Consider the SSMU Fall 2014 GA, where a motion calling for solidarity with Palestinian human rights was tabled indefinitely. The discussion was hijacked, and instead of discussing the merits of standing in solidarity with an oppressed people, students were forced to discuss the intricacies of Robert’s Rules of Order.

A common argument goes like this: students should not be discussing these issues, because the milieu in which they discuss them, the student union, ought not to be political. We are supposedly students first; we have our grades to worry about, assignments to finish, lectures to listen to, parties to attend et cetera. SSMU should not be discussing these “political” issues, because students have other “more important” things to do. In addition, even the proposition for SSMU to consider taking a political stance is deemed divisive and alienating, as political discussions apparently create unbearable tension within the student body. This kind of reactionary is the “politically neutral.”

When the SSMU Legislative Council passed a motion to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Toronto (BLMTO) occupation of the Toronto Police Service headquarters, SSMU VP Internal Omar El-Sharawy said that students want SSMU to be more “fun” and less “political.” Former SSMU presidential candidates Alexei Simakov and Jordan Sinder made “political neutrality” the centrepiece of their campaigns.

While political discussions that are brought up at SSMU are uncomfortable at times, this is not a bad thing. They highlight tensions and disagreements that already exist among students, and working through them is necessary for us to take meaningful steps forward.

The problem is that nothing is politically neutral: everything is inherently political. Though this may seem like a vague statement, the simple fact that injustice and oppression exist in the world means that neutrality, or the choice to not do anything, has the effect of tacitly supporting this status quo. This choice is, in itself, political. It is SSMU’s recognition of its role as a political agent that justifies the commitment to “leadership in matters of human rights, social justice, and environmental protection” set out in SSMU’s Constitution. And while political discussions that are brought up at SSMU are uncomfortable at times, this is not a bad thing. They highlight tensions and disagreements that already exist among students, and working through them is necessary for us to take meaningful steps forward.

Another kind of reactionary hides behind a feigned concern for effectiveness. They recognize that SSMU is, in practice, political, but they argue that SSMU does not have the ability to effect meaningful change, and so any actions and stances in support of social justice on its part are not worth the effort. They don’t see the point in standing in solidarity with the anti-austerity movement, for example, by going on strike. They fail to see that direct action, in the past, has forced the government to change its policy and listen to student demands – remember when Quebec tuitions were not hiked? When other students want the University to divest from the fossil fuel industry or from companies that profit from the illegal occupation of Palestine, the reactionaries argue that these are symbolic actions that mean nothing, and that no matter what SSMU does, it will not be effective in bringing about the desired outcome. They forget, however, that McGill has successfully and meaningfully been a part of similar movements in the past, having divested from the tobacco industry and companies profiting from the South African apartheid.

As such, SSMU is said to be useless and a waste of money. Instead of providing their own alternatives, however, these reactionaries merely attempt to shut down progressive movements. Why would they provide their own alternatives anyway? To them, there is no problem with the status quo.

Turnout at these acts of direct democracy is usually rather low, but this does not mean that it is not representative of the political climate – if we are to assume that the silent majority at McGill simply does not care about what we do, then it cannot inform our decisions either way. As a side note, however, it would be nice if they cared.

Apathy is another threat to effecting change. It is difficult to get people engaged at McGill. This does not mean that students don’t care – but when it comes to active engagement, they disappear, often because of very valid reasons like school or work. However, student apathy often becomes a tool for reactionaries to push their claims: they dispute the legitimacy of the vocal minority – arguably a small group of very loud activists – in pursuing progressive goals on behalf of a majority that is okay with the status quo. But the reactionaries themselves can’t speak on this silent majority’s behalf, either as the fact that students don’t get involved does not mean that they oppose a progressive agenda. The results of student-run referenda and SSMU elections, our best indicators of the majority opinion, consistently show that many more students support progressive proposals. Admittedly, turnout at these acts of direct democracy is usually rather low, but this does not mean that it is not representative of the political climate – if we are to assume that the silent majority at McGill simply does not care about what we do, then it cannot inform our decisions either way. As a side note, however, it would be nice if they cared.

The rhetorical devices I have just described are not new. Indeed, when we look at McGill’s history, we see that this back-and-forth between reactionaries and those fighting for social and environmental justice changes rarely, and even the language used remains more or less the same. As they say, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Over the past few years, there has been a growing polarization of political philosophy on campus. We have witnessed the growth of such groups as Students for Democratic University (S.D.U.); the Socialist Action Committee (S.A.C.); the McGill Student Movement; the Committee at McGill to End the War in Vietnam, etc. Each of these groups has sought to gain support for its own political view. We have also seen the Daily converted from the Campus-oriented journal edited by Jon Fenston in 1964, through the transitional issues of Patric MacFadden (who managed to weather several non-confidence motions) and Sandy Gage (who was not so fortunate), to the politically-oriented newspapers of Peter Allnutt and Mark Starowicz. 

—In December of 1968, the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) held a referendum to disaffiliate from the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). Ronald Segal, a “yes” campaigner, wrote an opinion piece focusing on political neutrality as a reason to secede. (“Should the engineers secede? YES.” December 3, 1968, page 6)

I recognize the importance of establishing a SSMU executive branch which maintains political neutrality. […] Our student government must represent and cater to the diversity of all political beliefs and ideologies, not a preferential few. I envision a SSMU which facilitates a means of political discussion and awareness. However, our student government must represent all political views, not retroactively impose their own beliefs on the student body.

–Following in the footsteps of former presidential candidate Alexei Simakov, Jordan Sinder ran on a platform of political neutralty. Sinder’s platform, compared with Simakov’s was definitely more toned down. (From SSMU presidential candidate Jordan Sinder’s campaign platform, 2016)

Discourse of neutrality and polarization

In 1968, an important discussion overtook the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS). Students argued that engineering students were not benefitting enough (or at all) from being members of SSMU. In addition, some argued that SSMU’s representative efforts were misguided – essentially, according to them, SSMU was too political. In the end, EUS decided to stay in SSMU, with 63 per cent of the votes.

Almost fifty years later, the debate on SSMU’s political nature is far from settled, and there remains a reactionary attitude to perceived politicization and radicalization of our student union. During this year’s referendum period, a motion to create a steering committee to block motions deemed to be “external and divisive” from being discussed at GAs was put forward. The question, criticized by its opponents (of which I was one of the most vocal) as stifling democracy, ultimately failed by a slim margin, with 52.6 per cent voting against it. A hesitancy, or even fear, of “polarizing” the student body marked the platforms of many candidates, especially presidential candidates, in this year’s executive elections.

The discourse of neutrality and polarization is meant to cloud people’s judgment. In actuality, the problem here is not that SSMU is taking too many political positions – it’s that the reactionary is not in favour of the topics being discussed. Back in 1968, one of the critiques brought up against SSMU was that it was in favour of making McGill a “critical university,” where that research would be conscious of its sociopolitical nature. This would imply responsible and ethical research. Avoiding this outcome is not political neutrality – it is a political choice. Similarly, the steering committee motion was brought up right after a contentious Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) motion was discussed at the SSMU Winter 2016 GA. Not discussing “external and divisive” motions, however, does not erase polarization – it’s merely burying one’s head in the sand.

McGill’s level of participation was hardly noticeable in the rally and many saw the low McGill student turnout as a clear indication of an uncaring and inactive SSMU. “It’s always sad that SSMU never comes out to these thing,” said Rudy. “My question is, who does SSMU support? If they’re not out here today fighting against tuition hikes, then what are they doing?” he asked.

—In November of 1999, the students in Montreal were striking against government cuts to education. Notably, however, SSMU was missing from the ranks. (“Students Take Demands to the Streets,” November 4, 1999, News, page 8)

“That culture [of student unions as sites of political] is not present at McGill yet, and that’s the problem – people see the student union as being more for events and for clubs,” she said. “That’s what I think needs to be changed, it’s the culture and the political awareness that needs to be reformed.”

—Former SSMU VP External Amina Moustaqim-Barette attempted to mobilize SSMU to be more directly involved with the Spring 2015 anti-austerity movement. Much to her chagrin, it takes more than asking nicely to get students to believe in SSMU. (“Quebec students set to strike,” February 2, 2015, News, page 6)

Ineffectiveness and McGill exceptionalism and the McGill bubble

The critique that SSMU’s political stances are meaningless has a kernel of truth in it, though, as they often end up having little effect. However, this is not because SSMU is powerless to enact meaningful change, but rather because, when it comes to mobilization, SSMU often trails significantly behind its counterparts at other universities. It is clear that the solution is not, as the reactionaries would have it, to cease political activity, but rather to increase SSMU’s mobilization capabilities.

One of the reasons why SSMU is difficult to mobilize – despite being located in Quebec, a province with many vibrant student movements – is the widespread perception that McGill is fundamentally different from the rest of Quebec, with the campus enclosed, as it were, by a bubble. This explains the fact that most McGill students again stood idle while the rest of the province was up in arms against provincial austerity measures, as was the case during the Spring 2015 movement.

In fact, though, McGill is not as different as we’d like to think – if we put our mind to it, what works elsewhere will work here as well. When enough students mobilize, they get tangible results. In 2012, when the provincial Liberals tried to hike tuition fees, tens of thousands of students took to the streets, eventually leading to the ousting of that government. Even though McGill was not very active in that movement, it benefited from the actions of other Quebec students.

Whatever anyone says, McGill is in Montreal and is affected by its political climate. Saying that SSMU is ineffective, without attempting to make it any better serves a reactionary agenda. If other universities and other student unions can do it, so can we. Calling SSMU ineffective is not an argument against it – it’s an effort to keep it that way for political reasons.

Mike Clarke, finance director of the Students’ Society, insisted that the secessionists were premature in their wish to withdraw. He said if the Engineers were dissatisfied with the Students’ Society, they should first work for changes within it. If adequate change was impossible then the students might be justified in their desire for secession.

—Finance Director of SSMU Mike Clarke complains about EUS members who complain about how SSMU is useless, while never proposing any solutions themselves. (“EUS considers secession,” November 27, 1968, page 3)

Every time that the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) ends up on my Facebook feed, there seems to be another scandal or controversy concerning the elusive group that runs our student government and their ‘esoteric leftist liberal agenda.’ This just means that students on this campus are focusing on all the wrong issues. Students’ reactions seem to be stuck within the binary of ‘not caring’ and ‘complaining.’ With that sort of attitude, we can never make SSMU into the ally we need.

—Lauria Galbraith, who wrote this article, was The Daily’s SSMU beat in 2014-15. From her vantage point, it was clear that SSMU could be used as a tool, yet students need to be convinced first. (“End your apathy,” March 30, 2015, Commentary, page 22)

Discourse of uselessness, waste of money

Whether they acknowledge it or not, every student at McGill benefits from the services and advocacy provided by SSMU. Extended library hours, the operation of the Shatner building, Senate representation, reading week, student rights – none of these could exist if SSMU had no money to spend on services as well as advocacy efforts. This is the case for any student union. As such, it is just patently wrong to argue that paying the SSMU fee is a waste.

