Tag: Concordia Student Union

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The Return of the Hive

The Hive comes back with exciting projects for a new school year

It’s not always easy to find healthy food on both campuses of the university, but CSU’s popular cooperative café the Hive is back for a delicious year, as of Sept. 6.

Over the summer, the café has been working to get approved for the Concordia catering list. Finance and administration coordinator Leigh Hoffman said that being added to this list means the Hive will be able to cater at events and further grow its business. With this opportunity, Concordia’s co-op café will be able to provide their food and space for their upcoming Concordia and Hive events.

The co-op café is also revamping its menu. “We will have egg salad sandwich, grilled cheese with caramelized onions, green vegetables sandwiches, and of course our peanut butter cookies will come back,” said Hoffman.

Hoffman also mentioned that customers will now have the option to have a life membership, at the cost of 5$.. This includes a 10 per cent discount on all products, and members can vote during the Hive’s general assembly. According to Hoffman, all their members have an equal vote at the general assemblies, and the co-op wants its members to have a say in the operation of the cafés through their meetings.

It is a fun and engaging initiative that gets the members involved and creating committees. Right now, they have an art committee and a decoration committee—but they are always looking for more ways to encourage membership. These committees proposes how to decorate the Hive’s space, they can put up paintings on the walls, and also bring out plants for decoration.

The Hive has also managed to become sustainable. The cafés compost, recycle and encourage students to bring their own mug for hot beverages. They both operate as non-profit cooperatives, and they are financially self-sustaining, according to Hoffman.

For their upcoming events, the Hive will hold an open mic night, and a board games and trivia night during the CSU’s orientation. They will also continue their poetry nights later this semester. They will be continuing their free lunch program, which offers a free, vegan, nut-free lunch every school day at the Loyola campus between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Since the Hive is a co-op, students are in charge of cooking together to ensure that the meal is healthy and served on time.

All students are welcome to volunteer at the Hive.  Responsibilities include preparing, cooking and serving food, and cleaning at either location. The Hive can provide references for volunteers and they also encourage students to put the experience on their CVs.

Students can visit the Hive at the Loyola Campus (2nd floor of the Student Centre building) and at the downtown campus (in the mezzanine of the Hall building).

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Concordia Student Union News

What’s new with the CSU

The CSU executives preparing for one of their biggest year yet

For the Concordia Student Union, one thing is clear—students’ needs come first. Here is what you can expect from CSU’s coordinators this year.

Orientation Concordia

Orientation is the first big project for the CSU this year, as it will welcome students from all different programs starting next week. Rachel Gauthier, the student life coordinator, is currently organizing the 30 events that will be taking place from Sept. 6 to 16. These 10 days of activities include concerts featuring local bands, club fairs, a hip-hop show and a special night out to the OUMF 2016 festival.

It’s the first year that the CSU will be partnering up with the OUMF “Gala humour de la rentrée,” taking place on Saint-Denis street. “This festival is completely french, which is really cool because it’s something that was never done before, and Montreal is a bilingual city,” Gauthier said.

Another major event during orientation will be “Wellness Day,” which will include workshops focusing on mental, social and physical wellness. Gauthier said she wants students to know what resources are available to them, and to partake in activities that make them feel better.

For more information on the CSU’s orientation week, visit their website: csuorientation.ca.

Divest Concordia

The CSU has also partnered up with Divest Concordia, which aims to divest from the university’s investment in the fossil fuel industry.

“Concordia still has investments in fuel companies that are extremely harmful to our nature,” said Aloyse Muller, the head of the campaign and the CSU’s external affairs and mobilization coordinator. Muller said he wants to create social discussion about the issue through multiple avenues, one of them being from a financial point of view.

He also wants to put an emphasis not only on climate change, but on the communities that are affected by it daily. Open to all, Divest Concordia is looking for people to get involved  in various ways, such as discussion of the issues through art, demonstrations and petitions.

Sustainability at Concordia

Sustainability coordinator Lanna Galbraith said there are different projects in progress aimed to make students feel more comfortable and included at Concordia.

Starting in September, she said she hopes that the number of gender neutral bathrooms for students will increase.

Galbraith said there will also be emphasis on having a CSU that is more representative of the various cultures and ethnic backgrounds present at Concordia. She said the goal is to create workshops on social issues, now that environmental and economical topics have a good framework.

“I think it’s time to start a couple of social projects so that, when we think of sustainability, we don’t only think of it as environmentalism,” Galbraith said. In fact, sustainability is a balancing act that includes environmental protection, social responsibility and good economic practice, she said. Additionally, the CSU is working to make their office space more accessible for all students.

