Giovanni HoSang can’t pretend Fall Kickoff’s deficit doesn’t involve him

By: Lily Fontaine, SFU Student

I scream, you scream, we all scream because the Fall Kickoff deficit was $105,995. Like another Peak article stated, “the SFSS will have spent more to cover the losses for the concert than they did last year for the whole of the communication office ($103,000), Women’s Centre ($93,000), Out on Campus ($73,000), or Surrey campus office ($55,000).” Big yikes.

The even bigger yike is SFSS President Giovanni HoSang pretending this is the first he’s heard of it. When he was first interviewed about the deficit, HoSang stated that he felt rushed to make a decision, and was shot down when he wanted to ask questions about the budget and the deficit on the horizon. 

Cool story. Why didn’t you tell it before someone explicitly asked you about it when the event came under fire? 

Similarly, HoSang shared The Peak article he was quoted in on his personal Facebook. In a comment, he urged students to “Help call for accountability and keep pushing the good progressive governance [sic]” and called for putting “policies in place to make it not happen again.” As if asking questions, communicating with students, and policymaking weren’t part of his job, too. 

HoSang is the most recognizable, well-liked, and active SFSS president I’ve seen so far. He was elected fresh off of being the president of the Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry (SOCA). He spent a lot of time criticizing the SFSS for some very good reasons while he held that position, and it seemed that a lot of people who voted for him wanted change in an organization they mistrusted. But HoSang isn’t a subversive candidate anymore; he’s the SFSS’s president and he regularly chairs meetings, according to the minutes online. Why is he acting brand new? As president, HoSang saw Fall Kickoff’s planning and execution happen and was in a position to act proactively. 

I understand that HoSang may have wanted to preserve the Board’s unity or show loyalty to the organization at the time. I remember him being very vocal both on social media and around campus about Fall Kickoff, working hard to support the event and make it work. But now it just seems that HoSang is washing his hands of a mess he was part of. I don’t want to say that the captain always has to go down with the ship, but this captain literally watched someone take a sledgehammer to the ship’s hull, and is now jumping into a lifeboat.  

When I look in the comments of The Peak’s Facebook article, I see Jessica Nguyen, the VP of Student Life who did the lion’s share of Fall Kickoff’s organization, coming under significant — and at times unnecessarily rude or petty — fire. She organized most of the event, sure, and her response to The Peak’s questions about the deficit were pretty lacklustre. Fine. 

But let’s not forget to also keep the SFSS’s president accountable to the SFSS and its actions, just because he’s now delivering standardized lines about keeping the society accountable to students.