UBC elections: an experiment in Voter-Funded Media

Out of sync with most other students' unions in Canada, the Alma Mater Society of UBC is having its elections this month for its five-person Executive Committee, and is also holding elections to the UBC Board of Governors and Vancouver Senate. Voting ends on Thursday, January 31. All positions are contested, though it is widely assumed that the Presidency will be won by Jeff Friedrich, current AMS VP Academic and University Affairs.

Slates are banned in AMS elections [PDF], even informal ones.

Most interestingly, this years' AMS elections are serving as a test bed for Voter-Funded Media, a concept invented by Mark Latham (not the former Australian Labor Party leader). Thirteen student media publications, existing and new, have registered with the AMS Elections Committee. When students vote, they will have the opportunity to vote for the publication(s) that they felt best educated them about the candidates. Prizes, ranging from $500 to $1,500, will be given to the student publications judged by the voters to have done the best job.

The basic idea behind Voter-Funded Media (VFM) is that media financially dependent, in part, on the freely-given approval of voters will tend be more loyal to and responsive to the voters, in contrast to both the corporate media (e.g. The Globe and Mail) and the non-profit media (e.g. the CBC, The Ubyssey).

The Ubyssey, which is not participating in VFM, has covered VFM, frequently with a critical eye. Colleen Tang penned a news article, "Legitimacy concerns loom over Voter Funded Media," which suggested that some entrants in the VFM contest were purely motivated by a desire to win prize money.

However, there are a number of solid VFM publications in the race. In particular, check out the blog Elections Insider: Separating the Truth from the Chaff, produced by two AMS "insiders," Gina Eom and Tim Louman-Gardiner. This blog has produced 70 entries in just 17 days. Furthermore, these entries are not just one-sentence posts, but rather comprehensive articles exploring every aspect of the election: the candidates, Voter-Funded Media itself, the issues at play in the election, even a discussion of the impact of a slate-less election. In fact, I would say that the comprehensiveness of Elections Insider far outranks many established student newspapers that I have read in terms of their elections coverage.

Other VFM contestants worth noting include Elections Daily, The Knoll (whose foray into student politics one year ago was abruptly aborted), Radical Beer Tribune (for entertainment value), and The Thunderbird.

The Ubyssey and The Link Archives Gone

Both The Ubyssey and The Link, student newspapers for The University of British Columbia and Concordia University respectively, have unveiled new websites to better service their members. Unfortunately, both websites have, in the process, taken down all archived material from years past! (Boo! Hiss! Lament!) Fortunately, archives of The Ubyssey from 1918 to 1998 are available online courtesy of The University of British Columbia Archives.

University of British Columbia (Okanagan) Elections

In 2004, the provincial government decided to split up Okanagan University College into two components: UBC Okanagan, which would have university courses, and Okanagan College, which would have college courses. Students protested this arrangement, but then got around to business, creating two separate student associations for the two campuses: UBC Students' Union (UBCSU) and Okanagan College Students' Union (OCSU). These two associations do a lot together: their websites are made by the same company, and they even have the same general manager, Rob Nagai. The OCSU opted for an "apple" logo, whereas the UBCSU decided to adopt a logo of a bomb carefully nestled between a couple of mountains.

And, it appears that the UBCSU may indeed be experiencing a calamity of explosive proportions. Their website reports that the nomination period for their elections is now open. This information is (surprise, surprise!) out of date; the nomination period closed on March 10. But it would be reasonable to assume that elections are either underway, or are just recently closed. And who is in charge of these elections? None other than the Chief Returning Officer, Dave Lubbers. Apparently, the smart folks on the UBCSU council have decided that the best way to avoid a potential scandal that might be created by appointing one of their own executives as CRO would be... to appoint an executive from their sister student union as CRO! That's right, Dave Lubbers is on the executive of the OCSU, with the absolutely delightful title of "Federation Representative".

Now, folks, let me be perfectly clear: I am not saying that Mr. Lubbers is a partisan hack whom Rob Nagai got on board to ensure the election of a slate friendly to his interests. All I'm saying is what I've said before: it's not a good idea to allow employees, or people involved in the student movement in a partisan capacity, in charge of your elections, if only to avoid the perception if impropriety.

It will be interesting to see who wins/has won the election for the UBC Students' Union.

UBC Elections

The 2006 elections to the Alma Mater Society of UBC went rather smoothly, in comparison to many other elections this year. Slates having been abolished, all candidates ran as independents. And this election may have exposed one of the benefits of the slate system: the guarantee that multiple serious candidates, representing the diversity of campus opinion, will be running for any given executive position. In the past, the moderate Students for Students slate waged war - usually victoriously - against the progressive slate du jour which ran under various names such as Action Now, Students' Voice, and Student Progressive Action Network. Because of said system, voters were guaranteed at least two choices for all the executive positions. By contrast, in 2006 there were only two candidates for VP Finance, of which one was a joke candidate.

The UBC Board of Governors race was a little more interesting, with results not being released for several weeks. In the end, voters gave the nod to Omar Sirri and Lauren Hunter, with a close third-place finish given to... the Fire Hydrant! Seven candidates were shamed by losing to an inanimate object, including (inexplicably, IMHO) incumbent governor Tim Louman-Gardiner.

All winning candidates for the Executive were endorsed by The Knoll, a new "alternative" paper funded by the AMS Resource Groups. Since said Resource Groups received a fair bit of funding from the AMS itself, the Elections Committee ruled this endorsement to be an unacceptable example of AMS funds being spent on partisan activities. The Knoll disputed this interpretation of events, essentially arguing that The Knoll was completely separate from the AMS Resource Groups, despite the fact that (a) The Knoll was funded by them, (b) The Knoll participants come from the Resource Groups, and (c) all Resource Groups are given free space to advertise in The Knoll. One wonders whether The Knoll borrowed this line of reasoning from other organiations that have benefited from such arrangements....

The UBC Students' Union, the cheekish union representing students at UBC Okanagan, may have already had their elections, but I couldn't find any online information regarding the candidates, or the election results (assuming that the election is over). The Phoenix, the UBC Okanagan student newspaper, does not have an online presence.