Since U of T joined the Canadian Federation of Students in 2003, the lobby group has played a large role in the U of T Students’ Union and drawn staunch supporters as well as harsh critics. As the school year wraps up, The Varsity looks back at the CFS’s involvement in U of T student affairs and some of the CFS’ general activities that affect the U of T community.
UTMSU rep denied seating at CFS meeting
On Jan. 18, UTM student paper The Medium reported that the UTMSU executive prevented student Stephanie Marotta from attending the CFS semi-annual meeting. VP external Henry Ssali selected Marotta to attend the meeting as a student delegate, but his decision was overruled by the executive committee. (Ssali and Marotta ran for UTMSU on the UTM Renew slate, which lost all exec positions. They plan to appeal this week.)
According to the UTMSU, there were concerns about Marotta’s involvement with The Medium as an associate news editor, though she told Ssali she would not be covering the meeting for the paper and would be attending as a student delegate. The Medium reported that as a white female, Marotta does not belong to a constituency group, and the UTMSU would not receive a $75 subsidy that is meant to encourage a diverse delegation. Constituency groups include aboriginal students, francophone students, mature students, and LGBTQ students.
Ssali called an emergency meeting for Jan. 15 to appeal the executive’s decision, but the meeting was cancelled by speaker Walied Khogali on grounds that emergency meetings are to be called with at least 72-hour notice by either the president or the executive committee. Marotta did not attend the CFS meeting.
Bodia Macharia and the Graduate Students’ Union
On Feb. 4, The Varsity reported that Bodia Macharia, an executive-at-large for U of T’s Graduate Students’ Union, accused union employee Rose Da Costa of repeated disrespectful behaviour at the CFS annual general meeting. Da Costa denied the claims.
Macharia said that Da Costa attempted to prevent her from communicating with two delegates from Quebec and treated her in an “infantilizing” way. Lex Gill, one of the student delegates, told The Varsity that she witnessed Da Costa attempt to stop Macharia from sitting with her and has confirmed Macharia’s version of events. According to representatives from the University of Windsor Students’ Association, Da Costa acted as a CFS anti-harassment officer on at least one occasion.
At a later CFS-O meeting, Macharia was accused of harassing Rodney Diverlus, a member of CFS Local 24 (Ryerson). According to Macharia, CFS anti-harassment officer Julie Delaney approached her after a conversation with Diverlus, saying that Diverlus claimed he felt harassed and unsafe. Initially, the GSU executive planned to issue an apology letter to Diverlus without Macharia’s consent. While the GSU did not end up sending the letter, members within the council have told The Varsity that the incident contributed to the tense relationship between Macharia and the rest of the executive.
Diverlus has since been elected the RSU’s VP equity (a new position whose creation he lobbied for). He was spotted with Stronger Together campaigners at Sidney Smith hall during the elections two weeks ago.
UTSU elections
Last week, the Stronger Together slate, comprised largely of UTSU incumbents, won a decisive victory in the spring elections. Stronger Together candidates have close ties to the CFS and student union execs from CFS member unions have been seen campaigning at each other’s campus elections. This year, Stronger Together campaigners included execs from the Ryerson Students’ Union (VP finance and president-elect Toby Whitfield, VP equity-elect Rodney Diverlus) and the York Federation of Students (VP campaigns Darshika Selvasivam), known respectively as Local 24 and Local 68 of the CFS.
Sandy Hudson elected CFS-O chair
UTSU president Sandy Hudson will be the CFS-Ontario chair for the 2010-2011 year. Hudson, who previously served as the CFS-O Women’s Commissioner and the CFS-O Students of Colour Representative, was elected at the CFS-O meeting in Markham.
Proposal for Ontario-wide credit transfer system
In a March 18 report to the Post-Secondary Education Secretariat, the CFS proposed the creation of a new province-wide credit transfer system. The group estimates that students in Ontario spend over $40 million as a result of the current credit transfer system. According to Shelley Melanson, the current CFS-O chair, a cohesive credit transfer system would also encourage students with incomplete post-secondary education to return to school.
CFS Taskforce on Racism report
The CFS Task Force on Campus Racism released a final report on their findings for 2009-2010 year on March 22. To combat a “culture of racism” at Canadian universities, the group made over 50 recommendations, including creating more safe space policies and a mandatory equity-based course in each department, and more diversity in recruiting by campus media, amongst others.
The report made specific mention of the blackface incident at U of T, where a number of students dressed up as members of the Jamaican Bobsled Team, and the ensuing town hall organized by the Black Students’ Association.
UTSU president Sandy Hudson was one of nine members of the task force, which also included U of T Aboriginal Studies professor Lee Maracle.
