“Dishonest,” “marxists, “radicals,” and “fascists” are some of the terms that can be found in the lexicon of today’s politicians. Resorting to negative campaign tactics, personal attacks, and smear campaigns are unfortunately common in the political arena. However, this negative discourse is not limited to the House of Commons and TV studios: It can be found in the upper echelons of U of T student government and those who seek its power. Student politics nowadays has adopted a left wing vs. right wing discourse. However, all the criticism has been mutually exclusive to UTSU, its left wing advocacy, and its relations to the CFS. From these valid concerns has grown an ugly monster fed by the actions and rhetoric of both UTSU and those who oppose them.
UTSU has a storied history that includes winning access to Robarts Library for undergraduates to negotiating successfully for a TTC Post-Secondary Metropass. In recent years, however, the UTSU has been marred with controversy. Beginning in 2002, after UTSU joined the Canadian Federation of Students, some students have complained that UTSU no longer represents them. They point to recent elections where incumbent slates were elected almost unopposed and UTSU’s left-wing campaigns such its support of Israeli Apartheid Week or invitation of controversial speakers to campus. Such campaigns should be run by independent student groups, not student governments, critics say.
[pullquote]To move forward, the objective of all parties should be to make U of T a more united campus. This will require significant compromise and cooperation.[/pullquote]
The UTSU has also had a rocky relationship with the constituent colleges and professional faculties. The constituent student governments often complain that UTSU is too bureaucratic to work with, that they are not listened to, and that they are not properly informed of decisions that UTSU makes. The relationship has become increasingly tense over the last few years, with Trinity College and Engineering Society discussing defederation, and also the decision of many colleges to forgo the UTSU frosh kits this year.
Recently, a group called Stop the Salaries emerged to challenge UTSU on its finances. It claims that UTSU executive is cutting parts of the budget allocated for services while increasing their own salaries by a combined $100,000. Utilizing political-style attack ads and simple infographics, their narrative is blunt and clear. However, this claim is somewhat misconstrued. In a previous edition of The Varsity, UTSU president Danielle Sandhu explained that the figures were from last year’s budget and that salaries were raised for all UTSU workers. She also added that what appeared to be cuts were just the result of the programs costing less.
Enough is enough. It is time for the political rhetoric on this campus to cool down. While admittedly there are issues regarding UTSU, its finances, and its relations to the CFS, Stop the Salaries does not help its case by unleashing attack ads based on stretched figures. If a STS-backed slate wants to win this year’s election, they must make U of T the centre of their platform and not the politics of the UTSU. How to improve student services and make them more accessible, how to boost spirit on campus, how to run more events: these are the questions that student politics should revolve around. By focusing on the politics of UTSU — while this is an important question — the campus inevitably becomes polarized on ideological lines. UTSU, for its part, should not create such divisions by advocating for leftist causes. While we all want lower tuition, not all students agree on some of the issues that the UTSU has been advocating for, and UTSU should respect these differences.
To move forward, the objective of all parties should be to make U of T a more united campus. This will require significant compromise and cooperation. UTSU should make amends with the colleges by updating some its procedures to make it more transparent and democratic while the colleges should work with the UTSU to find common ground rather than resorting to distancing themselves and calling for defederation. There will be rough patches ahead, but if all parties show patience and a willingness to work together then we will have a much better campus.
