Tag: Concordia Student Union

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Going head-to-head

File photo of VP clubs and internal Nadine Atallah
File photo of VP clubs and internal Nadine Atallah

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 him.

Except 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 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, saying 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, that they would be going down a difficult road.

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

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. At this point in time, 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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FASA will get its representation on council

The Fine Arts Student Association voted unanimously to accept a motion that would grant them three ex-officio seats on the Concordia Student Union’s council after byelections last November left Fine Arts students without representation.

At their meeting last Wednesday, FASA voted on the motion originally introduced at the CSU’s last regular meeting on Jan. 23 as a partial remedy for the lack of representation on council.

The motion passed by FASA accepted the three seats offered by the CSU. The same motion included amendments on issues like postering and communication with faculty associations to pressure the CSU to make changes to avoid similar situations in the future.

Iain Meyer-Macaulay, a Fine Arts student who attended the previous CSU meeting when the issue of representation was being discussed, said that the motion in question was an acceptable alternative to another byelection.

“It’s a pretty good offer considering what is able to happen now,” said Meyer-Macaulay.

He also gave some context to the issue and spoke of the petition authored by FASA VP clubs and services Erika Couto that first brought the lack of representation to light.

“This petition was sent in November to CSU council, and nothing really happened out of it,” he said. “However, because of time constraints and other issues within and without the CSU, these ex-officio seats are probably the best we can do to get representation for Fine Arts students.”

Another sore point for some of the FASA councillors and executives was the fact that in the CSU’s standing regulations under article 181, the Chief Electoral Officer is not required to post flyers in the VA building where a large percentage of Fine Arts classes are held. VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon explained that the issue of electoral postering was not one that the CSU had direct control over, but that they would work to amend the standing regulations if necessary.

“When it comes to election posters, it’s very much separated from the executive,” Lauzon said. “It’s handled by the Chief Electoral Officer, and he of course has policies that he has to follow, so when it comes to the postering it’s not our personal decision where the electoral posters go, it’s the CEO’s job to make sure that everything’s postered with the appropriate resources.”

VP clubs and internal affairs Nadine Atallah was also present at the meeting to answer questions about the last byelections and what is being done to avoid a similar situation occurring in the future.

Emissary promises

Atallah also discussed an idea she originally included in her campaign platform, to have emissaries between the CSU and student faculty associations like FASA, that is now being revisited as a possible solution to a lack of communication between the two groups.

“The way that it would work, and this is up to discussion, is that every year there would be councillors who would be appointed to faculty associations and the idea would be that the faculty associations would choose which councillors they would want to be their emissaries, so to speak,” she said. “So the idea would be that you would ask this councillor if they would be willing and if they are then we would appoint them to the faculty association and their job would be to be the go-between between the CSU and the faculty associations both by speaking about what happened at your meetings and what are your concerns and also bringing the CSU’s concerns back to your table as well.”

Atallah said that the original idea was first conceived when she was running for her current position, but that a lack of response from faculty associations on the project created concerns that implementing it without their involvement would encroach on other associations.

Under the CSU’s bylaws, it is the role of VP student life to act as a liaison between the executive and faculty associations. Bylaw 7.12 outlines the duties of VP student life to collaborate with the the other unions.

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A change in tactics

The executive of the Concordia Student Union will be recommending to council during the next regular meeting Wednesday that Nadine Atallah, current VP clubs and internal affairs, take over the position of president.

President Schubert Laforest officially gave notice on Feb. 7. In a public letter, Laforest stated a decline in health as his reason for departure, citing ongoing mononucleosis and strep throat.

Laforest explained in the letter that he endorsed Atallah as a candidate for his replacement.

“I hope Nadine Atallah, current VP clubs and internal affairs, will take over my position and all my responsibilities with council’s approval. The team and I are very confident in her abilities to lead the union and to carry on with the team of executives through the remainder of the year,” the letter read.

Atallah said that for about two to three days, the executive sat down to speak about the situation and what would be best to move forward. The executive decided together that the best option was that Laforest resign and Atallah to be recommended to the council to take over the position of president.

“The idea was that we would appoint one of us to take over the position and as a team, we felt as if the best person to finish out the mandate is me,” Atallah said.

Bylaw 7.4 states that a majority from council must appoint a new president from the remaining vice-presidents. However, if no vice-presidents will take on the role, a councillor may take the position of president provided a two-thirds majority vote from the council is given.

