Transcript of Ubyssey interview
Monday, November 10, 2025 a Ubyssey staffer met with me in my lab in the LIFE Building to interview me as a candidate for re-election to the Board of Governors. This is the largely unedited transcription. The Ubyssey published an edited version which can be read here.
Ubyssey Staffer
We’ll start with a broad but relatively straightforward one. Why are you running and why should people elect you?
Charles
I firmly believe that we should be active participants in our communities of account, be that work, life, community. When my kids were in school, I was involved in parent advisory councils. I’ve sat on the University Neighbourhood Association Board of Directors. I’ve been a member of the Faculty Association Executive. I’ve served in other governance positions, but I’m a bit different than the typical governor who runs, a faculty member who runs for election for a governor. Very often, many of the folks who do so have been in administration on one level or another, department heads, deans, associate deans, VP, these kinds of positions. So I actually come from a basic grassroots perspective and have been there for quite some time and quite happy with that role. I think if we do believe in the diversity perspective, we need to ensure that we don’t have a kind of mirror of people looking all alike and acting all alike on our governing bodies. We need to hear different voices, and that’s part of what I bring to the picture, plus a commitment to openness and democracy.
Ubyssey Staffer
Great. Yeah. The next few questions are pretty specific ones that we’ve created based on some of the bigger parts of your role within the Board of Governors, but there will be an opportunity to talk about more things specific to your platform a bit later on. But just starting with a budget-related thing. So last week, the federal government announced it would be further reducing the number of new international study permits from 437,000 in 2025 to 155,000 in 2026. So that’s about a 65% decline. So how do you think the university should respond to budget shortfalls that may result from this?
Charles
Two things are relevant here. For a long time, I’ve argued against relying upon the extracting wealth from the international middle classes in terms of higher differential tuition fees. If we take a look at the way in which UBC has based its budgetary planning for the last 15 to 20 years, it’s really been upon the backs of raising fees for international students and expanding that capacity. I actually think we shouldn’t be doing that. The current global situation clearly indicates that we shouldn’t be relying upon international student fees to make up deficits. It means a retrenchment into focus on what this university is supposed to be about, which is research excellence, an effective and high-quality accessible education. We need to position ourselves in that respect. The second thing that’s to note is because the UBC’s role in the province of British Columbia and globally in Canada, we kind of act like a black hole that sucks in all the available international students to a point. We’ve been riding the wave relatively well in comparative terms in terms of the other institutions, which raises problems about the structure of post-secondary across the province in Canada, that it’s become so reliable, relied upon this kind of future.
Ubyssey Staffer
Great. Yeah. Another budget-related question. But earlier this year, the UBC library announced a significant structural deficit in its funding, despite UBC President, Bacan, stating the university is in a financially strong position. So what do you believe is the correct response to the library’s problems?
Charles
That is a difficult question to answer because you imply by saying, correct, there would be only one answer. And there’s a couple of factors involved. First of all, neither you nor I are privy to the immediate operational decisions that are being made in the library. You can have the availability of that material. So we don’t necessarily know those factors. But clearly, from having sat on Senate, I’m aware from the University Librarian’s reports of the years, the problems we’ve been facing with how many of our library resources are purchased in American dollars, the differential between Canadian currency and American currency, and then, of course, the impact of tarrifs, most recently, has hit hard. Large extent, the solution to this is really a transnational solution, which is kind of out of UBC’s hands, which is a bit of a pain in the backside, to put it, technically speaking. I was very sad when I saw the education library shut down and closed and mothball, and despite all these things, I think we actually need structural spaces, though the data that the library provided seemed to indicate that people aren’t actually going physically to our library spaces any longer. Which I think is a sad issue, but maybe I’m a luddite.
Ubyssey Staffer
I don’t think so. Yeah. And you’ve touched on this already, but should UBC organize teaching and learning around the tradition of a university as a place of pure knowledge seeking or around the interests of the post-grad labor market?
Charles
Well, when I think in my department, whenever we have these discussions around the faculty table, I look around the room, we all talk about how we design our courses to help students find jobs in the post-university environment. And I think, how many of us have actually been in that job market in the last 10, 20, 30 years? So we can speak of... So we kinda of don’t We have the expertise to speak to these kinds of questions. So that’s one practical element about that. It means relying upon people who can provide that advice. But UBC, I don’t think it should be a polytechnic. We shouldn’t be a job training mill. We shouldn’t be funding or supporting the development of training workers for industry. I don’t think that should be our primary goal. I don’t think it should be so high and lofty as just simply about the pure search of knowledge either, because only a few people have the wealth, resources, and the luxury in life to focus totally on that. What I’ve noticed, and when I take a look at my own family and relatives and children, that no degree by itself stands alone to get one into the preferred occupation that they’re looking for.