No service SSMU provides can come for free. Understandably, students are hesitant to increase their fees. This provides a useful talking point for the reactionary who would prefer that this money not be spent toward progressive goals. Hiding behind the argument that progressive groups (often funded via, but not by, student unions) are useless, however, is merely avoiding a discussion about the true political intents of the reactionary.

Any other entity on campus that has a mandate to fight for social and environmental justice also needs to be funded – the amount of labour that goes into these endeavours and the socials goods that they create make these groups worthwhile investments. Examples of such groups include CKUT, QPIRG-McGill, and everybody’s favourite campus newspaper (yours truly). According to the reactionary, funding these groups privileges their political stances above others and this privilege is unearned. But this is false. Money for these groups comes from student fees levied through referenda, and students have repeatedly voted in favour of these initiatives. If SSMU and other organizations are truly useless to most students, nothing can explain the fact that these can survive and have survived for decades now with students’ continued support.

Any group with sufficiently high levels of support can lobby both SSMU and the University to be funded by student fees. The McGill Chapter of the World University Service Canada (WUSC), for instance, collects a Student Refugee Fee in order to fund refugee students’ studies at McGill. It surely cannot be the fault of social justice groups that no opposing reactionary student group is funded through student fees.

With little fanfare or audience, Activism Day passed quietly in the Shatner building.

—Similar to the anti-austerity week that was held at the beginning of this academic year, SSMU tried to hold an Activism Day in 1999. Turnout left much to be desired. (“Talkin’ About a Revolution,” November 4, 1999, News, page 4)

Apathy and the silent majority

The reactionary often attempts to further bolster the legitimacy of their rhetorical efforts by speaking on behalf of the “silent majority.” This nebulous group of students is presented as sharing the reactionary’s opposition to progressive efforts – the fact that they don’t speak out is taken to mean that they support the status quo.

The truth of the matter, however, is that public political discourse necessarily exists only among the vocal minorities, to which, incidentally, reactionaries of this kind also belong. While a professed commitment to neutrality is, as discussed earlier, a political stance, we cannot say the same of silence. In fact, we can hardly assume anything about the opinions of this silent majority, nor can we speak on its behalf.

The only way to find out what the majority thinks is to consult it. And in fact, referendum results for questions about progressive groups and issues, which are frequently decided by close margins, show that the distribution of opinions is much less clear than the reactionary would lead us to believe.

The turnout rates at referenda and elections, however, seem to contradict this statement. A majority of the approximately 30 per cent of the entire student body is really a minority. Yet, this approximately 70 per cent that constitute the silent majority is so consistent that we can ignore its epistemic impossibility. If it is the case that this 70 per cent is truly apathetic, then their opinion actually does not matter. We cannot know what they think if they do not speak up. We cannot know if they are for or against progessive movements if they do not vote. As such, there is nothing wrong with focusing exclusively on that fraction of students who do.

The debates happen between the vocal minorities, but it is still the majority that holds decision-making power, and it does not need anyone to speak on its behalf.

Explaining that while he personally was not for or against the motion, VP Internal Omar El-Sharawy said that consultations with students and groups have shown that students want “SSMU to be more fun, and less political. […] It just seems that this semester we have become more political and I think this is something to consider.”

—SSMU VP Internal comments that SSMU ought be less political and more fun, as per the demands of the broader student body. (“SSMU stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and Indigenous groups,” March 28, 2016, News, online)

However, the fight is far from over. “This year there’s been sort of a new group of students that have cropped up, we call ourselves McGill Against Austerity, Boytinck continued. “Organizing movements at McGill is a very slow and laborious process and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We’re still at baseline mobilization, but I do feel like it’s growing.”

—SSMU VP External Emily Boytinck was more fortunate than her predecessor in finding passionate students to mobilize against austerity. The process is arduous, but it’s progress. (“The butterfly effect,” November 23, 2015, Features, page 10)

Conclusion

The political nature of student life at McGill is a fact. As students, we are passionate about the things we study and the things we do. It is inevitable that we care about certain issues. Personally, I do not believe that there is such a thing as true apathy. That 30 per cent is the highest turnout we see at SSMU elections could be seen as a piece of evidence against my conviction.

On the other hand, looking through the archives of The Daily, I have seen that this battle between activists and reactionaries has been waged for decades now. For every progressive action, there has been a reaction. Obstacles were always in the way. I believe, however, that there is a reason why EUS stayed a part of SSMU; there is a reason why QPIRG-McGill is still around; there is a reason why political campaigns such as Divest McGill and Demilitarize McGill can pass motions at general assemblies that mandate SSMU to support them; and there is a reason why The Daily is still here.

The progress of the progressive movement is real. The recent increase in reactionary efforts is only proof of this. The stronger the action, the stronger the reaction. History shows, however, that in the end, it is the activists who win. Sure, there are some defeats here and there; however, the social and environmental justice movements cannot be stopped. This is not arrogance that fuels these words. This is radical optimism. I am radically hopeful that one day we will eradicate all injustices in the world.

Until that day however, the battle against the reactionary continues.

The post The rhetoric of the reactionary appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Speaking of complexities, the fact that PGSS Council meeting documents remain highly inaccessible to undergraduate members of the student press is concerning. Trying to obtain Council meeting documents to report accurately on PGSS procedures has been an ongoing problem for The Daily this year. The purpose of journalism is to keep organizations accountable, and that cannot be done if the organizations don’t make information at least minimally available. Hopefully, future executives will understand this problem as significant enough to warrant a solution.

Of course, all this can only be possible if there are any executives in the first place. The abysmal candidate turnout at this year’s elections is indicative of a broader problem within PGSS. Similarly to SSMU’s relationship to undergrads, PGSS is the most powerful instrument grad students have to protect their interests. Given that it’s an instrument, however, it must have competent people to wield it. Unopposed candidates tend to win elections at McGill, meaning that voters rarely evaluate these candidates critically. As such, it is the executives’ responsibility to find and train multiple successors and foster healthy competition, so that students can elect executives that will really represent their interests.

Secretary General Danielle Toccalino

Danielle Toccalino ran on a platform she described to The Daily as being “very ambitious,” since many of her goals turned out to be out of her reach. She had promised to visit each of the 57 post-graduate student association (PGSA) meetings at least once a semester in order to solicit broad opinion, but could not do so due to time constraints. That being said, she actively encouraged PGSAs to reach out to her if they had questions or concerns, to some success.

As PGSS Representative to the Board of Governors and Senate, she said she felt torn between representing students and representing the University. She also expressed a desire for more discussion within meetings, saying that concerns she raised often went unaddressed.

As a self-described “policy person,” she highlighted her work in refining PGSS’s bylaws and Society Affairs Manual (SAM), in an attempt to make them “accessible and comprehensive.” Though she spearheaded two rounds of bylaw changes and various SAM edits, Toccalino said that the project was also overly ambitious, and she lacked the time to refine them as thoroughly as she would have liked.

She has also put together an information policy to govern and mandate access to information such as council minutes and executive meeting agendas. In addition, she has created the first PGSS code of conduct, and has instituted a conflict of interest disclaimer for PGSS employees and Board of Directors members. She also worked to ensure that all executive officers and commissioners underwent equity and diversity training, and most underwent mental health first aid training.

Member Services Officer Brighita Lungu

This was Brighita Lungu’s second year as the Member Services Officer (MSO). Recent disagreement over the severity of PGSS’s budget deficit has meant that the most recent Financial Affairs Officers (FAOs) have targeted services for cuts. Lungu said that this has increased the burden of her job because she has to advocate for the protection of services not only at the university level but also within the executive committee.

In terms of services, Lungu has highlighted Study Sundays as among her biggest accomplishments. Originally an initiative by the McGill Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (MORSL) and taken over by PGSS in 2012, Study Sundays are organized once a month and aim to provide students who are also parents with a quiet study space and free childcare. This year, the project came close to cancellation, but Lungu salvaged the program by sacrificing the free lunches provided by Thomson House. It is disappointing to see Lungu forced into these kinds of concessions, especially considering her original desire to increase the amount of services PGSS provides, but she has remained a strong and passionate advocate for PGSS services.

Hopefully Lungu’s firm stance on the importance of PGSS services will be reflected in institutional memory, and future MSOs will also fight back against cuts demanded by FAOs.
On the university level, Lungu has been working with her counterparts at SSMU to lobby the office of the Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) (DPSLL) to be more transparent with the student services budget. A huge chunk of the student services budget is paid for by student fees, yet the University, until recently, has been reticent in sharing this information with the student body. It has taken her two years to convince DPSLL Ollivier Dyens to increase transparency of the budget. Hopefully her successors will be able to use the released information for more targeted and efficient advocacy.

Internal Affairs Officer Mina Anadolu

Just like her SSMU counterpart Omar El-Sharawy, Mina Anadolu took the Internal Affairs Officer (IAO) position in the middle of the academic year, following the resignation of her predecessor Sahil Kumar. Anadolu’s biggest concern this year has been the lack of awareness by members of PGSS of the society’s existence and the extent of its activities. As such, Anadolu reached out to clubs and services on campus to involve them in PGSS events. Anadolu tried to change the function of the Internal Affairs Committee (IAC) from being a “party-planning committee” (a definition at which she balked) into a more politically charged entity. In Anadolu’s words, “You come to board games night, you leave knowing more about the Syrian refugee situation; you come to speed dating, you learn about safe partying and safe sex.” Her pushback against the stereotype of an apolitical IAO is definitely commendable.

As stated, Anadolu believes that the biggest problem PGSS faces is its visibility. At the end of this year’s official nominations period, PGSS had only one candidate: Anadolu herself, running for re-election. After extending the nomination period, only one position out of six was contested. As the IAO, Anadolu’s task has been to communicate with the student body, yet student apathy appears to have been especially acute during the Winter 2016 PGSS General Elections. Fortunately, Anadolu is forthright about this issue. She admitted that she hasn’t been in touch with postgraduate student associations (PGSAs) as often as she’d like. In order for PGSS elections to be fully democratic, and more than just an opportunity for student politicians to pad their resumes, increasing the level of student engagement will be one of the most important tasks that Anadolu will shoulder next year.

External Affairs Officer Bradley Por

While Bradley Por did not have much experience in student politics prior to becoming External Affairs Officer (EAO), he told The Daily, “This has been, personally, one of the best experiences I’ve had, particularly because I’m actually a student of politics and law, so to experience it on the ground has been really enlightening.”

Por ran on a platform emphasizing more active student engagement in the Quebec student movement. One of the difficulties he faced was communicating to students the importance of student federations. While Por said he was successful in presenting the two student unions – Union étudiante du Québec (UEQ) and the Association pour la voix étudiante au Québec (AVEQ) – to students and in creating an affiliation policy, he maintains that engagement at the provincial level is one of the major challenges for external officers. He further emphasized the importance of having EAOs who are political and do their best to fire up students’ interests.

