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Adriana Giordano selected first overall by Linguistics in Arts Draft 2015

by Mick R. Adish on

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This past Thursday in Leacock 132, the Department of Linguistics kicked off one of the most exciting Arts Undergraduate League (AUL) drafts in recent memory by using its first overall pick to select La Citadelle’s Adriana Giordano. The pick came as a heavy shock to the numerous fans and experts who had tabbed Linguistics to select either Justine Fitzpatrick (Molson) or Zain Khalil (Douglas), highly considered to be the most talented undeclared U0 prospects available.

“When they picked Giordano, it caught me totally off guard,” said AUL analyst Jill Barnwell of rantland.com. “I mean, looking back at her scouting report, you start to see the logic—dad’s an Italian diplomat, speaks four languages, good ear for dialects—but her GPA is mediocre and she’s planning to join the Rowing team next year, which will drain her free time and take away a lot of her immediate upside. It’s too early to tell how she’ll pan out, but I think Linguistics had a chance to make a big splash this year and they probably blew it.” 

Despite picking frequently in the top five over the past decade, this was only Linguistics’ second top overall pick ever and first since 1973. The draft order, which consists of 20 departments, is created by the AUL’s Competition Committee and is determined based on which ones are most in need of academic talent and intangible skills that can benefit the department; for example, becoming an executive in its association, getting dope internships in the field, and selling samosas. Nina Sun, president of The Syndicate of Linguistics Undergrads at McGill (SLUM), defended her department’s choice. 

“Obviously a lot of people are shaking their heads, but she graded out really highly for us and we’re really excited about the way she fits our system,” explained Sun. “When we took her out to SNAX for a pre-draft interview, Adriana just blew us away with her natural ability. We showed her some words in Bengali—a language she had never spoken before—and she was identifying proper syntax structure by the time she was done with her bean salad.”

Before leaving the classroom to go celebrate at Bar des Arts, a teary-eyed Giordano discussed the feeling of going first overall.

“Honestly, when I didn’t declare a major during free agency and realized that I was eligible for Arts Draft, I didn’t really care that much where I went,” she admitted. “But then when Commissioner [Eva] Loo called my name, it was just such a special moment. I phoned my dad and told him I didn’t hate him anymore for making us move so much. I’m so blessed for that, and for SLUM and the professors putting so much faith in me. I know that I have to work on my study habits, but I’ll put the time in—I do not plan on being a bust.” 

After the Giordano pick, the surprises continued as Canadian Studies traded its eighth overall pick and a package of assets—next year’s first round pick, this year’s sixth and seventh round picks, and a departmental scholarship—to Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies so it could move up and select Fitzpatrick. Arts Draft attendee and U2 Canadian Studies student Callum Nelson praised the decision. 

“Sure, we gave up a lot to get her, but from what I’ve heard, Justine’s the surest thing in this draft,” said Nelson. “Apparently she was president of Molson Hall, so you know the leadership skills and social presence are there—not to mention she’s rocking a 3.8 GPA. I think she could give Canadian Studies some much needed relevancy.” 

Political Science was on the clock next, picking in the top 10 for the first time since 1968 and capping off a difficult degree cycle that saw them lose several key free agents to International Development Studies. They took T.J Adams from Outremont, an avid debater and the consensus top prospect among this year’s CEGEP crop.

Immediately following that pick, Loo walked back up to the podium to announce the second trade of the day, a deal that resulted in Geography selecting Khalil. 

“They saw the opportunity with the French Language Centre picking at four to go and get [Khalil], so good on them for getting it done,” said Barnwell. “And they only had to give up a second rounder and access to a room in the Burnside basement to get it. Pretty good value if you ask me.”

East Asian Studies rounded out the top five by selecting Otto Wright from Solin Hall, beginning a run on Solin prospects that saw Erica Byrne-Bilson go to Anthropology at six and Robert Hong to Jewish Studies at seven. 

This year’s “Mr. or Mrs. Irrelevant,” the title awarded to the last student drafted, was Dave Barton from Gardner Hall, who was scooped up by Classical Studies with the 171st overall pick in the ninth round. 