Affordable Housing for Students

Coming to Montreal for the first time to start university can be a bit scary, which is why HOJO, the CSU’s Housing and Job Office, helps students find safe, clean and affordable housing in Montreal. The union will be partnering up with UTILE (Unité de travail pour l’implantation de logement étudiant), a non-profit organization based in Montreal dedicated to creating affordable student housing. Their goal is to build student housing with below average rent that will be managed by students, said the CSU’s General Coordinator, Lucinda Marshall-Kiparissis. “By building cooperative student housing that is not beholden to commercial interest, we’re able to say that we want affordable housing for students, and we want it so we’re not being a detriment to the neighbourhood,” she said. UTILE already purchased land on the plateau, but the project will take two to three years to really take off, she said.

Daycare

With a daycare already available at Loyola Campus for faculty and staff, CSU is taking the initiative to bring a daycare to the Sir George Williams (SGW) downtown campus for students with children.

Sophia Sahrane, the academic and advocacy coordinator, is currently working on this project. “This project was launched eight years ago when the university conducted a study to see if the undergraduate and graduate students needed a daycare,” she said. “The study yielded positive results and earned municipal approval, however, the initiative faded and nothing happened.”

“Not only do these parents have a job, but they have a kid, classes to attend and homework to do,” the CSU’s general coordinator, Marshall-Kiparissis, added. Sahrane receives emails from parents interested in the daycare on a daily basis. “We need the paperwork from the government, which should arrive soon, and then we will start demolition and open registration,” Sahrane said. She mentioned that the daycare will be located on Bishop street, focusing on undergraduate students’ children, but with some place for graduate students’ children as well.

For more information on these projects, the CSU encourages students to visit their website, csu.qc.ca. They have offices on Sir George Williams campus (H-711) and at the Loyola Campus (CC-426).

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Wheeler takes the vote

Photo by Sophia Loffreda
Photo by Sophia Loffreda

Despite some late night hiccups and with only one contested position, the ballot counting for the Concordia Student Union elections finished with the CSYou affiliation being voted in for the upcoming academic year.

The only contested position, VP Finance, went to CSYou candidate Scott Carr with 617 votes in his favour. Competitor Pierre Tardivo had 364 votes.

The other CSYou candidates all received a similar number of votes. Roughly 900 students voted for CSYou, approximately 60 to 100 voted no and there were approximately 250 abstaining ballots.

All of the candidates running for council were also elected, including outgoing executives VP academic and advocacy Hajar El Jahidi, VP student life Alexis Suzuki and VP clubs and internal affairs Nadine Atallah who received 244, 279 and 41 yes votes, respectively.

The three referendum questions included in the voting were all passed by wide margins. The Greenhouse fee levy was granted its request for $0.12 per credit with a vote of 1142 for and 234 against. The Sustainable Concordia fee levy was granted its increase of $0.10 per credit, raising it to a total of $0.15 and the Concordia Food Coalition received a vote of 1,219 for and 145 against, in its request for support.

Three changes to the CSU’s bylaws were also adopted by the student body, despite a procedural mistake that almost let the alterations disappear since they were not initially included as referendum questions. A notice of requirement was not fulfilled and the CSU was forced to abide by a notwithstanding clause since the changes weren’t formally announced during postering.

In total 1,438 students voted out of more than 30,000 undergraduate students over the course of the three-day voting period, with women outvoting men by 783 to 655. The majority of the votes were cast by Arts and Science students, 816, with the second most common being Fine Arts students with 257 votes. John Molson School of Business and Engineering and Computer Science students voted the least with 182 and 133 votes cast respectively.

A last-minute mistake caught by Chief Electoral Officer Andre-Marcel Baril has forced a recount of the ballots in the JMSB building, but Baril has stated that the recount can in no way affect any of the results. Nevertheless Baril says that the recount must be done for the sake of procedure. An error left certain polling days with an irregular amount of votes and other dates with none for VP sustainability candidate Benjamin Prunty and VP student life candidate Katrina Caruso. The mistake is not expected to change the outcome of the vote but there will be a recount.

Speaking to The Concordian a few days after the ballots were counted, upcoming CSU President Melissa Kate Wheeler said that she and her team not only plan to shadow current executives in the coming weeks, but will also seek out past executives for advice and guidance. Wheeler gave Caruso as an example, saying that the incoming VP student life will be seeking out former VP Laura Glover for advice.

“Given that this year was not so great, it would be great to get a couple of extra people for training because I’m not convinced that this year’s executive knows what they are doing,” she said.

When asked about the fact that some of the current executives, such as Nadine Atallah and Alexis Suzuki, will be returning next year as councillors, Wheeler said that she was not concerned despite a history of butting heads this year.

“I trust that their intentions are good,” she said. “I think everyone has the best intentions at heart.”

