theconcordian
news
sports
Victims’ families march P. 6
Women’s rugby off to finals P. 21
Zombies occupy Montreal
Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011
life The lowdown on your favourite candy P. 9
music Where to get your Halloween weekend music fix P. 18
opinions Provincial cash new weapon against gay bullying P. 24
Volume 29 Issue 9
P. 13
Photo by Sarah Howell
ASFA looking to overhaul Wake up, go to class, study, occupy electoral system New changes being discussed after CEO, JC member resign
Students playing a role in Occupy Montreal, juggle school work and protest
Jacques Gallant Editor-in-chief
Sarah Deshaies Chief copy editor
The Arts and Science Federation of Associations is looking at getting back on track following a week of electoral controversy that ended with the resignation of its chief electoral officer. ASFA VP internal Schubert Laforest said on Monday that the federation will run an intensive campaign to find a new CEO and to properly train the candidate after the previous CEO quit on Oct. 20, leaving a trail of electoral violations behind him. “We’re going to make sure we get the word out there through our website, through social media, and word of mouth,” said Laforest. “Ideally, we would like to have someone by November. This shouldn’t be a problem. It gives us time to learn from the mistakes of the past CEO.” Those mistakes, commit-
ted during the Oct. 12 and 13 byelection by former CEO Marvin Cidamon, include hiring a former ASFA executive as a polling clerk, not providing executive summaries at all polling stations, and failing to properly announce the results of the elections. These violations, originally revealed in a Concordian article on Oct. 15, were then referred to ASFA’s judicial committee by Laforest and Cidamon himself on Oct. 19, only to have the deliberations pushed to a later date after a potential conflict of interest was declared by JC member Nicholas Pidiktakis. Pidiktakis ultimately stepped down from his position, indicating in his letter of resignation that he had been present at the counting of the ballots on Oct. 13 and helped collect them, disobeying the CEO’s orders. “Given this fact, in order to pre-
See ‘Ballot’ on P. 5
Instead of studying or finishing homework last Monday night, Jamie Richardson went to Montreal’s City Hall to improve the living conditions of a group of people she has been living with for just over a week. The graduate student, who is completing a master’s degree in political science at Université de Montréal, volunteers for Occupy Montreal and sits on the information and co-ordination committee. Richardson has been involved with the occupation since its start. Along with several other citizens presenting various demands to City Hall during the monthly open session on Monday night, she requested access to electricity for the “occupation.” Several dozen Occupy Montreal protesters accompanied Richardson after the daily general assembly that evening in marching the few
blocks to the marbled City Hall from Victoria Square, the area that was renamed “People’s Square” during the first day of the occupation on Oct. 15. Since then, over 200 tents have been erected in the small square and green space located in front of the city’s stock exchange, in emulation of the Occupy Wall Street movement that has exploded worldwide. Many of the Montreal occupiers, like Richardson, are students, and they’re making their presence felt at a movement that is at once global and very local, balancing schoolwork while contributing to the running of the tent city. The first day of the occupation, many of the speakers and facilitators at the general assembly were university and CEGEP students. Some remained to set up permanent camp.
See ‘Student’ on P. 3
theconcordian.com