A group of Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) councillors and executives have been operating as a “caucus,” collaborating in private outside council meetings on motions, strategy, and election candidates, leaked screenshots from a Facebook group show.
The group called “A Better Carleton” (ABC)—named after the current and next year’s CUSA executive slate—has since been shut down after a Dec. 12 council meeting when screenshots from the group were leaked, according to an anonymous source. Collaboration on the group has been going on since at least April 2012.
A councillor who wished to remain anonymous provided the screenshots and said “people that [students] are electing to keep the executive accountable aren’t doing their jobs.”
“They’re just following along blindly as sheep doing exactly what the executive says.”
Matthew Couto, journalism councillor and former member of the Facebook group, said the group is “essentially councillors on CUSA who feel they have an ideological connection with each other and the executive.”
By communicating with one another, members can gain support, have a better chance of passing motions, and bring about the change they want to see in CUSA, Couto said.
Voting together
“In light of the emergency meeting called by the opposing side . . . we must hold an emergency caucus meeting in order to discuss how we plan to deal with the situation at hand,” public affairs councillor Salar Abdul-Baki posted in the group on May 20.
CUSA president Alexander Golovko, also a member of the Facebook group, said that because the term “caucus” is not a term found in CUSA’s bylaws or constitution, he is uncertain as to how he can comment.
He did say the executive has always tried to work with all councillors.
“Certain councillors were sometimes more willing to share ideas and their opinions prior to council meetings,” he said.
Couto said the “caucus” also held physical meetings to brief, debrief, and discuss motions before and after CUSA council meetings.
Golovko said sometimes discussion needs to occur to ensure that motions go through. He added that he has attended “a lot of meetings throughout the year.”
Arts and social sciences councillor Benjamin Diaz said he is not a member of the caucus and as such was not privy to the same information that many of the other councillors were, despite the fact they are supposed to be considered equal.
“If you’re going to have a discussion, I think everyone should be invited into that discussion,” Diaz said.
Golovko said the fact CUSA meetings often run for long lengths of time indicate debate was extensive at council.
Vote-Whipping
Posts in the group indicate councillors and executives put forward and discussed their motions before council meetings.
Roll call voting records that appear in CUSA council’s official minutes indicate that a group of councillors and executives belonging to the Facebook group frequently voted the same way.
“The whole point of the caucus is so that everyone is on the same page with motions that come forward,” said Alex Watson, public affairs councillor and former member of the Facebook group.
Vice-president (finance) Michael De Luca urged caucus members to support a motion to secure a $100,000 CUSA contingency fund “with minimal questions.” He posted on the Facebook group that the fund was “a saving account for any CFS litigation that may arise.”
Watson said that he was often encouraged to vote a certain way so that the executive’s priorities were met.
“As much power as the executives have outside of council, they’re only six votes,” Watson said.
According to another screenshot, De Luca wrote, “To be frank, Alex, Sean, and any other new councillors, learn to walk before you run . . . This is a learning process and I hope that people can listen to and respect the wisdom of those who have served our cause for years and who have practical experience in this.”
Watson said that when motions were posted in the caucus Facebook group, it was understood that you would vote for it unless you had a serious objection to it.
Couto said there was also a caucus “whip” that would send text messages during council meetings suggesting to councillors how to vote on certain motions or when appointing certain individuals.
“It was more suggestive, a recommendation more than anything else,” Couto said. “At least personally I didn’t feel any real pressure to vote how I was told to vote.”
Deciding candidates
Votes were held on the Facebook group to decide which candidates to field in elections.
On May 13, 2012, Abdul-Baki posted a poll to determine which public affairs councillor to appoint to a vacant council seat, between Samantha Nault and Sidney Otoboeze.
Otoboeze won and currently sits on council.
“Our university is extremely diverse, as such we look to have teams that represent our university to the best of our ability,” Golovko said, adding candidates’ direct experience in a particular field, their activity on campus, and their commitment to work hard on behalf of the students are factors when ABC is looking for future representatives.
A post made by De Luca on April 24, 2012, shows that the ABC caucus was attempting to get a certain number of councillors on their side.
“We have the ability to obtain 2/3rds this year if we make sure we appoint people who are on our side. If we want to fix CUSA we need to be able to amend the Corporate Bylaw,” he wrote. De Luca declined to comment for this story.
Did it work?
“It was effective for what it was doing. But then in some cases, there was some falling out with councillors who left the caucus and stuff,” Couto said.
Couto said although the secret Facebook group was a very effective means of communication, caucus members were posting in the group as if no one outside the group would ever see the posts.
“I think we should have been more discreet in our comments, more diplomatic in our comments, and just straight up more respectful and tactful,” Couto said. “I think the one thing that really went wrong was that people were posting on the group as if nobody was ever going to see it, and I think everybody was naïve about it.”
One of the screenshots shows a photo posted by De Luca on Aug. 3 2012, in which he is impersonating Graduate Students’ Association president Kelly Black. Above he wrote, “Hi, my name is Kelly Black . . . I think you should pay more for a shittier health plan.”