No Fine Arts representation

Despite the intense campaign to fill empty Fine Arts seats on the CSU council earlier this year, not a single Fine Arts student ran for the CSU council for next year, leaving the department in a similar situation they faced after this year’s byelections. Steps taken during this election period, including specifically postering and campaigning in the Fine Arts VA building, did little to encourage students to involve themselves in next year’s CSU.

Recently-elected Caruso, herself a Fine Arts student, told The Concordian that while she was disappointed with the lack of Fine Arts students on the ballots, she understood the disconnect that made participation in the CSU’s affairs so uncommon.

“As a Fine Arts student, I’ve felt little connection with the Concordia Student Union prior to this election – and this is my third year at Concordia. Fine Arts students are incredibly under represented at Concordia, which is unfortunate because we have so much to offer,” she said.

Caruso added that the issue of communicating with Fine Arts students was one she hoped to address by fostering connections and building new relationships between students and the CSU.

“The major issue with the union is the lack of new blood — time and time again, people join the CSU because of their friends,” said Caruso. “I’d like to change that. I’m going to be working with FASA to have Fine Arts students at large run in the byelections, and win those seats.”

Any student wishing to see a full breakdown of the votes for and against each candidate and question can find them at the CSU elections website: http://csuelections.wordpress.com/

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A public condemnation against municipal bylaw P-6

Photo by Keith Race
Photo by Keith Race

The Concordia Student Union officially denounced the municipal bylaw P-6 that requires an itinerary before protests start and the use of corralling as a tactic to swiftly end demonstrations by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal.

During a special council meeting last week, Councillor Benjamin Prunty presented a two-page motion that took an official stand against bylaw P-6 calling into question the change in strategy by the SPVM since the anti-police brutality demonstration on March 15 where more than 200 arrests took place.

The motion specifically condemns kettling, a tactic where police officers corral protesters to a limited area and control access to the location. The tactic is controversial since it boxes individuals in and only leaves them with a single exit usually determined by police. Demonstrations to rally against the provincial government’s indexation of tuition fees over the last two weeks resulted in hundreds of individuals being contained for hours — including local journalists.

It also denounces bylaw P-6 for being “passed by a municipal council under intense suspicions of widespread corruption.”

Prunty’s motion calls for an independent office to conduct a public inquiry into kettling and tactics used by the SPVM and for the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec to facilitate legal action in the form of a challenge to the Charter or class action lawsuit. Furthermore, the motion asks that the undergraduate student body at Concordia University be able to participate in peaceful demonstrations to condemn bylaw P-6 and kettling accompanied by a CSU banner supporting the motion. It

The motion was adopted by the CSU despite some issues over the wording of the letter when Councillor Jordan Lindsay emphasized that the motion could benefit a restructuring in tone in order to have the “CSU’s voice.” Conversely, Councillor Chad Walcott argued that the CSU should take a “strong stance in favour of freedom of expression.”

“I believe that as a student union it is our responsibility to take a firm stance on issues that affect our members,” said Walcott.

Walcott emphasizes that it’s the CSU’s responsibility to bring such issues to light and demand that they be examined.
“What we are seeing from the police under P-6 goes beyond what is called for in terms of limiting one’s rights,” said Walcott. “What we are seeing instead is a gradual infringement on our right to assembly, free speech and the right to peaceful protest.”

However, certain councillors and executives promised to oversee the structure of the motion the following day. The revamped motion has not been sent to the public yet.

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Cast your vote

This year’s CSU executive candidates.

With the Concordia Student Union elections beginning Tuesday and running until March 28, the on-campus debates held at both campuses last week gave potential executives a last-minute platform to discuss relevant issues.

During the two events, topics like student apathy, improving communication with the student body and developing student space such as the Hive Café or the recently-rebranded student centre project were discussed.

Candidates fielded questions about their platforms as well as issues they hoped to address in the upcoming year, such as the perceived disconnect between students at the John Molson School of Business and the rest of Concordia.

The lack of any functioning CSU website all year was an issue addressed by presidential candidate Melissa Kate Wheeler, who said that a new website was needed for a number of reasons.

“There’s no clear place to go for any kind of specific question that any student might have and information is kind of scattered all over at the moment,” she said. “As well, there’s the fact that it doesn’t work. So yes, I think we will have to rebuild the website from the ground up. I think it’s needed not only on an IT level but also in terms of the logical flow and division of information which needs to be examined.”

The debates also gave the two VP finance candidates, Scott Carr, with CSYou and Pierre Tardivo, who is running independently, a chance to compare their ideas for issues like getting JMSB and engineering students involved with the CSU. Carr in particular spoke of his hopes of bridging the gap between JMSB students and the CSU.

“A lot of the times JSMB [students have] no respect for the CSU,” he said. “If they see an email from the CSU they’ll delete it right out of their inbox, it’s come to that point. When I was approached to run I discussed it with my peers and they said ‘Why in the world would you want to do that to yourself Scott?’”

