QPIRG to Charge Flat Rate Fee

NewsAlessia Faustini — Published October 12, 2010

To institute the new fee rules, QPIRG amended its constitution at the group’s annual general meeting on Oct. 7.
Prior to the change, associate members were only required to pay the equivalent of the student fee levy of three credits per semester, which amounted to 31 cents per credit, or 93 cents per year.

As a result of the amendment, non-students, or associate members, must now pay an annual fee of $10, which is the same amount that student members pay.

“The rationale behind the change is to ensure that associate member fees are more on par with the average annual fees paid by student members who are enrolled in full time studies at Concordia,” said Ashley Fortier, QPIRG’s administration coordinator. “Because the large majority of our members are going to school full time at Concordia and paying what amounts to about $10 a year.”

The motion, which Fortier also stated was to ensure that people could not merely pay 93 cents and be given the right to vote on important matters with minimal knowledge, was unanimously approved by the more than 60 members in attendance at the AGM held in QPIRG’s headquarters at 1500 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West.

“We really want to make QPIRG as accessible as possible and not require that people have to be able to pay in monetary amounts to be a part of the organization,” Fortier said. “But for folks who don’t have the time or wish to be a volunteer member or for those who aren’t student members, this is a means by which they can become involved.”

Also on the agenda for the annual meeting was the election of six members to sit on the Conflict Resolution and Complaints Committee, as well as the election of 12 members, six students and six community members, to the Board of Directors.

Rooted in anti-oppression analysis and practices, QPIRG is independent from Concordia’s administration and student union and aims to inspire social change through inclusive and non-hierarchal means.

Jaggi Singh, QPIRG’s working groups and programs coordinator said that the organization’s ultimate goal is to allow members to “meet new people and hopefully to get that spark going of being an active and socially aware member of the Concordia and Montreal community.”

This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 09, published October 12, 2010.