tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:16:34 +0000News and views for student union activists in Canadahttp://www.studentunion.ca/noreply@blogger.com (Titus)Blogger149125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-5496269727084856512Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:21:00 +00002009-06-11T02:23:07.029-07:00Note: Until the resurrection process is completed, some links may not work correctly.http://www.studentunion.ca/2009/06/were-back.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-8953445140139570721Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:21:00 +00002008-03-12T19:42:38.997-07:00victoriacfskwantlensfuHere are all the interesting websites relating to the defederation campaigns at SFU, Kwantlen, and the University of Victoria:Pro-CFS:CFS campaign site for Simon Fraser University: www.yescfs.caCFS campaign site for University of Victoria Graduates: www.uvic.yescfs.caCamosun College Student Society site: www.cfstruth.orgCFS-BC 'membership development': www.iamcfs.caI AM CFS Facebook groupAnti-CFShttp://www.studentunion.ca/2008/03/cfs-campaign.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-7968181697630341241Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:28:00 +00002008-01-14T22:34:28.129-08:00cfssfuFrom this week's Peak:Give the CFS a chance by Aman Bains (opinion, pro-CFS)The Deceitful Dancing Duo by Robin Steudel (opinion, pro-CFS)B.C. Chairperson of the CFS responds to Harder and Paling by Shara Lee (news)Why We Should Leave by Amy Fox, SFSS ERO (opinion, anti-CFS)http://www.studentunion.ca/2008/01/in-other-news-written-war-has-begun-at.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-4863524703036884268Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:50:00 +00002008-01-14T21:37:59.262-08:00concordiaI have had a somewhat... lurid fascination... with that peculiar organisation known as the Concordia Students' Union. Its executives, councillors, and bureaucrats have varied from time to time, and the the ideology of the current group differs quite strongly from the radicals that generated a great deal of controversy in 2001/2002. Accordingly, the current CSU controversy is purely internal, http://www.studentunion.ca/2008/01/how-extraordinarily-pathetic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-7150262580734750573Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:07:00 +00002008-01-10T21:12:15.072-08:00cfsI am pleased to report that my 'Canadian Federation of Students General Meeting Documents' page is complete - based largely on the archives of the Simon Fraser Student Society - and now contains documents dating all the way back to the October 1981 Founding Congress [PDF]!P.S.: If you have any documents that are 'missing' from this page, please email them to me!http://www.studentunion.ca/2008/01/from-1981-founding-congress-to-november.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-39314174548498297Mon, 19 Nov 2007 03:14:00 +00002007-11-18T22:32:28.184-08:00nusThe National Union of Students of the United Kingdom, one of the world's largest national student organisations, will be holding an Extraordinary Conference on December 4, 2007 to vote on a motion to radically amend the group's constitution.The process that led to this special meeting started when NUS Annual Conference voted to conduct a wide-ranging Governance Review. The Review was conducted byhttp://www.studentunion.ca/2007/11/national-union-of-students-uk-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-3563296246686396040Tue, 28 Aug 2007 01:22:00 +00002007-08-27T21:08:43.937-07:00cfsAt the same time that the Organizational and Services Development Committee was considering a variety of motions, the much larger Finance Committee was discussing audits and budgets. Calvin Tompkins from Tompkins, Wozny, Miller (TWM) (the auditor for CFS-BC, as well as the SFSS, the KSA, the DSU, and several other students' unions) was present. He was apparently quite shaken up when he learned http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/08/and-now-rest-of-meeting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-5557328528818524476Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:21:00 +00002007-08-19T08:45:24.336-07:00cfsSo yesterday I attended the Organizational and Services Development Committee (OSD), which is in charge of reviewing motions relating to the services and internal affairs of CFS-BC, as well as reviewing Bylaw, Standing Resolution, and Operations Policies...A motion from the Selkirk College Students' Union to fully subsidize the costs of one delegate to every provincial general meeting was http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/08/yesterdays-organizational-and-services.