Another one of Por’s platform points focused on building a coalition of student associations to confront austerity. In working with both UEQ and AVEQ, Por has taken admirably firm stances against austerity. This week he will be organizing a forum on PGSS and the Quebec student movement, with an emphasis on austerity – though he noted that he wished he held more forums during the year, and we’d tend to agree.

While Por campaigned with the promise of making himself available through office hours in Thomson House, he told The Daily that he did not succeed in doing so, citing the fact that students do not show up to these kinds of office hours as much as he’d like them to. The Daily wonders, however, how Por would know whether students wanted to attend his office hours if he did not hold them in the first place. Por said he often found himself communicating with students just by being in Thomson House, though it should be noted that this does not pass as sufficient consultation.

Academic Affairs Officer Devin Mills

Devin Mills ran on a platform highlighting communication and transparency, and told The Daily he believes he has been successful in these regards. For instance, Mills has revised the PGSS reporting and committee structures. He stated that prior to this revision, the Academic Affairs Officer (AAO) was considered the point person for everyone, which, he argued, was inefficient. The revised structure makes individuals already on specific committees within PGSS representatives to a range of university committees. According to Mills, the goal is that the “reporting will become very organic in nature.”

Mills has also worked extensively with the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) Josephine Nalbantoglu on several projects, including creating a revised template for the annual graduate student progress tracking system, which now includes an additional section on conflicts of interest. Mills added he hopes this will create “an opportunity for dialogue between the professor and [their] students,” and it will also ensure everyone is aware of the existing regulations.

Mills admitted that he did not sit on library advisory board meetings as often as he had initially pledged, nor did he host as many focus groups and workshops as he had planned. However, he has taken steps to resolve the lack of structural support that he encountered during his time in the role for the benefit of future AAOs. Mills revised the structure of the Academic Affairs Committee to help the AAO with their primary duties. He highlighted recruitment as one such priority, adding that over the past year he took “some of the easier roads as far as trying to recruit people [through] emails, invitations, flyers.” Mills believes this restructured committee would have helped him by working with people committed to the position’s portfolio and goals. His work in creating a more sustainable committee structure will hopefully have positive effects next year.

Financial Affairs Officer Behrang Sharif

Behrang Sharif has worked hard to provide PGSS members with a clear and understandable breakdown of the budget. Sharif emphasized the importance of structural changes to the budget, noting that the current structure is difficult to understand, and redoing the whole budget is a large, time consuming task. He told The Daily that it took him a few months to understand the budget, and he has been trying to make it understandable for students.

Sharif is particularly proud of the new budget templates, which he believes will be in use for many years to come. He consulted with previous Financial Affairs Officers and an accountant at PGSS, and so far he said he has received very positive feedback on the functionality of the template. He also noted the fact that the event budget is one of the biggest budget lines and was not balanced. Sharif has implemented a broad budget structure that he believes will be “self-maintaining.”

While improvements have been made in how PGSS runs events, the services the society provides, and in how the budget is balanced between the business side of PGSS and the society, Sharif wishes he could have had the time to “focus on the bigger picture improvements.” One of these goals included focusing more on improving how the business is providing services for members.

Sharif also shared some of his frustrations about the position, remarking that “when I started this, and still in some cases, we’re doing things not because they make sense, but because they have been historically done like that.” The yearly turnover of PGSS executives coming soon means that momentum for implementing programs or changing procedures is often cut short. Hopefully with Sharif’s improvements, institutional memory will be strong enough to withstand the quick turnovers.

The post PGSS End of Year Reviews appeared first on The McGill Daily.

SSMU’s predicament, however, points to a broader trend in student politics. In SSMU, a student culture of caffeine-fuelled late nights collides with the rigor of a daytime office workplace.Facing unrealistically high expectations for a thankless task, most executives have commented that their mental and physical health have been negatively affected. President Kareem Ibrahim told The Daily, “I don’t have the emotional energy to do [this job] again.”

Perhaps this is why the number of candidates for executive positions was so low this year. Being a SSMU executive is perceived to be very harmful – not to mention the toxic environment that always seems to emerge during elections. This is a problem that SSMU and the undergraduate student body at large need to address. Our student union is our foremost instrument in lobbying for student interests. If it is increasingly inaccessible, this is to the detriment of all of us. A long-term investment in a healthier environment for student politicians is in all of McGill students’ best interests.

President Kareem Ibrahim

Kareem Ibrahim has spent most of his year as President shouldering the responsibilities of other executives and staff. Ibrahim’s work was fettered by a few notable staff vacancies this year: SSMU was lacking a VP Internal, an events manager, a Building Director, a General Manager, and a Daycare Director at various points throughout the year. As a result, Ibrahim devoted time to tasks outside his portfolio, such as managing the daycare and working on Indigenous Affairs, a task that falls under the VP University Affairs’ portfolio. He made significant strides in the latter project, supervising the Indigenous Affairs Coordinator, and drafting a policy on Indigenous solidarity, which was adopted at Council last week.

Ibrahim’s most visible accomplishment was organizing the 2016 Winter General Assembly (GA), which he called a “solo mission.” It involved fitting over 900 students into the Shatner building to discuss multiple motions, including the motion to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement at McGill.

In the meantime, some smaller things have fallen through the cracks. For instance, the Know Your SSMU event series was shelved. Speaking to The Daily, Ibrahim expressed frustration at the myriad of projects he didn’t have time to follow through with. Ibrahim also faced roadblocks in his communication with upper administration. As the sole student representative on the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR), he said he was “heavily outnumbered” in the recent decision to not divest McGill’s holdings in fossil fuel companies.

Next year, the SSMU executive team will see the addition of a seventh executive, as well as a reshuffling of tasks between portfolios – all without an increase in the SSMU membership fee, which was voted down in a referendum earlier this semester. Ibrahim says he’s focusing on preserving institutional memory in the face of such a significant transition. Instead of having exit reports, he’s working on creating guides for all processes – including how to run for an executive position – since the current lack of institutional memory means that, in his words, “the wheel is being reinvented annually.”

VP Clubs & Services Kimber Bialik

Kimber Bialik has been focusing on long term projects this year, with a particular emphasis on a protracted vision for the Shatner building and its accessibility. Bialik said that she regretted being less accessible this semester, compared to last semester, which was due to the resignation of some essential student staff and a resulting increase in her workload. Even so, she’s been highly active on Council, bringing forth a slew of motions pertaining to her platform – though she commented that her workload has also meant that she couldn’t thoroughly research some of the motions presented at Council, and too often abstained from voting as a result.

Bialik has worked hard on the creation of an accessibility policy, calling it a “special interest project,” even though it falls somewhat outside her portfolio. She should be commended for her choice not to remain bound by the specific duties of her role, since SSMU has taken significant steps toward physical accessibility this year under her guidance. An accessibility audit occurred in February, and while Bialik is still waiting on the final report, she’s envisioning changes to the physical accessibility of Shatner, such as transitioning to non-fluorescent lights and installing more automatic doors.

Her largest accomplishment, however, is the restructuring of the twenty SSMU Services. Bialik raised concerns about the current services structure, saying that it lacked accountability because of a need for more SSMU oversight. With six services failing service reviews this year, the services review committee has recommended moving away from an autonomous model of service provision. Services are notoriously resistant to change, and hopefully next year, the VP Student Life will work more closely with services to implement a more integrated model of service provision, rather than ignore the concerns that Bialik has worked hard to elucidate this year.

VP Internal Omar El-Sharawy

Omar El-Sharawy’s term as VP Internal only started in January, meaning that he had much less time than his colleagues to adjust to the job. El-Sharawy has focused most of his attention on the events part of his portfolio, fulfilling his elections promise by working to increase the inclusivity of the events SSMU organizes. His biggest and most challenging event was Faculty Olympics, and he relied heavily on the support of his committee to organize it.

El-Sharawy has opted to decentralize the organization of Frosh, scaling back SSMU’s role in Frosh to one of harm-reduction and general support for the individual faculties. For that purpose, El-Sharawy has helped create three new positions: a harm reduction and logistics coordinator, a community engagement and outreach coordinator, and a Frosh administrator. Letting faculty associations have more leeway in the planning and organizing of their own Frosh is a novel approach, and could be welcome, considering the troubles encountered this year, such as the logistical nightmare that was the Beach Day. Hopefully, El-Sharawy’s successor Daniel Lawrie will be able to uphold this harm-reduction approach that El-Sharawy and his staff have attempted to create.

As a member of SSMU Council, El-Sharawy told The Daily he has attempted to “step in when there’s a need for me to step in.” When he ran last Fall, The Daily expressed reservations about El-Sharawy’s stance on SSMU’s position as a political actor. Unfortunately, our reservations were well-founded as El-Sharawy has maintained his apoliticism, going as far as saying that students want “SSMU to be more fun, and less political” while discussing a motion regarding solidarity with Black Lives Matter Toronto (BLMTO) at the March 28 Council meeting. While his stated aim was to avoid alienating the broader student body and to represent the interests of each of his constituents, the mindset that has characterized his term – that “fun” and “politics” must preclude each other – is indicative of a broader misunderstanding of the student society’s role.

VP External Emily Boytinck

Emily Boytinck took over the position of VP External last year when momentous change began to take place in the Quebec student movement. The Féderation étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ), Quebec’s largest provincial student federation, was at the point of dissolution; the Spring 2015 anti-austerity movement was gathering momentum; and the SSMU Winter 2015 General Assembly (GA) had seen SSMU adopt multiple political positions, including one regarding the creation of a climate change policy.

Boytinck attempted to address all of these issues during her tenure as VP External. Over the summer, she was involved in discussions on the creation of the two new provincial federations: the Union étudiante du Québec (UEQ) and the Association pour la voix étudiante au Québec (AVEQ). She worked hard to educate both SSMU Council and the entire student body about the implications of affiliation with each. While undergraduate students ultimately voted against affiliating with AVEQ, Boytinck’s dedication to making Quebec student movements part of McGill’s internal student politics is commendable and very welcome at an anglophone university that’s too often isolated from provincial student politics. That her successor David Aird plans to continue the dialogue on student federations is proof that Boytinck’s contribution to SSMU’s institutional memory has been significant.

Under Boytinck’s tenure, we have also seen the creation of McGill Against Austerity, which started off as a SSMU initiative, but has now taken a life of its own. Similarly, Divest McGill’s work has reached a new high this year: despite the fact that the University has refused to divest from the fossil fuel industry, Divest McGill’s resolve remains stronger than ever. Instead of directly assuming control of these entities, Boytinck has helped them to remain autonomous, thereby ensuring the long-term sustainability of anti-austerity and environmental activism.