Despite both coming from JMSB backgrounds, the two candidates had plenty to disagree about over the course of the two debates, with the subject of Reggie’s being the most contentious issue by far.

Carr claimed that Reggie’s problems began at the top with CUSACorp’s Board of Directors, saying that the students sitting on the board had no experience running a bar and no vision for the future due to the constant turnover. Tardivo expressed an interest in extending the mandates of directors to increase the board’s institutional memory and reduce the amount of information lost during turnover periods.

On the issue of increasing profit at Reggie’s, Tardivo expressed an interest in potentially serving food there, saying that in the past when it was tried, it proved very profitable for the bar, but Carr insisted that it was not a possibility as it would infringe on the exclusivity contract the school currently has with Chartwell’s to exclusively sell food on campus.

The debates also gave the potential executives a chance to discuss long-term goals beyond their mandates. Carr and Tardivo spoke about reducing Reggie’s debt and making it profitable, respectively, while James Vaccaro, the VP internal and clubs candidate discussed expanding sustainable food options on campus. Crystal Harrison, the candidate for VP Loyola, said that she hoped to put in motion the Hive Café and that it would continue to grow after her term was up.

“I actually hope that the Hive Café extends past my mandate because I want it to be a sustainable long-term investment that lasts for many years to come,” she said. “We’re going to lay down the framework and let it keep growing from there because I think it has so much potential.”

Melissa Kate Wheeler – Presidential candidate
Caroline Bourbonnière – VP external and mobilization candidate
James Vaccaro – VP internal and clubs candidate
Katrina Caruso – VP student life candidate
Crystal Harrison – VP Loyola candidate
Gene Morrow – VP academic and advocacy candidate
Benjamin Prunty – VP sustainability candidate
Scott Carr – VP finance candidate
Pierre Tardivo – VP finance candidate

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Pushing the boulder up the hill

News of the Hive Café’s impending opening has been circulating on a loop around campus for years now.

Stories and announcements can be found going back almost five years, each time Concordia Student Union candidates promising that the Hive Café would be opening in the coming weeks. Despite an investment of hundreds of thousand of dollars, and untold hours of work, the Hive Café is still not completed.

Despite a history of devouring any candidates that attempt to fix it, the Hive has found itself (once again) in the spotlight for the current executive campaigns. Candidates have made multiples promises during the campaign for how they intend to fix the broken student space, and despite what history tells us, outgoing VP Loyola Stefan Faina says he thinks they have a good chance of pulling it off.

“I like that the next executive hopefuls are talking about the Hive Café as much as they are,” he told The Concordian. “The Hive Café was not one of my campaign points but I took more and more interest in it as the school year progressed. The fact that the campaign right now is focusing as much as it is on the Hive is a good sign. I think they have what it takes to push the project forward.”

Crystal Harrison, the VP Loyola candidate with CSYou said that she hoped to find out what the community wants from the Hive and said that a member of her team had met that day with the manager of the G Lounge for an informal discussion about possible collaboration in the future.

“We foresee more of these conversations taking place,” she said. “We also plan to sit down with representatives from student groups on campus and in this way we hope to increase both the reach and relevance of our plans.”

Faina said that when he first came into his position as VP Loyola, the Hive was a concept and little else.

“There had been some work done towards setting it up in the past but the main problem always came down to a hesitancy on the side of the council and general manager to embark on what they saw as too great a financial risk,” he said.

Faina said that a lot of that hesitation came down to a few major issues: the rocky financial history of Reggie’s, the fact that no concrete business plan existed for the Hive, perceived difficulties with the electrical output available and problems with having unionized (Loyola Luncheon) and potentially non-unionized (Hive Café) employees sharing the same workspace.

Once he knew the issues, Faina says he worked on a plan of action, with the most important step being a much needed business plan. After exploring the options, he realized that looking within Concordia, such as at the consulting services offered at the JMSB, might be the best answer.

“This is supposed to be a student-run, student-implemented initiative. If we have the resources available to us on our home ground, why not use them? It would greatly save costs and be true to the student-oriented Hive Cafe philosophy.”

By the end of the year, Faina hopes that all the necessary steps will have been taken in order to begin construction at the Hive, with the business plan being the last step he finishes before his mandate is over. With that done, the only obstacle remaining may be the most difficult one to overcome: the turnover rate at the CSU. Faina says that in his opinion, the Hive has taken much longer than necessary because of the constant turnover from one VP Loyola to another, forcing the new executives to start from scratch. Next year, he says, he wants his successor to begin on the same page as he finishes.

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Council appoints a new president

The Concordia Student Union is no longer leaderless as VP sustainability Andrew Roberts was appointed to the position of president during last Wednesday’s regular council meeting.

