The Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) by-election saw a 17.4 per cent voter turnout, electing a new Vice-President (Finance) and Vice-President (Community).
Between March 17 and 18, 802 out of 4,606 eligible students voted in the SGPS by-election, representing 17.4 per cent voter turnout. Sakura Koner, PhD ’29, has been elected as the 2026-27 SGPS vice-president (campaigns and community affairs) (VPC), while Colin Stewart, JD ’27, was elected vice-president (finance and services) (VPFS).
In the VPC election, Koner won with 39.5 per cent of the vote, 296 total votes. Runner-up Alexandra Griff, HealthSci ’25, MSc, ’27, received 31.3 per cent, and Aiman Dhiloon, MD ’29, followed with 29.2 per cent.
Following the win, Koner, in an interview with The Journal, expressed her excitement for the new role, sharing that when she first learned she had won, she was “ecstatic.” She also expressed her appreciation to everyone who supported her.
“The sheer support that I got from my friends, from people around me, people who knew me in passing but really didn’t know me, but they were by my side, and they supported me through the campaigning process, […] I just felt so supported and so great,” Koner said.
Focusing to next year, Koner is looking forward to expanding the responsibilities of the VPC role, noting she hopes to take part in more committees and engage with the community.
“I’m really looking forward to adding a couple more responsibilities onto the role, […] there are a lot of committees that SGPS has seats on, but we haven’t really been a part of them yet, […] and I would love to have SGPS representation in a couple of them.”
Stewart has been elected after 92.4 per cent of voters approved his uncontested run in the by-election.
In an interview with The Journal, Stewart said he was pleased with the results and is looking forward to beginning the role.
“I was really happy to be entrusted with this,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting to work.”
Stewart said one of his main priorities will be managing the society’s budget responsibly while exploring ways to expand support for graduate and professional students.
“I think working with the other members of the executive and the staff to manage the budget responsibly and see where we can get more supports for graduate and professional students,” he said, pointing to food supports, bursaries, and existing programming as areas of focus.
He added that financial pressures facing students, including changes to OSAP and other funding sources, will be a key consideration in this role.
“I’m going to do the best I can to manage their money responsibly,” he said.
The by-election results complete the SGPS executive team after several positions went unfilled during the initial election period.
Tags
by-election, Elections, Elections 2026, SGPS, SGPS elections, SGPS executive
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