The creator of the cusaonline.ca site, which earned presidential candidate Nick Bergamini an electoral violation, has come forward, saying the intent of the site was to highlight Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) incompetence.
The creator of the site refused to be identified or reveal any information about his or her age, gender or enrollment status, and communicated with the Charlatan only by phone and e-mail.
The domain name, according to the creator, was purchased as a “novelty,” and linked to the CBC article to make students aware of CUSA’s “repeated screw ups. ”
The creator said he or she was unaware the creation of the website coincided with the current CUSA elections, but didn’t think the site would have an impact on the election.
Chief electoral officer Sagal Osman issued Bergamini an electoral violation on the grounds that the site, which hosted a 2008 CBC article about the CUSA Shinerama scandal, was supporting Bergamini.
“Their electoral code is illogical,” the creator said of Osman’s decision. “According to them, each candidate is responsible for anyone's actions. So anyone running is responsible for the actions of any of the nearly 7 billion people who inhabit earth,” the creator said.
“The Board's ruling on my site just reinforces the stupidity. Because some random person made a website, someone gets penalized? How fair is that?”
The creator said he or she had sent three e-mails informing the electoral board Bergamini did not create the site, and also tried to contact Bergamini by e-mail.
“I never received an e-mail,” Bergamini said, although he said he did receive a call from a Carleton phone Feb. 3 from someone claiming to be a friend of the site’s creator. Bergamini said the person told him they didn’t mean to harm him.
Osman said she could not repeal her decision.
Heather Murley, the chair of the electoral board, refused to comment on the appeal process.
The electoral board will meet the morning of Feb. 9 to decide whether to overturn the electoral violation against Bergamini.
As for the site, it currently contains only a quote from Henry Kissinger: “University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.”