Update 8:23 pm: Engineering Society president Mauricio Curbelo sent a letter to summit participants further questioning the legitimacy of the UTSU’s survey, and alleging that the union has been undemocratic in a number of ways for many years. In the letter Curbelo was openly skeptical about the legitimacy of the survey: “We ran a referendum in which approximately 1200 students (29% of our membership) indicated they no longer wish to pay fees to the UTSU. The UTSU, on the other hand, claims to know the opinion of 1200 students (2% of their membership) based on the dubious claim that Ms. So talked to them.” You can read the full letter here.
While the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) election raged outside, at the second last meeting of the Student Societies’ Summit Agnes So, current vice-president, university affairs of the UTSU, quietly announced the union’s intention to leave. U of T Voice presidential candidate Yolen Bollo-Kamara, who has represented the UTSU at summit meetings throughout the year in her current role as vice-president, equity, was not present.
According to So, the decision was prompted by the exit of the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) last month, and by a survey of 1,200 undergraduate members conducted by the union. “Eighty per cent of the students we polled told us that they did not want the UTSU’s future to be decided by administrative faculty,” said So of the survey.
“It does not escape me that the university is extending a hand into this issue at a time when they are likely frustrated with us for our work on Flat Fees, Access Copyright, ancillary fees, the Transitional Year Program and other such issues,” she added.
So emphasized that she and Bollo-Kamara found that other participants in the summit often ignored or brushed off their suggestions, and did not seem open to to compromise. For instance, she stated that a suggestion they advanced that the UTSU institute a “council of the societies” within its structure went largely ignored. The proposed council would allow the societies to report their views and grievances officially to the UTSU Board of Directors. “We have barely even discussed this as a solution. In fact, we have barely discussed solutions at all.”
Directors ‘blind-sided’
The decision to withdraw from the Summit was immediately met with outrage from a number of directors, who were not aware the union had conducted the survey, let alone that a decision had been reached to leave the summit.
“It’s a completely disingenuous and slanted articulation of the UTSU’s involvement in the summit meetings, specifically designed to confuse and deceive uninformed students,” said Aimee Quenneville, an independent director from University College who is currently in Paris on exchange. “If I had been made aware that this completely faulty information was going to be disseminated as fact to students, I and several other Directors would have indisputably staunchly opposed it. I believe it’s possible that that could also have contributed to the executive’s decision to not inform us of their intent to distribute this ‘survey’ to students.”
Benjamin Coleman, an independent arts and sciences at-large director, who was recently elected to the university’s Governing Council for the next academic year, was similarly critical of the survey. “I think it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I already talked to [So] and I made it pretty clear that I think the survey is bullshit, it’s designed to make people answer a certain way.”
“I am sending in my resignation as we speak,” said Pierre Harfouche, an engineering director on the Board of Directors, and candidate for VP-university affairs with Team Unite. “They sent out a survey, apparently, but they didn’t consult us; they didn’t care about our opinions.”
“I have no use as a director if I’m not being consulted. There’s nothing I can give,” Harfouche concluded.
Survey questions
The survey was distributed by some directors and members of the executive. It was obtained by The Varsity from a restricted Facebook group for UTSU directors. According to the letter to the Summit distributed this afternoon 1,200 responses — representing approximately 2.6 per cent of UTSU members — were received. The survey featured a lengthy preamble touting claimed three successes of the students’ union: funding clubs, eliminating Access Copyright fees this semester, and the provincial government’s recent announcement on the phasing down of flat fees.
The survey asked students to choose one of three options to direct the union:
“I believe that the UTSU should participate in conversations where the administration decides its Bylaws and Policies and where its fees are going, regardless of the fact that the UTSU must sometimes operate in opposition to the administration.”
“I believe that the UTSU’s Bylaws and Policies and fees should be decided by other student organizations with different mandates, who stand to gain thousands of dollars in the process to boost their own services at the expense of UTSU services.”
“I believe that UTSU’s Bylaws and Policies and fees should be decided democratically in a forum where each of us who pay fees to the UTSU and use its services are able to participate.”
Divisional leaders react
Jelena Savic, president of the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council (VUSAC) stated that “This is the executive making a unilateral decision without the vote of the Board, which is an incredibly brazen move, even for the UTSU.”
“What Agnes and the entire UTSU executive don’t understand is that the UTSU is incredibly weak. What they need to recognize is that everyone at that table desperately wants a strong central students’ union, and we’re sitting there trying to tell them what kinds of things we need. And instead of listening, they get up and walk away, because they think the status quo is working,” concluded Savic.
“I think it’s unfortunate that they think that they need to leave,” said Innis College Student Society (ICSS) president Mary Stefanidis. Stefanidis expressed dismay that the UTSU’s representative would be missing the opportunity to hear and influence the summit’s recommendation to Governing Council.
However, “them leaving doesn’t change the process at all; there will still be a recommendation going to Governing Council regardless,” added Stefanidis. “Everyone is pretty much in agreement as to what certain things need to move forward, not because of our own biases, but because of what good governance is.”
Ben Crase, co-head of Trinity College used even stronger language. “Their handling of this situation is laughable, but more alarmingly very malicious in its intent,” he claimed.
“The notion that candidates like Cameron [Wathey, current vp-internal & services] (incumbents) are running for reelection on a platform promoting “board reform” can only be interpreted as patently false—unless by “reform” they mean strip the Board of all its power,” said Crase, who is also the Trinity College director on the UTSU. “The executive’s willingness to disregard its own Board and governance practices highlights how broken the union is. With an executive that refuses to be held accountable to anyone, it is very difficult to envision the university sitting on the sidelines much longer.”
Implications for the election
“They are promoting that they should be the voice of U of T students,” said Ye Huang, Team Unite’s candidate for UTSU president, referencing Bollo-Kamara’s candidacy. “But right now, they are leaving the Student Societies Summit, which was a very great opportunity to discuss issues with college unions and the school administration, but now they’ve made this decision, which is actually something that won’t improve communication between UTSU and the college councils and the school administration.”
“I do not think this was a good idea for them, and I really regret that they made such a decision,” added Huang. He expressed concern that the current UTSU executives were declining to advance their members’ interests to other student leaders and the administration.
Current UTSU president Munib Sajjad and Bollo-Kamara had not replied to requests for comment as of press time.
With files from Sarah Niedoba
