Jonathan Marshall, one of the independent Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) presidential candidates, has withdrawn from the election race, according to the election office.
Marshall said he withdrew from the race because he felt his emphasis on individual political action was rejected by a lot of students.
“Individual political action is not readily accepted at Carleton, especially through CUSA,” Marshall said.
“It does appear that a group can get their goals done a lot more than an individual,” he added.
According to Marshall, while his candidacy has ended, he feels he gave a voice to ideas that are not often discussed by students.
“I felt that just by being present in the election that I have made a difference and I’ve allowed students to understand that yes, people are talking about these ideas, and if they have thought about them, they’re not alone,” Marshall said.
Marshall’s election platform included stripping most funding for student services, putting a cap on funding from clubs and societies with more than 100 members, and transitioning CUSA from a “capitalist” system to an “anarcho-communist” system.
If he could do things differently, Marshall said he would have begun his campaign sooner and made more of an effort to understand students needs rather than “merely stand up and sort of suggest [his] own and see who listens.”
He said that while he is stepping down, he does believe that change needs to happen within the electoral system, particularly towards volunteers and funding for campaigns. He added he had to mostly fund and manage his own campaign as an independent candidate.
“Independents can’t run on the same playing field,” he said.
He continued to emphasize the importance of independent opinions in enacting change.
“[Change] should not rely on groups, it should not rely on CUSA,” Marshall said. “It needs to be a result of independent student action, even if it’s collectively independent, meaning it’s the students who have to demand the change themselves.”
The CUSA elections office also announced that Cassidy Lang, a candidate for Faculty of Engineering and Design councillor, also withdrew from the election.
– Photo by Shanice Pereira