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-1478108263103125049Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:35:00 +00002007-08-17T13:16:27.802-07:00cfskwantlendouglassfu...And so yesterday I attended the opening plenary meeting of the Semi-Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Federation of Students - British Columbia. Here is a precis of the more interesting things that happened. After preliminary matters, we came to:8. Preparation for CommitteesAll committees were struck (Campaigns; Finance; Organizational and Services Development; Policy Review and http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/08/in-which-we-attempt-to-stop-re-writing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-4667978229886942469Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:50:00 +00002007-06-06T21:32:03.223-07:00The Senate of Edinburgh University has agreed to strip Robert Mugabe of an honourary degree that it granted him in 1984, according to BBC News. This came after a two year lobby campaign conducted by the Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA).The EUSA started lobbying for the withdrawal of Mugabe's honourary degree after students voted in a general meeting on November 9, 2005 to adopt http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/06/edinburgh-university-to-strip-robert.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-4896036676610560168Tue, 29 May 2007 19:47:00 +00002007-05-29T12:58:31.818-07:00douglasyorkAt the upcoming national conference of the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services (CACUSS), the following workshop will be held:Bridging Accountability and Autonomy: The Impact of Poor Student Leadership, Management and Accountability within Student Societies Frank Cappadocia, Director, Centre for Student Community & Leadership http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/05/student-services-administrators-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-3968757983736158202Sun, 27 May 2007 16:51:00 +00002007-05-27T09:59:04.913-07:00I have scanned and uploaded [PDF] the documents of the CFS Generals Meetings since the fall of 1990, for your viewing pleasure.The documents include minutes, agendas, National Executive reports, committee agendas, committee reports, financial documents, and other interesting documents which I have obtained.http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/05/cfs-general-meeting-documents.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-4418027344942051982Wed, 09 May 2007 00:20:00 +00002007-05-08T19:08:11.436-07:00cfsI have scanned and uploaded [PDF] the Second Notice of the 51st Semi-Annual General Meeting of CFS(-Services), to be held May 24-27 at Carleton University, Ottawa, for your viewing and commenting pleasure.One interesting motion on the agenda was a Bylaw amendment to provide that the CFS' auditors will be appointed at the Semi-Annual General Meetings (SAGM) only, rather than at both SAGM and http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/05/51st-semi-annual-general-meeting-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-6718027230451422980Wed, 25 Apr 2007 04:34:00 +00002007-04-24T22:30:10.509-07:00victoriacfsdouglasAt the CFS-BC Executive Committee meeting held last weekend, members were informed that the audited financial statements of the organization for 2005 and 2006 are still not available for approval. (At the February 2007 meeting, we had been informed that the 2005 statements were almost completed, and copies would be sent to all member student associations within three weeks.) Scott Payne, BC http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/04/where-oh-where-have-all-financial.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-4783177607440453552Sat, 21 Apr 2007 04:16:00 +00002007-04-20T21:58:24.709-07:00cfspost-secondary_educationThis weekend, I will be attending a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Federation of Students - British Columbia Component, at the University of Victoria. To prepare for this meeting, I assembled the minutes of previous Executive Committee meetings that were on file at the Kwantlen Student Association. After doing so, I thought that a good close to the day would involve scanninghttp://www.studentunion.ca/2007/04/reading-material.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-3763540707510937316Fri, 13 Apr 2007 06:57:00 +00002007-04-13T00:43:13.686-07:00sfuOn banning slates, that is.In his March 26 letter to the editor, SFU student (and former Kwantlen Student Association executive) Aaron Takhar argued against the recent decision of the SFSS Board of Directors to ban slates from its annual general elections. He claimed that the incumbent Board of Directors "have just been given — by themselves via a vote on the resolution — an even greater http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/04/i-agree-with-aaron-takhar.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-7901087343351405401Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:48:00 +00002007-04-21T00:57:26.959-07:00victoriaThe University of Victoria Students' Society held a most eventful Special General Meeting on March 30, 2007.First, the SGM passed a motion establishing an independent legal investigation into the 2006 general election by a named lawyer - Bruce Hallsor - without specifying a spending cap on this investigation. The 2006 election was marred by controversy, involving incumbent Chairperson Penny http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/04/direct-democracy-at-uvic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-3322420298566332774Fri, 23 Mar 2007 01:07:00 +00002007-03-22T18:11:12.136-07:00victoriacfsdouglasThis is what I have been working on:http://www.studentunion.ca/dsu_case/This is the entire contents of the court file in the Douglas Students' Union court case. It's rather large - over 300 pages (which cost me over $300.00 in photocopy charges) - but I think you will agree that the facts and arguments in this file should be of profound concern not only to the students of Douglas College, but http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/03/society-of-douglas-students-union-v.