Liberal knew about Guelph OPIRG scandal?

More cracks have appeared in the OPIRG scandal in Guelph. But this time, the name of a well known Liberal blogger has been connected to this fiasco.

In all fairness, I'm giving the Liberal blogger in question the benefit of the doubt... people send me junk all the time, and I just delete it. Who knows, they might wholeheartedly disagree with the tactics of the left in rigging the OPIRG vote in Guelph last week. But of this there's no doubt... a well known Liberal blogger was included in the distribution list of the following e-mail, in advance of the OPIRG vote last week. It has been forwarded to me via my sources by another individual who disagrees with what went on during the OPIRG elections... again, another leak from within, from someone who's standing up for democracy.

To the Liberal blogger in question... as you can see by looking at your own e-mail, your name is clearly listed in the e-mail posted below... you know I know who you are. In the spirit of co-operation and in a desire to get to the truth, I'm choosing to keep that information to myself. At this point, I am going on the assumption that you were simply the unwilling recipient of the e-mail in question. I would certainly appreciate your insight as to just what went on in this OPIRG election. A non-partisan venture, if you will. You know how to reach me. I would appreciate your help in tracking down just who the anonymous sender is, and what the results of this e-mail were.

But the bottom line is folks, something really smells here... with a budget of over $260,000+ involved, the folks on the left PANICED when they realized that several Conservatives were going to end up on the Board. From what I've been able to piece together, based on the number of candidates who registered prior to the original deadline, it would appear that at least ONE, if not more of them, were going to end up on the Board of Directors of Guelph's OPIRG. However, due to the extra time afforded them by extending the nomination deadline, they were able to marshal their forces and ensure that all five Conservative candidates were blocked.

My question... of the "winning" candidates, how many of them had applied PRIOR to the original nomination deadline? If none of them... then the OPIRG has some serious explaining to do.

The following e-mail was sent by an anonymous sending to a large list of students at the U of G... Because who knows, it might even be one of the winning OPIRG candidates themselves...

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "V-Day Guelph"
To: LONG LIST OF NAMES, INCLUDING A WELL KNOWN LIBERAL BLOGGER... NAMES REMOVED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PARTIES WHOM WERE NOT INVOLVED IN THIS $260,000 SCANDAL
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 7:55:28 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: OPIRG Elections this TUESDAY - VOTE to keep OPIRG alive!!!

PLEASE VOTE AT THE OPIRG ELECTIONS THIS TUESDAY AND TELL AS MANY OTHER PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE!!!


OPIRG Voting at 1 Trent Lane from 11am to 4pm Tuesday, March 31st. (Behind Creelman)

The Conservative nominees are bringing in a BUSLOAD OF 70 CONSERVATIVE YOUTH FROM WATERLOO to vote for the Conservative nominees... (FACT - no such "busload" had been arranged, nor even planned... campaigning using "Fear & Smear" tactics, as ususal)

We need ALL THE VOTERS WE CAN GET who are committed to environmental action and social justice and who understand that OPIRG works hard to contribute to these causes.

VOTE on TUESDAY for people who are dedicated to OPIRG's positive work (see names below)... VOTE for OPIRG's CONTINUED PRESENCE ON CAMPUS!!!

If you're unaware of the OPIRG shut-down by Conservatives in Waterloo and what's brewing in Guelph... read on!!! (MYTH DEBUNKING - who ever said ANYTHING about shutting them seeking to shut them down? Their entire campaign has been focused on accountability and value for money... nothing more, nothing less)
............

(NOTE - Now the following is the interesting part... this text was lifted from the "pro" OPIRG group's Facebook page...)

After a time of initial shock at the sudden interest of Guelph's Conservative Party in OPIRG, the Guelph campus will now experience one of the most controversial elections of the year: over 200 people will likely visit OPIRG this Tuesday, March 31st to vote for the new OPIRG Board.

Eight activists are running, and it's obvious they're serious about winning: Four of them are committed advocates in Guelph's social and environmental justice movements: Ashley Lowenthal, Dominica McPherson, Abigail Wilson and Sara White, among them presenting an array of grassroots work for social and environmental change. The other four activists are Conservatives, running with an organized group of 70 on-campus members; these four are Trent Blanchette, Michael Sona, Ryan Monkman, and Shaun Zanin, among them presenting an impressive dedication to politics and legal volunteerism.

This high-stakes election will depend on whether the hundreds of students who oppose Conservative takeover of OPIRG act on their beliefs and vote next Tuesday, the 31st.

What are the stakes? OPIRG manages $258,000 of grants and student fees to enable social and environmental initiatives on campus that subvert oppressive barriers. OPIRG is the progenitor of many crucial organizations on campus, including Guelph Students for Environmental Change, and hosts dozens of workshops, speakers and new volunteer initiatives every year.

It's easy to see why the four Conservative youth are interested in running for this election - OPIRG would seem to oppose many of the Conservative party's policies. In fact, at a Conservative Youth meeting in February, conservative Campaign Manager Aaron Lee-Wudrick was recorded as saying that 'any Conservative youth that could take over an OPIRG Board would be hailed as a hero in the Conservative party'. Young Waterloo conservatives have already attempted take overs twice in 2002 and 2005.

Despite these facts, caring must go beyond politics - we would be discriminatory to assume that all Conservatives are power hungry and want to destroy the PIRGs. It is possible that these young Conservatives have suddenly shown an impressive amount of commitment to OPIRG because they've realized oppression is real and want to take action for a just world.

OPIRG Voting at 1 Trent Lane from 11am to 4pm Tuesday, March 31st. (Behind Creelman)

There are several questions that arise from all of this...

1) Why was a well known Liberal blogger included in this e-mail? Does this individual support the unethical tactics used by the OPIRG to ensure that Conservative minded students are unable to participate in the decision making process for the OPIRG's $260,000+ budget?

2) If this individual does not support these tactics, will they do the right thing and take a stand in support of a free and fair democratic vote?

3) Will the OPIRG and the Administration of the University of Guelph conduct a serious and legitimate investigation of the decision making process behind why the nomination date for the OPIRG elections was extended?

4) Why did the OPIRG in Guelph extend the nomination deadline for all positions, when there were enough student candidates to fill the student positions? Why did they not simply extend the Community Member nominations? Was it to ensure that Conservative students were blocked from Board membership?

5) Who was involved in the decision to extend the deadline? My sources tell me that the decision may have been made "on the fly", outside of the regular channels... wouldn't such a decision require an official meeting of the OPIRG Guelph Board? If so, will they release the minutes of this meeting? (I mean, with a student funded $260,000 budget, they DO have to keep minutes of their meetings, don't they?)

Will we ever get to the bottom of what happened here? With a few of us bloggers digging deeper, in a non-partisan fashion, maybe... what say you my fellow blogger?

Oh, and by the way... the media would like some answers too...