Atallah stated that there are two significant reasons why the executive felt she would be best to fill the position. One reason being that her job now, VP clubs and internal affairs, is more administrative. According to Atallah, it would be easier to teach someone else her position than any other on the executive.

The second reason is that she and Laforest worked closely together throughout the year. “I’m already in the loop, I know where we’re at and what needs to be done,” she said.

Atallah echoed Laforest’s sentiments expressed in a public letter stating it was a difficult personal decision.

“It’s a big deal, we get attached to the job, the union, the way things are run,” Atallah said. “Unless you do this job, you won’t understand how attached you get and for [Laforest] to resign, it’s an extremely big deal, it’s a sign of how much he cared for the union since he put our interests before his.”

Atallah explained that Laforest was an essential part to the team and although the transition won’t be easy without him, she knows that he will be there as much as he can and that his relationship with the union isn’t over.

Councillor Chad Walcott said although it is unfortunate that Laforest had to resign, he didn’t appreciate that the executive chose who they felt should take on the role of president without consulting council.

“I’m a little confused because Nadine refused to sit on both the Board of Governors and Senate,” said Walcott. “When do we get consulted on this?”

Looking to the future, Atallah says she doesn’t take the position of president lightly and realizes it’s a hard job to perform.

“We want this to be a turning point for us, we’re disappointed for [Laforest] leaving but we want to come out of this stronger than we were,” Atallah said. “But ultimately, it’s the council’s decision.”

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU president steps down

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

President Schubert Laforest officially resigned from the Concordia Student Union citing health reasons last Thursday night.

Laforest addressed the issue in a public letter stating that due to a case of mononucleosis and strep throat, he was unable to withstand long workdays and properly lead the executive for the remainder of his mandate.

“This is really the only option,” said Laforest. “It’s just irresponsible for me to put myself at risk and put the CSU at risk by staying in that position — I have to put the wellbeing of the CSU before that.”

The executive discussed other options but Laforest said it was ultimately his resignation that would be best for the union and stated that it was the “hardest decision of his life.”

“My doctor said that that the way it looks now is it might last another seven weeks to, worst scenario, six months,” said Laforest. “It could be indefinite.”

The resignation is effective as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. Laforest pushed the date past the weekend to have the opportunity to finish initiatives taken regarding ongoing problems with the information technology services issues and the search for a new general manager.

In an open letter to council and students, Laforest stated that he had tried to work through his illness but it was simply not manageable.

“Before receiving the latest results, I had hoped that if I was adamant enough I would be able to recover quickly or, at the very least, make myself work through it. However, I have come to realize that is neither feasible nor in the best interest of all the parties involved. It would not be fair for me to delegate my duties to my executives in the hopes that I recover rapidly, nor would it be fair for the Concordia student body to be represented in this manner,” the letter read.

Schubert Laforest. Photo by Madelayne Hajek

Shortly after the resignation came to light, the A Better Concordia slate issued a statement of its own, commending the now former-president’s “selflessness to put the executive and that of the Concordia Student Union above those of his own.”

“Obviously, we’re very grateful to Schubert for all he’s done this year, including all the long nights and rough days. Struggling with health issues recently, he’s still stayed strong in his conviction to serving the Concordia Student Union, leading us as a team and helping us individually with our mandates,” the letter read.

At the upcoming meeting this Wednesday, council will appoint a new president. Furthermore, should the executive’s recommendation for VP internal and clubs Nadine Atallah as president be accepted by a simple majority of council, then a second appointment will be made to fulfill the vacated role of VP internal and clubs.

Left in the dark

Most councillors were unaware of the resignation of Laforest until they read about it in the student press Thursday night. For Councillor Chad Walcott, there was no indication of Laforest’s departure prior to articles detailing the resignation.

“As far as I know, no one knew,” said Walcott.

Walcott explained that the lack of notice reflected the year the executive was having in terms of communicating with council.

“It’s unfortunate that it got leaked but at the same time but we could have been given a preemptive heads up and that’s indicative of this year where things have been brought up at council,” said Walcott. “When do we get consulted on this?”

Councillor James Vaccaro said that he was informed that the email server used by the executive crashed and that the email forwarding the resignation letter didn’t make it to council as Laforest intended. However, Vaccaro told The Concordian that ceaseless infighting and “petty arguments” over the undelivered email was affecting the productivity of council.

