NoCFSConcordia asks you...

..."Has the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) threatened YOU with a lawsuit?"



This is a topic that nobody from the CFS can ever address in a debate.

A fundamental question must thus be posed: Is this your student union... or the CFS's?

Wishing the UVSS the best of luck... in court?

Students from the University of Victoria Students' Society (UVSS) are set to vote in a referendum on continued membership in the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) from March 29th to March 31st 2011. Check out some of these posters being pumped out from the "NO" campaign:

In contrast, check out the attempt by the "YES" side to convince UVSS students that the CFS is a democratic organization... In short, FAIL!

Don't be fooled: Canadian Federation of Students ain't democratic!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the "YES" campaign spent approximately $4300 on pro-CFS ads in the UVic's student newspaper The Martlet. On the other hand, the UVSS approved $750 (nearly 6 times less than the "YES" campaign spent solely on the above mentioned newspaper ads). Lastly, The Peak, the independent student newspaper of Simon Fraser University, has published the following opinion piece, written by three "former CFS insiders who have chosen to speak out, years after their involvement", outlining why the CFS is "broken and can't be fixed". 

The CFS is Broken and Can't Be Fixed ©The Peak 2011
©THE PEAK 2011 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - PLEASE VISIT http://www.the-peak.ca/images/peak/pdf/peak_issue_1117.pdf FOR ENTIRE NEWSPAPERS

Réunion du C.A. de la FÉUO - SFUO BOA meeting

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Breaking News: Today's SFUO Board of Administration meeting will take place at Portable 106, 150 University between MPT & LMX at 1pm.

Yupp, it's that time of month... NO! Not THAT time of month! I'm referring to the SFUO BOA meeting which will be taking place tomorrow afternoon, Sunday March 20th 2011, 1:00pm in Tabaret Hall (TBT) 083. Below is the preliminary agenda:

L'agenda pour la réunion du Conseil d'administration de la FÉUO - dimanche 20 mars 2011 - Sunday March 20 2...

Hot topic of the day: Federated body levies. Expect a heated debate about whether or not the SFUO should raise the amount of levies payed to their "besties" back to fiscal year 2009 levels (which would potentially see an increase in the Fed body levies by at least $83 682):

Fiscal year 2009 Federated body levies  = $294 646
Fiscal year 2010 Federated body levies  = $211 964
Total decrease of Federated body levies = $  82 682
Source: SFUO Financial Statement - April 2010

In case you forget the exact wording of the motion, follow this link.
On another terribly annoying note, earlier this week, I sent yet another email to our beloved V.P. finance Sarah Jayne King regarding the fact that she has yet to post the SFUO budget online. Well, she can expect to hear me ask her the exact same question I've asked her at at least 6 previous BOA meetings (one of those being the very meeting when she presented the budget to the board back in July 2010; Pathetic? Goddamn right!): WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Do I expect a straight answer from SJK? Are you kidding?

SFUO: Where's the evidence

Damn, time is flying. I felt compelled to write the following letter and submit it to The Fulcrum. I was lucky enough to have it published in this weeks edition (P.S. Sex insert is EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!):

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SFUO: Where’s the evidence?


DEAR MEMBERS OF the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) executive,

I would like to address the aftermath of the sit-in that took place in the SFUO office on Monday, March 7, 2011.

First of all, I would just like to point out how foolish we have been made to look on national television. While being interviewed both by Radio-Canada, our vp communications, Paige Galette, made an over-the-top claim that some SFUO employees were being held hostage by the protestors. It’s a good thing that, at one point in that clip, the reporter made it very clear that anyone who was still inside the SFUO office were there willingly.

Furthermore, it is my understanding that some SFUO employees have been disciplined for having participated in or for having “encouraged” this protest. This is extremely troublesome. In one case, an employee’s termination letter has been posted to uOLeaks.com and the following accusations were cited to justify such a dismissal: “…as a result of your participation in the blockade and vandalism of the SFUO offices… your services will no longer be required by 1848”. Alright, well for one thing, participating in a legal protest is not criminal. But, the accusation of vandalism is much more damning and, if proven, would definitely be grounds for this dismissal.

What is absolutely astonishing with this whole situation is that, as far as I know (and I stand to be respectfully corrected), there exists no evidence that Mr. Witwer (the terminated SFUO employee) ever vandalized anything. If no evidence has been provided, then there exist absolutely no grounds to punish him for having participated in a legal protest.

I look forward to having this evidence, if it does in fact exist, provided to the student media. Students deserve to know and the SFUO has a duty to explain the reasons why these decisions are being made. If the evidence does not exist, then I would expect that Mr. Witwer (contract or no contract) and other SFUO employees, who have been penalized for their participation in a legal protest, would be immediately reinstated and that a formal, public apology be issued as soon as possible by the SFUO.