This story is a work of satire and appeared as part of our April Fools Issue 2015.

a, Editorial, Opinion

Editorial: Admin’s decision on women-only gym hours fails to engage students

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On March 20, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens released a statement refusing the controversial request of women-only gym hours that has resulted in debate both on and off-campus. The statement, which came as a surprise to many, cited McGill’s nature as a secular, co-educational institution as the main reasons for its decision to refuse the adoption of women-only gym hours and end negotiations with students. According to a response by Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President University Affairs, Claire Stewart-Kannigan, the students advocating for the women-only hours were close to a compromise with McGill Athletics before the administration abruptly put an end to the talks.

The administration’s release of a somewhat rash statement defending its stance demonstrated a failure to engage students in the decision-making process, and left the resolution of the controversy unclear. Moreover, promising talks with McGill Athletics were underway, in which the university was considering providing women-only hours in the Varsity Weight Room, a space separate from the main Fitness Centre. Stewart-Kannigan maintains that the administration did not consult with students before the release of its statement and the closing of negotiations. The administration should have had more lines of communication with students, and engaged in negotiations that were taking place, which could have resulted in a successful compromise.

Dyens has encouraged Soumia Allalou, the student who brought forward the request, to gather statistics and qualitative information for how the proposition could benefit students. Such a break in negotiations could have been beneficial for both sides to regroup amidst the controversy. However, f the decision was grounded in McGill’s secular principles, as stated by the administration, then the introduction of data will have no effect on the administration’s decision.

The administration should have had more lines of communication with students, and respected the negotiations that were taking place with McGill Athletics.

According to an interview with Stewart-Kannigan, women-only hours were proposed several years ago at the McGill pool by a group of Orthodox Jewish women, and the university accepted their request for religious accomodation. Stewart-Kannigan cited the heated nature of the topic of religoius accomodation for Muslim women in the media currently as the reason for the divergent decisions on the pool hours versus gym hours. Confronted with this fact, Dyens stated in an interview with the CBC that the issue of modesty at the pool is fundamentally different than at the gym. This assumption is subjective, and doesn’t take into account the feelings of students at the gym who may also feel uncomfortable. The administration should have discussed this perspective with students instead of deciding unilaterally what defines modesty and making the decision on behalf of students.

If part of the university’s reasoning for denying women-only gym hours was rooted in the promotion of secularism, the conflicting stances on the pool and the gym hours undermine the logic behind the administration’s decisions. Moreover, many other universities, including the University of Toronto, York, Ryerson, and University of Ottawa, have implemented women-only hours in their own athletic facilities, which provides another argument against the administration’s stance that the women-only hours are not in line with the university’s secular nature.

In addition to the boldness of the administration’s actions, the statement that was released was characterized by contradictory and unclear reasoning. The imprecise ideological justification for the decision, which cited both arguments of secularism and the issue of modesty, rendered the administration’s statements and actions contradictory. It is thus difficult for students to mobilize an initiative against the administration since the rationalization behind the decision remains hazy.

Although keeping the dialogue with students open might have caused controversy on campus and its coverage in the media to linger, it would have likely resulted in a compromise that most students and administrators could have been satisfied with. SSMU Council approved a motion on March 26 demanding that the university reopen negotiations, revealing that students are still interested in talking. Regardless of the decision that is reached, the administration should seek to engage students in this issue and attempt to reach a settlement that incorporates the interests of all those involved.

a, Joke

SSMU’s global affairs votes reverberating across international borders

by Will I. Am. on

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“I don’t want to say that we ‘solved world peace,’” said a SSMU undergraduate member, who wished to remain anonymous, “but let’s just say that I’m pretty much guaranteed an A in POLI 450.”

The peacebuilding course, which along with POLI 350 (Developing Areas/Middle East) is expected to undergo major curriculum reevaluation by professor Lex Brian after a revolutionary methodology was discovered by the collective efforts of SSMU. 