“We should be acting towards the best interests of the union at a time that is clearly difficult instead of continuously infighting,” said Vaccaro. “It’s frustrating to see bright and passionate people fighting amongst each other instead of working together to bring great things to Concordia.”

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU president steps down

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

Story updated, click here to read more.

President Schubert Laforest officially stepped down from the Concordia Student Union citing health reasons Thursday night.

Laforest told The Concordian that due to a case of mononucleosis, he could no longer continue his duties as president of the CSU.

“This is really the only option,” said Laforest. “It’s just irresponsible for me to put myself at risk and put the CSU at risk by staying in that position — I have to put the wellbeing of the CSU before that.”

The executive discussed other options but Laforest said it was ultimately his resignation that would be best for the union and stated that it was the “hardest decision of his life.”

The resignation will be officially effective as of Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. so that Laforest can have the opportunity to tie up some loose ends of unfinished projects such as the ongoing information technology services issues and the search for a new general manager.

A new president will be appointed next Wednesday evening during the CSU’s regular council meeting. The executive agreed that VP internal and clubs Nadine Atallah would be best suited to fulfill the role of president issued in a letter by Laforest.

“I have already begun finalizing all the critical files I have been working on, after which, I hope Nadine Atallah, current VP Clubs and Internal Affairs, will take over my position and all my responsibilities with council’s approval. The team and I are very confident in her abilities to lead the union and to carry on with the team of executives through the remainder of the year,” the letter read.

Bylaw 7.4 states a simply majority from council must appoint a new president from the remaining vice-presidents and that should no vice-presidents take on the role, that a councillor may fulfill the position of president provided a two-thirds majority vote from council.

The executive issued a statement regarding Laforest’s resignation saying they were “saddened” he was leaving the team.

“Obviously, we’re very grateful to Schubert for all he’s done this year, including all the long nights and rough days. Struggling with health issues recently, he’s still stayed strong in his conviction to serving the Concordia Student Union, leading us as a team and helping us individually with our mandates,” the letter read.

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Winter orientation gets cold shoulder

The Concordia Student Union’s winter orientation consisted of a week of activities tasked by VP student life that many felt fell flat due to poor advertising and organization.

Although various events stretched out through the week at both campuses, including a sugar shack, Cultural Night and a night at Igloofest with the CSU, Mia Nesto, a first-year student claims she wasn’t aware of the winter orientation and if she had known about it, she would have attended.

“I may have seen signs at school but they did not catch my attention,” said Nesto. “I didn’t see any Facebook events about it either.”

This was also the case with second-year human relations student, Sabrina Marchei.

“They didn’t advertise the winter orientation enough,” said Marchei. “I don’t think I heard a lot about it at all.”

Former VP external Chad Walcott believes that although VP student life Alexis Suzuki brought in interesting ideas for the orientations this year, both initiatives were largely under-advertised.

“Orientation was not a success this year because it failed to reach students or create any real atmosphere on campus,” Walcott said.

Suzuki, on the other hand, said she believes that the winter orientation went well. She feels some events turned out better than others but claims the last two events were a hit with the couple hundred people who turned up.

“I got really sick during orientation, it was really tough for me to keep moving and I did as much as I could while I was ill,” Suzuki said. “I think there’s always things we could’ve done better but we did the best that we could.”

First-year student Meghan Birch, who attended several events last week, agrees with Walcott.

“I found it to be quite disorganized actually,” Birch said. “All the events I went to started late and the organizers were rushing around to get stuff done once they had already started.”

Walcott claimed he made suggestions about advertising and how to effectively use student media to spread the word about the events but was ignored. CSU Councillor Melissa Kate Wheeler stated that she contacted Suzuki to be put on the volunteer list for the orientation but was not put on.

Communication confusion

Last year’s VP student life Laura Glover claimed that she offered her full assistance to Suzuki after training her for the position but states that Suzuki never took up the offer.

However, Suzuki said “she never offered her assistance for winter orientation” and stated that she hasn’t heard from Glover in a long time.

“Instead of attempting to explain what her difficulties have been or even face the criticisms that we have put forth, she has chosen to avoid the issues and seems quite content to let her executive take the heat for her lack of performance,” Walcott said.