The CSU was without a president since Feb. 12 following the official resignation of Schubert Laforest, who cited a decline in health as his reason for leaving.

The executive began by presenting four candidates as options to council: VP clubs and internal Nadine Atallah, VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon, VP Loyola Stefan Faina and the absent VP academic and advocacy Hajar El Jahidi. Atallah, despite receiving zero votes from councillors during the contentious Feb.13 council meeting, did not rescind her candidacy.

Immediately following the announcement, Faina withdrew his name prior to the discussion held by council over potential options for a new president. This left three options from the executive to be voted upon.

Lauzon stated that he was ready to take on the position despite adamantly declining the opportunity in February. He explained that as president he would have clear modes of communication with the executive and council.

In a snap decision, Roberts offered to be considered — a suggestion he refused at the earlier date of Feb. 13, stating he did not want to deal with the “politics” that come with the role of president.

“I’ll throw my name in,” said Roberts.

Upon saying that the room was too tense, Roberts put forward his candidacy and council quickly passed a motion from Councillor Gonzo Nieto for Roberts to be the fourth candidate on the list.

Some councillors expressed concern over appointing Roberts since he was initially reluctant to even be considered for the role and were uneasy about putting Roberts in such a position.

“Andrew is awesome,” said councillor Hardial Rosner. “But he really, really doesn’t want to do it.”

However, councillor Chad Walcott argued that Roberts was the best outcome for appointing a new president from the executive.

“Andrew is trying to step up and do the right thing,” said Walcott. “He’s the only one who I would vote for.”

Following tense discussion surrounding all four candidates, council went to a secret ballot to determine the next president of the CSU. Roberts will continue as president through the end of his mandate until June 1.

The CSU was at an impasse for more than a month following the Feb. 13 meeting that left both the executive and councillors unhappy with the outcome and one another.

The executive recommended that Atallah replace Laforest following his unsuspected departure but this didn’t sit well with council. It quickly divided the room, pinning the executive, who felt Atallah was best suited for the position, against councillors, who refused to appoint Atallah. Councillors demanded other options but no other executive was willing to take on the portfolio at the time.

The discussion ended as contentiously as it began, with councillors Nieto and James Vaccaro pursuing a complaint with the CSU’s Judicial Board over bylaw 7.4. The bylaw states that should there be a vacancy in the presidency, council shall appoint a president from the vice-presidents; should no vice-presidents be willing then a councillor may be appointed with two-thirds majority of votes.

However, the bylaw does not instruct what to do should the only vice-president who is willing be rejected by council but does not withdraw their candidacy.

JB ruled in favour of council but allowed the executive to first present other options than Atallah for councillors to choose from.

Now that council has appointed their new president, it seems as though it will not appoint another student to take on Roberts’ portfolio. The new president said he would continue to work in both capacities but that council must move forward together.

“This isn’t a be all, end all,” said Roberts. “It’s a group effort.”

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Backlash over procedure from council

Photo by Marilla Steuter-Martin
Photo by Marilla Steuter-Martin

A lack of communication and failure to follow procedure is interfering with the production of the Concordia Student Union once again.

Various changes to the organization’s bylaws are in danger of disappearing should they not be included during the general elections as a referendum question.This process not only went undone, but also went unnoticed until Judicial Board Chairperson Nick Cuillerier brought it to the attention of council last Wednesday.

The oversight could mean that revisions to bylaws ‘I’ and ‘J,’ and a modification to bylaw 10.2, fall flat before they were ever truly recognized. Bylaw ‘I’ was changed to reference bylaw ‘J’ to provide a committee to oversee the spending of the student centre fund.

The executive did not realize the implications until it was brought forth after Cuillerier saw a notice of polls poster at Concordia the same evening.

The mistake, while VP clubs and internal Nadine Atallah promised it would be quickly rectified, garnered backlash from council.

“This is a huge dereliction of duties,” said Councillor Chad Walcott. “I want to know what happened to let you screw up to such a massive degree.”

The executive did not have a clear answer as to why the notice requirement was never done other than it was an error.

As the notice requirement was not fulfilled, the CSU used a notwithstanding clause under the standing regulations since the changes were not announced in the postering.

“Any ordinary motion, resolution or regulation who derogates from the code can only be adopted with a clause stating that the motion operates regardless of the code of standing regulations. The clause must state which article(s) are not to be applied towards the motion. Such motion requires a 2/3 majority vote and will cease to have effect 4 months following its approval,” standing regulation 267 reads.

This allows the revisions to the bylaws to be put to referendum and the executive was mandated through a motion to issue an email to the undergraduate student body to inform them of the question before 6 a.m. Thursday morning but has to yet to do so.

