CSU Byelection Breakdown
The Referenda and Levies
With topics ranging from food campaigns either requesting a clear mandate or funding, to a request for a 2,500 per cent increase in immovable properties, there’s a lot for students to give their input on this week at the ballots. So to help students come to their own decisions, The Link has boiled down the Concordia Student Union’s five byelection referendum and fee levy questions.
Increase Value of Immovable Properties
The CSU is seeking authorization from students to apply to the Registraire des entreprises to amend an article of the CSU’s letters patent, which will allegedly increase the value of the union’s immovable properties by 2500 per cent, from $2,000,000 to $50,000,000.
Concordia Food Coalition Fee Levy
The Concordia Food Coalition—legally the Community Food Coalition until the university approves use of its name—is seeking an eight-cent per-credit fee levy from undergraduate students. The fee levy would be used to help facilitate and support student-run co-operative food service initiatives on campus.
Bylaw Change
Section 1.1 of the CSU’s bylaws currently read “The name of this association shall be the Concordia Student Union/l’Union étudiante de Concordia (the ‘Student Union’),” and the proposed change by the union would see a modification made to the way the CSU is read and written in French—to Syndicat des étudiants et étudiantes de Concordia.
Java U Contract
It took a little while, but once the question got approved by the CSU’s Judicial Board last month, the campaign began with gusto. A successful vote to terminate the Java U contract would see the CSU mandated to support student-run co-operative food services on campus, despite the fact that CUSAcorp—the CSU’s separate for-profit arm—manages and operates the space leased to Java U.
CSU Data Collection
The CSU is hoping to be granted permission to collect the student numbers of all of Concordia’s registered undergraduate students, for the explicit intention of verifying student status. If the question passes, the union will have access to the ID numbers of every undergraduate attending the university, instead of needing to consult the Dean of Students Office.
We also profiled the candidates running in the byelection.