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)46tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-720902332562311750Wed, 07 Mar 2007 05:24:00 +00002007-03-06T21:27:31.904-08:00sfuSimon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) elections are well underway; nominations closed yesterday, and campaigning starts tomorrow. Four referendum questions are on the ballot. This is the list of acclamations and contestedACCLAIMED CANDIDATESDespite the high number of candidates there was also a rather surprisingly high number of positions which went uncontested. The following individuals will http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/03/sfss-candidates.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)115tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-9199815925018495527Sat, 03 Mar 2007 20:10:00 +00002007-03-03T12:51:46.735-08:00victoriaElections to the Board of Directors of the University of Victoria Students' Society (UVSS) are in full swing, and for the fourth consecutive year, the election appears to be a classic battle between right- and left-leaning slates. "Putting Students First," a left-leaning slate, had held firm control of the students' union until 2004, when "Students for Change" won two executive seats and four http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/03/vote-act-now-v-team-fast-battle-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-8376088424188829555Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:05:00 +00002007-02-27T16:03:11.248-08:00A slate running in these elections to the University of Manitoba Students' Union (UMSU) executive has its website hosted on the UMSU server itself, possibly in violation of UMSU By-Laws governing elections.Check out:http://www.buildingon.ca/http://buildingon.umsu.ca/Building On, a five-person executive slate headed by incumbent President Garry Sran, has covertly hosted its website on the http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/02/building-on-official-students-union.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-2328561137496807847Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:28:00 +00002007-02-20T20:37:33.552-08:00While I was reviewing the websites of students' unions in BC, I came across a most interesting Constitution of the Selkirk Students' Association. Have a look in particular at paragraphs 4 and 6:ANNUAL REVIEW4. The Union shall be required to exercise an annual mandatory review, along with a full-membership referendum in order to join or remain in any external organization that requires http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/02/great-moments-in-constitutional.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-548416006021157547Mon, 19 Feb 2007 05:57:00 +00002007-02-19T00:01:19.323-08:00Alma Mater Society of UBC: Results are here. Jeff Friedrich is President; Brendon Goodmurphy is VP Academic and University Affairs; Sarah Naiman is VP Administration; Matthew Naylor is VP External; and Brittany Tyson is VP Finance. All are independents, as slates are banned. The Ubyssey reported on the landslide victory of President Friedrich, while commenting on the continuing problem of low http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/02/election-roundup-british-columbia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-2577266008525189081Wed, 14 Feb 2007 06:31:00 +00002007-02-13T22:42:17.589-08:00It looks as though the controversial appointment of Eric Newstadt as Chief Returning Officer of the Ryerson Students' Union will be largely irrelevent. Only one slate of executive candidates is running in this year's general election, consisting of two incumbent executives (Nora Loreto and Chris Drew) and two board members (Heather Kere and Ibrahim Snobar), running under the banner "Ryerson http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/02/no-competition-in-ryerson-students.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6173276.post-4759282059251895300Tue, 13 Feb 2007 04:19:00 +00002007-02-12T21:04:21.344-08:00cfskwantlen(That me on the left!)The rally and impromptu march in Vancouver, though smaller than in 2004, still managed to produce quite a strong response. Our march through the streets of downtown Vancouver only covered half of the road; cars still ran on the other half, and many of them honked in support of us. The student press covered the National Day of Action very comprehensively (Langara, Lakehead,http://www.studentunion.ca/2007/02/national-day-of-action-2007.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Titus)1