After appealing their disqualification from the Carleton University Students’ Association election, 23 candidates have had their appeals dismissed, according to electoral board rulings issued March 10 and provided by CUSA chief electoral officer Sagal Osman.
“It was to be expected,” Delroy Dyer, a disqualified public affairs councillor candidate said after opening the message.
At the heart of the matter are receipts issued by photographer Laurence Facun. According to electoral board ruling notices sent to each of the appellants, these receipts were “insufficient for the service rendered”.
Facun had provided issued receipts to 29 candidates in the form of Gmail messages. Facun’s clients, the candidates, asked him to assist in producing new receipts.
Facun went to a former employer, Westboro Flooring and Décor and handed in the $20 fee each candidate paid him for their photos. According to an email sent to the electoral office by Steven Kimmel, president of Westboro Flooring and Décor, Facun was then able to obtain receipts for the photographs made, to appear as if Facun took these photos as an employee of Westboro Flooring and Décor.
But the March 10 electoral board ruling declared that “While ‘funneling money’ through a company is indeed creative to obtain a receipt of expenditures, a receipt from a flooring company which does not provide photography services for the public is not plausible.”
In short, the receipts were “legitimate in appearance but not accurate in fact,” according to the ruling.
According to Dyer, who ran unsuccessfully for public affairs councillor in last year’s CUSA election, Gmail receipts were considered valid by the CEO last year. Heather Murley was the CEO of last year’s election. She is now a member of the CUSA electoral board along with James Witherspoon andAli DiBellonia.
Murley said that because Facun identified himself as an amateur photographer during last year’s election, his photos required no more than a token acknowledgement of their fair market value ($20). As Facun identified himself as a professional photographer during this year’s election, his photos were required to come with some sort of professional receipt, Murley said. But the receipts did not make the grade.
Facun could not be reached for comment.
Another disqualified candidate Chris Gillen said he’s not surprised by the ruling.
“I wasn’t optimistic that there would be any big, huge change happening,” he said.
The last option available to the disqualified candidates is to appeal to the CUSA constitutional board. Gillen said he will decide whether or not to appeal the decision sometime later, as he’ll “talk it over” with his fellow appellants.