Judicial board rejects petition, organizer plans lawsuit

A petition to recall the CSU executive has been rejected by the union’s judicial board, and a petition organizer said he plans to challenge the decision in court.
In a two to one decision, the board voted to reject the petition on the grounds that it lacked sufficient information.
In her decision, board member Bella Ratner, who voted to reject the petition along with Yuri Kuczer, wrote that, “When a petition is circulated, that petition must give a clear reason for what the petition promoter aims to do. The titles at the top of this petition do not give a clear understanding; therefore I do not see the petition as valid.”
She also recommended “standing regulations should be amended to include a rule that when a petition is circulated it must have a precise explanation of why it is being circulated and what it is aiming to achieve.”
In a sole dissenting opinion, judicial board chairperson Tristan Teixeira, wrote that, “I respectfully disagreed with my colleagues in that the petition lacked sufficient information for any reasonable student to make an informed decision when they signed.” Adding, “I have difficulty believing students, who sign employment contracts, leases for rental units and sometimes cars, have not yet understood the seriousness of putting your name on a document.”
However Teixeira wrote that because the petition had be rejected, “this appeal was not scrutinized in its entirety as the petition’s invalidity mooted all other considerations. In my view, the validity of the petition is still in question since no authentication of the signatories was conducted.”
Former CSU council chair Jessica Nudo claimed she had created an electronic database of all the petition’s signatures and found the majority of signatures were illegitimate. According to Nudo’s replacement, interim chair Brent Farrington, Nudo typed out all approximately 3,600 names on the petition in order to create the database.
But petition organizer, Patrice Blais, said he doesn’t accept the decision and he’s going to challenge it in Quebec Superior Court.
“I think it’s a ridiculous decision,” said Blais. “Not an unexpected one, but it’s an internal process that we had to follow, not because we wanted to, or because we expected a fair trial, but because we had to. Now obviously the real case can begin.”
Blais’ opponents said they’re relieved the petition has been rejected.
“I, as well as my entire executive, are really happy this petition was denied and the JB saw through the blatant abuse of student apathy,” said VP communications Elie Chivi, “in terms of all the lies and all the misleading facts that were on the petition.”
“I’m very happy we can go back to doing our job, which is why we were elected.”