VP University Affairs Chloe Rourke

Chloe Rourke has been tasked with managing a broad, diverse portfolio this year, and she says she has largely managed to do so without significantly neglecting any one area of the portfolio – a feat in itself.

Rourke has been most vocal in advocating for mental health, especially important at a time when many students are decrying the insensitive, inefficient, and impractical nature of mental health care at McGill, as well as the gaping disconnect between McGill Mental Health Service (MMHS) and Counselling Services. She has been pushing to implement a step-care model to reduce wait times, and is working toward a common triage system between Health Services, Counselling Services, and MMHS, hopefully to be implemented in September.

Rourke has also been collaborating with President Kareem Ibrahim to institutionalize Indigenous Affairs within SSMU and organize the first ever Indigeneity and Allyship event series. They are also advocating for the University to recognize and implement aspects of the Truth and Reconciliation report in consultation with Indigenous student groups. Earlier this year, The Daily criticized Rourke’s inattention to equity initiatives. This semester, Rourke has strived to do more in this regard, by working in projects such as the SSMU Accessibility Policy spearheaded by VP Clubs & Services Kimber Bialik, which will be discussed at this week’s Council.

Rourke faced significant challenges in the Memorandum of Agreement negotiations with the University, saying that during negotiations, she felt she was “working within a system that really just doesn’t get it, and that’s really frustrating.” The Sexual Violence Policy (formerly known as the Sexual Assault Policy) which was completed last month, has also stalled in the upper administration. Hopefully her successor Erin Sobat will not lose sight of the initiatives that have gotten stuck in the gears of McGill’s bureaucracy.

VP Finance and Operations Zacheriah Houston

With the splitting up of the VP Finance and Operations portfolio next year, Zacheriah Houston has been working on overhauling the relevant internal regulations. He has successfully developed new internal regulations wherein funding can only be allocated by the funding committee and groups can now apply for funding through said committee.

Restructuring the funding committee has also been a major success for Houston. He told The Daily the funding application forms have been revamped: instead of asking for cover letters, the funding committee asks very specific questions with word limits on the answers. Furthermore, the applications have been moved completely online. In turn, this has significantly reduced meeting times for the committee, making the volunteers more engaged and the process a lot faster.

Houston also noted that one of his biggest successes was supporting SSMU Services, remarking that he has a meaningful understanding of the activities of each one, which allows him to be a better resource.

One of the difficulties Houston faced was committing enough time and attention to the operations aspect of his portfolio. He admitted that he was more involved with the SSMU budget instead of finding solutions for the Student Run Cafe’s deficit. “I take this quite seriously, I am disappointed with this,” he told The Daily.

This past year has seen a large number of fees that were passed or renewed. Houston noted that “it took a lot of time, but a lot of really good positive fees passed,” citing the renewal of the equity fee, and mental health fee, among others. While the referendum question to increase the SSMU membership fee did not pass, Houston emphasized that a lot of work went into calculating the proposed fee increase of $5.50, which has helped him acquire a thorough understanding of SSMU’s budget. Houston claims that SSMU became unsustainable financially because previous VP Finances and Operations focused too much on the short-term, but he has taken the long-term seriously, not only to balance the budget, but to develop a sustainable future plan.

This article has been edited to remove impertinent personal information in Chloe Rourke’s review.

The post SSMU End of Year Reviews appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The voting period for the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) General Elections has started. Seven candidates are running for six executive positions. In addition, there are two referendum questions regarding fee levies for the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) at McGill and the Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LICM).

The Daily sat down with the executive candidates to discuss their platforms, the high number of unopposed candidates, and the future of PGSS. The voting period runs from March 16 at 9 a.m. until March 25 at 5 p.m..

Executive candidates

Elections becoming a “formality”

Of the six executive positions being elected, five have candidates running unopposed.

“It seems there has always been a disconnect between PGSS and its membership,” said Jenny Ann Pura, the Member Services Officer candidate. “Though this year reached an unprecedented low with regards to the number of candidacies, there have been only a few hotly contested elections in PGSS’s recent past.”

“An election where most of the positions are unopposed means that the election has turned into a formality,” said Mina Anadolu, current Internal Affairs Officer who is running unopposed for re-election.

“When they’re not given a choice, the majority of [voters] vote for the candidate because […] they think that a position is better filled than left empty,” said Anadolu.

“So that’s a problem because if someone comes in with very, very radical ideas, […] if they give specific power to only a specific minority of members, if they don’t represent the membership, then PGSS is at risk, because they can do whatever they want with the membership fees that we collect; they can run their own separate agenda,” she continued.

Asked about the reasons for low voter turnout and a lack of candidates, Anadolu said that post-graduate student engagement “hits a low in March” since students are finishing research and writing grant proposals. Nicholas Dunn, the candidate for Academic Affairs Officer, added that “a lot of people work out of different campuses as well,” and rarely spend time in Thomson House.

Internal Affairs Officer

Mina Anadolu is the current Internal Affairs Officer, having been elected in December after the resignation of former Internal Affairs Officer Sahil Kumar. She is a second-year PhD student in neuroscience, and has been a student at McGill since the beginning of her undergraduate degree in 2009.

Anadolu’s platform focuses on increasing collaborative efforts with clubs and services, fact- and feedback-based decision making, and an inclusive events portfolio.

She told The Daily that she would collaborate with Walksafe and Drivesafe for events, especially to address the problem of students from the MacDonald campus getting home after nighttime events, once shuttles between campuses have stopped running. She would also implement a category system for events, to ensure that one event per semester would be planned under categories such as equity, sustainability, and international student affairs. Finally, Anadolu seeks to offer more workshops regarding securing funding and professional development.

External Affairs Officer

The position of External Affairs Officer is the only contested one in this year’s elections. Jacob Lavigne, a third-year PhD student in experimental surgery, and Vertika, a first-year PhD student in political science, are competing for the position.

Lavigne was heavily involved in student politics at his previous university, and is a founder of the McGill Additive Manufacturing Students’ Society. Vertika is also a veteran student activist, who initiated a campaign against “ragging” (an extreme form of bullying by senior students toward incoming students) at the University of Delhi during her undergraduate studies.

When asked about the most important part of the role, Lavigne said it was to “represent the views of [the] constituency, and find a middle ground with other student associations.” He emphasized that he has been visiting graduate student offices and labs to speak to students about his platform, but, when asked, admitted that he had spoken mostly to Science students rather than Arts students.

For Vertika, the most important part of her job would be building a coalition within the Quebec student movement. “I want to make sure that students have enough platforms to be informed of what is going on and to actually engage,” she told The Daily.

Furthermore, Vertika argues that PGSS should be more political and wants “to make the political nature of the office visible to students and to encourage them.

“My role is firmly standing against depoliticizing PGSS. Spaces for political expression are clamped down on. I would work with the student body to work against that. If we’re just abstaining on most of the issues, that’s not going to help us,” she said.

Lavigne’s priorities include lobbying the government for increased research funds, as well as creating a PGSS award to recognize extracurricular involvement, which would be funded by industry or the government – he stressed that there is no need to use money from student fees. In addition, Lavigne plans on reaching out to his contacts in the Quartier de l’innovation de Montréal to organize events that could be of relevance to graduate students.

Secretary General

Victor Frankel is a current Environment Commissioner to PGSS and has been the PGSS representative to the Biology Department for several years. He is pursuing a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology and has been a student at McGill since 2010.

Frankel stresses the importance of serving and engaging the students in PGSS as Secretary General. While he has not sat on the Board of Governors or the Senate, he often goes to these meetings to educate himself and understand the administrative processes involved. “I feel like what I want to do, most importantly, is serve the society, but I also feel like I bring qualities into it that are informed but also proactive in advocacy for students,” he added.

When asked what he will improve on as Secretary General, Frankel emphasized continuing the work of current PGSS Secretary General Danielle Toccalino in engaging students and re-establishing student confidence in PGSS. Consequently, he sees the role as one of ensuring a sense of continuity in existing programs while advancing new initiatives.

Frankel will also work on improving “the processes by which students at various faculties and departments can feel like they’re getting involved,” and ensuring that communications remain as transparent and streamlined as possible.

Regarding the large number of unopposed positions, Frankel pointed to the high level of responsibility and time commitment required. He also said that the “right people” are running for these positions and that students are confident in them.

Academic Affairs Officer

Nicholas Dunn is a first-year PhD student in philosophy, with little experience in student government.

His priority is to increase the amount of work and study space for graduate students on campus, saying, “It’s kind of shocking how little space there is on campus for grad students to work.”

Dunn believes that the proposed renovation of the Redpath-McLennan library complex, termed Fiat Lux, would create much more student work space. Dunn says he would lobby to have a significant portion of that space dedicated to graduate students, such as rooms for graduate students to hold office hours and group meetings, and lock up personal belongings.

Asked about how he would strive for more funding for graduate students in a climate of austerity, Dunn said he believes there is “not much that can be done,” since the majority of McGill’s budget is “untouchable” and the University’s “hands are tied.” Instead, he said he would explore alternate sources of funding. Dunn also plans on paring down inactive committees, and promoting committees that are more active in their place.

Financial Affairs Officer

Mina Moradi is a second year student pursuing a Master’s degree in human nutrition and dietetics. Her experience includes being head manager of the Loghman Hakim hospital in Tehran for two years.

In an email to The Daily, Moradi described her plans to resubmit the question to increase the PGSS membership fee to graduate students in Fall 2016, which was brought up earlier this year. “If it passed it would greatly improve the health of our finances and allow us to provide better services to our members,” she explained.

Moradi also noted the tension between preserving PGSS’s essential services and making necessary spending cuts. “I believe that my past work experience gives me the skill to manage this complex situation,” said Moradi.

After a four-year-long court case between PGSS and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), PGSS has been left with a significant deficit. However, at last month’s Council meeting, councillors were unable to agree over the severity of the deficit, with some citing $277,779 and others citing $611,000. Asked about which number she agrees with, Moradi said, “I won’t venture to pick a side before looking closely at the numbers myself.”

“It is possible the waters may have been muddied by conflicting views over the years. I believe it would help to look at the situation with a fresh pair of eyes,” she continued.

Member Services Officer

Jenny Ann Pura, a PhD student in experimental surgery, has been involved in PGSS since 2012, when she was VP External of the Experimental Surgery Graduate Student Society and a representative at PGSS council.

In an email to The Daily, Pura explained that “In a time of austerity for universities and deficits for PGSS, the services offered to students are in peril.”

“More than ever, the [Member Services Officer] will have to be strong and creative to protect the budget lines dedicated to services and to make sure the funds are used as efficiently as possible,” she continued. “Student services are not a luxury; they are necessities.”

Asked about her plans for the role, Pura said she would offer professional networking and development opportunities to members, and would work closely with Lavigne, if elected, on his plan to “reach out to his contacts in the [Quartier de l’innovation de Montréal] to set up workshops and information sessions.”

Referendum questions

Members of PGSS will be voting on two referendum questions over the next week.