Missing report, missing meetings

A Senate report from VP academic and advocacy Hajar El Jahidi was missing from the documents presented to council last Wednesday. Councillor James Vaccaro asked for the report but El Jahidi was absent due to illness. However, since Vaccaro and Senator Chuck Wilson were both present, they quickly went over the details of the last Senate meeting.

It also came to light that El Jahidi, since taking her mandate in November, has yet to attend any Steering Committee meetings. The total number of meetings is now at five, three of which El Jahidi was part of the executive for and has missed.

Speaking to The Concordian, El Jahidi said that her absences were unfortunate but were out of hands as factors including IT problems and sickness prevented her from being present for Senate and steering committee meetings.

“For steering committee I was very unfortunate as I haven’t been able to attend. For the first meeting I was out of town but I sent my regrets, and for the second one I was sick and I couldn’t make it,” she said.

El Jahidi also said omplaints about her absences were never brought to her prior to being aired elsewhere such as at CSU meetings, and that despite difficulties attending meetings she had made an effort to keep up with Senate and steering committee events.

“I’ve been keeping in touch with what’s been happening at the steering committee,” she said. “I tried once to talk to the other person who was at steering, I think it was Chuck [Wilson], but he wasn’t that responsive.”

Conversely, Senator Chuck Wilson said that is not true.

“That is not true — no one knew,” said Wilson. “Danielle Tessier would specifically ask me, awkwardly, if I knew if Hajar was coming.”

Wilson said that he was sending updates on meetings since February.

“I’m really not sure where this is coming from,” said Wilson. “I’ve been trying to keep everyone aware of what’s happening at Steering, and I’ve never heard so much as a peep from Hajar about it.”

Part of the responsibilities of VP academic include the coordination and the chairing of meetings of the student academic caucus, as well as sitting on Concordia’s academic bodies.

A Senate report has yet to be filed.

More backlash

The same meeting produced remarkable tension throughout the room, this time aimed at Chairperson Jean-François Ouellet for not following procedure during council.

During multiple votes, Ouellet counted abstentions within the total number of votes — a process that violates Robert’s Rules of Order. An abstention, or the refusal to vote, is not technically supposed to influence the outcome of a vote.

Furthermore, council lost patience with Ouellet when he refused to acknowledge Councillor Gonzo Nieto’s challenge to the chair toward the end of the meeting.

Both Nieto and Walcott left shortly after the challenge was disregarded.

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Judicial Board rules in favour of council

In a unanimous decision late Wednesday night, the Concordia Student Union’s Judicial Board ruled in favour of plaintiff Gonzo Nieto on the matter of choosing a new CSU president.

In its decision, JB cited CSU bylaw 6.3C and standing regulation 52 as the fundamental basis for the conclusion that council is not forced to appoint the only vice-president who is willing or to remain leaderless. Bylaw 6.3C states that council will “act as the final authority on appointments of the student union” while standing regulation 52 states that “all internal and external appointments by council shall be by ordinary resolution.”

The complaint, originally submitted by councillors Nieto and James Vaccaro, stems from a regular meeting held on Feb.13. During the meeting, the executive presented VP clubs and internal Nadine Atallah to replace former President Schubert Laforest, who resigned due to health issues.

After hours of arguing, clashing over bylaws and threats of legal action, council rejected the proposal and Atallah refused to rescind her candidacy, leaving the CSU in a deadlock while the issue was sent to JB.

The central issue of the case was two separate interpretations of bylaw 7.4, which states that should there be a vacancy in the presidency, council shall appoint a president from the vice-presidents and should no vice-presidents be willing then a councillor may be appointed with two-thirds majority of votes.

The executive believed that council was violating the bylaws since Atallah was the only vice-president willing to take on the position. Conversely, council expressed their discontent, asking for a second option from the executive or to appoint a councillor.

During the hearing, Nieto represented the councillors who had issue with the idea of being forced to choose Atallah, while Atallah and VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon represented the executive. Over the course of the two-hour meeting, both sides argued their points before the five members of JB. After two hours of closed session deliberation the decision was made public.

Following the decision, Lauzon told The Concordian that the decision would allow the process of choosing a president to move forward.

“The decision defined the boundaries between which we can work,” Lauzon said.

Nadine Atallah told The Concordian that she was happy to have a ruling from the Judicial Board that would allow them to move forward with a discussion.

“I’m glad they were able to clear things up, and I’m glad they recognized that there needs to be some change to the policy as it is unclear,” she said.

The executive is set to present four executives as options: Atallah, Lauzon, VP academic and advocacy Hajar El Jahidi and VP Loyola Stefan Faina.

Nieto said that he was pleased with the decision the Board had reached but admitted that neither bylaw 6.3C nor standing regulation 52 were included in his argumentation despite the role they played in deciding the issue. Atallah also told The Concordian that 6.3C was not included in any of the arguments presented, and that its inclusion in the decision was a matter of the Judicial Board’s own research.

