Poor turnout at Open Forum
Asad Kiyani

On Monday, the Concourse was taken hostage by Chief Returning Officer Sonja Regier and her Elections '99 team for the annual Candidates' Open Forum.

Moderated by Regier and Cord Editor-in-Chief Ben Harris, the event was designed to allow students to avail themselves the opportunity to question the candidates and educate themselves on the issues at hand.

Unfortunately, the turnout seemed disappointingly small, not only in terms of spectators but also in terms of candidates. Between classes, the crowd in the Concourse shrank to 40 or 50 people.

As for absentee candidates, there was no sign of either soon-to-be acclaimed Student Publications (WLUSP) Director Nathan Ludwig or Ethan Markham, a candidate for the Students' Union (WLUSU) Board of Directors.

The Open Forum began with the presentations of James Muir and Rob Borek, the two candidates for WLUSP President.

The most illuminating question came from Harris and concerned the funding WLUSP gains from the Student Administrative Council fees, which are administered by WLUSU. Harris asked whether or not the candidates would be in favour of a referendum to have that percentage converted to a separate Student Publications Levy to separate it from the Union.

In his reply, Borek stated that he was, "not sure an additional fee would help," as it would increase the work for the WLUSP finance department.

However, this seemed to contradict what Borek had previously said, when he spoke against what he termed the, "little brother syndrome," of WLUSP in relation to WLUSU.

As for Muir, he was not in favour of, "piggybacking," on the Union for the SAC fees. However, he also admitted he was not informed enough about the issue to make a decision either way.

Said Muir, "I'd like to do a little more research on that."

CRO Regier then tried to get Ludwig to take the stage and present his platform, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead, she introduced Devin Grady, the sole candidate for WLUSU President.

Grady began with an outline of his goals for the upcoming year before fielding a variety of questions from the crowd.

It was at this time the issue of hiring policies was first brought up. A question that was to dominate the speeches of WLUSU BOD candidates, it was introduced by Willison Head Resident Peter Near.

Near asked why volunteers were turned away and what Grady would do to change that situation.

Grady's response was to remind Near that expanding volunteer opportunities was not something to be undertaken too rapidly, to which Near responded, "So nothing changes?"

Grady was quick to respond, "things will change," but only after careful consideration.

The first group of candidates for the WLUSU BOD was then introduced. The most interesting comment made by any candidate from this group came after the the second group had already taken the stage.

Regier had forgotten to tell the candidates they could make their closing remarks after the question period was over. She remembered immediately after the second group of candidates was up, but prospective director Anik Merchea had already left for class. The other candidates each made their closing remarks.

When asked whether he felt it was unfair that he had been denied this opportunity through no fault of his own, Merchea replied the closing remarks were "inconsequential."

Said Merchea, "[The closing remarks] are just a way to butter up the audience."

As for the second group of candidates, nothing significant was said. Aside from the obvious enthusiasm of Doug Short, the only feature to distinguish the second group from the first was the absence of candidate Ethan Markham.

The final portion of the Forum concerned the Vice-President: University Affairs. Contested by Irem Ali, Jill Osborne (an executive assistant to current WLUSU President Gareth Cunningham) and Laurier University Charity Kouncil Co-ordinator Cameron Ballantyne, it provided the most well-informed group of candidates of the afternoon.

Ballantyne expressed his desire to make Laurier, "a lot more politically charged [and] a lot more active," on the provincial and national levels.

Ali stated, "I will represent students' concerns [and] I will put students first because I'm everyone's candidate."

All three candidates said the office of the Vice-President should focus on relations at the provincial and national levels as well as the local Laurier environment.

However, when asked whether the position should be split into two posts, the candidates had differing views.

Osborne said the split, while necessary, should be, "very long-term; five years or so."

This would give the office time to further "develop both internal and external departments."

Ali did not come out in favour of the proposed split, saying, "We should not change just for the sake of changing."

As for Ballantyne, he declared, "Yes, it should be split... the portfolio is too large for one person."

However, he also said that the boundaries of this split should not be defined yet.