By now, several other bloggers have given their thoughts on the latest act in the AMS circus, including Maria (UBC Insiders), Matthew (The Radical Beer Tribune) and Phoebe (UBC Years). I have my own thoughts on the situation, but they do deserve a preface.
I won't pretend to be impartial in this situation - I endorsed Blake in the elections and I do feel very strongly that he is innocent of any wrongdoing. I will seek to, however, temper any predispositions towards this issue that I may have, to better seek the truth.
I want to turn back to that which Blake has been accused of:
"Candidates shall not run in slates, real or apparent, or share expenses for campaign materials, excluding minor supplies as defined in 10(e) of this article. A slate shall mean a group of candidates who run for elected office (including but not limited to Executive positions and positions in the Senate and on the Board of Governors) on a similar platform for mutual advantage."
This should be (and to me, is) very worrisome. The language is either purposefully or inadvertently vague - what precisely is an "apparent slate?" And how does one begin to define "mutual advantage" in the case where platforms overlap? This seems to grant the Elections Committee a lot of power. But that's not the only question I have.
I'm very curious to see what this alleged definitive video evidence shows. Recordings, as we all know from Bijan's gaffe, can and are frequently taken out of context and can be severely misleading. However, I cannot insult Sarina's (and the rest of elections committee's) intelligence by suggesting that she has not analyzed the situation as carefully and with as much scrutiny as possible. I only hope that Sarina will be able to give a satisfactory explanation of her decision during the appeals process (if not, I fear that the confidence of the student electorate will be severely shaken).
Ad hominem attacks have begun to be raised against the involved parties and I'd like to see them cease, hopefully. If we are to seek the truth, we'll have to put aside our prides and prejudices to trudge towards the truth.
I'll keep updating this blog as information is sent to me so please stay posted. If you have information, I implore you to share it - either in the comments or by email. I think at this point in time, we all just want to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Edit: Not so fast, Sarina! Sarina's Facebook page suggests that she will be leaving for Montreal in six days...what effect will this have on Blake's appeal process? I just chuckle and think about those old mobster movies about "not leaving town."
Justin Yang
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