“We were debating this particular by-law, 7.4, and so we were arguing about how to interpret it rather than the entirety of the bylaws,” she said.

Vaccaro said he hopes the CSU can move forward from the impasse and that he was happy that JB recognized the importance of council.

Bylaw 6.3C “recognizes what the executive seems to be repeatedly neglecting,” he said. “The council of representatives is there to look out for the interests of students and represent them at all costs. The executive is elected to execute the will of council, which represents the will of students in lieu of a meeting of members.”

Nieto said that going forward he hoped other executives would present themselves as candidates, citing VP sustainability Andrew Roberts as an example.

“The thing with [Roberts] is that he keeps bringing up this thing about not liking the politics side of the position, and that’s exactly why we want him, because he’s been a very forthcoming, open and transparent person that’s shown the ability to listen attentively to both sides,” said Vaccaro.

The next regular CSU meeting is this Wednesday where the issue of presidency will be addressed.

With files from Kalina Laframboise

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News

The Concordia Student Union’s elections are coming

The Concordia Student Union elections are approaching and the majority of executive candidates are running unopposed for the 2013-14 academic year.

The nomination period for potential applicants ended Friday and it was revealed Monday that 10 undergraduate students are vying for the eight spots reserved for the executive. The positions of VP student life and VP finance are the only roles that have more than one candidate.

John Molson School of Business Councillor Anja Rajaonarivelo and Fine Arts Student Alliance councillor Katrina Caruso are both competing for the portfolio of VP student life.

JMSB Councillor Pierre Tardivo, who joined the CSU during the November byelections, is running for the position of VP finance against Scott Carr, who campaigned for president of the Commerce and Administration Students’ Association for the upcoming year but lost.

Councillor Melissa Kate Wheeler is the only student running for president of the organization — the first time since the Unity slate ran completely uncontested for all executive spots in the March 2008 election.

Executive candidates:
Melissa Kate Wheeler – President
Caroline Bourbonnière – VP external
James Vaccaro – VP internal
Gene Morrow – VP academic and advocacy
Crystal Harrison – VP Loyola
Benjamin Prunty – VP sustainability
Pierre Tardivo – VP finance
Scott Carr – VP finance
Katrina Caruso – VP student life
Anja Rajaonarivelo – VP student life

Council
Familiar faces within the Concordia political realm will returns as councillors including current VP clubs and internal Nadine Atallah, VP academic and advocacy Hajar El Jahidi and VP student life Alexis Suzuki.

During the Feb.13 council meeting, Councillor Chad Walcott asked if Atallah had intention of running for the upcoming election as an executive again and her response was no. However, Atallah never specified that she would not try to return as a councillor.

The total number of candidates applying for council is 21, but Chief Electoral Officer Andre-Marcel Baril said that he could not provide more information, including which faculties that councillors are representing, by press time.

Councillor candidates:
Wendy Kraus-Heitmann
Nikos Pidiktakis
Justin Occhionero
Yasmeen Zahar
Chuck Wilson
Hajar El Jahidi
Francis Boyer
John Talbot
Adam Veenendaal
Nadine Atallah
Alanna Stacey
Yassine Chaabi
Reenaben Patel
Vitali Gofman
Aaishah Karim
Radia Tbeur
Aaisha Malik
Omar Badawi
Sergio Del Grosso
Bilal Nasser
Alexis Suzuki

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News

A resolution in the works

Photo by Marilla Steuter-Martin
Photo by Marilla Steuter-Martin

The Judicial Board is expected to render a decision on the issue of electing a new president for the Concordia Student Union, where an impasse is preventing council from moving forward.

Following the unexpected resignation of Schubert Laforest in early February, councillors and executive remain divided over who is best to lead the organization for the last months of the mandate. In a contentious council meeting on Feb. 13, the executive’s recommendation of VP internal Nadine Atallah to fill the empty position fell flat with the councillors.

Not a single councillor voted for Atallah, who the executive felt was best for president. A compromise was not reached as both sides adamantly refused to reconsider their choices — including Atallah who did not want to rescind her candidacy.

Councillors Gonzo Nieto and James Vaccaro filed a complaint to the JB, where the three members will rule Wednesday on the issue of presidency and provide clarity on the CSU’s bylaw 7.4.

Bylaw 7.4 states that should there be a vacancy in the presidency, council shall appoint a president from the vice-presidents; should no vice-presidents be willing then a councillor may be appointed with two-thirds majority of votes.

However, the bylaw does not state what to do if only one vice-president is willing but council does not agree.

To end the complaint, Nieto wrote that he hoped the JB could remedy the situation and provide clarity on the bylaw.

