The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is facing a potential referendum violation after being told by the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) to take down unapproved campaign materials.
CUSA is currently in the process of a campaign to end its membership with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), a decision to be decided by a referendum vote on Oct. 17-19.
The posters, alleging the CFS was not part of the process to create the U-Pass, were posted around campus by CUSA as part of their “CU Later CFS” campaign.
“2010: CUSA, GSA and other Ottawa-based student unions negotiated the U-Pass for students. Where was the CFS?” the posters read.
Referendum CRO Steven Gaon said in an email that none of the returning officers had approved of the posters.
“To the best of our knowledge, this poster was never sent to us for approval, and was never approved. It just came to our attention this evening when the DROs saw it for the first time,” he said. “For this reason, tonight I had instructed the DROs to take it down immediately and to advise CUSA’s president accordingly.”
According to the CFS’ referendum bylaws, all campaign materials must be approved by Gaon, or Nzube Ekpunobi, the Deputy Returning Officer (DRO).
The bylaws also say the CRO can order unapproved campaign materials to be immediately confiscated for a period of not less than 24 hours or removed.
David Oladejo, CUSA president, said that the posters were intended to be sent to the returning officers for approval, but were not attached in the email due to a large number of other attachments to the email. He added that CUSA is taking down the posters.
Ashley Courchene, vice-president (finance) of the Graduate Students’ Association, said CUSA’s poster about the CFS’ lack of involvement in the creation of the U-Pass is false.
He said he was able to confirm the CFS’ involvement with past U-Pass negotiations through email correspondence with Shawn Menard, who was CUSA president in 2006-07.
Menard, who is currently running for city councillor in Ottawa’s municipal election, said in an email the CFS “was a vital partner in getting a U-Pass for Carleton.”
“After meeting with student unions in Ottawa it became apparent that we would need more than the same old campaigns,” he said. “We actively engaged the CFS. They were there for us in several ways.”
Menard added the CFS was involved in providing resources from around Canada to support the creation of the U-Pass during both the implementation and internal stages of the process.
“They created the U-Pass mailer, an online tool which allowed students from around Ottawa to enter in their postal code which then sent a tailored email to their city councillor,” he said. “This was an essential step to achieving a U-Pass.”
Courchene, who has previously said the GSA is taking a stance against the “No” campaign, said the posters are hindering the referendum process.
“The message from the ‘No’ campaigners is clearly trying to mislead the undergraduate student body,” he said.
But, Oladejo contested Menard’s statements.
“Earlier in the campaign, there were complaints that the CFS was instrumental in the U-Pass that was negotiated for Carleton students, and after the CRO and DRO did their research, it was obviously proven false,” Oladejo said. “The CFS might have had advisors to the GSA for the U-Pass, but they were not ‘instrumental’ as they claimed in the negotiations.”
Gaon added no further decision has been made about this possible referendum violation. But, according to the CFS’ bylaws, CUSA could face an additional penalty including a restriction on campaigning.
“It is correct to state that the ‘No’ campaign could face an additional punishment apart from the destruction of the posters, as have been ordered,” he said.
Gaon said the referendum will still proceed as planned.
Undergraduate students can vote “yes” or “no” on the continuation of CUSA’s membership with the CFS at polling stations on campus from Oct. 17-19.
