain, Stoney Creek and Waterdown where HSR service is not routine. This makes for a long commute to campus. Obaidullah did not specify any plans to improve Hamilton Street Railway.
Obaidullah promises to extend the 40 Go bus route that takes students directly from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport to the Main and Paisley bus stop. Obaidullah argues that this bus route only works for students who live near the Westdale area, opposed to those who live on campus and in other student neighbourhoods where this route is not as accessible.
Obaidullah is proposing for this route to stop at McMaster University’s Go terminal to benefit international students, out-of-province students and students from different parts of Ontario. Obaidullah has not specified why she has focused on the 40 route, considering that many popular bus routes such as the 16 route to Union Station also do not service the McMaster University bus terminal.
Additionally, Uber already exists in Hamilton as a single-occupancy service. Ride-sharing options are not currently present in the city. UberPool pairs questions going to destinations close to each other to allow users to share the cost. It currently exists in larger cities such as Toronto.
The service has had many conflicts and difficulties in the city of Toronto and GTA with a delayed timing of arrival as well as payment issues. In an UberPool, both passengers will pay 20 per cent less than a standard UberX fare during off-peak hours and roughly five to 10 per cent during the night, according to Uber’s own calculations.
While bringing UberPool is a possibility under Hamilton’s new licensing laws for Uber, it remains unclear whether or not Uber would bring such a service to Hamilton, given that they have only rolled out UberPool in major urban spaces like Toronto.
With all of this said, Obaidullah does not list any points in her platform to improve the HSR despite students paying for an HSR U-Pass.
Overall, Obaidullah’s platform points focus on marketplace solutions, but do not address the difficulties of working with non-campus partners nor does she address how she plans on working with current community partners.
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By: Vanessa Polojac
Rabeena Obaidullah is a level IV Life Sciences student. Her platform attempts to address a wide range of student issues.
Obaidullah is currently a Student Representative Assembly (Science) member. She is a sitting member on the Municipal Affairs committee. Obaidullah also has experience volunteering with various McMaster Students Union services and leadership programs.
Divided into five pillars, Obaidullah’s platform spans a wide array of topics, ranging from improving McMaster Hospitality operations to creating new and improved transit options for commuting students.
Obaidullah’s first pillar focuses on improving and assisting with time-management for McMaster students. Obaidullah hopes to implement a tracking system that would inform students of the number of people currently in a given study space such as the libraries. Obaidullah also plans to create new transportation routes to cut the time it takes to commute to the university with a new Go bus route and introduce new transportation methods to Hamilton such as UberPOOL.
Obaidullah’s second pillar lays out her plan to better academics. Obaidullah plans to improve spring and summer classes by expanding the survey system the Faculty of Health Sciences already employs to all faculties. In this way, students can request the courses they would like to take during the summer months and the course offerings can be adjusted accordingly. She also plans on advocating for an interdisciplinary minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and introducing courses concerning health and wellness to all faculties.
Obaidullah’s third pillar focuses on improving and cutting the cost of McMaster’s Hospitality Services. Her platform ensures that they can offer 10 per cent food rebates and will reduce student spending by up to 13 per cent in regards to food. With the expectation of the new Student Activity Building to have a grocery store, Obaidullah plans on creating an online platform for students to weekly order and conveniently pick up their groceries.
The focus of Obaidullah’s fourth pillar is diversity. Through creating a multi-faith centre, Obaidullah plans to use this space as a resource so that students have accessibility to practice their religion. Obaidullah also plans on creating an MSU Clubs volunteer portal and create a resource hub for international students to ease the transition when entering McMaster.
Finally, Obaidullah’s last pillar promotes student involvement with the McMaster community. Obaidullah plans on working alongside Redeemer College and Mohawk College to ensure students vote during the upcoming municipal election. She also hopes to improve the health of McMaster students by anonymously tracking health trends from the Student Wellness Centre and providing support in response to outbreaks. Obaidullah would also like to create a McMaster app that gives students access to include academics, finances, navigation and other services.
If you'd like to learn more about Obaidullah's platform, visit her Facebook page and website: www.rabeena2018.com
https://www.facebook.com/rabeena2018/
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