An online petition is encouraging US Senator Bernie Sanders to visit UBC as a keynote speaker. As of February 5, 2017, it only has 33 signees shy of reaching its target goal of 500 signatures.
However, the petition’s description is rather odd. It claims that the Allard Prize for International Integrity — which awards $100,000 to figures who have made grand contributions towards the fight against corruption — “invited Senator Sanders to deliver a keynote speech on September 28, 2017 at its Prize Ceremony.” However, we can’t find any proof of this on either the prize’s website or throughout Google.
Regardless, Sanders has been very outspoken against corruption among Washington elites and the banking industry, so he seems like somebody that the Allard Prize would definitely show an interest in.
Given the massive crowd sizes that Sanders drew throughout his presidential campaign, an appearance at UBC would likely be a big hit with both students and faculty alike. We're guessing that he doesn’t have very much free time in his calendar — he is, after all, a left-wing Senator in Donald Trump’s White House. But considering how he’s giving Brooklyn College’s commencement speech, it’s evident that public appearances are still on his agenda. Would he have time for UBC, let alone anywhere in Canada? If the petition reaches its 500-signature goal, we'll find out.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Sanders was a Democrat. The Ubyssey regrets this error.