Two fee-levy applications struck down at CSU council meeting

Students will not be able to vote for Art Matters’ or CSU Legal Information Clinic’s fee-levies in upcoming by-elections

NewsGeneviève Sylvestre — Published November 2, 2025 4 minutes

The first fee-levy considered by council was Art Matters’, whose fee-levy application was shut down at a previous regular council meeting last week. The student-run fine arts festival presented a motion to reconsider its increased application at the start of the SCM, which passed 15-5. 

The festival’s general coordinator, Brigid McPhee, presented articles and documentation to council, spanning from 2002 to 2025, to show that the group is complying with its mandate to “build an inclusive community, working within an anti-oppression framework.” 

However, Art Matters’ fee-levy increase itself failed to receive the two-thirds supermajority required to pass, with 13 votes in favour, 10 against and one abstention. 

Councillors Ashley Steinwald, Anastasia Zorchinsky, Chana Leah Netanblut, Liora Hechel, Sarah Wolman, Diana Levitin, Emilie Alexandre, Orly Wazana, Coby Toledano and Sarah Aspler voted against the levy.

The other fee-levy groups running for an increase were Concordia Recreation and Athletics, the Concordia Food Coalition, Queer Concordia, the CSU Legal Information Clinic (LIC), the CSU Daycare and CSU Clubs. Of the listed groups, the LIC’s application was also shut down, with 11 votes in favour and 9 against. 

Councillors Ashley Steinwald, Anastasia Zorchinsky, Chana Leah Netanblut, Liora Hechel, Sarah Wolman, Diana Levitin, Orly Wazana, Coby Toledano and Sarah Aspler voted against the LIC levy.

Council also voted in-block against three referendum questions to go to ballot, touching on anti-colonial solidarity, intersectional disability justice and sex work. A question on modifying the start of the Fall reading week passed.

Justifications for Rejections 

A community member from The People’s Potato asked council to justify why members voted against the Art Matters fee-levy application despite the application documents being in order. 

Councillor Orly Wazana answered that she personally voted against the increase due to the group’s support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. 

McPhee answered that, similarly to council, fee-levy groups stand to “represent the positions of the majority of students.” She added that, as an affiliate of the Fine Arts Student Alliance (FASA), Art Matters is bound to follow what FASA students vote on. 

Over the last year, both FASA and the CSU passed motions in support of BDS, with students also voting for the CSU to adopt a position “against the practice of apartheid” at the Spring 2022 General Elections.

“Our money comes from students,” McPhee said. “We want to represent the majority of students, and this is what students voted in, so this is what we will also support for our students.”
 

“I think that a vote against a fee levy is really a vote against democracy and a vote against the student rights.” — Vanessa Massot, CSU general coordinator

In the case of the Legal Information Clinic, CSU legal representative Walter Chi-Yan Tom told council that the clinic has seen a 177 per cent increase in cases since 2021 and is running a deficit of $39,000. 

Council asked about the work the clinic does to help defend student protestors involved in the Gaza humanitarian crisis and if they support the students who “feel targeted and unsafe at these protests.”

Chi-Yan Tom said that, as an organization, the LIC does not discriminate based on political opinion and must assist all students who seek its services. He clarified that the clinic’s job is to act as an observer and to de-escalate tense situations during protests on campus. 

“The people that come to us, they're survivors of trauma, and so we're very much, very sensitive to that, and we do have training on how to deal with survivors of trauma,” he said.

After the clinic’s fee-levy application was struck down, Chi-Yan Tom asked council to explain what part of the LIC’s documentation provided did not conform with the CSU bylaws. Council did not answer his question.

Concerns voiced for student democracy 

At many points during the meeting, members of the CSU executive team, as well as community members, raised concerns about how blocking fee-levies from appearing on the ballot can be a concern for student democracy. 

CSU general coordinator Vanessa Massot told council that they believe it is the CSU’s duty to allow fee-levy increases to go to ballot so students may exercise their right to vote. 

“This step should really just be making sure that the documentation is there and allowing it to go to the student body to be voted on,” said Massot. “I think that a vote against a fee levy is really a vote against democracy and a vote against the student rights.”

The CSU Policy on Fee Levy Applications lays out that, when considering a fee-levy modification, council should: “verify that all of the appropriate documentation has been submitted, verify that the group has been following the mandate given to it at the previous referendum” and “consider whether the proposed question is factual and not prejudicial to the outcome.”

A spokesperson for The People’s Potato also said during the meeting that they believe that council should vote only on whether the documentation of the applications is accurate and up to date.

“It is not, in my understanding, the role of the councillors to decide whether the group itself is appropriate to exist at Concordia or to receive funding from Concordia students,” the spokesperson said.

Councillor Ashley Steinwald said of the concerns, “It's not so much a democracy if we all have to say yes.” 

Students will have the opportunity to vote on the five fee-levy increase applications approved by council during the Fall 2025 by-elections from Nov. 11-13.