CSU in a flash

The Concordia Student Union has up to 30 elected members and eight elected executive members, and their task is to ensure the interests of students are protected and represented. The CSU can pass motions that involve student interests, Concordia then takes into account those motions.

Each CSU meeting will now be summarized so that you, the reader, can keep up with the union’s business. Get ready for tantalizing motions, breathtaking legal jargon and closed sessions that keep you on the edge of your seat.

Let’s get down to business – this is where CSU goes over various forms of business, like passing motions and approving budgets.

 

  • Fee-Levy committee

For context, fee levies are student-elected groups that get most of their funding from student fees, in the past a student had to go in person to opt-out of paying the fee. In 2019, CSU put the question of opting online onto a referendum, the question passed passed on referendum and is now being put into action by Concordia administration.

The motion was to create a committee that ensured online opt-outs are created in consultation with all of the fee-levy groups, and a report would be created and given to the CSU council and Concordia admin. The motion to create the fee-levy committee passed on Jan. 8.

  • Strike down section 9.1.2 of the CSU Positions Book

The CSU Positions Book outlines the union’s beliefs and stances on many social matters. All points in the book were voted on in a referendum in 2013-14. Section 9.1.2 states that “the CSU endorses the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel’s occupation of Palestine…”

A CSU member motioned for a closed session, where all non-CSU members must leave, but it did not pass.

The motion was to strike down section 9.1.2, a CSU member described section 9.1.2 as “hypocritical enforcement,” adding that it was impractical for the CSU to boycott everything that is involved with Israel.

The motion to strike section 9.1.2 failed, as CSU members pointed out that the Positions Book was a political stance and not a binding contract. As well as the fact that each of the sections in the Positions Book have been adopted by the students-at-large directly through referendum, thus CSU is unable to strike down Position Book sections without a referendum.

  • Bathroom Committee

There was the creation of a committee that would overview the hiring of Concordia’s new cleaning company, as the current one’s contract will end soon. The committee will ensure the new cleaning company takes into consideration student concerns, particularly about cleaner bathrooms. The motion to create this committee passed on Jan. 8.

 

Then, something rare occurred at the CSU meetings: it ended before 10 p.m.

 

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

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