In the exuberance of early October, federation president Shane Roberts boasted that his opponents would never try to recall him. Wednesday, December 15,2,240 UW students proved Roberts wrong. Wednesday afternoon, Arts student Mark Wills presented Roberts with a petition recalling him from the position of federation president. Roberts is the first UW student president to be recalled. In October, he scoffed at the prospect of being recalled. predicting that his opponents “won’t use that technique because at heart they have no faith in democracy.” The petition submitted by Wills. one of the most active organizers of the recall petition, contained the names of 2,240 students. That is 99 more than the necessary 2,141 I) which is the number of votes Roberts polled in his February election. According to federation bylaw, Roberts must vacate the presidency within 72 hours of receiving the recall petition. Also according to bylaw, any seat declared vacant before December 3 1 must be filled by an election. It is unlikely an election can be held this term because of Christmas exams and the Christmas break soon to begin. That means the by-election will probably take place in January. That could make January a busy month, with regular elections for president to begin January 19, (following a week-long nomination period) and a referendum on the chevrop and student newspapers, which was planned by Roberts for early January. Neither Roberts nor federation vice-president Dave McLellan, who assumes the powers of president until after the by-election. would say when the election would take place. Even as the petition climbed to its summit, Roberts continued his obstruction against the recall petitioners, and his attack on the chevron. He delayed submission of the letition for over two hours by walkng out of the federation office monents before the petitioners could )hotocopy the petitions and hand hem to him. Monday, Dec. 13, Roberts peronally distributed a leaflet atempting to convince students to emove their names from the recall letition. The form was widely disributed in the villages, and urged tudents to deposit it in the federa-
tion office “as soon as is conceivably possibly. If you are going to be delayed, phone 885-0370. ” Three hours after the recall petitions had been submitted, a chevron staff member phoned the federation office asking how to have his name removed from the petition. Roberts personally encouraged the staffer to fill in the form deleting his name from the petition and leave it in the campus centre, addressed to the president. Roberts’ last-ditch effort to strangle the chevron continued with the proposal for a January referendum which could destroy any student-funded newspaper at U W. The referendum was written without investigation of the reasons why the chevron was originally closed by council. Roberts also remained true to form in his parting shot a\ president. In a last official statement to the chevron, Roberts again attacked the Anti-Imperialist .A]liance (c\I,4) and attempted to blame it for his recall. In reply, recall petitioner Wills repeated the recall committee’s statement that “the AIA played no part in organising it, thollgh several AIA members did carry petitions.” Four weeks ago, when he approached Roberts for an authorizing signature on the original petition form, Wills was laughed at by federation vice-president McLellan . Last week, McLellan claimed that there weren’t enough “foolish people on campus” to fill the petitions with the required 2,141 signatures. Wednesday, Wills expressed the recall committee’s thanks to “the hundreds who carried petitions and the thousands who signed them.” The success of the petition shows that students are concerned about federation affairs, and are disenchanted with Roberts’ type of government, concluded Wills. Wills expressed the hope that the recall would serve as an example to future presidents, and would mark the revival of student activism on issues of concern to them. Roberts is the first federation president to be ousted under a bylaw instituted in 1970 intended to democratize the federation. The only other student president to be forced out by student protest was Brian Iler, who resigned from the presidency following a mass meeting where a vote of nonconfidence in the entire council passed by a margin of 550 to 450. -neil -4arry
docherty hannant
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Recalcitrant to the last, Shane Roberts refused to speak to a chevron reporter following his recall Wednesday. However, the chevron agreed to print, unedited and uncut, the following statement from the reca /led pres iclen t.
