Conservative Candidate in Canadian University Elections is Derailed for her Pro-Life Views
Jose Nino
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The National Post reports that the University of Ottawa Common Law Student Society (CLSS) cancelled an election last week, less than 12 hours before votes were being cast.
This came about as a result of students complaining on social media about a Christian, pro-life candidate running without an opponent for the society’s vice-president of equity.
The candidate in question was 23-year-old Garifalia Milousis —who uses on anglicized name on Facebook after her pro-life views made her and her family receive death threats in the past — saw the CLSS’s Facebook ad looking for candidates “interested in fighting for equity issues.”
She then applied, passed a bilingual exam, and was accepted as a candidate. After doing all of this, she found out that no one else was running for the position at the moment.
Milousis gave her account of the situation to the National Post Monday in a phone interview, “I didn’t see my role as campaigning for any one group … I wanted to foster ideological diversity.” She began campaigning last week, and last Wednesday she posted introductions about her candidacy on Facebook groups for the law classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022.
She recounted how she was on the executive teams of six campus organizations, including one that combats sexual exploitation. She is also a member of the university’s Committee on the Prevention of Sexual Violence.
Milousis received her undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa in political science and women’s studies.
After posting the introductions on the Facebook groups, a group of students, including a few who identified as LGBTQ, dug up a bunch of her information regarding her pro-life activism.
She was criticized for being a member of the Runnymede Society, a law student group focused on “debating the ideals of constitutionalism, individual liberty and the Rule of Law.”
Other complaints about Milousis dealt with her support for Senator Don Plett’s opposition to Bill C-16, which revised the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code of Canada to include gender identity and gender expression as “prohibited grounds of discrimination.”
After attempting to prepare a response to the concerns hurled at her, Milousis was contacted by the CLSS’s Chief Electoral Officer, Nancy Dhugga.
Dhugga was informing her that in an email that she was about to deploy that the election was being postponed due to students complaints about not being given enough notice.
The National Post report concedes “That may be so. But what is certain is that none of the students complaining on the CLSS Facebook page even mentioned the alleged poor notice. And in fact it appears the notice period met the requirements of the constitution — at least 10 days before the date of the original election.”
In response to this, Milousis appealed, and Sunday during an oral hearing she argued that the CEO’s decision was unconstitutional. Additionally, she believes it was discriminatory, because this sudden change was brought about by Milousis’s beliefs and religious affiliation and not some lack of notice.
Dhugga wrote in her email, “I’ve also extended the nomination period to encourage more participation …”
Milousis continued her oral argument stating that “What concerns me about the series of events that has unfolded is not that I am at risk of losing the byelection…. Failure has always been a possibility … What concerns me is rather the process. What concerns me is the principle of the matter.”
She highlighted that “The principles of constitutionality and democracy are woven into the very fabric of our society, and they are worth protecting, especially in a context where we as a community are training to enter into a profession designed to uphold those principles for our country.”
Sadly, she lost the appeal, which was to be expected.
To add insult to injury, there are now five candidates who suddenly desire this position.
This is another tragic case of an outrage mob successfully advancing their politically correct agenda to intimidate students and crowd out dissenting voices on university campuses.
Even in the Great White North, leftists are working day and night to put the clamps on the right and silence dissidents.
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