Charles
Some sort of secondary degree or certification, is a part of the procedure of finding jobs in today’s world. It’s been that way for 30 or 40 years. So this isn’t really a new thing, but UBC can’t answer every problem. This is kind of middle of the roading, which I often criticize people for, but we kind of need to find a balance between recognizing that we are providing important skills in the faculty In the arts, in social science and humanities disciplines. We’re helping people with critical thinking, evaluative logic, in processing. We’re not necessarily providing you with high degrees of content, but we’re providing you with a set of skills, aptitudes, and ways of navigating the world. Which if we glance to the south, we realize that there’s some people who don’t want us to do that. They’d rather just train people to be technicians and Wizards at fixing things, which I think would be a sad tragedy of life.
Ubyssey Staffer
Yeah.
Charles
I have to say I grew up on the decks of a commercial fishing boat and from a father who never finished elementary school education and family that really prioritized access to education as an important value in and of it’s self, but also recognize that there’s a lot of employment opportunities and different types of experiences people have. And so that really shapes my thinking that what a privilege it is to be here, to have an opportunity to learn, to explore. and even with all the things that people face, all the other forces that are happening on people’s lives, it’s always for me, given the place that I came from, quite an opportunity and a privilege, both in my current role, but even to be a student to be here.
Ubyssey Staffer
Definitely. Yeah. Kind of a pivot from there. But Over the last three years, some students and staff have called on the university to divest from companies they say are complicit in the Palestinian genocide. So if elected, will you be pushing for divestment from these companies?
Charles
I support ethical and human rights-based investments, as I always have, and will continue to do so. I also have been publicly on the record for raising the point that the investment in a capitalist economy is not necessarily a very good mechanism to make actual fundamental social transformative changes. It requires different kinds of political actions because ultimately, the problem isn’t necessarily the problem of where you’re investing, but the fact that you are investing in the first place.
Ubyssey Staffer
Great. So despite a 44% decrease in UBCV greenhouse gas emissions, since since 2007, the university is not on track to meet its 85% reduction goal by 2030. Is there anything you would do differently to attempt to meet that goal? If not, how are you planning to approach climate-related issues at UBC?
Charles
The whole approach to UBC’s development and planning has been constantly expand, build bigger, build thicker, build more, build, build, build, build, and even though they tout a reduction or stability in personal vehicle transit travel on and off campus. The only reason they’ve been able to maintain that is like, shunting students and staff, predominantly on to an inadequate bus system. And the other vehicle traffic is kept up by the density of housing development. So one of the real problems is that the model pushes for constant expansion, expansion, expansion. And so you’re running this weird step forward, step backward game. I actually think we should be focusing on zero growth options rather than constant growth options. For example, you look at the construction material that people are building, Concrete, for example, is the single largest point source emitter of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the lower mainland. One single plant does that. I think it’s about if memory serves, I could be wrong on this particular data point. Somewhere between 10 and 14% of all the carbon emissions come from concrete, which is used for the development in the building industry, which UBC is massively involved in.
Charles
Of course, the university has attempted other types of structures, like the wooden pressed and compressed wood, laminated wood construction, things like that. But those are one-off type experiments. They’re not the major force. The majority of buildings that’s been up in this campus are being poured with concrete, which is a major contributor until we can step past that point. One way to step past that point is by reducing our building footprint. I think that we need to concentrate on what we’re doing with this idea, it’s a very old idea, small is beautiful.
Ubyssey Staffer
Yeah. Just before we wrap things up, are there any issues important to your candidacy that haven’t gotten the chance to talk about already or hope to elaborate on?
Charles
There’s nothing in particular. In a sense, I think we have to see, a lot of things the board does is regular; it’s like municipal water and sewer politics. It has to be done to keep the machine rolling. People often focus upon the glittering issues that flitter around on the outside orbit around the space. But ultimately, at the end of the day, the core mission of the board of governors is to provide a stable, consistent pattern for research and learning. Without that, we lose our way. I think if I have one criticism of the way the university has developed, we’ve had a massive expansion in ancillary activities, which is really unnecessary to the whole focus of a university. If you’re really targeting on the research core ahead and the research and how that builds the capacity for teaching and learning. And without that, we don’t have a university. We have heaven only knows what, but it’s not a university.
Ubyssey Staffer
Great. Yeah. I think that’s pretty much all for me for questions.