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P u b lis h e d b y th e S tu d e n ts ’ S o c ie t y o f M c G ill U n iv e r s ity
T R IB U N E
In Domino Confido
October 24h, 1995
Volume 15 Issue 8
In a time of so much change, at least some results in beauty.
th is w eek
Judicial Board gives green light to Daily referendum by
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CASA plans to lobby federal government for new grants program. Page 2
S c ie n c e Looking at solutions to hunger. Page 10
Women and people of colour discuss the future in a sovereign Quebec. Page 8
Entertainm ent White Dog bites Pennywise, and lotsa good movies. Page 11
S p o rts Hockey: 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. Football: playoff picture lookin’ good. Page 13
B en ji W
e in s t e in
The referendum question pro posed by the SSMU regarding stu dent funding of the Daily Publications Society was ruled con stitutional by the Judicial Board. On October 5, the Daily made an appeal to the Judicial Board because it felt that the referendum question proposed by the SSMU violated both the SSMU and DPS constitutions. The Board met on October 17 and at the hearing, both the SSMU and the DPS submitted their respective arguments regarding the constitutionality of the question. The JB ruling, announced last Thursday, was in favour of the SSMU. The question was deemed legal under the guidelines of the Constitution of the Students’ Society. While the ruling brings the question irrevocably closer to an actual referendum, controversy sur rounding the issue only appears to be escalating. The topic of debate has turned from constitutional for malities towards notions of free press and democracy. In their submissions to the Judicial Board, both SSMU and
Don McGowan............Page 6 Mila Aung-Thwin....... Page 6 Ted Frankel.............. Page 10
Departments Crossword.......................Page7 Observer.......................... Page7 What’s O n .................Page 15
SSM U Political Research Commissioner Damion Stodola. After Thursday’ s ruling, a press conference was held by Coordinating Editor of the Daily, M-J. Milloy. The press conference seems to have rejuvenated the con troversy, appearing in the form of emotional comments regarding the integrity of the Daily. “The main crux of supporting the Daily is that it is the only free press on campus,” Milloy stated at Friday’s the press conference. “The $6.70 which students contribute annually is not a very onerous amount. It is a very symbolic link between the students and the Daily. Cutting the funding would be finan cially significant, and we would be severing that symbolic link.” Ian Hay is at the forefront in supporting the referendum. Hay is the chair of the newly formed Commission for Student Accountability, also known as the Yes Committee. “Freedom of the press does not include the right to extort money from those students it excludes both in coverage and in participation,” said Hay. “I would be disappointed in seeing an age-old institution dis
appear entirely, but the Daily has brought this on themselves. They have excluded any way for the stu dents to get involved if they have serious ideological problems [with the Daily],” he said. A particularly sensitive issue concerning notions of “extortion” and student participation is that of the fee structure of the DPS. The DPS Board of Directors is com prised of nine members: six mem bers elected by the DPS, which means all McGill undergraduates, and three members elected by the staff of the McGill Daily. In order for a motion to be passed which concerns the fee structure of the DPS, a majority of board members must support it, including at least one member from the Daily staff. According to Hay, this clause func tions as a veto. Milloy, conversely, argues that it is not a veto, and such a function is unnecessary in light of the mandate of the Board of Directors. “M-J. is wrong to suggest that the mandate of the Board of Directors is to protect the integrity of the paper. Its mandate is to pro tect the members of the DPS - you and me,” said Hay.
Out-of-province students may not be allowed to vote B y E d w in C h e n
Columnists
DPS representatives took turns attacking and defending affronts to the legitimacy of the referendum question. “Under the constitution of the Students’ Society, the question has violated the procedure set out for a council-initiated referendum ques tion. It is neither clear nor concise. In addition, it violates the purpose of the SSMU constitution and ByLaws,” states the written submission given by the DPS. “Put simply, this referendum question imperils the existence of the free press of the students of McGill University, and violates broadly accepted standards of natural justice.” In the submission given by the SSMU, the claims of the DPS are directly reproached. SSMU’s posi tion argues that the question is con stitutional, and must be isolated from any discourse on “free press.” “Basically, the points brought up by the DPS are without founda tion and should be dismissed. We have shown that the question was passed according to all procedures outlined in the constitution, that it is both concise and clear, and that the question does not contravene the stated purpose of the SSMU,” said
and
C o n n ie K im
With less than a week to go before the sovereignty referendum, rumours have surfaced that the Referendum Revision offices are trying to impede the enumeration of out-of-province students. The allegations surfaced after numerous McGill and Bishops’ students complained they had been wrongfully denied their rights to vote.
D ’Arcy Argue, a U3 music student originally from British Columbia, described his experi ence dealing with the revision office. “Although I have been living in Quebec for the past two years, I was rejected by the Directeur gén éral des élections,” he said. “I had already shown them sufficient identification, [but] the staff was abusive, manipulative and arro gant, and were immediately suspi-
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cious of any statement I made.” Argue, who had his problems in a revision office near McGill, felt he was rejected because he is not originally from Quebec. “I believe that I was rejected simply because I am an anglo phone student from B.C.,” Argue said. “And it would appear that the Directeur général des élections are deliberately trying to exclude all out of province McGill and likely, Concordia students.”
HEXA
These recent charges come in the midst of similar allegations which were raised during the enu meration process beginning in early September. Federalists charged the Parti Québécois with attempting to use the newly creat ed Bill 40 to minimise the number of foreign and ethnic voters. Polls have consistently shown that 85 to 90 per cent of anglo-
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