OPINIONS

STILL OUR MONEY The SFSS is spending too much running itself

Running the SFSS has become a whole lot more expensive over the last decade

NERCYA KALINO // STAFF WRITER

When SFU released its 2021/22 budget plan, a plan that called for a 2% increase in domestic tuition and 4% increase in international tuition, the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) objected. Their objection, in part, was based on their recognition of students’ “unprecedented nancial hardship” during COVID-19. Unfortunately, it’s an objection that rings a bit hollow in light of how the SFSS spends our money. As of 2021, a third of the SFSS budget is devoted to running the SFSS. That’s a big change from previous years.

The SFSS claims to be a student advocacy group. For students, by students. But because they draw the overwhelming majority of their funds from students’ bank accounts, we also need to closely examine their actions. Take the most recent year. In the SFSS’ nal 2021/2022 operating budget statement, $3,070,662 out of the total $3,169,725 SFSS revenue came from students in the form of SFSS member fees. That’s 97% of the SFSS’ revenue. Every semester, full-time students pay $42.74 as part of their SFSS membership fee, and part-timers pay $21.38.

So, where’s the money going? Despite some fancy infrastructure investments, the answer is largely disappointing.

What’s of concern are the ballooning administrative costs associated with the Society’s activities. In 2012, the SFSS’ administrative costs totaled $479,389. Those costs were Students are paying a whole lot for a bureaucracy.

mostly associated with administration, nancial o ce, general o ce, and “Build SFU o ce.” That’s ne. The SFSS is a big organization. It needs upkeep, supplies to run, and, of course, to pay its workers. But let’s ash forward to 2021, the latest year for which gures are available.

In 2021, those same line items now total $1,567,090. That’s over three times as costly as in 2012. “Administration and nancial o ce” have more than quadrupled, from $193,711 in 2012 to $777,894 in 2021. “General o ce” and “Build SFU o ce” expenses have more than doubled. The overwhelming majority of those funds are coming from student fees. We’re funding this explosion in SFSS operations. That’s plenty of strain on a student body that, by the SFSS’ own admission, has been experiencing “unprecedented nancial hardship.”

Why has running the SFSS become so much more expensive over the course of the decade? The rate of in ation hasn’t doubled, let alone quadrupled to match the expenditures above. We deserve answers. Whether it’s the previous Executive Committee or the current one, the SFSS has become an increasingly controversial organization. From the confusing closure of the Student Union Building (SUB) to leaks to the dismissal of members over said leaks to the recent resignation PHOTO: Fabian Blank / Unsplash

of multiple councillors, the group has been placed under more scrutiny than ever. On budgets, they deserve even more scrutiny.

There are, admittedly, some big shiny bene ts we’ve gotten for our money. The annual build levy, approved in 2012, currently demands full-time students pay up $90 and part-time students pay $45. We’ve seen those dollars go to some cool projects. $10 million from the levy paid for the new Burnaby Campus stadium. The same fund went towards the construction of the SUB, which, of course, was then denied to us at the height of the pandemic. The 2023 nancial budget consultation listed COVID-19 mental health as one of the recommendations. It explains this objective should “provide expanded accessibility and health services including dedicated funding.” That’s all well and good. But it doesn’t answer why we’re paying the SFSS to devote such a substantial (and increasing) portion of its budget to running itself.

That the SFSS publishes its nancial statements for everyone to see is fantastic. That it sometimes shells out for big, shiny infrastructure projects is nice. And that it has committed itself to a living wage for its employees is great, too! But what we need are explanations as to why the SFSS has become three times as costly to run over less than a decade.

