Joshua Storie Two candidates were fined on March 8: one for heckling and one for campaigning in a residence.
A guy in a line, a campaign with a fine
In the first day of voting, Shane Scott’s campaign for Vice-President (Academic) was fined $50 in a ruling for heckling a person waiting in line to ask a question at the Myer Horowitz forum on March 6.
Scott’s ex-boyfriend Justin Bilinski said he was approached by Scott’s campaign manager Eryn Pinksen while he was waiting to ask a question.
“I was asked to step out of line and forfeit my chance at asking a question,” Bilinski wrote in an email complaint to Donald Ademaj, the Chief Returning Officer. “I refused and informed (Pinksen) that I would be asking my prepared question. Seeming to fear some sort of personal attack on her candidate, she began to berate me while I stood in line … and suggested that my question would damage her candidate’s reputation or success in this election.”
At the end of the forum, Scott approached Ademaj and said Pinksen had approached Bilinski because Bilinski was being aggressive and had had a “mental breakdown” earlier that day, according to the ruling.
In his response to the allegation of heckling, Scott said he takes responsibility for the actions of his volunteers and campaign manager, but said it wasn’t Pinksen’s intent to dissuade him from asking a question at the forum.
“I am aware that my campaign manager spoke to (Bilinski) in a polite attempt to ensure our personal relations were not dragged into the forum,” he said in the ruling. “As a proponent of student engagement at all levels, I nor my campaign manager of volunteers would ever attempt to censor or try to dissuade any students from voicing their opinions.”
Update (March 10): This ruling was appealed by Scott’s campaign and overturned in a DIE Board hearing.
Ten dollars and two dimes in fines
In the second ruling of the campaign season, Ankur Pandey’s campaign for Vice-President (External) was fined $10.20 for campaigning an unauthorized area.
Pandey had posted a photo on Facebook of him talking with two female students in the Lister Cafeteria at approximately 8:40 p.m. on March 7, approximately two and a half hours after the end of the Residence forum. Victoria DeJong, VP (External) candidate Reed Larsen’s campaign manager, submitted a complaint to Ademaj stating that Pandey was “clearly” campaigning in a residence, which goes against election bylaws.
Pandey’s campaign manager Mark Lin replied to the accusation and said Pandey approached the female students after the forum and spoke with them for approximately 30 minutes about their experiences in residence and his platform.
In accordance with the bylaw, Pandey’s campaign was charged $10, as well as 10 cents for each person reached in the unauthorized campaign area.
After reaching out to Ademaj, The Gateway has learned that both candidates have submitted their budgets, and neither of these fines put the candidates over budget for their campaign.
Clarification: All quotes in this article come from the rulings referenced. We’ve attributed quotes to address this.
@ShaneAScott’s excuse for heckling Bilinski is ridiculous. We as students are very aware of mental health and how it affects our quality of life, and so does the UofA, which is why Scott’s allegation of a “mental breakdown” is offensive to those who struggle every day (one third of the student population). And what’s worse is that Scott mentioned it to try to discredit Bilinski’s word. Bilinski hadn’t asked his question before Eryn started to heckle him so how would she know what Bilinski would say? She didn’t. So I guess Shane is okay with silencing those who MIGHT give him a hard time. I’d rather vote for Banana.