“For years, we thought that sit-ins were the most effective way of getting our voice heard,” lamented AUS President Lucy Loo. “Our most recent demonstration in support of sandwiches was conducted with this traditional mindset. But if there’s anything I’ve learned from my time at McGill, it’s that a change in perspective can make a huge difference. SSMU’s method allows them to literally see the bigger picture due to their higher vantage point.”

The Tribune’s source claimed in hushed tones that the game-changing technique allowed them to see the forest for the trees, so to speak.

“One day, we were sitting around our conference table as usual, lobbing politically correct terms back and forth,” she said. “Our VP External got up to speak, and I’ll never forget what she said: ‘What if, instead of sitting in, we stood in?’”

“The room was filled with tension—we felt as if we were on the brink of a breakthrough. But something was missing. At SSMU, we tend to bandy about words like consensus, harmony, and support. But the key to our solution that day was solidarity.”

U3 English Literature and semantics enthusiast Mike McKibbins claims he was the one to come up with the crucial terminology. 

“We were brainstorming on a white board, trying to come up with ‘be it resolved’ clauses as usual,” McKibbins gushed. “I had the idea to make ‘stand in solidarity’ the crux of our motion, and the rest, as they, say, is history.”

McKibbins received a standing ovation for his contribution.

Master’s student Lucy Adams, currently working on a thesis in chaos theory, claimed that the simple action of standing still could have a ‘butterfly effect’ that would virtually eliminate centuries of racial tensions and ingrained power structures worldwide.

While Society members turned out in droves to vote on the completed motions on March 15, global leaders are waiting with bated breath for them to be ratified online. Election facilitators ‘Simply Voting’ have been working overtime to secure the integrity of the voting process amidst rumours of ‘Facebook hackers’ attempting to undermine the Society’s efforts.

 This story is a work of satire and appeared as part of our April Fools Issue 2015.

a, Joke

IRC to have all first years run for SSMU President as part of Rez Project

by Captain America on

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After a recent proposal passed by Inter-Resident Council (IRC), a new initiative will be put in place to have all first-year students run for president of SSMU. The program, which was initially brought forth by the MORE Hall Council President, Tristcuit Renododie, aims to have all first-year students experience the crippling judgment and scrutiny that all SSMU presidential candidates are subjected to.

“We just really want to have students take a good look at themselves and ask ‘What am I doing wrong? Why am I so much more unfit for a leadership position than anybody else?’” Renododie explained. “But, of course, we understand that self-reflection can be difficult. This way, 20,000 of their peers can make those judgments for them.”

A working group is currently in place to oversee the implementation of the project for the incoming class of 2015-2016, and is being headed by IRC VP Communications, Annie Heiney, and IRC VP External, Laurie-Ann Perrier.

“We’ve been working very closely with Floor Fellows as well as engaging with Idina [Hair-Barrette, SSMU VP External],” Perrier said. “By working with SSMU, we hope to be able to heavily enforce all the electoral bylaws in the residences, to make sure students know when they’ve really messed up, and go on to publicly shame them in their own place of living.”

When developing the project with Renondin, IRC President Hollister Pottz noted that while Rez Project has done a lot of good in terms of making students aware of social and cultural differences and teaching them how to respect others, it has really been lacking in terms of making students completely vulnerable and available for baseless judgment.

“We’ve made great strides in Rez Project,” Pottz said. “We’ve really succeeded in making a noticeably more inclusive and accepting campus atmosphere. But there are still some students who aren’t really getting it. I think setting up a platform in which both undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to rip apart first years’ flaws and hypocrisies will really help with that.”

Some former presidential candidates have expressed issues with the project, claiming that the emotional toll may prove too intense for some students. One former presidential candidate, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed that some students wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure.

“Someone broke into my home, they harassed me with Facebook screen shots and threatened me with a Supreme Court case,” the student said. “I had only been campaigning for a day, my platform wasn’t even solidified at that point. It was so awful.”

Despite these fears, after consultation with first-year students, the project coordinators decided that the benefits far outweighed the risks.