Brandon Clim
Fourth-year political science student

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What I find to be terribly unfortunate with this whole situation is the following: there exists a culture of fear that the SFUO has instated in its own employees (talk about a safe space, eh?!). Knowing many people who are, in way or another, employed by the SFUO, I was quite shocked to hear them tell me that, despite their support for the protest that took place yesterday (Tuesday March 15th 2011), they would not/could not be seen anywhere near the premises. They told me they relied on the income from that job and could not afford the chance of being fired or suspended.

How ridiculous does this sound to you? Is it fair that SFUO employees are so concerned about losing their jobs that they refrain from participating in a peaceful, legal demonstration against the regime for which employs them? Is that a safe space? Look, this problem hasn't just popped up out of nowhere... Remember this article published in La Rotonde back in November 2010.

I may be dreaming in colours to think that I might get an answer... Phoque, a guy can't even call certain members of the SFUO executive without getting their voicemails day in and day out never mind actually getting a formal, written response regarding the (thus far) baseless accusations of vadalism.

I look forward to any sort of response and will gladly post anything that put forth if and when something does come out of this.

Frustré? Soyez-y demain! / Frustrated? Be there tomorrow!

Cette manifestation aura lieu devant le bureau de la FÉUO dans le Centre universitaire (UCU)! Soyez-y!

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This protest will be taking place in front of the SFUO office in the University Centre (UCU)! Be there!

 

More video footage from special meeting of the SFUO BOA

VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS COURSE LANGUAGE AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL VIEWERS!

This is how the SFUO Board of administration thinks about students who actually care about student politics. It is absolutely shameful! Every single board member who supported the banning of concerned students/student media from the meeting should first, apologize and then swiftly resign!

It is "safe" to say that outside of the university bubble, there is no such thing as a "safe space". Some people may get the shock of their lives once they figure this out! Hiding behind the cloak of a "safe space" is absolutely ridiculous, especially when the student media are denied access. Some of the most disturbing cases that go before Canadian courts even allow for the media's presence (albeit in some very particular instances, the journalists cannot have their BlackBerry or laptops on their person when entering the courtroom).

The Supreme Court of Canada's policy pertaining to the media can be found here

The Ontario courts' policy can be found here.

Arguing that it was accessible because there was a guy rolling around on a squeaky office chair holding a video camera to board members' faces when they spoke is also a sham. Having watched this sad excuse for a livefeed, I can attest to the extremely poor sound quality which persisted throughout the proceedings. Most of the time, people could not hear because of the background noise, technical glitches and, at times, complete blackouts. This is absolutely unacceptable as the meeting proceedings were not made accessible to students as explicitly outlined in the motion.

Of course, as usual, any and all comments are welcomed and encouraged.

Rencontre spéciale du C.A. de la FÉUO - dimanche 6 mars 2011 / SFUO BOA special meeting - Sunday, March 6 2011

La rencontre spéciale du C.A. de la FÉUO aura lieu au pavillon Tabaret, salle 083, ce dimanche 6 mars 2011 à 17h. Malheureusement, cette rencontre n'est pas ouverte à la population étudiante/au public. Par contre, le "live stream" sera diffusé au pavillon Lamoureux, salle 106. Voici l'ordre du jour pour cette rencontre:

The SFUO BOA special meeting will take place this Sunday, March 6th 2011 at 5:00pm in Tabaret Hall, room 083. Unfortunately, this meeting is closed to the student population/the public. However, the meeting will be live streamed at Lamoureux Hall, room 106. Bellow, you'll find the meeting's agenda:

Rencontre spéciale du C.A. de la FÉUO - dimanche 6 mars 2011 / SFUO BOA Special Meeting - Sunday, March 6th...

UPDATE

A statement by the Elections Committee has been released:
SFUO Elections Committee Statement - March 3rd 2011
 

A lively Facebook debate thread

Unfortunately, it looks as though this weekend's special BOA meeting will not be open to the student population. The argument? To ensure a "safe space" for everyone involved. If, as one person bellow does, we want to bring the courts into this argument, consider this: If any of these people arguing for such a closed-door meeting are ever to go to a provincial or federal court (for whatever reason) such a request (except in very particular cases) would be laughed at. This is how the SFUO BOA functions: no transparency for the sake of a "safe space". But what, if anything, are people so concerned about? The BOA hasn't hesitated in the past to call Protection Services when members of the student population have simply trying to have their voices heard. In any case, please read on: