March 9, 2010 News

A wave of purple, a speckle of orange

by Justin Giovannetti

urging up the escalator to poster the Hall building.

A debate over the placing of Community’s posters between a member of the Community slate and a Deputy Electoral Officer.

The flood of purple as Fusion candidates ready themselves to go. CSU VP Clubs and Promotions Stephanie Siriwardhana, running with team Fusion, heads up the escalators.

photos alex famili, madeline coleman & riley sparks

Once upon a time, candidates would jockey for position at the bottom of the Hall building escalators, the seconds would tick down to midnight, the count would reach zero and a great roar would shake the building as candidates thundered up the escalators, leaving every inch of poster board covered in a rich rainbow.

The 2010 poster night was not one of those nights.

The start of the 2010 Concordia Student Union general election campaign that started at midnight on March 9 might very well set the tone of the election as the purple Fusion slate—the pampered child of the incumbent Vision slate—trampled the orange Community slate.

“We ran against Change last year,” said current CSU President Amine Dabchy. “There is change this year: no CFS.”

In anticipation of the Canadian Federation of Students, the Fusion slate—led by current CSU VP Services and Loyola Prince Ralph Osei—turned out in strength.

With most of the current CSU executive wearing purple Fusion shirts—worn either inside-out until campaigning began at midnight or wearing the previous year’s Vision shirts—student government will slow to a crawl as candidates are forced to step down from their current positions by elections rules. Three of the eight current CSU executives are running for office.
The most serious criticism of Chief Electoral Officer Oliver Cohen, in his second term, might be that he let the purple hoard out early, two or three minutes before midnight depending on whose watch you consult. Poster rules were tighter this year, as Cohen limited the number of posters on each cork board.

“Each year we add new rules, hoping that we learned from our mistakes,” Cohen said while sitting relaxed in his office earlier in the day. “Maybe one day we will hit perfection. Everyone knows perfection doesn’t exist.”

The general election will be held on March 23, 24 and 25.