“This is more than a networking opportunity for first years,” Heiney said. “It will teach them transparency, how to properly use social media, and how to take constructive criticism. Even better, they’ll be able to interact with their community and learn crucial public relations skills as they’re lambasted for a simple mistake on a public platform that can be viewed by anyone, even future employers.”

Former SSMU VP Internal Ryan Nearnan echoed Heiney, and added his support to the project, claiming how his time being scrutinized for a minor political gaffe at McGill has helped him become a better, more introspective person.

“I will admit there are times I wish I could Google my name and not have a thousand links with the word ‘humiliating’ in the headline come up,” Nearnan explained. “But now when I go into interviews and they ask me that question about how I overcame adversary, I’m always prepared, and honestly that’s what really matters.”

This story is a work of satire and appeared as part of our April Fools Issue 2015.

Margaret Scratcher
a, Joke

April Fools’ Issue 2015

by McGill Tribune on

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The McGill Tribune presents its articles for its annual April Fools' Joke issue: 

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a, News, PGSS, SSMU

Quebec student federation FEUQ faces internal turmoil

by Cece Zhang on

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Preliminary discussions of creating a new student federation are ongoing following disorder in one of the largest student federations in Quebec, the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ). The  Fédération des associations étudiantes du campus de l’Université de Montréal (FAÉCUM), one of FEUQ’s largest member organizations, voted unanimously to leave the FEUQ this past weekend, also calling for a new national student federation to be formed.

The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) External Amina Moustaqim-Barrette explained that while SSMU is currently an independent association and not affiliated with FEUQ, she has been representing SSMU in observing FEUQ at its congresses. She cited several problems with the FEUQ based on her observations, including processes that were less democratic and a loss of reputation, and said she believed FEUQ would likely cease to exist in the next year.

“Backdoor politics is institutionalized, everyone goes for dinner on Fridays and bargains on the motions,” Moustaqim-Barrette said. “There are alliances that form that push through different motions, and it’s not a very democratic process [….] Their ability to mobilize students is just not how it used to be. They used to be heavyweights in the Quebec student movement, [but] it’s decreased steadily over the years. The name now doesn’t carry the weight it used to.”

Moustaqim-Barrette cited the example of how the annual campaign of FEUQ did not change to focus against austerity until the end of 2014, stating that this inflexibility has led to discontent from member student associations. 

“[The previous campaign] was for the Aide financière aux études (AFE), the student aid program. It seemed like FEUQ was working on this important thing but [it was] so irrelevant in the current political climate,” Moustaqim-Barrette said. “I [also] found the structure at FEUQ was very top-down. It’s the executives who present the ideas at the beginning of the year. It’s amended and voted on, but from there, there’s no real way to implement something [that] comes up in the middle of the year [which] the associations want to see FEUQ work on.”

Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) External Affairs Officer Julien Ouellet said he and the PGSS executive team disagreed with the FAÉCUM’s decision to leave. 

“Despite FAÉCUM’s disaffiliation, the FEUQ remains viable and is still the largest student association in Québec with 85,000 members,” Ouellet said. “PGSS and the other member associations are committed to ensuring a sustainable future for the student movement [….] Despite the current hurdles, the situation leaves us with a wide array of options that can only lead to a revitalization of the student movement.” 

Moustaqim-Barrette explained that the first meeting of 15 student associations regarding the formation of the new federation was held in Quebec City on March 21 and 22.

“It was a very preliminary meeting; [it was the] first time we’ve all come together to see what this could be, what each association looking for,” she said. “So most of the meeting was talking about a way to move forward, forming committees to look at what the mission and values of the federation could be.” 

The next meeting for the new student federation will be co-hosted at McGill on April 18 and 19 by SSMU and the PGSS, Moustaqim-Barrette said. 

However, not all student associations agreed with the formation of the new federation. 

“If FAÉCUM is at the centre of the new student federation, they have shown Quebec clearly [that] they aren’t necessarily going to work in good faith with other groups, and it sets a negative example that we don’t want to encourage,” President of the Concordia Student Union (CSU) Benjamin Prunty said. 

