For all the recent debate on both salaries and fees there is another misuse of student money that has attracted far less attention. While many students have rightly raised concerns about the UTSU’s spending on salaries at the expense of student services, virtually no one is talking about the fact that our student fees are also paying for the union’s lobbying campaigns and protests.
This problem arises from the dual role that the UTSU plays at U of T. The union is the successor to the Students’ Administrative Council, which drew a great deal of criticism for remaining neutral in campus debates. The SAC feared that having the central student government take sides would be divisive, and it seems that their fear was probably justified. Since the UTSU joined the CFS, its overly political stance has not only divided the student body but also given the organization itself two conflicting roles. The UTSU is required to function as a student government, collecting and spending student funds on services, but is now much better known for its action as a lobby group for the CFS.
[pullquote]Supporters of the UTSU and the CFS may claim that as elected representatives of the student body the UTSU executive has a right to advocate on their behalf. This argument, however, quickly becomes ludicrous if we consider the farce that UTSU elections have become. [/pullquote]
Supporters of the UTSU and the CFS may claim that as elected representatives of the student body the UTSU executive has a right to advocate on their behalf. This argument, however, quickly becomes ludicrous if we consider the farce that UTSU elections have become. In order to claim any democratic legitimacy the UTSU elections must fulfill at least two basic requirements — they must draw a significant portion of the electorate to the polls, and the electorate must be confident that the elections are fair. Unfortunately, election turnout and voter confidence are both so appallingly low that the UTSU executive cannot and should not claim to represent U of T’s students. Nor should they spend student funds advocating on our behalf, since they have no indication of what the majority of students want them to say.
There are, however, two facts that can give us some indication of how students really feel about the UTSU and the CFS. Firstly, the fact that voter turnout has sunk to somewhere around five per cent in recent years suggests that a vast majority of students are disillusioned or apathetic about the UTSU. Another suggestive fact is that only several hundred, out of U of T’s more than 70,000 students attended their “All Out Day of Action.” If all out for the UTSU is less than one per cent of students, it gives an indication of how little support their political actions really have. Given these indication, and the complete inefficacy of the UTSU’s elections students, are justified in feeling that the fees they are compelled to pay are being misspent.
Moreover, the CFS gains credibility by claiming, as they have repeatedly done, that they have more than half a million members in schools across Canada. While this is technically true, it is certainly misleading since anyone who wants to attend a school that, like U of T, has a CFS branch is compelled to join. Thus the CFS can claim to have a truly impressive number of members despite the fact that we have no way of knowing whether these members support the CFS or not.
On top of the electoral reforms that are clearly necessary, a beneficial change would be to separate the student governmental, and lobbying functions of the UTSU. We have seen that their combination has created division and disillusionment in the student community, allowed student funds to be misspent, and student’s view to be misrepresented.
Mandatory fees, tied with our tuition, should only be used to deliver student services, through an effective, democratic, and impartial student government. Any organizations for student advocacy, while their role is certainly important, should have voluntary membership and contributions.
In the present system, anyone who doesn’t want their name and money supporting the CFS cannot attend this university. If education is indeed a right, then how can the UTSU justify making that right contingent on subscribing to their political agenda?
