Are the two VP External candidates smarter than eleventh-grade BC civics students? That was the question to be contested by Alex Kilpatrick and Kathleen Simpson at the Great Debate.
When being quizzed on knowledge about government and tuition facts, Kilpatrick got the first few questions wrong. Simpson was able to answer most of the questions about the minister of advanced education, the number of public post-secondary institutions in BC and the average debt of a graduating post-secondary student.
As the debate progressed, Simpson continued to demonstrate her wide base of knowledge about the VP External portfolio and its related information.
During subsequent questions, the candidates were asked how they would mobilize people in order to instigate real change. Simpson emphasized that she wants to work with the on-campus student groups that are already great advocates and combine those skills with AMS resources.
Kilpatrick described his plan to introduce a campaign called “What We Need,” which would entail taking hundreds of UBC students and creating a video montage of their unique needs to lobby the government with, aligning with his two years of social media and communications experience.
Simpson responded, saying that his idea was really great and that social media is an important component of student engagement, but in her opinion, the future VP External needs to extend advocacy efforts beyond social media.
During the closing remarks, Simpson noted that she will continue to be passionate about the projects that she has been lobbying for in that time. Kilpatrick said he is running because he’s seen his new model for advocacy prove to be increasingly effective and hopes to bring that change to the AMS.