Over the past ten weeks of political battling with the FREE CHEVRON there has been a continual barrage of “news” and editorials slanted against the Federation of Students, its elected and appointed officials. During this period when the paper was working to undermine the credibility of the Federation its primary thrust has been against me in my role as President. While it is claimed and may have come true that there is broad opposition to Shane Roberts as President, I see the recall petition as a direct extension of the Anti-Imperialist Alliance strategy. The AIA during the summer called for me to be driven off campus. In the editorial of the unauthorized CHEVRON of September 28, signed by Neil Docherty and Larry Hannant (both AIA) and Henry Hess, it was stated that “ . . .the CHEVRON staff will continue to publish. . .a newspaper unequivocally opposed to Shane Roberts. . .“. Subsequent to that the paper stepped up its campaign. The paper’s staff has never been homogeneous. There always have been and continue to be students who are first and foremost interested in producing a good student newspaper. Nonetheless the paper has long been used as a political tool. It will continue to ridicule various students who are working hard in the Federation. The greatest danger lies in the upcoming elections. You and your classmates must become involved in these if the paper is going to be stopped from effectively dictating, through manipulation of the “news”, who is elected to Students Council and the Presidency in February. -shane
roberts
Shane Roberts is seen above receiving his recall petition, containing ninety nine more sjgncltures than the requirecl 2 14 7. At left is Mark Wills, one of the recall organizers. Two months ago in “Bullseye” (Ott 13’) Roberts had this to say about the prospects of being recalled by his opponents : “The operation of student’s council is elaborately protected by democratic rules and procedures. There are some very straightforward ways of removing members of council and even the president if YOLI don’t like them. You circulate a reca// petition. /f yocj get enough signatures the elected officia/ is removed. But they won’t use that technique because at heart they have no faith in democracy. It does not serve their ends. They know they’d lose.” photo by henry jesionka
Special
ne To students, Shane Roberts has a reputation for longevity in the UW FEDERATION Of STUDENTS. Since November 1972, when he won the presidency in a by-election, Roberts has held at least five paid positions in the federation. During the February I976 campaign for presidential election, Roberts sought to impress students with his long record of action in the federation, and his plan to combat the cutbacks in education spending. But facts demonstrate that throughout his long career in the VW federation, including two abreviateci terms as president, Roberts has not established a reputation as a cutbacks fighter. Roberts’ cutbacks-opposition earned a sour name in February 7975 after Ontario minister 0i colleges and universities limes Au/d announced a 1975-76 budget which fe// behind inflation, effective/y sldshing funding. 117 response, Roberts, an OFS executive member, to/d the VW council that “It’s far more effective to write your MPP’s than to spend a few noisy hours outside Queen’s Park demonstrating. ” The following chronology provides background information and analysis on the p/an Roberts has followed to feign active opposition to cutbacks and tuition fee hikes, but to do nothing in fact.
Nov. 25, 1972: The Ontario Federation of Students decides to call for
Issue
University of Wa ted00 Waterloo, On ta rio Volume 7, number I I December 17. I976
rts’ inaction a fee strike in January 1973 to protest the recently-imposed $100 tuition fee increase. At the conference where the decision is made, UW, represented by Roberts and two other delegates, votes against the action. Because of lack of unity, the debate is re-opened later in the conference, but quorum is not obtained, and OFS is left with no official policy. Nov., 1972: Roberts runs for UW federation president in a byelection. His only reference to the fee hike and the OFS fee strike in a lengthy interview in the chevron is a statement that with “the increase in fees and the change in the levels of OSAP it’s no time for the Federation to be falling apart or moving away from certain important issues.” January, 1976: Roberts runs fo1 Federation president, although he has not been a student for over two years. Jan. 20: At an all-candidates meeting, Roberts says “We must investigate, organize, build and work,” and that the problem of cutbacks “needs research and analysis on what the problems are, not just quick solutions.” Jan. 21: More than 2,000 students demonstrate at Queen’s Park against the Henderson Report, including a delegation from UW. Roberts doesn’t participate. Jan 23: Roberts’ campaign platform attacks a) “dwindling public
funding,” and b) “Maoists” in the AIA and their alleged “undemocratic methods.” Feb. 13: Responding to criticism of his sectarian presidential campaign, Roberts says that his was the “only position with an elaborated strategy to combat the cutbacks.” Feb. 20: Only one week later, Roberts says that a demonstration against Maxwell Henderson, of Henderson Report fame, who is coming to UW to give the prestigious Hagey Lecture, wouldn’t be “appropriate” because Henderson is not coming to talk about cutbacks.(A large demonstration was held anyway, which the federation boycotted.) At the same time, Roberts claimed that fighting the cutbacks is a “priority” with him. Mar. 2: In his inaugural presidential address, Roberts says the issues on which election campaigns were fought must be pursued or “we are falling down on our task.” His first project is to be a housing survey. In a fit of militancy, he says “As long as I am president, I will see this council built into a solid fighting unit. If there is anyone who doesn’t agree with this they’ll either have to get rid of me or leave.” Mar. 12: In response to an OFS call for a demonstration against the cutbacks, Roberts says that the government is “gambling that students will roll with the punches and not fight back,” and that the “uni-