VP Loyola, Stefan Faina claims that the turnout at the Loyola campus was a success but that there is always room for improvement. “I personally would’ve liked a little more advertising,” Faina said. “I wish we could’ve had a greater variety of events.” He states that although some events couldn’t happen, they still had the chance to do the ice sculpturing and serve a large population of students as he planned.

Walcott went on to emphasize that part of Suzuki’s mandate as VP student life is to submit a post-mortem orientation report. He claims that council asked her to submit a revised report. In response to their request of a re-write, Suzuki stated she would submit a “how-to guide” on June 1, 2013, while the mandate of CSU executive ends May 31. When Walcott expressed to Suzuki that June would be too late, her response was that she would only submit it then.

Walcott claims that at the next council meeting, he will bring forth questions about the winter orientation as well.

“Part of being in executive is being accountable, and right now [Suzuki] is demonstrating very little will to be accountable,” said Walcott.

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A violation that led to a resignation

Councillor Ramy Khoriaty officially resigned from the Concordia Student Union less than an hour before a Judicial Board hearing following an allegedly unintentional violation of the standing regulations.

During the last regular council meeting, Councillor Chad Walcott brought forth the issue of Khoriaty’s employment as orientation director for the CSU’s two-week long orientation that starts off each school year.

The standing regulation 225 states that a member of council is eligible for disqualification for six reasons, one of which is being hired after they took office as a councillor. Khoriaty was elected in March 2012 and the current slate and councillors’ mandate began in June. Upon being hired by the CSU as orientation director, Khoriaty violated standing regulation 225, article C.

Khoriaty stated in his letter that he stepped down because “under no circumstance should the standing regulations be broken” and that he wanted to lead by example since he was in fact in violation of the rules that govern the CSU.

“… I would like to apologize to my constituencies and assure them that as ENCS councillor, my objective was only ever to use experience I’ve gained from my previous job as executive to try to improve the events of the student union; my actions were always in good faith,” the letter read.

Regardless of Khoriaty’s resignation, the JB still held a meeting to discuss standing regulation 225 and the position of orientation director during fall 2012.

Those present included Khoriaty, Walcott, VP internal Nadine Atallah and VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon. The executives who interviewed Khoriaty for job of orientation director were not present. According to Khoriaty, the interview was conducted by VP student life Alexis Suzuki, VP Loyola Stefan Faina and VP sustainability Andrew Roberts, and possibly President Schubert Laforest.

It came to light during the meeting that Khoriaty was interviewed for the position on June 23 and that his last paycheque from the CSU was on Oct. 11; although he was unable to confirm, Khoriaty believes he received $470 every two weeks as a salary.

As Walcott confirmed he knew of the violation in October, he explained that he was waiting to bring the issue to the policy committee. When Khoriaty questioned why Walcott did not address the issue of Councillor Jordan Lindsay’s potential violation of the same standing regulation, Walcott simply replied that he voted against Lindsay’s appointment to oversee ongoing issues with the CSU’s information technology services.

“It was all in good faith and I never meant to take advantage of that position,” said Khoriaty. “One week before council I had no clue about standing regulation 225; neither did any of the councillors.”

When asked by JB if a hiring committee, which are often static, would be aware of Khoriaty’s position on council, Atallah confirmed that those interviewing applicants would have been aware.

While JB questioned the roles of the individuals in charge of interviewing and hiring students for jobs at the CSU, Khoriaty said he felt that the standing regulation severely limited the pool of applicants for any future volunteer or paid position.

“This is a waste of experience,” said Khoriaty.

Following the hearing, JB issued a provisional decision and recommendations regarding Khoriaty’s violation and the CSU’s hiring policy.

JB addressed the need for clarification of the word “employee” in the standing regulations and was concerned with the hiring process of students by the CSU including the lack of written formal procedure for the recruiting of non-unionized and unionized positions. Furthermore, JB formally reprimanded the individuals involved in the contracting of Khoriaty as orientation director.

“The CSU Judicial Board formally reprimands all those persons involved in the hiring of Rami Khoriaty, including both the orientation hiring committee and Rami Khoriaty, for violating standing regulation 225 C,” the provisional notice read.

Lastly, JB recommended that all councillors and executives take the time to read and understand the CSU bylaws and standing regulations in order to avoid such discrepancies in the near future.

With files from Robin Della Corte.

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Rules, regulations and red tape

Confusion over the Concordia Student Union’s bylaws and standing regulations has left council in an awkward position when it comes to enforcing its own rules.