World University Service Canada Student Refugee Fee increase

WUSC has brought forth a referendum question to increase the levy from $0.50 to $2.00 per student per semester. This increase would allow WUSC to continue their Student Refugee Program.

“Should the fee pass, we will be sponsoring three students each year for [the] next five years,” said Sujay Neupane, a member of WUSC McGill, in an email to The Daily. “If the fee is not passed, we will be able to sponsor only one student every alternate year as of 2018.”

The sponsored students are funded in their first 12 months in Canada to cover their tuition fees, living expenses, food and a small stipend. “This year, we will welcome Syrian students for the first time,” said Neupane.

Legal Information Clinic at McGill fee increase

The Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LICM)’s student advocacy service is a free, law student-run service providing McGill students and members of the Montreal community with legal information and referrals, as well as document certification.

The fee paid by PGSS students has not been increased since 1990, and Marilyn Venney, senior advocate at LICM, told The Daily in an email that the levy would be used to increase and improve existing services. “For example, we would consider moving the Legal Information Clinic to a bigger space, which would allow us to serve more clients on a faster timeline,” said Venney.

“If the fee levy doesn’t pass, we might be forced to reduce some of the services that Student Advocacy currently provides to grad students,” Venney said.

These include representing graduate students in informal dispute resolution procedures when they face a breakdown in communication with their supervisor, and in accusations of academic offences like plagiarism or cheating, as well as helping them appeal withdrawals.

A previous version of this article indicated that Vertika helped launch a campaign against “dragging” at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). In fact, Vertika launched a campaign against “ragging” at the University of Delhi, where she did her undergraduate studies. The Daily regrets the error. 

The Daily’s endorsements for the PGSS referendum questions can be found here.

The post 2016 PGSS elections and referenda appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The only other contested position, that of VP Student Life, was won by Elaine Patterson, by a margin of 52.8 per cent. All those running unopposed were acclaimed: Erin Sobat for VP University Affairs, David Aird for VP External, Daniel Lawrie for VP Internal, Sacha Magder for VP Operations, and Niall Carolan for VP Finance.

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The voter turnout was 17.5 per cent, a marked decrease from last year’s 25.9 per cent.

Speaking to The Daily, Ger said, “[I am] unbelievably excited and thankful that the student body trusted me with this position.”

“I promise 2016-17 will be the best SSMU year we’ve had,” continued Ger. “I know there’s a lot of troubles and a lot of doubts about what we’re going into, but I promise the council reform committee will come through. I promise more voices will be included at the table, and I promise we’ll figure a way to balance this budget and make student life better.”

In an interview with The Daily, Jordan Sinder said that, despite his loss, he was proud of the campaign his team ran. “I think we raised important issues that needed to be raised. I think we drew a lot of attention to SSMU politics and our campaign engaged many students,” said Sinder.

“I’m happy for Ben and I know he’s going to be a great president next year and I look forward to working with him,” he continued.

Allegations of personal attacks

Like last year, this year’s elections also made heavy use of Facebook event pages for campaigning purposes.

In a post shared on his event wall on March 11, Ger said, “This campaign is grassroots-based. It focuses on the issues, not my opponent. […] Personal attacks from my opponent will not be met with personal attacks from my campaign’s end, and we will continue to address critical problems on campus.”

However, on March 17, Sinder released a statement on his event page, alleging that members of Ger’s campaign team had been engaging in “personal attacks” against Sinder.

“My campaign team has not engaged in attacks against our opponent’s platform; many suspect the same standard has not been upheld on the other hand,” Sinder said, referring to the number of posts made on his event page by members of Ger’s campaign team.

Some commenters on Sinder’s post pointed out that this could be because students had genuine concerns about his platform. One commenter asked, “Have you considered that maybe the volume of questions and concerns that you have received as well as the opposition against you is due to issues in your platform, rather than a personal attack or a grand conspiracy?”

But at least one commenter sided with Sinder, saying that he was “supported by the majority, at least in political opinion.”

Referendum questions

The constitutional referendum to create a steering committee to block “external and divisive” motions from appearing at General Assemblies failed, with 47.4 per cent voting for it and 52.6 per cent voting against it.

The event page for the “yes” committee was very active during the campaign period, with a steady dialogue between the proponents and opponents of the question.

Those opposing the referendum question brought up the fact that this steering committee would be obstructing student democracy. Furthermore, a number of students were worried about the lack of clear definition of the terms “external” and “divisive.”

One student commented on the Facebook “yes” event, “And here we see the culmination of decades of de-politicization and apathy. […] Student groups and unions have a critical place in discourse and action on especially these kinds of ‘external and divisive’ issues, where greater civil society frequently fails to act, and I’ll be rejoicing when this vote fails.”

SSMU Arts and Science Representative Matthew Satterthwaite, one of the original movers of the motion to ask this referendum question, argued in a post in the “yes” event that the sheer number of opposing and other sarcastic comments on the event page made some students uncomfortable sharing their opinions on the page, saying, “Just because you yell louder, doesn’t mean you’re right.”

All of the other referendum questions passed, except for the question regarding affiliation with the Association pour la voix étudiante au Québec (AVEQ), which failed with 62.1 per cent of votes against, and the question regarding the increase of the Student Television at McGill (TVM) fee, which failed with 61.9 per cent of votes against.
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David Aird, newly-elected VP External, who had vocally supported affiliation with AVEQ in his platform, explained the failure in an interview with The Daily.

“I think it was just hard to communicate the value of a student federation to the student body,” said Aird. “Most of what we had was just social media that only reaches so many people. The voter turnout was actually pretty low this year, too.”

“I think the arguments coming from the ‘no’ campaign were rather inflammatory [and] not representative of the true value of joining a student federation. I think they failed to take into account a lot of things,” Aird continued, “which is why I’m going to revisit the question next year at some point, once we’ve had a better chance of seeing what could happen with AVEQ.”

The post Ben Ger elected SSMU President appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The candidates – with the notable exception of VP External candidate Alexei Simakov, who did not attend the debates – were given the opportunity to present their electoral platforms and to answer questions from members of the student press.

President

U2 Environment student Ben Ger and U1 Biomedical and Life Sciences student Jordan Sinder are competing for the position of SSMU President.

Le Délit asked both candidates where they stood regarding the controversial amendment to the SSMU Constitution which, if passed, would block “external and divisive” motions from being discussed at General Assemblies (GAs).

“I am for direct democracy,” said Ger. “As a student government, we should represent exactly what the student body wants, and the GA is an amazing way for students to come out and mandate their executives to do certain action.”

He continued, however, by asserting that “there is something to say for the idea that the [motions would require a] two-thirds majority [to] stay on the agenda.”

“If it passes,” he concluded, “I will support it.”

Sinder argued that “there is a distinction between de-politicizing SSMU as a whole and making sure our executive council is politically neutral.”

He explained that while his presidency would avoid political stances, he would feel a strong obligation to support activist groups on campus – even those that might bring forward potentially divisive GA motions.
“As a member of the executive council, I think it’s wrong for us to assert certain stances on these divisive issues,” finished Sinder.

VP External

U4 International Development Studies student Alexei Simakov and U3 Philosophy and Political Science student David Aird are competing for the VP External position. However, Simakov was not able to attend the debate, and told The Daily that was owed to schoolwork.

Most of Aird’s relevant experience has been with the McGill Against Austerity campaign. When asked by The Daily how he would support other campaigns on campus – such as Divest McGill and Demilitarize McGill – Aird replied, “My involvement with other campaigns is definitely less pronounced than with the anti-austerity campaign. […] I intend to appoint someone who is very knowledgeable [about] those campaigns as Political Campaigns Coordinator.”

Aird continued, “I think these campaigns benefit from having a certain independence from [the VP External] position, from SSMU in general. […] I find [these campaigns] to be more or less self-manageable and self-sustaining at this point. […] I’m open to giving them all the institutional support that they need.”

VP University Affairs

U3 History and East Asian Studies student and Arts Senator Erin Sobat is running unopposed for the VP University Affairs position.

During his opening remarks, Sobat told the audience, “I want to do a lot more to inform you about [the VP University Affairs’s] role in advocating for your needs at the University level.” He also emphasized his experience in both “project-based” and “administrative portfolio-based” positions.

Responding to a question from The Daily about his opinions on political neutrality and how that would affect the dynamics of next year’s SSMU executive team, Sobat said, “Next year in general will be a restructuring year and there will be a lot of conversations about what SSMU’s priorities are in terms of advocacy as well as service provision, knowing that cuts will have to be made. […] I will say that I do feel that SSMU does have an important role on campus and will advocate for that.”

VP Finance

U3 Strategic Management and Accounting student and SSMU Club Auditor Niall Carolan is running unopposed for the VP Finance position, one of the two positions that have been created out of the former VP Finance and Operations position.

When asked by the Bull & Bear about how exactly he is planning to ensure SSMU’s financial stability given the recent failure of the membership fee increase referendum, Carolan mentioned the Student-Run Cafeteria (SRC) among the items that would need to be reconsidered, should the SRC run a deficit in the long term.

Nevertheless, Carolan said, “I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable saying that I am going to cut this and this at this meeting right now. […] I think that there are specific places that do get cut quickly, like the Club Fund. […] However, I believe that that’s one of the most [significant] things that students benefit from by paying their student fees.”

VP Operations

U3 Biochemistry student Sacha Magder is running for VP Operations, the other half of the former VP Finance and Operations position.

Among Magder’s campaign promises is the addition of a “sleeping space” in the Shatner building. Pointing out the conflict between the number of specialized spaces that SSMU would like to add to the Shatner building and the building’s physical limitations, The Daily asked Magder how he would approach space reallocations.

Magder said, “There are spaces that are available and can be moved. […] I think there are a lot of other ways we can optimize the space and use it better and more efficiently.”

VP Internal

U1 Materials Engineering student Daniel Lawrie is running unopposed for the VP Internal position. His platform centres on communication, organization, and trust.

“I believe that through these values, we’ll be able to fix some of the issues that are currently [affecting] the VP Internal’s portfolio,” Lawrie said.

The Bull & Bear asked Lawrie how exactly he plans to motivate students to be more engaged, apart from just communicating with them. Lawrie emphasized that SSMU needs to go beyond simply using the listserv, and start using mobile platforms such as the MyMartlet app.

“It’s crucial for everyone to have access to information as easily as possible. […] People will be able to get these notifications on their phone. If you look at our generation, we are the millennial generation. […] Everyone’s on their phone 24/7,” Lawrie said.

VP Student Life

Elaine Patterson, a U2 English Literature student and Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) VP Communications, and Dushan Tripp, U3 History student and Clubs & Services Representative to SSMU, are competing for the newly created VP Student Life position, which is replacing the VP Clubs & Services position and taking over the mental health portfolio from the VP University Affairs.

