The Vancouver-Point Grey all-candidates meeting. Andrew Wilkinson, a Liberal party candidate standing in for MLA and B.C. Premier Christy Clark, was barred from participating. Photo Hogan Wong/The Ubyssey
The entire point of a candidates’ debate is to hear voices from across the political spectrum. The AMS completely dropped the ball on this in the debate they organized between MLA candidates for the Point Grey riding on Tuesday at the SUB.
While four political parties and independent candidates were represented at the debate, the AMS decided to ban the B.C. Liberal Party’s representative from participating.
The AMS failed to offer an explanation of why they banned the representative, Andrew Wilkinson, who is running in the Vancouver-Quilchena riding and was sent in B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s stead.
They sent an email to the B.C. Liberals on Sunday, requesting that Clark or a representative attend the Tuesday debate. While Clark was unavailable, Wilkinson represents a nearby riding and could have offered the Liberal perspective on issues of importance to UBC students, including tuition and transit.
AMS President Caroline Wong and VP External Tanner Bokor made the unilateral decision to block Wilkinson because he wasn’t running in the Point Grey riding.
Wilkinson’s banning was juvenile and petty. Clark is an embattled premier in the midst of a province-wide campaign, and may legitimately have been too busy to attend a debate she was informed about one day in advance. It’s easy to see that the AMS felt snubbed by Clark and decided to ban the man sent in her place.
This is nonsense. The AMS requested Clark or a representative, and the Liberals sent an actual candidate, as opposed to an aide, to represent her at the debate. Wong and Bokor need to answer students as to why they banned the voice of the party in power from the debate.
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