Standing regulations

During a regular meeting Wednesday, it came to light that student representatives violated the CSU’s standing regulations when executives appointed Councillor Ramy Khoriaty as orientation director. In that position, Khoriaty was in charge of organizing Concordia’s two-week long frosh event that kicks off the start of every school year.

According to the CSU’s standing regulations, article 225 states that a member of council is subject to disqualification for six outstanding reasons. Councillors Chad Walcott and Melissa Kate Wheeler explained that Khoriaty broke article 225 when he took his position of orientation director. Point E states that a member of council must resign:

“If he or she becomes an employee of the student union after taking office,” standing regulations read.

Khoriaty is a former executive, who served as VP finance during the 2010-2011 academic year and, under standing regulations, cannot technically be employed by the CSU following his mandate.

Three executives of the A Better Concordia slate interviewed Khoriaty, apparently without realizing his employment was in violation of the standing regulations. VP Loyola Stefan Faina, VP sustainability Andrew Roberts and VP student life Alexis Suzuki interviewed him initially.

“I have to apologize that we missed that important standing regulation,” said Roberts. “But [Khoriaty] has experience and lots of knowledge.”

Council was torn over what to do despite the implications of the breach of rules. Walcott explained that while it may not directly be Khoriaty’s fault, council had to either follow its standing regulations or “ignore” them.

“This is the time to enforce the bylaws and not send it to the policy committee,” said Walcott. “All of these people should have known the standing regulations and bylaws.”

Councillor James Vaccaro expressed his disdain at the oversight and stressed the importance of reading and knowing the rules that keep council in check.

“This is the ultimate example of how this can go wrong if we don’t know our own rules,” said Vaccaro. “The CSU has failed its students.”

Since council was at an impasse over the potential to force Khoriaty to resign, the Judicial Board will take on the case and render a decision.

Councillor and former VP finance, Jordan Lindsay, resigned from overseeing a project for the CSU Wednesday in order to avoid the same situation. Council initially appointed Lindsay to address ongoing issues with the student association’s information technology services.

CSU bylaws

During the meeting, members of the Fine Arts Student Alliance and the Engineering and Computer Science Association emphasized that there was little communication going on between their associations and the CSU.

Council remained divided over Suzuki’s involvement with student faculty associations, an activity that is loosely mandated in the VP student life’s duties in the CSU’s bylaws under article 7.12.

“The vice-president student life is responsible for the organizing of student orientation and the major events related to student life on campus,” reads the bylaw. “The vice-president is also the liaison for faculty associations.”

While Suzuki was not present for the meeting, it became apparent that certain councillors feel she is not performing her duties to the best of her abilities, following a failed motion to appoint a liaison between FASA and the CSU. Councillor Veryan Goodship emphasized that Suzuki already neglected her mandate prior to Walcott suggesting a “dereliction of duties” which implies a failure to fulfill responsibilities.

Furthermore, while council solved the incomplete bylaw 10.2 regarding membership status, the bylaw itself wasn’t adhered to. The bylaw states that the chairperson of the CSU must verify the student status of the representatives and executives of the student union every semester. Chair Jean-François Ouellet failed to submit his report by the first meeting following the Did Not Enter date at Concordia. Ouellet did inform council that the verification would be completed for the upcoming meeting in February.

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Fine Arts representation still unresolved

An attempt by the Concordia Student Union to fix the lack of Fine Arts representation on council fell flat last Wednesday when it was discovered that the solution in question would violate the union’s own bylaws.

Proposed by CSU President Schubert Laforest, who was absent from the meeting due to illness, the motion would have allowed student faculty associations to appoint a representative to council if both annual general elections and byelections passed but resulted in no student filling any of the seats reserved for that faculty. This was the case after byelections in November left all Fine Arts seats empty on council.

Despite having been checked beforehand by the policy committee and discussed with the Fine Arts Student Alliance executives (some of whom attended the meeting on Wednesday), council quickly realized that the motion would be impossible to allow without violating bylaw 9.3.1 which states that vacant seats can only be filled through a byelection — a fact that left the FASA representatives unimpressed.

FASA VP clubs and services Erika Couto, who first brought the issue to light with a petition she brought to council following the November byelections, was not pleased that council shot down the proposed solution and then moved to suspend the issue indefinitely.

“We’re very angry,” she said. “This points to bigger problems within the CSU’s functioning.”

