E-mails reveal Peter Kent and Peter Shurman interfered in student elections

Submitted by remind on July 6, 2009 - 10:03am.

Unbelievable, seriously!

Quote:

The head of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) called such high-level exchange "an absolute affront to the democratic process of student government."

"I find it bizarre for a federal minister (Kent is Canada's minister of state for foreign affairs in the Americas) to try to interfere in a student election," said CFS chair Shelley Melanson. "If students were concerned about the election process, there are mechanisms on campus for expressing those concerns."

In one email to Tiffin at 2:14 a.m. the night of ballot counting, Kent's special assistant said he was there on campus and was concerned nobody from the university was monitoring the process.

Submitted by ennir on July 6, 2009 - 10:22am.

LOL In moments like this I can only thank them for their arrogance and stupidity.

Submitted by remind on July 6, 2009 - 10:29am.

One would never know there was a economic melt down going on, as well as serious foreign affairs issues. Frankly that our tax dollars are paying Kent and his team their wages for doing shit like this is an affront.

The point that a small group of people are welding unnatural interference in government processes, and now apparently educational ones, should be well taken.

Submitted by spatrioter on July 6, 2009 - 11:26am.

Here is the original press release from the student union:

Quote:

"The York Federation of Students is accountable only to the 44,000 undergraduate students at York University and the Ontario courts," said Saravanamuttu. "University administrators and Conservative politicians interfering in student elections is like an employer attempting to select union representatives. Their objective in silencing opposition is quite obvious here."

Submitted by genstrike on July 6, 2009 - 11:38am.

The conservatives are always trying to take over student unions. They were caught red-handed a few months ago strategizing on how to take over student unions in Ontario.

I wonder how right-wing campus media outlets and the clowns at Macleans are going to spin this... probably something about a vast left wing conspiracy in the student movement (something I wish exists some days)

Submitted by remind on July 6, 2009 - 1:06pm.

"I wonder how...the clowns at Macleans are going to spin this... probably something about a vast left wing conspiracy in the student movement"

Submitted by Gus Williams on July 6, 2009 - 3:12pm.

For another view;

http://bigcitylib.blogspot.com/

Submitted by genstrike on July 6, 2009 - 3:25pm.

The differences between the Liberals and the Conservatives: The Conservatives try to take over student unions. The Liberals have CASA.

Submitted by Fidel on July 6, 2009 - 3:35pm.

The diff between federal Liberals and Conservatives on post-secondary funding is negligible

Submitted by remind on July 6, 2009 - 4:02pm.

Another take on it? Seems like the Libs do not want to rock the boat is all.

Submitted by Debater on July 7, 2009 - 1:16am.

At least the provincial Liberals under McGunity helped out students for a few years by freezing tuition after it had sky-rocketed thanks to de-regulation during the Harris years. The early McGuinty years saw the first help for students in Ontario since the Bob Rae years. Unfortunately things are now getting bad for students again in Ontario and McGuinty is becoming more like Harris.

Submitted by genstrike on July 7, 2009 - 10:07am.

I don't know, is freezing tuition technically helping out students? It's not lowering tuition, so it isn't technically helping - it's just keeping the status quo, which is actually high to begin with in Canada (when compared to everyone but the States). We're just so used to skyrocketing tuition that it is a bit of a welcome change, but it's not actually helping. If the government is so worried about skyrocketing tuition under Harris, why don't they reduce it to pre-Harris levels instead of freezing it at whatever level Harris/Eves left it at when they were finally shown the door? And this goes not just for the Liberals in Ontario, the NDP is guilty of it as well when they govern. And often tuition freezes allow for a lot of loopholes that university administrators and governments can use to increase tuition through the back door. For example, my tuition increased by 40% while it was supposedly frozen (most of that in one year alone).

And if I remember correctly, tuition increased by over 50% under Bob Rae and he cut a lot of grants as well. And he was responsible for the Rae Report. Bob Rae is no friend of students, no matter what party he is a member of at the moment.

E-mails reveal Peter Kent and Peter Shurman interfered in student elections

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