The Daily asked both candidates what they saw the role of VP Student Life within SSMU Legislative Council to be, considering the scope and political nature of topics discussed.
Tripp responded, “As much as I might keep my political opinions to myself, which I probably will, I do believe that SSMU is a democracy and that the voice of the people that vote and debate in SSMU should be [respected].”
Patterson said, “As a SSMU councillor, I would do my best to make sure that my personal opinions did not interfere [with] opinions I received from [those] who are part of certain clubs and services, making sure that what they want to see happens in SSMU Council, even if it’s something I would not like to see happen.”

The post Presidential candidates ambivalent over “external and divisive” amendment appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Ben Ger

Ben Ger is a U2 student in McGill’s School of the Environment, and has been actively involved with SSMU since last summer. He was also a part of former SSMU President Courtney Ayukawa’s presidential campaign. Before that, he served as the VP Finance of the McGill Environment Student Society (MESS), President of Molson Hall, and Sustainability Ambassador for the SSMU Environment Club.

Ger also sat on the Internal Regulations and Constitutional Review Committee of SSMU, whose objective has been to convert all of SSMU’s by-laws into internal regulations and to streamline the Constitution. Ger cites his reduction of the number of signatures required to hold a referendum from 500 to 100 as increasing accessibility and facilitating “grassroots change.”

Ger’s platform prioritizes student mental health. While mental health is technically not a part of the president’s portfolio, SSMU presidents can choose to prioritize issues that are important to them. Within the scope of his platform, Ger proposes giving “Mental Health 101” training to faculty members, as well as creating mental health clinic spaces and group therapy sessions in the Shatner building.

As far as SSMU’s role as a political actor goes, Ger thinks that SSMU has the potential to have international influence, but promises to listen to what the student body wants. He seems to have conflicting opinions about the controversial constitutional amendment that seeks to limit “external” and “divisive” motions from coming to General Assemblies. On one hand, he says that the two-thirds majority rule “makes sense,” and on the other hand, he recognizes that it may silence student voices. If it passes, Ger said that he will support it as president, regardless of his personal views.

An earlier version of this article said that Ger reduced the number of signatures required to hold a referendum from 100 to 50. In fact, the numbers should have been 500 and 100. The Daily regrets the error.

Jordan Sinder

Although only in his second year at McGill, Jordan Sinder believes he has sufficient experience to successfully lead the SSMU executive team. As last year’s president of La Citadelle, Sinder represented the students of his residence on Inter-Residence Council (IRC), and he has since served as an executive for several clubs, including DECA McGill and TVM: Student Television at McGill. He has never been a member of SSMU’s Legislative Council, but Sinder argues that this actually makes him a stronger candidate. As an outsider, he says, he will be better equipped to identify SSMU’s flaws and effect change.

A key component of Sinder’s campaign is the political neutrality of the SSMU executive, although it remains unclear how he could enforce this single-handedly through the presidential portfolio. He argues that SSMU should foster political engagement and activism among its members, including on so-called “divisive” issues, while maintaining a balanced stance at the executive level in order to avoid alienating a substantial portion of the student body.

However, Sinder has also indicated that while SSMU has been mandated to advocate on behalf of various social and environmental causes to the McGill administration, the majority of his own advocacy would focus on “real student interests,” such as building maintenance, mental health, and increased financial aid. He would work more efficiently with the administration than previous presidents, he argues, by being less “accusatory” and more willing to compromise.

Sinder views behind-the-scenes “administrative work” as a crucial part of the presidential role, but he also stressed the need for the president to represent the interests of the entire student body and work closely with faculty representatives on Council. He hopes to bridge the gap between SSMU’s leadership and its members through increased financial transparency and a campaign that informs students about SSMU’s inner workings.

Endorsement: Ben Ger, with reservations

Both Sinder and Ger have stressed the importance of consultation in their platforms, adopted disappointingly ambivalent attitudes toward the political nature of SSMU, and represented themselves as capable negotiators whose status as relative outsiders will allow them to better address SSMU’s flaws.

However, while Sinder appears fairly unfamiliar with the intricacies of the presidential role, Ger has worked under the presidential portfolio and has gained an understanding of the position and of SSMU’s inner workings. He has expressed a firm commitment to both the administrative side of the president’s work and their support role for the other members of the executive team.

This being said, Ger’s platform remains vague on certain crucial issues. Although he has highlighted the inadequacy of both mental health services and equity within SSMU, he has proposed few concrete strategies for dealing with these problems. Furthermore, his repeated refusal to take a concrete public stance on the proposed amendment to the Constitution that would block “external and divisive” GA motions, suggests a disturbing willingness to sacrifice political integrity in favour of electability.

As a result, while The Daily endorses Ger, it does so with strong reservations.

The post President appeared first on The McGill Daily.

David Aird

Aird is a U3 Political Science and Philosophy student, and is the current Political Campaigns Coordinator, working under the present VP External. In this role he was responsible for the new McGill Against Austerity group, which fulfilled SSMU’s anti-austerity mandate, and focused on educating students about austerity measures. He’s currently working within the campaign on formulating alternatives to austerity and starting the advocacy portion of the campaign.

Aird says that the VP External should be “an effective voice for students.” He would focus on accessibility and quality of education, as well as keeping tuition costs low.
With the recent restructuring of the executive, Francophone Affairs has been institutionalized under the VP External portfolio. Aird, who is bilingual, intends to appoint two new francophone commissioners. He’d also work toward extending the visibility of Commission des affaires francophones (CAF) during Orientation Week, and work with the VP Operations on French-language SSMU MiniCourses.

Aird believes is it is “dangerous to think of SSMU as an apolitical entity” because students, as part of Quebec society, are necessarily invested in broader social issues like provincial spending on education. Regarding the Winter 2016 GA, Aird expressed that it is possible to “mitigate division in constructive ways,” and that the solution is not to erase disagreement or shut down debate.

Aird sees joining a student federation as the “most important aspect of the VP External job,” saying that student federations have a proven track record of success, such as in their opposition to provincial tuition hikes in 2012. He is strongly in favour of SSMU joining the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ).

Alexei Simakov

Over the past two years, Simakov has gone from a self-described “typical student” to a full-blown campus celebrity. His rise to fame began when he ran against current SSMU President Kareem Ibrahim in the 2014-15 SSMU elections, campaigning with a platform aiming to “depoliticize SSMU.” Following former SSMU VP Internal Lola Baraldi’s resignation earlier this year, Simakov ran for the VP Internal position, but was not elected.

Third time may be the charm for Simakov. He told The Daily that he is vying for the VP External position, because he believes that in elections, the “absence of choice is not democracy,” and that “candidates should be opposed.” Simakov is the president of the Conservative Association at McGill, and the job has given him experience working with campus clubs across the country.

Simakov’s vague platform highlights “repairing [SSMU’s] relationship with the Board of Governors” and calls for “services and affordability, not political activism.” Simakov argues that it is not SSMU’s job to be the “cheerleaders” of the many existing on-campus campaigns. He told The Daily that energy spent on political actions would be better spent on student services, the quality of food services, the air conditioning in our buildings, and the sustainability of our heating systems.

On March 6, he announced “informally” on Facebook that he would be withdrawing his candidacy. Nevertheless, he has since told The Daily that he may stay in the race. Simakov was absent from the press debates that took place on March 9 and did not campaign during the first week of the campaign period.

Endorsement: David Aird

Aird’s work under the current VP External as the Political Campaigns Coordinator and his active membership in McGill Against Austerity have equipped him for the position of VP External. His well-informed commitment to joining student federations is also a strong point in his favour. Meanwhile, Aird’s opponent has remained vague regarding whether or not he is in fact running, and has failed to produce a clear and comprehensive platform.

The Daily endorses Aird for this position.

Culture editor Kateryna Gordiychuk was not present for, or involved in, the discussion of the VP External endorsement, as she has been involved in Aird’s campaign.

The post VP External appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Elaine Patterson

Elaine Patterson is the current VP Communications of the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS). Before that, she was the Living Learning Communities (LLC) Rez Life Facilitator and the VP Communications for the Carrefour Hall Council. She told The Daily that she is “passionate about working with other students,” and that she really likes “how much facetime this position gets with students.” She is also very excited that the mental health portfolio was added to the position during the restructuring, saying that this is one of the reasons why she is running.

For Patterson, the most important aspect of the VP Student Life position is being a liaison between students and the McGill administration. In addition, she believes that the VP Student Life should be approachable, meaning that any student should absolutely feel free to consult her with any matter regarding her portfolio, be it conflict resolution, budgetary issues, or other concerns.

For the mental health portfolio of the position, she wishes to harmonize McGill’s mental health services. She promises to host a Mental Health Services roundtable each semester, where all eleven mental health services can talk about their initiatives and plans for the future. She also wants to be a liaison between residence and off-campus floor fellow communities and McGill mental health services, to make sure that first-year students can easily access these services.

Patterson sees SSMU as a political actor, arguing that students are “invited to share their opinions with and through SSMU [with] the rest of the student body and [with] the McGill administration.” To that end, she promises to try her best to represent the views of constituents who are involved in SSMU clubs and services. Furthermore, she believes that it is difficult to determine which issues can be considered “external” to campus, given how international McGill is. In addition, she believes that it’s natural that students are divided on issues and that it’s important to make sure that “both sides, or however many sides there are about a certain issue” are being heard.

Dushan Tripp

Tripp, a U3 student, currently serves as a Clubs & Services Representative to SSMU Council. Within SSMU, he is also a member of the Funding, Club, and Referendum Committees – the latter of which he is using to campaign for an opt-outable Club Fund fee. He hopes to bring this experience, as well as his tenure as VP Finance for the Tonal Ecstasy A Capella club, to the position of VP Student Life.

Citing space and funding as main concerns for the over 230 clubs at SSMU, Tripp plans to make these issues the pillars of his campaign. In that vein, he aims to work with the incoming VP Operations to continue changing the distribution and booking of club rooms on the fourth floor of the SSMU Building, to create more bookable rooms as well as new storage rooms by the beginning of the Fall 2016 semester. Additionally, he plans on taking a second look at the viability of an online information and resource portal for clubs.

Other campaign points include efforts to make the club creation process easier and more transparent, to promote the visibility and accessibility of SSMU’s mental health projects, and to maintain a balance between transparency and efficiency.

This is the first year that the position of VP Clubs & Services has been expanded to include many of the former duties of VP University Affairs; Tripp recognizes that it will be difficult to do both jobs, but remains optimistic about the goals he has set. To be fair, those goals are quite modest, and, in the case of his transparency versus efficiency claim, incredibly vague. But with the possibility of services shutting down to balance SSMU’s budget, having modest goals is perhaps the most realistic approach.

While recognizing the political nature of SSMU, Tripp sees the Student Life position as focused on improving administrative structures. Thus, he says if elected he will vote in accordance with the majority opinion amongst the student body, not necessarily his own personal opinion.