The Confédération des associations d’étudiants et étudiantes de l’Université Laval (CADEUL) and the FEUQ declined to comment. 

a, McGill, News

Demilitarize McGill protesters blockade James Administraton Building

by Laura Hanrahan on

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Individuals associated with Demilitarize McGill, a group seeking to end military research at McGill, blockaded all entrances into the James Administration building on March 24.

The blockade began at 7:30 a.m. and lasted nearly three hours, preventing students and employees from entering the building. The demonstrators, who remained masked for the entirety of the protest, held banners displaying slogans such as “Demilitarize McGill” and “Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Imperialist, Revolutionary Student Movement.”

Cadence, a student organizer with Demilitarize McGill, said that the James Administration building was chosen because of its centrality to McGill’s involvement with military research. 

“The James Administration Building is both a symbolic and literal site of decision-making and control within which military collaborations are given approval and funding,” she said. “Blocking access to the building meant that this work was literally stopped, and blockaders were able to temporarily halt the functioning of the university administration centre to such an extent that workers started leaving.”

McGill’s Dean of Students, Andre Costopoulos, stated that he did not agree with Demilitarize McGill’s tactics. 

“Demonstrating, assembling, and expressing yourself on campus are fundamental rights,” he said. “Obstructing the activities of other people is not acceptable.”

Pamphlets distributed by the demonstrators cited McGill’s involvement with certain research projects as “imperialist” and “colonialist” as the reason for the blockade. 

Police and campus security were on site for the duration of the protest. Shortly after 10:00 a.m., the protesters dispersed peacefully, allowing re-entrance to the building. 

“Once many James Administration workers had gone home and the impact had been felt, it made sense to decide to disperse on the blockaders’ own terms rather than wait for a police presence to increase again and cause distress,” Cadence said. 

Going forward, Cadence said she hopes that awareness for issues of military collaboration will improve at McGill. 

“It is true that austerity and university corporatism and repression are under-discussed at McGill in comparison to other universities,” she said, “I definitely see more and more students getting interested and involved in this fight against military collaboration at McGill, which makes me think that actions like these are working.”

Costopoulos agreed that the issues being brought forward by Demilitarize McGill are ones that should be taken under consideration. 

“Some of [Demilitarize McGill’s] literature raise very legitimate questions about research ethics and how we should conduct ourselves as a University community,” he said. “They are not the only one asking themselves those questions.”

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Commentary: The polarizing impact of Facebook events

by Natalie Coffen on

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The Winter General Assembly (GA) produced a large turnout and generated passionate debate, prior to and after the vote, mostly due to the proposed “Motion Regarding Divestment from Companies Profiting from the Illegal Occupation of the Palestinian Territories.” While political discussions on campus may have taken up a lot of space in recent weeks, the voices of many students are left unheard.

With McGill’s student population of roughly 27,000 undergraduates, it’s difficult but extremely important to have a representative vote. There should be less of a focus on who votes for what at assemblies, and more of a focus on actually getting students to vote. A big part of the political apathy and ambivalence seen on campus is due to social media, specifically polarizing Facebook events titled “Vote Yes for XYZ” or “Vote No” that exclude students who have not yet formed an opinion on an issue.

Since these Facebook events are often emotionally charged, this pushes a significant number of students away from participating in the discussion and the vote. When someone isn’t informed about an issue on campus, they won’t take the time to vote. When a student is unsure of how to vote, such events discourage an open dialogue and make it difficult for students to find unbiased information about the issue at hand. Students may feel uncomfortable asking for information about political debates from their peers who are so emotionally invested in the issues. Students should feel like they fit in on campus and these events leave many undecided voters in an awkward in-between space, with very little guidance on how to form an opinion on the issue.

If SSMU wants a vote that is representative of the opinions of the student body, it should find a better way to provide students with detailed information on the issues, thereby allowing them to make an informed decision and exercise their democratic right.

