York University (York Federation of Students) Student Election Underway

The York Federation of Students election is underway, the last of the three major universities in Toronto to have their elections.  I wrote recently about the CRO controversy (now I am wishing I did not omni-post) and now I write about the election itself.

One of the most divided student bodies in Canada, York student elections are not without their drama.  In recent years, the slate system at York has only reinforced the divide with UNITY having fought against Progress Not Politics having been a major battle.

Last year had an above normal amount of drama including a Ryerson SU President campaigning for UNITY who was accused of threatening legal action against the York paper The Excalibur*, *The President of another SU at Ryerson as CRO fining a candidate for what appeared to be a joke between friends, a few other Execs from other schools campaigning for UNITY, and the topper of them all, the CRO ruled that *The Excalibur *was campaign material.

This year, there are two slates that I know of so far: *Reality Check *and York Undivided.

Reality Check has a facebook group and YouTube videos here: http://www.youtube.com/realitycheck2007

*York Undivided *is using the slogan “UNITY with a twist”, a facebook group, and a website.

I have to say this about both sides, thankfully they are not promising to “Go Green”, “Make the most environmental in Canada”, or similar vague statements on the environment.  Of course, they both have the list of things they will not be able to do like most student elections but I am getting annoyed with the “Go Green” lines.

Almost forgot, the YFS has the rules on their website: http://yfs.ca/index.php?section_id=112

It is claimed that *Reality Check *was demerited for uploading their YouTube videos on Saturday.  Sounds like a reasonable ruling.