While Fresh RRRA has made the decision to stop pursuing legal action against the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA), a legacy of distrust and suspicion spawned from the 2017 election continues to hang over the residence association.
Fresh RRRA was disqualified from the Feb. 15 election after incurring three violations. Fresh RRRA came in first place in the election despite being disqualified, and second-place slate The Next Step, led by incumbent RRRA president Hyder Naqvi, was named the winner.
If Fresh RRRA had continued to pursue legal action, one could assume that the focus and energy of the current RRRA executive members would be considerably sidetracked from providing services to students.
Even without litigation looming, the scandal incurred from the mere threat of legal action detracts attention from the work RRRA is doing for students.
The 2017 RRRA election scandal casts doubts over the accountability and transparency of RRRA as a whole. The disqualification and threat of legal action can make it difficult for students to trust the integrity of the residence association.
The organization will need to work hard this year to be taken seriously and regain students’ trust and support. One way to do this would be to implement constitutional changes that would make the election process more transparent, clarify election rules, or impose harsher penalties for electoral violations to dissuade unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Over the course of the last six years of RRRA general elections, there have been six disqualifications. Something has to change.
