Last week the CSU council voted to put student funding of Concordia’s Sustainability Action Fund to a referendum. But now three CSU councillors have called for another meeting to repeal the referendum question.
The question would have asked students if they supported continuing the 25-cent per credit fee levy or, if they felt their money was being wasted, to end it.
Councillor Louise Birdsell Bauer, one of the three councillors now calling for the repeal, now said the Oct. 2 meeting wasn’t valid. According to the CSU council rules, three days’ notice must be given to each representative before calling a special meeting. Birdsell Bauer said this requirement wasn’t adhered to. “We didn’t have any time to inform ourselves about the fund,” she said.
Birdsell Bauer voted to pass the motion at the Oct. 2 meeting, but said she “realized it was a mistake” after researching the SAF.
The CSU also failed to inform, or invite fund coordinator Jasmine Stuart to the meeting. CSU regulations require the council to provide 10 days notice to student groups when council introduces motions that would affect their funding. They also must be invited to give their input on the proposal at the council meeting where it will be voted on.
“My contact information, my picture and my office hours are posted on the website,” said Stuart. “The CSU president and a CSU councillor sit on the SAF board. It seems almost absurd that I wasn’t informed.”
Stuart has yet to hear from any CSU member regarding the meeting or the results.
CSU VP communications Elie Chivi said the coordinator’s presence at the meeting wasn’t necessary and wouldn’t have changed anything.
“It’s the board members who are the decision-makers and official spokespeople,” he said. “Anyone interested in defending the fund should defend it to the thousands of students who have been cheated into thinking their money is funding student-run initiatives.”
Chivi described the move to reconsider the decision as, “apprehension from people involved in the fund to face students and justify where thousands of dollars have gone over the past few years.”
Students voted “yes” to the sustainability fee-levy a little over a year and a half ago.
According to Stuart, 77 per cent of the SAF’s budget has gone towards funding a number of projects on campus. Including the university’s new compost facility, a dishwasher for CSU-owned Reggie’s Bar and is working with Concordia’s security department to purchase glassware, it also funded a summer-time coordinator for Right to Move, a bicycle co-op at Concordia.
Chivi said he and the CSU are looking for more tangible initiatives from the money all students pay into the SAF. “I’m personally still waiting for my reusable bags and mugs,” said Chivi. Reusable bags and mugs were among the original promises made when then fund was voted-in by students.
But without the funding provided by the fee-levy, projects supported by the SAF could be in jeopardy.
While the composting project will not be immediately affected, Stuart said that if the SAF has to back out of its five-year commitment, it could have an impact in the long-term. “The funding promised from the SAF helped to project additional funding from the government. Without the SAF’s commitment, the funding from the government would be at jeopardy, the project could face being shut down and could incur a debt,” said Stuart.
Mohamed Shuriye, the inaugural coordinator of the SAF, said the way the CSU went about getting this question in the referendum was “completely undemocratic.”
Shuriye and Stuart both feel that the Oct. 2 meeting sets a dangerous precedent.
“What about every other student fee levy they don’t like?” Shuriye asked. “They’ve essentially said it’s okay to misinform council members and get them to vote in favour of any motion, without giving the people in charge, the people with expertise, a chance to inform council.”
The meeting to appeal the motion will be held on Oct. 17.