“It is our belief that this situation should be handled the same way as if there were no vice-presidents willing to fill the vacancy of the presidency — namely, that a member of the council of representatives would be appointed to fill the vacancy of the presidency, as per bylaw 7.4,” the complaint read.

Vaccaro said that he hopes the issue will be resolved quickly so that the CSU can move forward.

“I’m hoping the JB can clarify the bylaw because as written, it is unclear and does not state how we should proceed if the only willing executive is not appointed by the council,” said Vaccaro. “I would be happy to see another executive state they are willing as I’m sure their team dynamic would be best with a leader they’ve been working with throughout the year.”

Conversely, Atallah hopes that other than volunteering herself for the position of presidency, she hopes that JB will offer different interpretations of the bylaw.

With files from Robin Della Corte.

Categories
Concordia Student Union News

CSU stuck in a deadlock

CSU VP clubs and internal affairs Nadine Atallah (left). Photo by Madelayne Hajek
CSU VP clubs and internal affairs Nadine Atallah (left). Photo by Madelayne Hajek

An ideological impasse between the executive and council over who is best suited to lead the Concordia Student Union has left the organization without a president for an undetermined amount of time.

Following the resignation of Schubert Laforest as president last week, the executive issued their recommendation of appointing VP clubs and internal Nadine Atallah to replace Laforest.

However, the recommendation failed—not a single councillor voted for Atallah.

When the executive explained why they felt that Atallah was best suited to take on the position of president, it was quickly met with reservations from council.

Councillors, such as Melissa Kate Wheeler, voiced their concerns on what they perceived as a lack of transparency on Atallah’s part. There was also worry about Atallah continuing with the ongoing student centre project while fulfilling the mandate of president. An issue for Chad Walcott, councillor and former VP external, was that Atallah was not sitting as a student representative on either the Board of Governors or Senate.

Atallah immediately disclosed why, although she said that Walcott knew the response, saying that her academic standing prohibited her from sitting on the university’s governing bodies.

However, what concerned councillors the most and fuelled what ended up being a united front against the executive was that they felt backed into corner. Councillors were upset that a recommendation was made from the executive before the issue of finding a new president was brought to council.

“There isn’t even an option being presented,” said Councillor Gonzo Nieto. “That’s not how this scenario plays out.”

Nieto asked if any other executive would consider presidency and the seven vice-presidents adamantly refused. VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon said that he would be unable and unwilling to work as president because he was “burning out” and that “if this had been six months ago it would have been different.”

The executive stated that Atallah was the only option—a belief that fed the backlash from council.

“As an executive our mind is made up about who we want as president,” said VP Loyola Stefan Faina. “If you want to discuss then that’s fine.”

The executive left the room at the request of council, allowing individuals to discuss their concerns candidly before Walcott moved to call the motion to appoint Atallah to question. It failed, with zero councillors in favour, seven opposed and five abstentions.

VP sustainability Andrew Roberts also refused a motion from Walcott to appoint him as president, citing that he was not into the politics that come with the position. He stressed that Atallah was the right choice for the CSU.

Several councillors, including Carlotta Longo and Fine Arts representative with ex officio rights Erika Couto, asked Atallah to reconsider her application.

“Clearly, no one chose you,” said Couto.

However, Atallah chose not to rescind her motion saying that while she understood the opposition to her candidacy, “it was not only her decision.” This left the CSU without a way to move forward unless Atallah agreed to step back.

As the impasse became apparent, the divide grew as each side maintained their resolve. The executive felt that council was breaching the CSU’s bylaws by not following the legal advice they sought about appointing a new president.

Bylaw 7.3 states that council may appoint a new president from the vice-presidents with a simple majority. Similarly, bylaw 7.4 says that should there be no executive willing to be president that a councillor may fulfill the role of president with a two-thirds majority.

“I feel uncomfortable sitting in a council where its members are knowingly breaching its bylaws,” said VP academic and advocacy Hajar El Jahidi.

When the notion of legal action was implied as the executive believed council was violating their own bylaws, Councillor Jordan Lindsay said he felt uneasy with the actions of the executive and that, should they sue council, they would be going down a difficult road.

“I hate being threatened,” said Lindsay. “Your threat is so empty.”

Council maintained that their concerns were not being taken seriously and that there was more than the options presented.

Nick Cuillerier, who chaired the meeting since Jean-François Ouellet was absent, said that “there had to be a way to move forward.”

It was decided that the matter would be sent to the Judicial Board to render a decision. The bylaws do not state what a solution is for the current circumstances. As Atallah was opposed and no executive is willing, it will be determined if council must choose from the executive or not.

Council must name a plaintiff in order for the case to proceed to JB and the members of JB can take up to two weeks to issue a decision.

Until then, the CSU will continue without a president.

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