www.thesil.ca
McMASTER UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER / THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2010
The Silhouette Est. 1930
$99,332
VOLUME 80, NO. 18
INTEREST JEFF GREEN
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
“The SRA was kept in the dark,” commented John McIntyre, SRA Science, about the Student Representative Assembly’s (SRA) knowledge of the PST audit, which revealed a $503,579.03 bill from the Ministry of Revenue to the McMaster Students Union (MSU). “We have checks and balances in place, and they all failed,” said John McGowan, Business Manager of the MSU. “We’ve paid the worst case scenario,” commented McGowan, “We’re hoping to get a credit back [through an appeal] for some of the interest charges and some of the charges they have made.” The half-million dollar bill is mostly made up from 6.5 years of not paying PST on the MSU’s Health Plan – from May 2003 to September 2009. The bill also included $25,000 in tax on purchased items and a nearly $100,000 interest charge accumulated from 2003 onward. The MSU collected fees and tax on their Health Plan from students, but did not pass the tax to the provincial government; instead, it was put in a reserve fund, where it gathered interest. “What was occurring is [that] we were accumulating a surplus because we were collecting the tax [on the MSU Health Plan] but we weren’t remitting it,” said McGowan. “So what it looked like in our statements is that our actual claims [by students] were going down.” McGowan, a full-time employee of the McMaster Students Union, admitted that the student union knew that the audit was coming, as they made brief mentions of a PST audit an audit on Oct. 1 and Nov. 5 at • PLEASE SEE EXECUTIVE, A3
THE FACTS:
= $1,000
6.5 years it took to discover a 9 weeks it took for the lack of PST payments.
Executive Board to learn about payments owed
$99,332.40 of interest $2,078.73 penalty for
charges for not paying PST from May 2003 to September 2009
Non-Collection of tax
Gore park rally snubs Harper Brandon arsonist Community gathers for anti-proroguing protest
gets two years JEFF GREEN AND LILY PANAMSKY
EXECUTIVE EDITOR AND ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
JESSIE CHAU / SILHOUETTE STAFF
Community members, and McMaster students and professors joined an anti-proroguing rally on Jan. 25. SAM COLBERT
SILHOUETTE STAFF
Despite the cold, hundreds gathered in Gore Park of downtown Hamilton on Saturday afternoon for the local Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament rally. Concerned citizens of all ages collectively condemned Stephen Harper’s decision to suspend parliamentary activity until Mar. 3, more than five weeks after federal MPs would have returned to work from their holiday break on Monday, Jan. 25. Dan McLean, former CHCH News man and to-be Liberal candidate for the Ancaster-DundasFlamborough-Westdale riding, was
one of the first to speak, calling Harper a “despot and a little dictator.” He added, “If it’s not his way, it’s no way. He shuts [Parliament] down so he can hide from your scrutiny and not have to answer any of your questions.” When Harper phoned Governor-General Michaëlle Jean on Dec. 30 to request prorogation, he was effectively throwing out 37 pieces of legislation being debated in parliament and halting all committee work. Critics say that he did so largely to avoid inquiries into the government’s knowledge of Afghan detainee torture. The move also gives
Harper the opportunity to appoint five new senators, which will give the Conservatives a majority in the Senate and control of its committees. The Harper camp claimed that prorogation is a routine procedure, and that the break will give the government time to prepare its next budget and focus on the Olympics. Analysts respond that although suspension of Parliament is not unprecedented, it normally comes at a time when the House of Commons has completed much of its business, and a fresh start with a Throne speech is in order. In this instance, many of the same bills will have • PLEASE SEE NATIONAL, A3
Following a Nov. 27, 2009 guilty plea, Brandon Hall arsonist Emerson Pardoe has been sentenced to two years less one day in a provincial institution, with three years of probation following in term. The sentence, which occurred on Tuesday, Jan. 26, was exactly what the Crown asked for, and 6 months more than what the Defence requested. In the judge’s reading of the pre-sentencing report, he described it as “positive,” but also stated, “I suspect why he did this will remain a mystery, to us and [Emerson Pardoe] as well.” Pardoe pleaded guilty to one count of Arson Endangering Human Life for lighting a fire in
the elevator of Brandon Hall on Oct. 18, 2008. Gord Arbeau, associate director of public relations at McMaster University, stated on behalf of the University: “We’re thankful that this unfortunate incident has come to a conclusion and we’re able now to move forward and put this in the past.” The Crown suggested a 2-year sentence based on previous similar cases that involved different arsonists. One of the cases used to set a precedent for Pardoe’s sentence concerned an elevator fire. Damage was totaled at $5.2 million according to Tuesday’s victim impact statement from McMaster University—$2 million higher than originally reported to the Court. “[The victim impact statement • PLEASE SEE PARDOE, A3
MSU Presidential Election Coverage For full coverage of the Jan. 26 presidential debate, please see A5. For individual candidate web sites, please see www.msumcmaster.ca. Voting takes place on Feb. 3 and 4.