Couto also said that another byelection would have to be held to allow some Fine Arts representation on council or risk violating the CSU’s bylaws. Bylaw 6.2.1 states that council composition must consist of two representatives from each faculty.

Some councillors, such as Carlotta Longo, suggested that a byelection would be too expensive considering how little time there is left in the academic year.

After a fierce debate, council came to a motion that would allow three Fine Arts representatives to have ex-officio rights on council, which would allow them to sit in on closed sessions but not vote as council members do.

The motion will need to be voted on at the next FASA meeting before it can be accepted or declined.

Councillor Ramy Khoriaty told The Concordian that while the initial solution Laforest brought to council wasn’t viable, he considered the compromise to be the best possible solution.

“We’re having a lot of issues with councillors and executives not knowing the standing regulations properly. It was a mistake for [Laforest] to put forward a motion that was against the standing regulations, but I’m sure that he didn’t know that it was,” Khoriaty said. “The solution that we introduced after was a reasonable one. It was legal and in my opinion, it was the best that we can offer them.”

Khoriaty was also unhappy with the way that FASA approached the meeting, claiming that they blamed the CSU for the situation when it was caused by a lack of interest in the open position.

“I don’t know why people are so scared of saying it, but there was a position open, and nobody ran for it,” he said. “It’s true there were some problems with the other positions, but there was a position open. When it’s so important for them to have representation, somebody needs to run. If there was no position open I would totally understand, but there was a position open.”

In a statement to student media on monday, FASA VP Internal Communications Jessica Gilbert said that the solution proposed at council may not be a viable one.

“My personal understanding of policy is that by-laws cannot be changed in Council and therefore while this is a good idea for the future it does not fix the issue at hand,” she said.

Iain Meyer-Macaulay, a Fine Arts student who attended the meeting, said that overall he felt the meeting went as well as it could have, but that he was also disappointed with the outcome of Laforest’s motion.

“It is important to know the laws which govern your organization especially if you’re sitting at the top,” Meyer-Macaulay said. “When the resolution is presented, by proxy, and is illegal and impossible to implement, it sets a dangerous precedent. It also surprises me that it was the FASA reps who ended up bringing this up in council.”

Meyer-Macaulay also said that his expectations for the solution proposed to FASA were not high.

“The ghost seats are a compromise,” said Meyer-Macaulay. “They are a result of our original grievance falling on deaf ears, and a hasty ‘solution’ being pulled out of the tension in the air when we finally demanded some action out of the CSU in regards to our original grievance.”

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Students voice opinions at town hall

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

The Concordia Student Union held a town hall meeting with guest speakers Monday night, about the much-anticipated education summit that will take place at the end of February.

The CSU wanted to facilitate an open conversation about four major themes that will be discussed at the summit next month, and what quality of education means to Concordia students.

“Now it’s an opportunity for students to voice their vision on universities,” said VP external Simon-Pierre Lauzon of the CSU.

The four main topics that will be discussed at the summit are quality of education, accessibility of education, governance and finance, and research and contribution to society. These main themes were the main points on the agenda to discuss throughout the town hall meeting.

Lauzon stated in the meeting that he has decided to hold an online vote before the summit so that students can vote on different student perspectives and choose the views which best represent them. The website itself is not yet online.

Lauzon clarified that this meeting wasn’t just an information session, but to hear students’ opinions and to incorporate their ideas into what will be brought to the summit.

The floor was open, allowing students to ask questions or raise discussion points throughout the meeting.

“In my opinion, education should be accessible for everyone in Quebec,” Lauzon said.

The topic of having accessible education came up several times, in regards to the rights of students with disabilities, gender, race, age and financial state.

The Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec President Martine Desjardins was one of the guest speakers at the meeting. Desjardins discussed the pressure she is putting on the government with her concerns on tuition and the quality of education.

“We are not in favour for inflammation. We want the government to set back from their position and realize they can’t keep asking students to pay more and pay without a proper evaluation,” Desjardins said.

She went on to say that Concordia students aren’t represented enough through the Board of Governors, which she sees as a major issue.

Lauzon stated that for the next eight days he will be campaigning and open to hear student ideas on a range of topics.

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Concordia has strength in numbers

The Concordia Student Union and the Canadian Federation of Students are back at it again.

The CSU called a special meeting last Wednesday to address the ongoing lawsuit between it and the CFS, the nation’s largest student association that works at a federal level.

