This story contains details viewers may find disturbing. Those in need of support can call the Ottawa Distress Centre Crisis Line at 613-238-3311 or the Carleton Sexual Assault Support Centre at 613-520-5622.
Carleton’s department of Equity and Inclusive Communities (EIC) is offering online peer support for sexual violence via Google Hangout Monday to Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
On Sunday, the Carleton University Students’ Association’s (CUSA) elections office suspended campaigning indefinitely and delayed the upcoming presidents’ debate.
The elections office previously paused campaigning in a blackout period after several candidates announced on March 5 they would be suspending their campaigns in light of sexual assault allegations.
On March 6, chief electoral officer Nicolas Gil Ocampo and deputy electoral officer Qusai Yusuf told presidential and councillor candidates in an email they cannot campaign in-person or virtually.
“It would be insensitive to continue with the elections without paying attention to the allegations made and without allowing the respective parties involved the time they require to deal with these circumstances,” Ocampo told the Charlatan. “[We want to] allow the university to also support these people in any way they can and to guide them through the process.”
Ocampo and Yusuf wrote in their email they would contact candidates with further updates in the coming days.
In a separate email to presidential candidates, Yusuf added the presidential debate scheduled for March 7 would also be postponed indefinitely.
Ocampo added the elections office does not know when the campaign suspension will end.
Last year, candidates on the Ravens United slate boycotted CUSA’s executive debate to show support for a candidate who said they had been harassed on social media. At the time, the elections office also suspended the election for 48 hours.
This year’s CUSA elections were delayed once from early February to early March due to a low number of candidates.
At the time of publication, voting is still scheduled to be held virtually on March 9 and 10.
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
