Ralph Lee and Sabine Friesinger were officially deemed to have resigned from Concordia Student Union (CSU) council according to a Judicial Board document presented to council last Wednesday.
The decision of the Judicial Board was first rendered Jan.14, after student John Gravel argued that some councillors were non-students. Chairperson Patrice Blais had then questioned the validity of the report because of signatures missing and allegations of bias. This time, all signatures are present, but allegations of bias persist. The decision document states that no special relationship existed between any Judicial Board member and the respondents, “with the possible exception of [Stephan] Herman, who has not voted in a manner to indicate that he has been biased in favour of the respondents.”
Last council meeting, Judicial Board member Deborah Millette was singled out as being biased because she had written an article criticizing student activists. Though Lee had officially resigned before the ruling, the Judicial Board voted four to two in favour of his resignation. Friesinger was also deemed to have resigned from council in a ruling of three for, two against and one abstention. Friesinger was not registered for classes in the fall 2003 and is now taking one class.
No decision was rendered for CSU councillor Trish McIntosh, who is also taking one class. Herman refused to sign her ruling and removing him from the vote put the Judicial Board in a deadlock of three for and three against. The decision was put back to the Board for further consideration. The council also passed two motions. It is to be informed of the procedures of the Judicial Board and it will get a legal opinion to see if Judicial Board was correct by making sure there was no conflict of interest with Millette and no by-laws were broken.