Endorsement: Elaine Patterson

While both candidates have experience relevant to the Student Life portfolio, Patterson’s term as an AUS executive should better prepare her for the role of a SSMU VP. Furthermore, her work with Living and Learning Communities (LLC) has provided valuable experience interacting with and coordinating student groups, a core duty of the VP Student Life.

Also, in contrast to Tripp’s vague “holistic approach” to mental health, Patterson’s platform contains several concrete ideas with respect to the mental health component of the Student Life portfolio, such as a semesterly mental health services roundtable.

As such, The Daily endorses Patterson for this position.

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The motion regarding support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, passed at the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Winter 2016 General Assembly (GA), has failed the online ratification process, amid allegations of illegal campaigning against the motion during the ratification period.

The results of the online ratification process were announced on February 27. The BDS motion was nullified with 2,819 students (57 per cent) votes against the ratification, 2,119 (43 per cent) votes in favour, and 6.6 per cent out of a total of 5,286 students abstaining. Motions that pass at the GA need to be ratified online before they can be put in effect.

Other motions passed at the GA were ratified, with the motion regarding the procurement of products containing conflict minerals by SSMU and the motion for an increase in Indigenous content at McGill gathering 75.5 per cent and 70.3 per cent of votes in favour respectively.

In a statement published on its Facebook page, the McGill BDS Action Network, also known as McGill BDS, thanked it supporters and declared that “the fight is not over.”

“Though we are disappointed with the outcome of the online ratification process, we are proud of the 2,119 students who stood for the rights of Palestinians.”

Speaking to The Daily, Melis Çağan, an organizer with McGill BDS, said, “Though we are disappointed with the outcome of the online ratification process, we are proud of the 2,119 students who stood for the rights of Palestinians.”

“We take pride in the extensive work that the McGill BDS Action Network has put into this campaign; we have still made history. We passed the BDS motion on the same day as the [House of Commons of the Canadian] Parliament voted to condemn BDS. As history has shown, real change comes from the people and not from governments,” Çağan continued.

In another statement published on February 26, McGill BDS had condemned “active campaigning efforts and tactics used by various students, professors, and student groups in opposition” to the motion. In addition, McGill BDS alleges that “fraudulent Reddit and Instagram accounts have been created with our name and logo.”

According to article 6.4 of the SSMU Internal Regulations of the Presidential Portfolio, “Campaigning is not permitted during the period for online ratification.”

McGill BDS alleges that campus groups opposing the BDS motion have used “exterior organizations, rather than their campus affiliates, to disseminate misinformation regarding the motion’s intent, form, and impact.”

According to evidence shared on McGill BDS’s Facebook page and sent to The Daily, Federation CJA, a Montreal-based Jewish organization, sent an email to its membership during the online ratification period, asking members to “encourage your children, your grandchildren, your friends, indeed any McGill students you may know to make their voices heard by voting ‘NO’ in [the] online ratification against the BDS motion.”

“For the online ratification process to be truly meaningful, we need students to be aware and informed of the issues. It is in that spirit [that] we released our statement.”

The Quebec branch of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) also created a sponsored Facebook post on February 26, with the statement urging students to vote against the BDS motion, in both French and English.

At McGill, the Conservative Association at McGill University released a statement on February 24, asking students to “join us by standing with Israel, and voting no to the BDS motion,” on their Facebook page. The statement was edited roughly two hours after it was published.

When asked to explain why his group published that statement, Conservative Association at McGill University President Alexei Simakov told The Daily, “For the online ratification process to be truly meaningful, we need students to be aware and informed of the issues. It is in that spirit [that] we released our statement.”

The “Vote No McGill” Facebook page has also campaigned for a “no” vote during the voting period for the online ratification, saying, “It takes a few seconds and will help us stop this motion in its tracks.”

McGill BDS stated that it “will be pursuing recourse for the fact that there was illegal campaigning to vote no on the motion.”

“We are proud of our accomplishment despite this uneven playing field.”

Çağan said, “We got 43 per cent of the votes in a race where the opposition was campaigning at full force despite it being illegal to campaign during online ratification, evidence of which we have collected throughout voting period. We are proud of our accomplishment despite this uneven playing field.”

Speaking to The Daily, SSMU President Kareem Ibrahim explained that a petition could be brought to the SSMU Judicial Board (J-Board) regarding these alleged violations of the internal regulations. If the J-Board is convinced that these actions do constitute violations, it could recommend a revote. Ibrahim noted that the J-Board’s recommendations must be ratified by the SSMU Board of Directors, adding however that only in extreme and rare circumstances would recommendations made by the J-Board not be ratified.

Copy editor Chantelle Schultz was not involved in the editing of this article, as she is a member of the McGill BDS Action Network.

The post BDS motion nullified in online ratification appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Presidential debate

Current VP External Becky Goldberg and Arts Representative to SSMU Adam Templer are competing for the position of president.

In her platform, Goldberg highlights student engagement, mental health, and AUS collaboration with campus groups and departmental assocuations. To that end, Goldberg said at the debate that she wants to enhance student autonomy on campus, hold an Arts activities night to showcase AUS services and groups, liaise with mental health providers on campus, and decrease “redundant events.”

In his platform, Templer says that he wants to improve student life by improving course syllabus accessibility, expanding the Frosh Bursary program, and empowering the AUS Equity Committee. As well, Templer says in his website that he is a qualified advocate of student interests, and promises, among other things, to improve relations with the University to keep selling sandwiches at the SNAX counter in the Leacock building.

“Although SSMU really is hooking things up to promote mental health on campus, it’s never enough.”

One student from the audience asked to hear more about the candidates’ mental health platforms.

Goldberg mentioned that she is advocating for the creation of a mental health coordinator at AUS. Recognizing that SSMU already has an extensive mental health committee, Goldberg said, “Although SSMU really is hooking things up to promote mental health on campus, it’s never enough.”

In his response, Templer said, “This year, I’ve tried to take initiative in SSMU in terms of mental health – [proposing] adding mental health coverage to insurance. […] AUS struggles with budget and resources to offer professional counselling services, professional direction, professional guidance.” To compensate, Templer suggested that SSMU could be of help, as it already has more resources to tackle this, despite the fact that the University should be providing such resources in the first place.

VP Internal

Department of English Students’ Association (DESA) VP External Kira Smith and last year’s AUS Internal Administrator Patricia Neijens are competing for the VP Internal position.

Current VP Internal Maria Vedeshkina asked the candidates how they were planning to encourage greater collaboration between the many departments of AUS.

Neijens wants to “encourage more combined events,” such as the one organized by the Political Science Students’ Association (PSSA), International Development Studies Students’ Association (IDSSA), and Economics Students’ Association (ESA) on February 18.

Smith emphasized the fact that she wants collaborative events off campus as well as on campus. Further, Smith believes that communication between departments needs to be streamlined.

VP Communications

Second-year student Chanèle Couture De-Graft and third-year student Kieran Cousins are running for the VP Communications position.

Current VP Communications Elaine Patterson asked the candidates, given their lack of experience either as student volunteers or as committee members under the VP Communications portfolio this year, how they would “ensure the preservation of institutional memory.”

In her response, Couture De-Graft said she would work on promoting committees. “For example, look at the Fine Arts Council Facebook page, we only have 500 likes. In a faculty with the most students, we could really build on that, make that reach so much bigger,” she said.

Cousins responded that he had met with Patterson, “because I wanted to make sure that I was fully capable of tackling all the situations that would come about [with] the committees.”

“A lot of people have this false image that VP Communications only runs the social media accounts. But the truth is they chair a lot of committees,” he added.

VP External

U1 Political Science and Economics student Kia Kouyoumjian and First Year Council President Patrick O’Donnell are competing for the VP External position.

Goldberg asked the candidates if they had any plans for advocating for financially accessible internships for students, given that many students cannot afford to do unpaid internships.

In her response, Kouyoumjian highlighted the fact that most students don’t even expect anything more than unpaid internships, saying that she would start with initiatives to empower students. Recognizing provincial budget cuts that have affected the Arts Internship Office, Kouyoumjian suggested that AUS could work with local companies that might be more willing to assist local students.

O’Donnell suggested pooling resources with other groups, rather than simply relying on funding. He suggested that AUS could tap into some of the SSMU Equity Fund as well as find jobs for students within AUS.

VP Academic, VP Finance, and VP Social

For each of the remaining executive positions – VP Academic, VP Finance, and VP Social – there is only one candidate in the running.

For the VP Academic position, Erik Partridge, VP External of the First-Year Arts Council (FEARC), is the sole candidate remaining after Nicholas D’Ascanio withdrew from the race before the debate took place.

At the debates, Partridge indicated that he intends “to make study space a priority on campus” and make advising simpler. In addition, Partridge expressed a desire to “work with professors to create a conducive environment for mental health.”

One student asked Partridge how he intends to work with professors on the matter of mental health, given that many professors do not want to shoulder that burdeh. In response, Partridge said that his platform would not necessarily extend professors’ workloads and that, in the long run, they would also benefit. He also suggested including Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the effort.

“I think that the biggest challenges will be to not fall back into the past habits. […] It’s really tempting to blow all of your budget on one huge rager, and not really think about things like inclusivity or running a diverse event portfolio.”

The sole VP Social candidate is Kat Svikhnushin, the current VP External of the Religious Studies Undergraduate Society. In her platform, Svikhnushin says that she aims “to continue strong financial management of [the VP Social] portfolio, working extensively with the future VP Finance.”

Current VP Social Christine Koppenaal asked, “It’s not a secret that this position over the years has seen a lot of chaos. Now that things are a little more stable, I am just curious what you think some of the challenges would be for you?”

In response, Svikhnushin said, “I think that the biggest challenges will be to not fall back into the past habits. […] It’s really tempting to blow all of your budget on one huge rager, and not really think about things like inclusivity or running a diverse event portfolio. […] You’re running events, and you’re trying to bring the community together over events and having fun, but [finances] have to come first.”

VP Finance candidate Deepak Punjabi is a current member of the Financial Management Committee (FMC) of AUS and has experience working on the financial audits of DESA and PSSA. In addition, Punjabi has also passed the screening process, as required by the newly implemented regulations on the AUS Electoral Bylaws.

Current VP Finance Mirza Ali Shakir asked Punjabi several factual questions about the AUS budget, most of which Punjabi was able to answer.

—With files from Marina Cupido

As Commentary editor Igor Sadikov is running for an Arts Representative to SSMU position, The Daily has decided not to cover the Arts Representative debates.

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Employment equity discussion

On Senate’s agenda was an open discussion regarding employment equity at McGill. A working group had previously been created to prepare a report, which was completed in August 2015.

At Senate, the working group sought feedback on three questions: what milestones McGill should set for itself, whether it is time for McGill’s Employment Equity Policy to be reviewed, and what initiatives should be pursued to improve equity outcomes in recruitment and retention.

According to the working group’s report, “While the Employment Equity Policy has been in place for nearly a decade, [McGill’s] tenure track professoriate has not become noticeably more diverse, despite some improvement in women’s representation.”

