The Queen's Journal, Volume 144, Issue 18

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the journal Vol. 144, Issue 18

Queen’s University

Exception made for Lockridge prior to final Assembly decision

Secretariat Martinez explains unprecedented process for constitution change Victoria Gibson News Editor For AMS Secretariat Miguel Martinez, an unprecedented decision in AMS Assembly was preceded weeks in advance, by a conversation behind office doors. For him, the decision came down to the placement of a comma. On Jan. 19 in AMS Assembly, a second reading was passed to allow a change to AMS Constitution validating the Speaker of Assembly to run for AMS Executive in the upcoming election. The discussion around the eligibility of current Speaker, Palmer Lockridge, at the last Assembly on Dec. 1 mostly centered around the 2013 split of the Speaker and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) role. “When you look at the constitution itself, all the positions that are restricted are separated by a comma however the CEO and the Speaker were separated by a slash,” Martinez said. However, the decision was not an impersonal conversation of policy. The Dec. 1 assembly was dominated by heated debate over whether the decision was internally influenced. Every precedent set See Policy on page 3

A motion to dissolve Commission of Environmental Affairs was passed during AMS Assembly on Jan. 19

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AMS executive disband Commission on Environmental Affairs PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

Blake Canning Assistant News Editor

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A motion to dissolve the Commission of Environmental Affairs was passed during AMS Assembly on Jan. 19. In a 41-page agenda released before Assembly, one paragraph was included in Vice President (University Affairs) Carolyn Thompson’s report, noting the sudden dissolution of the Commission of Environmental Affairs (CEA). The news, which came along with a 9-page plan, was a surprise to anyone who wasn’t involved in the team of planners and executives consulted within the AMS, namely many students currently working in the CEA’s many sub-groups. When The Journal attempted to contact CEA Commissioner Liam Dowling — whose position will be dissolved once he leaves office on May 1 — AMS Communications responded that Dowling was unable to comment, as he was currently taking a leave of absence from his position to run unopposed for President of the Concurrent Education Students Association (CESA). Dowling’s report to Assembly, where the

motion to dissolve the commission will be voted on, included his regular updates on upcoming CEA events, but no mention of the disbanding of his commission. In lieu of Dowling, AMS Communications offered a conversation with the Executive team in explanation. “What we’re going to be doing is distributing the elements of the CEA in to different pockets of the AMS,” VP Thompson explained on Wednesday evening. A common issue Vice President (Operations) Dave Walker, President Tyler Lively and herself had seen in the CEA was a lack of collaboration. Ideas related to sustainability were often siloed into one office. “What the goal is, is to strengthen the AMS’s commitment to sustainability throughout the AMS,” she said. While some of the groups within the CEA that were previously listed as AMS clubs will return to that status, other committees like student housing consultant Greenovations will become part of the Municipal Affairs Commission starting next academic year, if the motion passes at Assembly. Explaining the decision-making process

behind the move, AMS President Tyler Lively was frank. “I think what happened there was an example of us trying to put too many things under one roof,” he said. “Where we’re trying to run services, do advocacy, education, outreach, and make the AMS more sustainable, and we’ve got all these things under one commission.” With the proposed format, the groups advocating for sustainability within the AMS will be able to advocate from directly within various commissions as opposed to acting as their own group. “For the past couple years, people have been noting that the commission hasn’t been living up to expectations,” Lively said. “But I think they haven’t wanted to tackle the issue because it can become an emotional issue at times. I think we’ll see that with this change, but I think we’ve got a plan and we’re going to keep pushing that.” The AMS Executive were in agreement that despite the change, they haven’t heard a lot of direct concerns with what they deemed to be their “comprehensive plan” for the future of the CEA. While the agenda and See Voices on page 4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Opinions

Strong penalties required to prevent drunk driving page 7

Features

Arts

Sports

page 5

page 8

page 11

The deep-rooted legacy behind Queen’s Richardsons Online:

queensjournal.ca

@queensjournal

QMT gets kinky in their new puppetry musical facebook.com/queensjournal

Athletes break the stigma of mental health

instagram.com/queensjournal

qjlongform.com

Postscript

Meet the “Prime Minister”: Queen’s takes over the House of Commons page 16


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