TREADING WATER Canadians need Universal Basic Income (UBI)

UBI can help Canadians struggling with financial insecurity amid rising prices

BHAVANA KAUSHIK // SFU STUDENT

In a world with skyrocketing housing prices, wages that don’t re ect productivity, and rampant worker dissatisfaction, we need a way to bridge the gap between wages and the real cost of living. Universal Basic Income (UBI), a program that provides citizens with regular income to help them meet their needs, ts the bill. In Canada, a UBI program could enhance the happiness, productivity, health, and overall nancial well-being of citizens. After a pandemic that devastated our pocketbooks and amid rising prices, it’s time for Canadians to seriously consider UBI.

Before the pandemic hit, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada conducted a survey to measure the nancial well-being of 1,953 Canadians. Only 33% of respondents felt nancially secure while 41% felt somewhat secure, 19% were struggling somewhat and 7% were struggling a lot. Thanks to COVID-19, in ation, and global supply chain shocks, Canadians are likely feeling even more nancial pressure. UBI will reduce that pressure so Canadians can feel nancially secure.

On the bene ts of UBI, we can move beyond speculation. A Finnish UBI study that compared recipients of UBI to a control group without the regular income supplement found that UBI recipients came away from the program with more favourable perceptions of their household’s nancial well-being. As a result, seemingly unrelated aspects of their lives improved. Respondents felt they’d “experienced less mental strain, depression, sadness, and loneliness” over the course of the program. The UBI group also expressed better perceptions of their cognitive abilities, including “memory, learning, and ability to concentrate.” Without UBI is a bridge to happier, healthier living. ILUSTRATION: Angela Shen / The Peak

nancial disaster around every corner, Finnish UBI recipients were able to enjoy improved mental health.

Despite UBI being supported by a shocking 75% of Canadians, as of 2019, some doubts persist. One persistent myth is the idea that, with UBI, no one will want to work. Some believe a steady stream of income will produce a population with no inclination to work. They couldn’t be further from the truth. That same Finnish study, and others like it, found that recipients of a regular income supplement weren’t just hanging around. Because of a newfound feeling of autonomy associated with less worry about their nances, recipients were more likely to engage in “voluntary work or informal care.” They didn’t withdraw; they engaged. Engagement extends beyond informal work, too. A study on the e ects of a UBI pilot program in Ontario found that receiving unconditional payments improved the participants’ well-being and boosted their likelihood of landing jobs. Not only did they keep working, but they also gained the con dence and nancial security to seek out better jobs.

We can argue about how much to o er Canadians on a regular basis. We can argue about how often to dole our payments. But what we can’t argue about anymore is whether our current system of labour and pay is working for Canadians. UBI o ers a potential bridge from our current state of toiling away for insu cient pay to a healthier, wealthier, and happier future for every Canadian.

RADIO SILENCE The SFSS shouldn’t have kept SFU’s SUB legal challenge from us

Want students to get invested in politics? Share information and don’t punish whistleblowers

ISABELLA URBANI // STAFF WRITER LUKE FAULKS // OPINIONS EDITOR

Boredom, if not outright animosity, is a common reaction to SFU politics. The most explicit example of our distaste for student politics is in our low turnout for student elections. Case in point, the 2022 Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) elections saw just 8% of SFU students cast a ballot for their choice of president. But it’s worth mentioning there are still plenty of interesting twists and turns our politics holds — it’s just that they’re hidden from us. SFU’s potential lawsuit against the SFSS for the Student Union Building (SUB)’s closure is an example of the chilling e ect withholding information from students can have.

Let’s recap the high-level politics that were denied to us. Back in March, The Peak reported that legal action was being threatened by SFU after the previous SFSS Board voted to close the SUB from January 24–February 18 to protect sta from contracting COVID-19. The school argued the closure breached the lease agreement made between SFU and SFSS by withholding access to the SUB during normal operating hours.

