Vol. CXXXVIII, No. 16 January 29, 2018 thevarsity.ca —— University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
SCSU elections set to begin following week of unrest After protests, multiple injuries, a resignation, and a delayed campaign period, Scarborough’s students’ union plans the road ahead
Video footage from last week’s all-candidates meeting.
Jack O. Denton News Editor
The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) elections spent the last week marred by scandal. An all-candidates meeting held last Monday was interrupted by a protest that resulted in two injuries and a delay to the campaign period. On Wednesday, the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) resigned, citing fear for personal safety. A new CRO has been hired, and another all-candidates meeting is set for January 29 at 4:00 pm. The Chair of the SCSU’s Elections and Referenda Committee (ERC), VicePresident Campus Life Nafisa Mohamed, said that a new CRO was hired
after the ERC conducted interviews with applicants. Mohamed declined to name the new CRO as of press time because they had yet to sign the employment contract. The January 22 all-candidates meeting was interrupted by roughly 50 protesters, seemingly led by Deena Hassan — the current VP Operations of the union — and Ray Alibux. Both Hassan and Alibux were disqualified from running in the elections; Alibux’s disqualification has since been reversed, and he is now running for SCSU President. SCSU, page 3
Resignations, poor attendance records highlight UTSU BoD meeting
Anti-abortion group faces off in court against UTMSU over club recognition
Some board members doing a “disservice” to themselves, says union Executive Director Josie Kao Associate News Editor
A series of resignations and discussion of poor board attendance records comprised the latest UTSU Board of Directors’ meeting. Directors debated with each other over why the attendance for meetings was always very low, as well as how to improve engagement. The board also accepted the resignations of four directors at the meeting and filled five other director vacancies. In December 2017, The Varsity found that 29 per cent of the board had missed enough meetings for them to have effectively abandoned office. This is based on the UTSU’s Bylaw X, which covers abandonment of office. According to the bylaw, a director “shall be deemed to have
delivered their resignation” if they have failed to send regrets for two missed meetings, failed to attend three consecutive meetings or any four meetings regardless of sent regrets, or failed to attend any three committee meetings. Mathematics and Physical Sciences Director Wilson Wu began the meeting by proposing a motion to automatically accept any resignations from board members who have been deemed to have abandoned office. Wu’s motion did not receive enough support to be added to the agenda. “I triggered Bylaw X for the sake of accountability,” Wu told The Varsity. “I felt that it was important we were active in applying our few measures of accountability, especially seeing that engagement had degraded to the point that over a dozen directors have effectively
Court also hears cases against UOIT, Durham College, Ryerson students’ unions
abandoned office.” However, the agenda did dedicate time for discussion on attendance, after UTSU Vice-President Internal Daman Singh noted that “there was will from the board to have some sort of discussion on attendance more generally.” High turnover of high concern Numerous UTSU board resignations threaten the union’s democratic mandate
EDITORIAL
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The discussion focused mainly on why directors were missing meetings and how to solve the problem for future boards. Trinity College Director Nish UTSU, page 3
Tom Yun Managing Online Editor
Three lawsuits involving student clubs suing students’ unions, alleging they were improperly denied funding, were heard by Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Perell on January 24 at Osgoode Hall. The eight-hour-long hearing included the suit against the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) by three members of UTM Students for Life (UTMSFL). UTMSFL is an anti-abortion student group that filed a suit against the UTMSU in January 2016. Diane Zettel, Cameron Grant, and Chad Hagel are the three UTMSFL members listed as the applicants of the lawsuit. The court simultaneously held
hearings for two similar lawsuits. Speak for the Weak, another antiabortion group at Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), is suing the Student Association of Durham College and UOIT, while the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) faces a suit from members of the Ryerson Men’s Issues Awareness Society. Marty Moore is the lawyer representing the three clubs and is a staff lawyer with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), a non-profit advocacy organization tasked with “defend[ing] the constitutional freedoms of Canadians through litigation and education,” according to its mission statement. It has also represented Trinity Western University in its lawsuit against the Law Society of Upper Canada. UTMSU, page 4
FEATURE
SCIENCE
SPORTS
Battling bots
Pikas and water hyacinths
Truth and reconciliation for athletes
Fighting ticket scalpers is difficult despite new innovations
BIO120’s beloved Barret and Thompson to retire
KPE Task Force’s anti-racism and Indigenous inclusion report delayed
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