It may be argued that it is easier than ever to find information and it is the student’s responsibility to be proactive in doing this. The internet can without a doubt be used as a vital tool in self-education and forming an opinion, but it can also be used to promote biased information depending on the source. In addition, students may feel unmotivated, apprehensive to involve themselves in a polarized issue, or that their voice may not matter when there are plenty of other students deeply involved in the issue, advocating for either side. In order to convince students who are undecided to vote, this motivation needs to be fuelled by education. Politically motivated Facebook events allow for many students to be on either end of the spectrum—either extremely invested in the issue, or entirely apathetic. If the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) wants a vote that is representative of the opinions of the student body, it should find a better way to provide students with detailed information on the issues, thereby allowing them to make an informed decision and exercise their democratic right.

While it can be important to share one’s views, not all students are comfortable publicizing their political stance on Facebook. Students should feel comfortable sharing their opinions but sometimes, especially in the last GA, these views can cause individuals to feel marginalized or judged on campus.

While SSMU did have a general Facebook event for this GA, it should focus on mobilizing students who wouldn’t usually attend or vote. Since some students may not have much background information on certain issues, it could be beneficial for SSMU to post shorter summaries of the motions online for students to read and post links to scholarly articles or events for undecided students, instead of relying on the influence of Facebook rants by their peers. The solution should be a proper education on the political debates on campus, and once students are educated and motivated, then this would hopefully result in a more representative vote.

ethan hawke and seymour bernstein
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

10,000 hours in 84 minutes

by Max Joseph on

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Seymour: An Introduction, the new documentary from actor/director Ethan Hawke, focuses on pianist Seymour Bernstein, but it’s really an in-depth look at the search for greatness. Without taking attention away from Bernstein, who’s given a treatment bordering on hagiographic—and deservedly so—the film becomes a guide to those seeking answers to life’s questions, and it’s difficult to imagine him wanting it any other way.

The approach makes sense given how the film came to fruition, which Hawke explains at the start of a performance by Bernstein, snippets of which are interspersed throughout. Despite a storied career which included four Oscar nominations and a series of critically acclaimed collaborations with director Richard Linklater, the actor found himself questioning the direction and purpose of his art. His friend Anthony Zito (credited on Seymour as an executive producer) invited him over for dinner, and it was there that he met Bernstein. 

Bernstein, as the film tells us, was a successful concert pianist whose professional credits included a hugely acclaimed performance at Alice Tully Hall. Despite his achievements as a performer, he quit his career at the age of 50 after a quiet farewell concert in order to teach full-time. He’d had enough of the stress and excess which too often accompany a performance career, and he sought to live a simpler life.

Hawke gives the viewer a few more of Bernstein’s biographical details, including a particularly moving section where he recounts his time serving in the Korean War, but the emphasis is more on his approach to music, education, and life. He shows Bernstein working with a range of students in master class and private lesson settings, which give a hint of his impressive abilities as a teacher.

His educational talents are far from limited to musical instruction, as the film continuously reminds us. Hawke decided to make the film due to the invaluable role Bernstein ended up playing in his own life as a mentor, and both musicians and non-musicians alike will undoubtedly find lessons to learn from him. His wise words about music almost always apply to any art form, and even the most music-specific of his comments suggest a dedication to his craft from which anyone looking for a role model can learn.

Seymour also functions as a guide for the confused; it’s far from a pedantic bore. Bernstein himself has a funny, charismatic, and engaging presence, and Hawke wisely stays out of his way for most of the film. He lets us see Bernstein interact with students, peers, and admirers from various disciplines, and that’s more than enough to keep the film compelling for the course of its brief, but powerful 84-minute running time.

The range of settings in which we witness him isn’t organized with any discernible logic (aside from ending the film with Bernstein’s performance of Schumann’s “Fantasie” at the concert organized by Hawke), but it doesn’t take away from the film’s impact. Images and tales from the pianist’s youth are interspersed with footage of him practicing seemingly at random, but it all makes sense together somehow. The collage-like style provides a kaleidoscope view of Bernstein, and it’s effective for evoking his eternally sunny, youthful nature without cordoning off the different periods in his life.

