It’s a shame that UBC Admin has taken this path forward. True democracy requires free and open discussion – closed door discussions is anything but democratic. The old south campus working group, that I was a part of, had (as far as I am aware) no such restrictions on media or public sharing. In fact there was much sharing through all kinds of email lists, blogs, news sources, and more.

The old ‘they might say something foolish’ line just doesn’t hold up – or at least it shouldn’t. Besides, the people placed on that working group are, in some sense likely representing or coming from particular groups and thus are already engaged with a limited public.

Keep up your good work. Perhaps some of the members of the working group will start to make public their thoughts and comments as they recognize their place in a cultivation of real democratic practice.