Highlights from the CSU Council Meeting

Petition Against Gill and Filming the BoG Among Points Discussed

NewsJulian Ward & Hilary Sinclair — Published January 25, 2012

Petition to Recall President Gill

A petition and website launched by Tomer Shavit in an effort to impeach Concordia Student Union President Lex Gill was dismissed out of hand by councillors and executives as “unnecessary and a waste of time.”
Read the full story here.

Debate on Student Solidarity in Anti-Tuition Movement

A lively debate on the ‘minimum agreement,’ which is essentially a pact between provincial and national student groups to work together against the government tuition hikes and help eliminate in-fighting, was discussed at length. Councillors decided to table voting on the agreement until the CSU meeting on Feb. 8, largely due to widespread confusion over the meaning of the agreement and subsequent motions. A motion was then put forward by councillor Melanie Hotchkiss to “put on paper what [executives] have doing already” and actively work with all student associations in Quebec against the hikes. The motion was passed unanimously.

CSU Spring Election Date Changed

The dates of the CSU election have been changed to be held a week earlier than previously scheduled. This motion was carried to prevent the general election from falling at the same time as the proposed four-day strike against tuition hikes Mar. 26–29.

A Call to Arms to Film Next BoG and Senate Meetings

In response to the Board of Governors’ refusal to broadcast and archive their meetings, CSU BoG representative A.J. West called on all interested students to film the Feb. 10 BoG in protest. West said that if students didn’t take up his call to film the meetings that he would do so himself. For more background on the transparency motions shot down by the BoG, read our story here.

Concordia Introduces Its iPads

Concordia’s libraries have released 49 iPads into circulation and the decision to purchase the iPads over other brands of tablets was a result of extensive student-led research, said CSU BoG member AJ West. The choice came, in part, because of the ability to easily erase user history from the devices. When asked about whether it was ethical to support Apple due to controversy over the labour used to manufacture the devices and their use of minerals from conflict zones, CSU President Lex Gill responded that, at this time, ethical tablets do not exist and thus cannot be purchased.

—with files from Laura Beeston