All concerned parties involved in the impeachment process of CSU president Lex Gill have agreed to a “ceasefire,” and will be meeting with the CSU at an undetermined date to hash out their differences.
News of the intent to impeach Gill was made early last week, when former CSU councillor Tomer Shavit, Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) president Alex Gordon and Commerce and Administration Students’ Association (CASA) president Marianna Luciano announced their plans to release a petition that called for Gill’s impeachment. A website called www.stoplexgill.com was also made public the same day.
On Saturday, Gordon arranged a meeting with Gill, along with members of the CSU and Shavit, to “mediate [their] problems outside of the petition,” he said. They have agreed to a “ceasefire” where the petition is concerned, and to arrange a round table with members of ASFA, CASA, CSU and Shavit to address all parties’ concerns.
In an interview with The Concordian, Gordon admitted he was not certain of the legality of the petition and that the website was lacking some documentation. “It would be ideal if we could settle this and move forward,” he said. “We had a really productive meeting. All parties are now on the same page.”
Gordon said there was a lot of discontent among ASFA and CASA, and that he was looking out for ASFA’s best interests by originally supporting the petition and bringing to the forefront a number of unsettled issues.
The creators of the website pointed to alleged inappropriate behaviour on Gill’s part, a lack of transparency and professionalism, and orchestration of the “illegal” firing of former CSU CEO Bram Goldstein as their central complaints.
Gill described the documents on the website as being “misleading, inflammatory and an insult to Concordia student’s intelligence.”
At the CSU council meeting last Wednesday, Gill said the petition’s clauses were “rife with conjecture, misinformation, logical fallacies, defamatory statements and straightforward lies… I stand by my team’s work, dedication, leadership and courage, and implore [Shavit] not to drag the rest of them into his personal problem with me.”
As the meeting heated up, many members of the executive stepped forward to defend Gill, including VP external Chad Walcott, and CSU councillor and student governor Cameron Monagle.
“[Gill] is doing an excellent job… we do not need controversy and petty insults, we need a stable student body and we need to deal with serious matters,” said Walcott. Monagle proposed a motion that expressed the council’s support for Gill, which was passed unanimously.
Shavit said later that he was disappointed that CSU members spent so much time trying to prove his arguments were petty instead of focusing on the concerns brought up over Gill’s transparency and accountability.
“We are not making any claims against the other executives,” Shavit said. “We appreciate the work they do. This is an issue with Lex Gill, and Lex Gill alone.”
At the council meeting, Gill suggested that Shavit wait until March 1 to present his petition, at which time the new CSU bylaws would allow him to collect signatures for a petition that could trigger a general assembly to remove her from office. The current bylaws would require a petition to impeach the entire executive. She even added that if a petition was made and validated according to the rules, she would be happy to call the general meeting, book the room and move the motion herself. “That is, after all, how democracy works,” she said.
With files from Paula Rivas.
DERPetition.