First Violation Of The Season
The Arts and Science Federation of Association’s Chief Electoral Officer Nick Cuillerier issued the first sanction of the election period Monday, but the candidate in question, Pier-Luc Therrien Peloquin, doesn’t seem to be too hindered by it.
His election crime? Erroneously hitting “Reply to All” in response to an e-mail from the ASFA Council Chair about an upcoming council meeting, explaining that he would be unable to attend due to an election bylaw requiring candidates to vacate their positions during the election period.
“While his intention was to state his regrets for not attending, he made use of a mailing list that is not equally available to all candidates during the election period. Furthermore, the announcement of his candidacy to the ASFA mailing list is a clear use of the ASFA mailing list as a campaign tool in order to spread publicity about his candidacy,” stated Cuillerier via e-mail. “Had Pier-Luc been adhering to his leave of absence, he would have not used this mailing list to announce his regrets and would have exclusively messaged the chair about his absence.”
As a consequence of the misdirected e-mail, Therrien Peloquin was given a three-day election sanction, his actions seen as a major offence under “Insider Exploitation.” He has been banned from campaigning from Feb. 7th to 10th.
“I guess I’ll just be a good student and stay in my books,” joked Therrien Peloquin when contacted by The Link on Monday. “I don’t have many comments on my violation, other than I accept the consequences for my actions. I meant to just communicate directly to the ASFA chair. But the CEO is doing his job and I’ll respect his judgment on the rules. […] As soon as the sanction is over I’ll be back on track.”
If elected, Therrien Peloquin—who usually acts as VP Finance of the Political Science Students’ Association—plans on increasing the ASFA Member Association budgets and regulating Frosh spending.
This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 22, published February 8, 2011.