That was stated in the rst of three letters SFU sent to the 2021/2022 SFSS Board starting on January 20. By the third and nal letter, SFU was threatening a default on the SFSS’ lease on the SUB. Two days later, as The Peak reported, the SFSS voted to re-open the SUB. You can’t be selective about the type of information you share: give us the good, the bad, and the ugly. PHOTO: Allyson Klassen / The Peak

Now, my gripe isn’t with the SFSS for closing the SUB. It’s not with SFU for threatening a student organization. It’s with the fact that a culture of secrecy around SUB decisions sti es students’ conversations about student politics. Although this was a few months ago, the private predicament unfolded while an online petition for online learning was circulating at SFU, and just when BC had just removed capacity limits. As a student body, we were engaged on the issue of the SUB’s closure, but were denied information about issues that might have contributed Board’s decision. As constituents, we should have been made aware of factors, including the lawsuit, that might have had an in uence on the process.

The SFSS also censured three councillors, and later impeached one of them. This is another extension of the problematic culture of secrecy in student politics. The punishing of leakers, as apparently enshrined in SFSS’ bylaws, chills the dispersal of information to the student population. While letting violators get o scot-free is not a good option, impeachment ensures that potential whistleblowers will be forced to choose between losing a career in student politics and informing the student body. The SFSS has yet to release a report on the incident. The same goes for the current Council’s recent motion to remove Rea Chatterjee, vice president external and community a airs, from her position. We’ve been kept in the dark there, too.

The SFSS needs to be transparent. You may be getting sued? You’re our student representatives, let the people know! We want the good, the bad, and the ugly. Send emails! Post it on social media! List out all your concerns and conditions on a piece of paper and stick it on the SUB door! Just address the situation. Don’t let the problem snowball and then proceed to brush it under the rug.

SFSS is supposed to be for the students. By making the factors that contribute to their decision-making public, they can better involve the student body. As it stands, the group is doing less to enhance political discourse at SFU, and more to sti e it.

DEMOCRACY INACTION The SFSS’ toxicity is spilling out of its meetings

Executive members are becoming less productive while billing students for it

ANDREA STEVESON // SFU STUDENT

The Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) has power over student life, policies, and our money. It is cause for concern, then, when we have several councillors and executives alleging the Society has become toxic and is abusing their power — and by extension, our money. Who’s paying for all the SFSS drama? PHOTO: Allyson Klassen / The Peak

The SFSS plays an important role in advocating for undergraduate student rights and providing many of the essential services students need. Besides managing the Student Union Building, they also provide students with free legal services, an emergency food bank program, an extended health and dental plan, as well as the U-Pass program. All these responsibilities, and the power associated with them, means the Society deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny must include the SFSS workplace.

Students pay hefty fees that go towards supporting the SFSS’ initiatives. Full-time students cough up over $300 each semester to the SFSS. That’s a lot for cash-strapped students. You might assume the responsibility associated with managing student money would make for a solemn environment, but you’d be wrong. Increasingly, SFSS meetings are scenes of devolution. community a airs Eshana Baran recently released a statement condemning the SFSS’ work environment. They claim that meetings can devolve into personal arguments and they have tried to remind members of community guidelines and etiquette.

They note at the June 3 executive meeting, that “concerns were raised on multiple occasions about the importance of having respectful dialogue and work environment.” In other words, the governing body of SFU’s most powerful student society is looking less like the seat of student government, and more like a playground.

So, in light of a toxic work environment, what has the Council been able to accomplish since the new executives took over in May? Well, according to their Notices of Motions page, fixing typos in policy documents. I can’t imagine many students cast a ballot during the 2022 election thinking they were voting for the person that’d be best at tackling typos. Instead of devoting time to passing a motion to correct something as straightforward as a spelling error, we need a student government that’s legitimately concerned with advocating for students. SFU’s student body has any number of concerns that extend beyond typos. With the SFSS’ $3.1 million budget, they could make a real difference on climate change, climate justice, protesting the Trans Mountain Expansion, fighting for Research Assistant rights, and, of course, pushing back against the school’s routine tuition raises.

