Voting results on the Student Commons levy are expected early Monday, wrapping up a two-week-long campaign.
The referendum was conducted by the University of Toronto Student’s Union from Oct. 31, to Nov. 2, with polling stations across campus. According to a news release on UTSU’s website, over 3,100 ballots were cast in the referendum, representing around 11 per cent of full-time undergraduate students. The referendum needed a voter turnout of at least five per cent to be valid.
Though the votes have been counted, at press time verification was still ongoing to make sure that all ballots were cast by eligible voters.
The referendum and the proposal to build a student-funded, 24-hour centre, called the Student Commons, has been a long time coming. St. George is the only campus at the university not to have a dedicated student centre, and studentcommons.ca says that “of the thousands of students who voted, a clear majority supported funding the construction of this building.”
The proposed centre is based on the same concept as the student centres at UTM and UTSC, which serve as activity hubs. UTSU plans to house itself in the Student Commons and has announced a laundry list of intentions for the building. The student union plans to sell TTC metropasses all month long, run their food bank every day in an accessible location, and operate their used book exchange year-round, up from just three weeks in the fall.
Various groups have expressed interest in getting space at the centre, including the Centre for Women and Trans People, Students for Barrier Free Access, the cycle repair group Bikechain, and student publication the Newspaper, as well the Sexual Education Centre, which will lose its current space on St. George Street to make way for an expansion of the Rotman School of Management.
The Student Commons is also projected to contain a student-run eatery, and lounge, club, student group, general meeting, and prayer space. Notably, neither the Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students nor campus radio station CUIT has sought space in the centre, though both were mentioned by UTSU as victims of a supposed prioritization of corporate space over student space.
Controversies arose over the plan of funding the centre through a student levy for full-time undergrads. The referendum proposed charging full-time students $5 per semester until the building opens (in 2009 according to current estimates). At that point, students would also start paying $6.50 to cover operating costs and $14.50 a semester for no more than 25 years to pay off mortgages arising from building expenditures. The operating cost is subject to a maximum 10 per cent increase per semester to cover inflation. The official report estimates annual operating costs of around $645,000.
“I certainly do not agree with paying for something I will likely not be able to use during my time as an undergradu- ate,” said Grant Gonzales, a first-year student at St. Michael’s College and a representative on the Arts and Science Council.
Campaigning was rife with controversy, with the election’s chief returning officer, Gail Alivio, receiving complaints that the “yes” campaign used “aggressive” campaigning and broke UTSU rules laid out in its Charter on Referenda.
Alivio gave five demerit points to the “yes” campaign for hanging a banner within sight of the Sidney Smith hall polling station.
“A ‘no’ vote means that this will never happen,” said Michal Hay, VP university affairs of UTSU. “The campaign was therefore very tense.”
Some students complained about being mislead by the emphasis on the initial $5 per semester levy, rather than the higher costs that would come later.
“I felt that the ‘yes’ campaign was entirely run by the student union. This overwhelmed the ‘no’ campaign,” said Mykelle Pacquing, a third-year at University College. “I had voted ‘yes’ and have discovered to my horror that this was only to lead up to its construction and could go as high as $14 [instead of $5]. I feel duped and taken advantaged of in this referendum and now I feel responsible if the ‘yes’ vote wins.”
Some disagreed. “The current UTSU executive should be applauded for exercising democratic principles […] I am disappointed at the negative and inaccurate campaign launched by APUS,” said UTM Student Union president Walied Khogali, who endorsed the “yes” campaign.
Hay said that she believed students would have accepted the proposed terms of the levy even if the sum of the per-semester costs had been more emphasized. in campaign materials.
