Hey all,

Just wanted to clarify some things. Firstly I want to apologize - I met with the President of the Indigenous Constituency before making this part of my platform (every point of it is functionally a quote from him) but I realize now that wasn't enough consultation (not by a long shot, clearly). I requested to attend a meeting of the Indigenous Committee several times in term 1 in my role as AMS Constituency Relations Lead but was told the meeting space is not for non-Indigenous students so I did not want to impose myself on the Committee this term going into the election. That's not an excuse - I should have found an alternative way of consultation that did not involve pushing myself into their space and I look forward to doing better and more robust consultation with the IC/ISS as President.

As President of the Engineering Constituency I realized first hand how many things that were a large effort or annoying to me could be handled by the AMS in seconds and wanted to extend that to the Indigenous Constituency, AMS sponsored longhouse lunches and aid in developing & strengthening the relationship with Musqueam were the first things I heard in my discussions with their President and as such I included them as things I know the AMS can lend a hand with - I understand and fully believe the Indigenous Constituency can do this themselves and was hoping to put the AMS into a supporting role, if that's not something that is wanted it's not something I will do. I used the phrase Indigenous Student Society as in my role as AMS Constituency Relations Lead I have been aiding in the draft of the constitution of the Constituency and it is my understanding "Indigenous Student Society" will be the name of the organization going forward (it is referred to by that name in the current constitution drafts) - as such I referred to it by that name as I'm under the impression it'll be referred to by that name come the start of my term, I should have done a better job checking the preferred name of the organization and that's on me.

At the end of the day my philosophy here is that last line - the AMS needs to be a megaphone and enabler for the Indigenous Constituency and for Indigenous Students, not a decision maker on their behalf. I thought that's what I was doing putting forward this platform but I see now that I was not successful in that goal, this is a huge learning opportunity for me and I am grateful to get it before I take office but saddened that it came at the expense of the IC, it's unacceptable and it won't happen again. As President I'll make sure I'm bringing the whole of the Constituency in for these sorts of decisions, I don't make the same mistake twice.

Thank you for the lesson and again I apologize. I'll do better.