The new executive formally took office in January, following elections in October at the CCSA’s national conference in London, Ont. Conference attendees from each region — Atlantic, Central and Western Canada — elected two representatives from each among their group to make up the six-member executive team.
Official portfolios, including the role of president, are assigned internally based on negotiations among the team itself. Two months into their official term, the process of assigning positions is still underway, though executive members are expected to resume discussions shortly.
Consistent with recent CCSA history, this year’s executives are characterized by students with an interest in witnessing and evangelization. In addition, a number come with credentials as local student leaders. At the forefront is Elsbeth Cossar (Concordia University), representing the Central region.
Cossar, a second-year student, also serves her campus as president of the Concordia Catholic Students’ Association. Joining her in the Central region is Paul Filaber (University of Toronto Mississauga), a returning executive who gained a reputation for reliability in his first term. Filaber is the only member re-elected from the previous executive team.
Atlantic Canada is represented by Adriana Viale (St. Francis Xavier University) and Alex Driscoll (St. Thomas University), who both share common experience as directors of their respective chapel choirs.
The two made an impression as charismatic leaders at October’s conference, with attendees suggesting the two as early favourites for the CCSA presidency.
In the West, Elizabeth Fitsmaurice (University of Victoria) adds an experienced voice to the team, with ongoing leadership roles in her university’s Catholic Students’ Association and Catholic Women’s League. Rounding out the team is business student Cynthia Uzozie (University of Manitoba).
The group has been off to a slow start in some respects. Delays in early-year decisions, including the assignment of portfolios, has left campus-level student leaders anxious to engage with new executives. However, the team already agrees on a number of priorities for their year.
Connecting Catholic students and student groups remains a top priority, in accordance with the organization’s purpose. As Filaber explains, the CCSA serves students by connecting existing groups to one another rather than by having its own presence on the ground.
“We don’t bring new things into campuses, what we do is connect students across Canada to share their chaplaincy or fellowship experiences with each other. We facilitate a network,” he said.
Cossar agrees, suggesting the value of the CCSA is in its ability to spread knowledge from one university to another.
“What we do is provide ideas and resources that have been collected over the years by the CCSA. . . It’s a way of sharing and being a community,” she said.
Fitsmaurice, too, sees value in a decentralized approach.
“Each campus is different. Rather than the CCSA, at a national level, having a specific focus, in my opinion, it should be more broad and try to help each campus in its own needs.”
Organizing the annual conferences remains the flagship project of the executives in their goal to unite Catholic students. Following tradition, the group will organize one conference in each region in 2013, to take place this fall. A national conference will follow again in 2014 to unite students from across the country.
Other goals for the organization included raising the national profile of the CCSA, establishing and renewing connections with local Catholic groups and increasing the participation of francophone Catholic students. With the assignment of executive portfolios soon to come, students should soon have a better understanding of the priorities of their national representatives.
For information on the CCSA, visit www.cccm.ca.
(Seidler, 22, is a political science graduate student at the University of Saskatchewan.)