Councillors discuss future finance councillors and Sanctuary Campus
The Concordia Student Union (CSU) discussed the resignation of their finance coordinator at a meeting on Nov. 23 in the Hall building of the university’s downtown campus.
Due to the recent resignation of the CSU’s finance coordinator, Adrian Longinotti, the student council is currently looking for a replacement. Lucy Marshall-Kiparissis, the CSU’s general coordinator, told The Concordian that the council will be holding a special meeting on Nov. 30 to meet with potential candidates. “We are looking for someone who has a passion for the task and is comfortable with making big decisions,” she said. “This person must be ready to put a lot of time and effort in the work.”
Longinotti’s resignation was made official on Nov. 21 after the CSU’s executive body announced he was unfit to act as a representative of the union. Lana Elinor Galbraith, the CSU’s sustainability coordinator, told The Concordian he had instigated a lot of issues surrounding queerphobia, misogyny and other oppressive politics.
For legal reasons, the CSU meeting went into closed session to speak about Longeniotti’s situation.
It was also announced at the meeting that the CSU will publicly support Sanctuary Campus, which is an initiative that was implemented in the United States following the elections. According to Marshall-Kiparissis, it involves an institution guaranteeing a degree of safety and protection for students or immigrants who are undocumented. An undocumented individual refers to either a person with expired paperwork, in deportation proceedings or who entered a country illegally.
“We want to publicly show solidarity with the vulnerable members of the society,” said Marshall-Kiparissis.
She also mentioned that, a few days ago, an agent from the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) was seen on Concordia’s premises. “To see this agent coming to Concordia around that time is a concern to us that they might be getting information about some members of the university,” she said. Marshall-Kiparissis said seeing a CBSA agent on campus is worrisome, as U.S. president-elect Donald Trump promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and end the Obama administration’s program, which let some students without the necessary papers into the U.S. to study temporarily.
According to Marshall-Kiparissis, the CSU openly supports the right for people to move freely, unrestricted by borders. They also announced they will be endorsing and supporting the demands of Solidarity Across Borders, a migrant justice network based in Montreal. Their demands include that the CBSA not have the right to access or make arrests in hospitals, shelters, schools or any other spaces that provide essential services.
