Geoff Lister/The Ubyssey

Governance at UBC is currently in a state of limbo. The provincial government passed Bill 20 in 2010 as an interim solution and took over jurisdiction of UBC from Metro Vancouver. Almost two years later, little progress has been made to determine a new structure for municipal governance on UBC lands.

As the highest governing body at UBC, the Board of Governors effectively has the final say in any new developments to the governance structure on campus. Eleven of the 21-member board are appointed by the provincial government, and UBC is both land owner and developer, leaving little room for oversight.

The seven candidates competing for the two UBC-Vancouver student representative seats on the Board will have a direct voice on the future of UBC’s governance.

However, Sean Cregten is the only candidate making governance a centrepiece of his platform, proposing to separate non-academic lands from academic areas and create two separate councils.

“This is a university and it cannot be called a town. That’s an absurd idea,” said Cregten, who is currently serving as Associate VP Academic and University Affairs for the AMS.

He also emphasized the importance of preventing market housing on University Boulevard.

“That’s a really big danger because then we can’t split off the institutional and the non-institutional and we get this weird thing where residents do have a say in institutional decision.”

BoG candidate Mike Silley said it would not be productive to come up with his own plan for governance. He recommended hiring a third party to suggest possible governance structures for UBC and working with students to develop the best option.

“Instead of just deciding right away, have those consultants come back with some options…and make it a collaborative effort between everyone who shares this campus,” said Silley.

BoG candidate Erik MacKinnon said he has no platform on governance.

“What I want to see personally change is entirely irrelevant to this position, because I’m representing students,” said MacKinnon.

“If students believe…that we need to push the administration or push the province in a certain direction, then I’ll be the first person to champion that.”

BoG candidate Matt Parson was wary about committing to one governance structure prematurely.

“It’s a tough thing to really hammer out, to suggest a final form at this stage when discussions haven’t really been hashed out.

“Whatever happens, it’s going to be a critical mass that needs to be reached as students and residents take arms against UBC. Once those two parties form a common message, it becomes an unavoidable message that they can’t ignore,” said Parson.

According to Sumedha Sharma, who is running for re-election, the Board is currently in the preliminary stages on governance, and it is too early to make concrete plans.

“I don’t know what the exact vision I see…but I definitely want to create a process in which we can engage students, engage residents on campus and create a strategy according to what do we want to see and how do we effectively represent everyone on campus.”

BoG candidate Justin Yang said that the appointment system to BoG is problematic and that the number of elected officials needs to be reconsidered. However, he didn’t think he would have the power to change the situation.

“Adjusting ratios of who’s represented and how, I think would be amazing…[but] it’s not going to be BoG that decides. It’s going to be someone recommending options and they’ll choose, ultimately.”

BoG candidate Tagg Jefferson originally declined to comment on governance.

“I don’t know enough about the topic to be able to make a good statement on that, but I think that’s something obviously that I need to learn.”

In a subsequent interview, Jefferson said he would work to encourage extensive consultations on governance.

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