Kwantlen University student union council bans election candidates speaking to media

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s student union introduced a new policy barring student council candidates from speaking to the media during elections.

The new electoral regulations state that student council candidates “will be disqualified if they publish news articles on their candidacy or platform, engage in interviews with news outlets once the period for nominations is opened, or request a news outlet to publish an article or endorsement on their candidacy or platform.” The regulations note that student media are included in the ban. 

The Kwantlen Student Association, the university’s student union, adopted the policy at a Dec. 20, 2024, council meeting. The rule takes effect ahead of the general election in March 2025, when students will vote for representatives.

“There are candidates who probably have connections or relationships with the media that would give them an unfair advantage over other candidates,” KSA Associate President Ishant Goyal told The Runner, Kwantlen’s campus newspaper. 

“If a candidate has better relationships … with the news outlets and they ask them to publish articles for them, [they could] publicize them more as compared to other candidates … So it’s just providing fairgrounds to everyone,” Goyal said. 

KSA executives, including Goyal, did not respond to the Canada Press Freedom Project’s request for comment.