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lnactiion continued from page 1 versity administration is silently complicit, is selling us out.” Mar. 24: At a UW rally against the cutbacks, in the Campus Centre, Roberts calls on students to “band together and push for their needs,” and accuses the government of being “arrogant and removed from public opinion.” He also claims that students must fight alongside other community groups now so that we will “get help from these sectors tomorrow when our tuition fees go up.” May 6: After the Ontario government hits international students with a tuition increase of nearly 300%, Roberts announces that he will suggest to council that they work with other Ontario campuses to “generate some opposition” to the policy. He offers no concrete proposals. May. 26: Announcing plans for National Student Day on Nov. 3, Roberts calls for a debate on how “we expand and alter higher education to meet the challenges which confront society.” Thus does his “elaborate Strategy” unfold: Fight cutbacks with demagogy! May 29: Council condemns the tuition increase for international students, but Roberts supports the increase for the “wealthier” foreign students, saying that “Some of the largest bank accounts on this campus are those of foreign students.” He has never produced any facts to back up this allegation. Here we begin to see clearly his lack of resolve in organizing any real opposition to cutbacks. When fee hikes are imminent, he talks a lot about the need to do something, but he does nothing. When the hikes arrive, he takes the side of the government, while feigning concern about the poorest students in order to cover up his betrayal of us all. June 7: At the OFS annual conference, students discuss the need to take action to dramatize the serious summer unemployment situation among students and force OSAP
changes which would eliminate the summer savings requirements. Roberts makes a proposal for a rally to be built around a “mass picnic and rock concert to haul people out of the hinterland.” June and July: Roberts’ campaign against the cutbacks seems to be stalled, while he is going after the AIA and the chevron.
Aug. 13: When asked by the chev- a tember. Ro,berts;does find the time, r-on about the federation’s position however, to attack the students, on the housing crisis, Roberts reagreeing with the allegations of plies that the results of a survey local landlords that students are have not yet been analysed, so he noisy and tend to be unreliable tendoesn’t know the extent of the ants. His only practical proposal is problem. It apparently does not that students get “a letter of referoccur to him that a survey done in ence from any landlord we get the winter term would have little along with.” relevance to the situation in SepSept. 7: Asked again about the housing situation, he claims that he’s not sure what is going on. Oct. 8: With the struggle against the chevron in high gear, Roberts’ attention seems to be drawn away from the cutbacks and the impending tuition increase. Investigation by the free chevron reveals that neither Roberts nor the fed fieldworkers have yet done any work on the cutbacks. Nov. 9: National Student Day lets the cat out of the bag. The feds have indeed done nothing at all on the cutbacks. At the NSD cutbacks forum, the responsible fed hack says “I don’t have any background” on cutbacks at UW and reveals that he doesn’t even know the current situation with the BIU. When asked about his “elaborated
Fed Pres 1976
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months of empty Eleven rhetoric, sham opposition to the cutbacks and real betrayal of the 2140 students who supported him in January of 1976 - this is the legacy of Shane Roberts, the first federation president in the history of UW to be recalled. He leaves office the same way he entered it with a bit of red-baiting and no plans for students.
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Dec. 1976: Feeling the heat from a vigorous recall campaign, Roberts makes a classic comeback to a suggestion that he has gone through three months of “inaction” on cutbacks and tuition hikes since making his move against the chevron: “To begin with, I actually promised nothing, since I already knew, through experience, that it was unrealistic to make such promises.” Nothing did he promise, and nothing is exactly what he gave to students. So far, council has not even managed to pass a resolution against the tuition hike.
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strategy to combat the cutbacks,” Roberts now isn’t sure if he ever used the term “elaborate.”
neil, jonathan, larry, alex, randy, Hamilton, doug, Oscar, henry “J” -thanks for staying late tonite to get this special edition done. Congratulations mark, ken, gerry, and all other merry petitioners. Special thanks to The Gang of 2240. Best. .hr
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thee The hair length may have changed, but very little else. The first picture is of Shane Roberts trying to remove a typewriter from the chevron office Nov. 76 7976, and the other is Roberts when he was presiden t of the federation on Dec. 4, 7 972. The cutline beneath that chevron picture said Roberts was discussing student attitudes, “and what actions are required to develop communication among students”. Four years for naught. photos by robert hyodo and gord moore
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