The SFSS arguing about petty issues — from those personal issues to questions of etiquette and typos — are ridiculous issues to devote any energy to, particularly when students are paying their salaries. We want student services, not meaningless debates on the most insigni cant issues. No one else but Council knows what goes on behind closed doors and in-camera meetings, but, at its core, the SFSS should exist to serve the student body. An Executive Committee that’s rife with in ghting isn’t working in the best interests of the student body. The current executive team needs a reminder that the students who are critiquing, asking questions, and demanding answers are the ones paying their bills. They work for us — and right now, they’re underperforming.

Five local BIPOC and/or queer-owned businesses

Locally sourced, unique hand-created products you need in your life

WRITTEN BY JOS STEVENS

With farmer’s markets and festivals popping up all over the city this summer, there is no better time to explore small local businesses. Spending your money on local businesses has a myriad of benefits over shutting yourself in a corporate mall. These benefits can include ethical material sourcing, financing the livelihoods of people rather than corporate structures, and connecting with your community. Here are five BIPOC and/or queer-owned businesses I’m excited to order from!

For COVID-19 safety, I recommend sticking to smaller and outdoor markets in your community and showing up either right when they open or very close to the event end time. However, even these can get crowded with very few people wearing masks so this list also includes vendors who do online or social media based orders.

Munea Wadud

@artbymunea IMAGE:

Owned and operated by a non-binary, Bengali, queer person, this little shop on Esty creates art with the purpose of making a statement. From pins to prints, their products promote LGBTQIAS2+ rights, racial equality, and body positivity to help you express your passion for advocacy in a unique and bold way. Anytime I get to view local art and prints like this, I have to stop myself from buying all of them due to how amazing it all looks. I might have to let myself cave on this one though.

Devi Arts Collective

Created in Vancouver by Ethiopian founder Bayoush Mengesha, this BIPOC women-led jewellery brand strives to give you a little bit of soft glam that is “an expression of the bold, the confident, and the vibrant qualities in our truest selves.” Devi Arts uses sustainable materials with all of their products including necklaces, earrings, and rings. All are minimalist pieces which can be worn to compliment basically any look. I’m always on the hunt for more rings, and Devi Arts has just what I have been looking for. You can check out their website for all of their items and have them delivered to you.

Hungryminis

@hungryminis IMAGE:

Created by hand in Langley, BC, this LGBTQIA2S+ owned Etsy business serves you earrings that look like pieces of cake. They’re incredibly cute, detailed, and realistic enough to eat! The preset cake earrings use layers of colours to depict queer flags. They also have many colour options for customization, so you can curate the perfect pair for your identity. Simply message their Etsy page, request the number of layers and colours you’d like, and you have yourself a unique pair of earrings. Mini versions of things, especially food, always excite and satisfy me, so I’m looking forward to wearing a pair of little cakes on my ears.

Qthreadz

@qthreadz IMAGE:

Based in Victoria, BC, this cute queer-owned thrift store handles all of your clothing needs with upcycled pieces. You can find items like shirts, pants, shoes, and backpacks on their Instagram page, all of which can be yours with a simple direct message. They ship products out to you wherever you are located in Canada, so this is perfect for folks who aren’t comfortable thrifting in person yet. They also donate a portion of their profits to other queer organizations — queers supporting queers! I try to shop as sustainably as possible, and thrifting is one of the many great ways to do this. If you like this Instagrambased thrifting style, @cerealthrifter_ on Instagram is another queerowned Vancouver business who operates in a similar way.

Karibu Handcrafted Soaps

Locally made in New Westminster by Kenyan founder Ken, these handcrafted soaps are made using locally sourced plantbased ingredients. They focus on “keeping it safe and simple, crafting each item with just basic ingredients needed for a clean, healthy product that is gentle and nourishing on the skin, long lasting, and pure.” One thing I found strikingly unique was how they use recycled items like milk cartons to mould their soaps. How crafty is that? Knowing that Karibu strives for locally sourced ingredients really sold me. Some of their soaps are available in-person at Old Crow Coffee Co. or you can place an order online through their website.