Since 2008, the proportion of tenure-track professors who are women has increased from 17.3 per cent to 20.5 per cent, corresponding to a net increase of 16 people. At the same time, the total number of employees self-identifying as Aboriginal has actually gone down from 17 to 16.

“I was hoping for a really cross-McGill, cross-faculty, cross-department sort of discussion. […] I didn’t really see that happen.”

One senator asked if the reason why the numbers haven’t been increasing may be that people from the designated groups were not applying for positions, saying “that could be a major impact in our ability to diversify.”

In response to this question, Science Senator Marina Smailes said, “I think that it would be potentially something of a target to also include recruitment processes, if we are actually going out and specifically targeting people in order to have those relevant number of applicants.”

In an interview with The Daily, Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) VP University Affairs Chloe Rourke said, “There is certainly a misconception that there aren’t qualified candidates, particularly of colour, but also in general from those designated groups. There are qualified candidates from those designated groups. McGill, just for whatever reason, isn’t recruiting them or hiring them.”

Also speaking to The Daily, Arts Senator Alex Kpeglo-Hennessy said, “I was hoping for a really cross-McGill, cross-faculty, cross-department sort of discussion. […] I didn’t really see that happen.”

“For the most part I would really say that the administration, it seems to be moving in a very positive direction very quickly. But, at the same time, there is a lot of silent resistance from professors and departments. It was really disappointing to not hear from deans or professors as often. […] It was very much all students and the [Associate Provost (Policies, Procedures and Equity)] talking,” Kpeglo-Hennessy continued.

Course outlines

Kpeglo-Hennessy and Arts Senator Erin Sobat submitted a question regarding course outlines, which was answered by Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens.

The question asked whether “methods of course evaluations could be added to course descriptions,” and whether “the University would be willing to ask for tentative course outlines that include basic information such as a breakdown of assignments.”

The preambulatory clauses to the question noted that “the Charter of Student Rights only requires that course outlines be made available to students within the first week of classes in each respective term,” and “the McGill eCalendar contains no information on methods of evaluation within classes.” Further, “MyCourses opens access to course materials on the first day of classes, and only to those registered or on the waitlist of a class.”

“If we are able to pick and choose our semesters to understand the course loads that we’re putting ourselves into, students will be able to prevent some of the stress and inability to complete work that comes in the middle of the semester.”

In his written response, Dyens said, “Asking for definite course syllabi nine to twelve months in advance of the start of the course would not allow most professors to include the most up-to-date research in their courses,” and would also prevent professors from incorporating student feedback from the previous semester into a revised syllabus.

“There may be so many things changing in the course outline, the added value to the students would be much less than the detriment,” Dyens said.

Faculty of Education Senator Alenoush Saroyan added, “As a professor, I don’t think assessments should drive learning. Learning should be for the sake of learning. You also don’t want professors recycling outlines that are ten years old. Syllabi should be refreshed every year – I need to think about who my students are, and I can’t do that nine months in advance.”

In an interview with The Daily, Kpeglo-Hennessy said, “At the moment, students are forced to pick their courses largely based on the name of the course and a two -sentence description. That’s really not sufficient when you’re planning a degree.”

To Kpeglo-Hennessy, this is also a matter of increasing accessibility to courses. “At the end of the day, if we are able to pick and choose our semesters to understand the course loads that we’re putting ourselves into, students will be able to prevent some of the stress and inability to complete work that comes in the middle of the semester,” he explained.

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Hundreds of students had lined up in the lobby of the Leacock building before the speech, forming a queue that stretched both toward the basement and toward the main entrance of the building.
Speaking to The Daily while waiting in line, Law student Nanying Tao said that she thought it would be interesting to hear about globalization from the perspective of an official of the UN.

“Usually you feel like globalization is too far away from us,” said Tao. “I think globalization means more pluralism and diversity. We usually feel like globalization is another kind of colonization or Westernization, or other kinds of modernization. I feel like in current affairs […] globalization will be more like a diversity of the world and more voices from the other part of the world.”

Members of campus climate justice group Divest McGill were also present, holding a large banner that said “Choose wisely: We can invest in the low carbon economy or we can invest in dirty technologies,” a quote from Ban himself.

Antonina Scheer, a U2 Earth Sciences and Economics student and a member of Divest McGill, was “extremely honoured” to have Ban speak at McGill.

“We know that he’s a supporter, already, of divestment. So, it means a lot that McGill has invited him and we wanted to take the opportunity to remind McGill that he is on our side in this specific debate,” Scheer told The Daily.

Stevan Tempesta Jr., International Relations Students’ Association at McGill (IRSAM) VP Internal, was particularly excited to see Ban. “Being a part of [IRSAM], United Nations and Ban Ki-moon especially have a special place in my heart, I think. […] I anticipate a lot of important dialogue from [Ban] today about youth involvement in politics. […] I think that is especially important, given that we’re all college students […] really trying to engage ourselves early in the international democratic process,” Tempesta told The Daily.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, who attended the event, told The Daily that he was happy to have Ban visit Montreal.

“This is an international city. This is diversity. It’s all part of the process – I call that diplomacy of cities. […Ban] is a friend of Montreal and we will make him an honorary citizen tonight,” Coderre said.

Despite the fact that a fire alarm delayed the opening of the doors, Ban was able to start his speech with no additional hiccups. At 2:40 p.m., Ban took the stage and was met with a standing ovation.

“With all these global threats, we cannot just worry about young people or work for them. We have to invest in youth.”

During his speech, Ban highlighted how important it is for the UN to use youth to “forge solutions” to four problems: “Unemployment, climate change, armed conflict, and humanitarian crises.”

“The older generation has not taken care of the planet that the young people will inherit. You will be continuously affected and influenced by what our generation and our previous generations have neglected,” Ban said. “With all these global threats, we cannot just worry about young people or work for them. We have to invest in youth.”

Particularly with regard to climate change, Ban said, “You can all be part of the transition to a low-carbon economy and a low-carbon future. You are consumers, innovators, and at the same time you have votes. You can invest in green solutions, invent new technologies, and elect leaders who are committed to climate action.”

Hala Fakhroo, U1 Environment and Development student and a member of Divest McGill, told The Daily said she was “very happy” that Ban brought up climate change as one of the global issues that youth should focus on.

“I agreed with what he said, that we need bold action from young leaders to topple over the people […] that don’t believe in climate change and [put] obstacles in our way,” Fakhroo said.

Jed Lenetsky, U1 Environment student and also a member of Divest McGill, agreed with Fakhroo. “I think he said a lot of great things, especially in terms of holding the people who we’ve elected accountable. I think that’s very relevant, in terms of the federal government and especially in the UN, but also to McGill, specifically, in terms of holding the administration accountable for their actions and not taking sustainability as seriously as we would hope.”

Ban also brought up the fact that McGill graduate and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has “recommitted Canada to the United Nations,” and that he was here to “recommit the United Nations to partnership with Canada.”

“I think that’s very relevant, in terms of the federal government and especially in the UN, but also to McGill, specifically, in terms of holding the administration accountable for their actions and not taking sustainability as seriously as we would hope.”

Maéva Proteau, U3 Political Science and Middle East Studies student and editor-in-chief of the McGill International Review Online, told The Daily, “I feel it’s been so long since [Canada] had a place in the international community, so it’s exciting to see that we are trying to slowly regain our place.”

Daniel Weinstock, James McGill professor in the Faculty of Law, told The Daily that he was surprised that Ban would make a “thinly veiled set of political references” to Canada’s place in international relations under Stephen Harper’s government.

“He went a little bit further than I thought a diplomat […] would go […] to emphasize, as it were, that Canada has gone through a period of time when it had been self-eclipsed, as it were, from the international stage and from international diplomacy.”

Weinstock also said that he thought events like this are important to “remind ourselves of why it is we do what we do, why is it that we chose to study and to teach the range of topics that we chose to teach and study.”

“It’s a good kick in the pants, as it were, to the extent that in the middle of February, we may be tempted by fatigue. […] It’s a good way of reminding ourselves of that once in a while. He was certainly very inspiring, very human, very humane, surprisingly funny.”

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On February 11, the McGill Board of Governors (BoG) voted to grant the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco) the right to construct and operate a natural gas pipeline through two tracts of land in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, in which McGill owns an interest, bequeathed to it in the 1950s.

According to McGill’s Internal Communications Director Doug Sweet, although McGill did not purchase this property, it has “continued to pay small amounts of tax annually, as is its responsibility as a property owner,” apart from a small delay in covering approximately $150 in 2014.

According to the Building and Property Committee’s report to the BoG, “the property is valued at US $11,000. Transco has offered to pay US $15,418 in compensation.”

The Daily discovered that Transco filed a “complaint for condemnation of pipeline right-of-way and servitude and/or surface servitude” on November 18, 2015, against McGill and other entities holding interest over forty acres of land in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

“The property is valued at US $11,000. Transco has offered to pay US $15,418 in compensation.”

According to court documents obtained by The Daily, “Transco is the holder of a Certificate for Public Convenience and Necessity issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC),” which gives it the right, under the U.S. Natural Gas Act, to legally acquire the right-of-way over private property.

More specifically, the certificate allows Transco to “construct, operate, and maintain a pipeline or pipelines for the transportation of natural gas” even if Transco and the owner of the property – in this case McGill – cannot come to an agreement. When that is the case, the company “may acquire the [rights to do so] by the exercise of the right of eminent domain in the district court.”

Sweet told The Daily in an email that “Transco […] has the right to take the property for public use […] in the event no agreement is reached on obtaining a servitude.”

This seems to be the case, as court documents indicate that Transco had attempted to “amicably purchase” the property rights from McGill and other landowners “for at least the true fair market value of the property interests,” however the landowners “rejected that offer.”

McGill was issued a notice on December 11, 2015, explaining that “Transco [had] the right of eminent domain under the Natural Gas Act […] because it cannot, despite good faith efforts, acquire by contract, or is unable to agree with owner of the interest sought to the compensation to be paid for the necessary right-of-way to construct, operate, and maintain the project for the transportation of natural gas.”

When this was brought to the BoG’s attention at the February 11 meeting, some directors expressed their concern about the lack of study done regarding the pipeline’s environmental impacts.

“We kind of have a gun to our heads here.”

Speaking at the meeting, Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Secretary-General Danielle Toccalino said, “The goal of McGill being in the forefront of mitigating climate change and moving to a more carbon-neutral economy should be taken into consideration.”

In response, BoG Chair Stuart “Kip” Cobbett said, “We kind of have a gun to our heads here.”

Sweet said, “The Board [of Governors] decided [on February 11] that it would better serve McGill’s interests to accept that offer rather than be subject to whatever a court might decide in terms of compensation for a right of servitudes that, under U.S. law, would be granted in any case.”

—With files from Paniz Khosroshahy

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