Bernstein’s jovial but firm approach to music education is a helpful corrective to the one suggested by last year’s Whiplash. In that film, the dictatorial band director Fletcher berates his students into success with questionable results. By contrast, Bernstein is no less demanding, but his strictness appears to come from a genuine desire for the student to succeed, rather than Fletcher’s apparent hatred. His vast array of disciples learn far more than any of the budding musicians in Whiplash did, and, for 84 minutes, viewers of Seymour become his pupils, too.

a, News, SSMU

Alexei Simakov files J-Board petition against Elections SSMU

by Shrinkhala Dawadi on

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Alexei Simakov, former Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) presidential candidate, filed a petition on Thursday to the Judicial Board (J-Board), SSMU’s judicial branch. The petition calls for the J-Board to file sanctions against Kareem Ibrahim, incoming SSMU President.

“Alexei Simakov over the course of the campaign was libeled repeatedly both by members of candidate Ibrahim’s campaign team and by Ibrahim himself,” the petition reads. “We therefore request that sanctions and/or demerit points, with associated deductions towards candidate Ibrahim’s campaign budget cap, are issued with respect to the precedents set by [Chief Elections Officer (CEO)] during the election.”

J-Board Chief Justice Muna Tojiboeva confirmed that the case has been accepted.

“Alexei Simakov’s petition is within our jurisdiction so we have accepted the petition—we will be having a hearing,” she said. “We are following the standard J-Board internal rules of procedure with how we are processing the petition.”

According to Simakov, Elections SSMU’s CEO Rachelle Bastarache did not adequately address a slanderous post on the Facebook event page for Ibrahim’s campaign. 

“[Ibrahim] responded by posting on his event page, accusing me of orchestrating the leaks—he accused me of violating his privacy and hacking his Facebook,” Simakov claimed, referring to screenshots of a private Facebook conversation discussing Tariq Khan’s candidacy for SSMU President in the 2014 SSMU elections.

Simakov added that Bastarache did ask Ibrahim to take the message down. 

“[Ibrahim] complied with this request [… but] he issued no apology, no recantation of the statements,” Simakov explained. “The CEO took no disciplinary actions whatsoever, despite the fact that this is a clearly false accusation […. Bastarache’s] defence is that [Ibrahim] was in an exasperated state of mind after this leaked.”

Ibrahim stated that he had been sanctioned by Elections SSMU and highlighted the differences between his response to the leaked Facebook messages and an earlier incident during which Simakov was sanctioned after a member of his campaign team posted defamatory pictures on Ibrahim’s Facebook event page.

“I was sanctioned […but] I was not given any financial [penalties],” Ibrahim explained. “While [Simakov’s] campaign manager posted two inappropriate memes on my Facebook event […] I simply liked a post on my own event which read ‘Voting for you because the other guy is a stain. Keep on keeping on,’ which I saw as a message of support which I sought to validate. The magnitude of these infractions are evidently different, which is why […] I simply received demerit points.”

Bastarache stated that Elections SSMU had received and reviewed a petition for an invalidation of Ibrahim’s win from Simakov regarding this issue.

“After an informal consultation with [the Electoral Review Committee] members, we deemed that the action by [Ibrahim] did not warrant the consideration of invalidation of an election,” she said. “We felt that our prior actions in those cases were appropriate.” 

Bastarache explained why the sanctions against candidates are not made publicly available.

“It should be known that the sanctionable actions and sanctions received do not become public knowledge until 12 demerit points are received,” she said. “No candidate other than Lola Baraldi has had their sanctions revealed to the public.”

Simakov added that he hopes this issue will be quickly resolved.

“We’re seeking that the J-Board […] responds to validate our reasonably clear concerns with a well-established basis […] and [rectifies] the situation,” he said. “This will give the student body faith that the elections office isn’t completely dysfunctional [….] Hopefully, they’ll respond positively, constructively, and we can have a very short J-Board [case].”

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