Controversial posters call out candidate
Posters accusing the current Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) executives of mismanagement have popped up around campus.
They’re the work of Sherif El Tawil, the election’s lone independent presidential contender, who decided to run after attending the RSU’s semi-annual general meeting last November.
“I decided I had to make this heard, to show people this union,” said Tawil. The posters single out presidential candidate Toby Whitfield, current vice-president finance and services of the RSU. Tawil is focusing on the RSU budget.
“This candidate is wasting students’ money on a smear campaign aimed at me,” Whitfield said. “It’s a tactic about discrediting my experience.”
The posters were approved, however, after being considered valid election matters.
“I’ve expressed to candidates that I hope that everyone tries to run a positive campaign, but I can’t designate how they run their campaigns,” said chief returning officer (CRO) Pablo Vivanco. “We put in restrictions prohibiting slander and libel, but also gross misrepresentation of facts,” said Vivanco.
Tawil aims to have 15 posters altogether. “I think that it’s my duty to show my fellow students the facts that are going on,” said Tawil, who now insists he won’t resign if elected.
He also now has more campaign money to spend, after his trademark suit was considered an invalid campaign expense. Tawil originally bought the suit using his candidacy budget.
Comments
Anonymous, 5 months ago said:
People hate hearing the truth , especially when they are caught outright . Mr. El Tawil's posters are simply supplying the students with FACTS to make an informed and educated decision when they vote. since when is free speech limited only to patting eachother on the back ? Free speech included exposing the misdeeds of other candidates who make claims of being up ,front and honourable. Mr. El Tawil is doing the right thing by informing us of what we REALLY need to see and know about the existing RSU slate and what they have done and NOT done for us.
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Anonymous, 5 months ago said:
A smear campaign against Whitfield...that's funny. Students have the right to know the truth about Whitfield's horrible track record as the vp finance and as a manager. He sucked, basically, and will do that much worse as president. Good on you Sherif!!!
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Anonymous, 5 months ago said:
Now all we can hope is that more than the friends of the candidates of this two party hypocrisy turn out to vote!
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Anonymous, 5 months ago said:
I'm sad that his suit was disallowed.
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Anonymous, 5 months ago said:
what do the posters say?
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Anonymous, 5 months ago said:
El Tawil's posters aren't representing fact, they are putting things in a different context and misrepresenting the truth. It's too bad people are so vulnerable to blatant and malign attacks from a man whose sole purpose is to discredit a 2-time Vice President. He doesn't even have any platform points himself but insists on not resigning if he gets the presidency. I think it's ridiculous that he implies that Whitfield was against the Anti-War budget when he voted AGAINST the new budget with anti-war campaign budget cuts on the board 2 years ago, but because him and his team had a minority at that time, it unfortunately passed. And because of that, and the fact that he was the VP Finance & Services at the time, El Tawil is framing it on him. Students United even has the minutes from that board meeting to prove him otherwise at their campaign table. The following year, Whitfield and his team even campaigned to bring back the funding for the Anti-War campaign and won. So yes, being the VP Finance & Services sees you as 'responsible' for the RSU budget, but his responsibilities do not go beyond giving recommendations to a board of directors that actually make the decisions on the budget. It's ridiculous to say it is his fault, as anybody else in the VP position he's currently in would not have been able to change anything.
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Anonymous, 5 months ago said:
Why would Sherif claim that the 80K defict is Toby's fault? Yes he was the VP Finance & Services but the deficit was because of 2 things (and if Sherif actually attended any of the RSU budget meetings he would understand himself).
1st: The servers at the Used Book Room crashed for a number of days, something Toby obviously couldn't do anything about, which lost the RSU money.
2nd: Current supporters of LEAD proclaimed they would have 30K in sponsorship, and when Toby went to the board with a revised budget saying they wouldn't be able to get the 30K in sponsorship, members of the opposition turned it down. Guess what? They didn't get their 30K in sponsorship which landed the RSU that deficit. Why is it being framed on Toby when he was the one who presented the board with the revised budget without the 30K in sponsorship? Who knows. And why is it being framed on Toby? Who knows.
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