The meeting, with a brief introduction from former CSU President Lex Gill, was conducted in closed session to discuss the potential joining of the separate cases filed by the CSU and the university’s Graduate Students’ Association against the CFS.

Both student groups have been trying to leave the CFS unsuccessfully for years, resulting in a slew of accusations from the CFS that both the CSU and the GSA owe unpaid and mounting dues.

On Friday, Jan. 11, the GSA unanimously voted in favour of collaborating with the CSU pending the undergraduate association’s approval.

CSU President Schubert Laforest said the CFS has been notified of the motion.

“After a lengthy discussion where council weighed the pros and potential cons of joining the cases, council decided unanimously to join the cases,” said Laforest. “The CFS is aware of this but we haven’t gotten any response about it as of yet.”

This Wednesday, a motion will be brought before the courts to allow the merging of the two cases against the CFS so they can be tried at the same time.

In March 2010, the CSU held a referendum where an overwhelming percentage of students voted to leave the CFS. The association in turn claimed the process was illegitimate and barred the CSU from leaving. Similarly, when students voted for the departure of the GSA from the CFS in April 2010, the CFS refused to acknowledge the referendum.

Approximately a year later following failed negotiations, the CSU filed a lawsuit for the organization to officially recognize the results and allow them to leave.

In response, the CFS countered with their own lawsuit against the CSU in early 2012, claiming that the union that governs the undergraduate student body owed them close to $2 million in unpaid fees. Since 2010, the CFS has been claiming that the student association have an obligation to pay $1 million.

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A motion to ensure Fine Arts representation

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

A motion due to be proposed at the upcoming meeting of the Concordia Student Union will attempt to resolve the lack of representation on council for Fine Arts students, one week after the Fine Arts Student Association met to discuss possible responses to the situation.

At their first meeting of the year, FASA debated possible actions to be taken in response to the lack of representation on the CSU.

Where the faculty would normally have three representatives, a recent byelection in which no Fine Arts student ran and two councillors were forced to resign means that Fine Arts students have been left with no one to represent their interests on council. In late October, Laura Glover, a councillor and former VP student life and sustainability, stepped down citing a heavy workload as her reason for leaving.

At the meeting, FASA VP clubs and services Erika Couto brought up the issue and opened the floor to possible suggestions. Executives and councillors expressed a variety of responses, including informing Fine Arts students of the situation via newsletter, attempting to withdraw themselves from the CSU in protest and even the possibility of seeking the impeachment of certain councillors.

Finally it was decided that members of FASA would attend the CSU’s next regular meeting to raise the issue and voice their concerns. The executive would also invite VP internal and clubs Nadine Atallah to attend FASA’s next regular meeting to help explain why the byelections were not better advertised to Fine Arts students, a factor that led to no candidates running for the one seat available.

On Thursday, however, CSU President Schubert Laforest contacted Couto to explain that a meeting had been held to come up with possible solutions, and that after consulting with the policy committee, one had been decided on.

Laforest explained that the idea involved changing the standing regulations of the CSU in order to allow the faculty to appoint a representative to council in the event that no student from that faculty is sitting on council.

“Basically it would be to add a new stipulation to the Senate regulations whereby in the event that after both annual general elections there was still no faculty representation from any given faculty, the corresponding faculty association would be given the ability submit someone to be appointed to council to represent the faculty,” he said.

Laforest explained that the way a representative would be chosen was left purposefully vague, to allow the student faculty association freedom to decide the matter in their own way without any involvement from the CSU.

“It’s not for the CSU to impose precisely how that ends up being chosen, that’s for the faculty association to determine themselves,” Laforest said. “They are independant and it would be a step too far if the CSU were to dictate how exactly that would happen.”

The motion, which is due to be discussed and voted on at the upcoming CSU meeting this Wednesday, would allow for some kind of representation for Fine Arts students on council, a fact that Couto says she welcomes.

“I think that [Laforest]’s proposal is a good one,” she said. “As students, we all deserve the opportunity to be a part of the CSU’s framework, and this will hopefully help alleviate this ever happening to any faculty in the future. I really appreciate the effort that he took to get in touch with me and make sure that it was a reasonable solution not just for us but for the future of the CSU and Concordia students at large.”

Couto also said that many FASA executives had reacted positively to the proposal, and that they would attend the upcoming meeting to see the motion debated.

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