How to take over student governments
Recently leaked records from the Ontario Progressive Conservative Campus Association reveal the group held seminars earlier this year instructing students on how to change the political climate at Ontario universities to one more favourable to Conservative interests. The seminars sought to teach attendees how to hide their Conservative affiliations when seizing control of student governments and how to covertly undermine and destroy the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).
The leak includes photographs, documents, and audio recordings of a seminar that took place at Waterloo University, as well as documents suggesting that similar events have taken place or will take place at the University of Toronto, Carleton University, and Wilfred Laurier University.
Although the degree of Conservative Party involvement is unclear, the leak identifies Peter Braid (Conservative MP for Kitchener-Waterloo), Aaron Lee-Wudrick (Braids campaign manager), Richard Ciano (former National Vice President of the Conservative Party of Canada), and Ryan OConnor (former Vice President of the Waterloo Federation of Students) as being present at, or participating in the seminars. Ciano has since denied that he was present at the Waterloo meeting.
On the tape, Lee-Wudrick and OConnor provide specific techniques for destroying the revenue streams of OPIRG and gaining support for such changes. Suggestions include using power in student governments to amend funding rules and using misleading referenda to make OPIRG ineligible for student society grants.
The presenters also suggest making use of shell groups to create the appearance of widespread grassroots support for conservative policy. Lee-Wudrick suggests referring to Campus Coalition for Liberty, a front organization created by Conservative- aligned students solely to create the appearance of popular support for their arguments: It was really just a front for the Conservatives, but it gave us like, two voices, Lee-Wudrick can be heard saying on the tape. Two organizations support this: the Young Tories and the Campus Coalition for Liberty which is the same thing.
Neither the SFU Young Conservatives nor the SFU Young Liberals responded to a request for an interview before press time. There is currently no evidence that similar seminars have taken place outside of Ontario.