This is a recording submitted by an anonymous individual that contains the actual questions asked by ex-Student First presidential candidate Matthew Gray and the CRO/ Elections committee of the UTSU. In this clip, ex-VP-candidate Brent Schmidt outlines what the disqualification cost the students and the CROs reaction.
Before announcing that the main opposition slate would boycott the elections, Presidential candidate Matthew Gray asks a simple yes or no question: "if we find out that the situation is that this has been a ruling based on signatures made on error, that missing this meeting will not disqualify them [the disqualified "Students First" candidates]?"
"uh, no yes or no's..."
This was the response of the CRO.
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Opposition candidates banned by U.T.S.U call for boycott of elections at UofT
Election boycott underway at University of Toronto after Students' Union bans opposition candidates
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- A slate of opposition candidates competing in the University of Toronto Students' Union elections have called for a boycott of the upcoming election after U.T.S.U officials disqualified numerous opposition candidates less than 24 hours before the first day of official campaigning.
The boycott came after the U.T.S.U-appointed Chief Returning Officer (CRO) disqualified four opposition candidates on the basis that some of the signatures they collected on their nomination forms were invalid. When questioned, however, the CRO refused to reveal the ineligible signatures, instead ordering opposition candidates out of a mandatory all-candidates meeting.
When pressed on the matter during the meeting by remaining candidates in the room, the CRO claimed that even if the nomination forms were shown to be valid, the opposition candidates could remain disqualified for failing to attend the meeting that moments earlier he had barred them from participating in.
"We will not legitimize sham elections," said Matthew Gray who was to be the Presidential candidate of the opposition slate but is now boycotting the election. "This isn't a fair fight. This is a victory lap for a student government that bans opposition candidates and disrespects democracy. This student union is an embarrassment to the University."
Gray went on to stress that this issue affects all students.
"This student union is going to take almost $2 million from students next year, but they won't let students have a say in how that money is spent," he said. "That's your money, that's my money. Students deserve a say in how their money is spent -- instead we are disrespected by a student union that tells us to sit-down and shut-up."
Fourteen opposition candidates, including all five candidates for the U.T.S.U Executive, have decided to boycott the elections. These disqualifications have been preceded by numerous election irregularities stretching back nine years since the U.T.S.U joined the Canadian Federation of Students.
For further information:
Taylor Scollon
Co-Campaign Manager
StudentsFirst for U.T.S.U
416-738-7694
taylor@taylorscollon.com
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This is an embarrasment for the students of UofT. Incumbents at UTSU have had a 100% winning record in elections since CFS took over in 2002. Something is amiss here.
fixxxer2673 1 year ago 7
This really is disgusting...
the UTSU is more like North Korea, a one-party system that is only democratic by name.
AndreasKorfmann4Wdsw 11 months ago 4