First an almost five-month long legal battle that saw council business grind to a halt, then months of in-fighting, and now a series of council meetings cancelled over technicalities.
The recent holdup to council business is causing frustration for some members of the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA).
Two recent meetings, scheduled for March 31 and April 2, were cancelled due to lack of sufficient public notice and lack of quorum, respectively. The April 2 meeting was cancelled because half of council, from the plaintiffs’ side of the legal dispute, didn’t show up, said vice-president (internal) Ariel Norman.
Several motions couldn’t be considered due to the cancellation, including motions to amend the budget, the human resources policy and to reduce the quorum for constitutional board meetings, Norman said.
Michael De Luca, a plaintiff and vice-president (finance)-elect, who was absent from the April 2 meeting, said there was no organized effort amongst the plaintiffs’ side to skip the meeting.
“For councillors, our schoolwork comes first,” he said, adding that he had to finish assignments as it was the end of term and he had not been in contact with any other councillors who had been absent from the meeting.
The two cancelled meetings continue a CUSA trend from March, when a meeting to approve referendum questions was also cancelled due to lack of proper notice.
In a scathing email to CUSA president Obed Okyere, Norman called the cancellation “ridiculous” and a “stalling” tactic.
“I think it is incredibly problematic that every time we attempt to discuss these referendum questions, students are silenced,” Norman wrote.
Meetings held in January and February faced similar hiccups and were tense at best.
President-elect Alexander Golovko, whose term starts May 1, called the cancellation of council meetings “unfortunate.”
His incoming team will “hold meetings at consistent times” and “ensure proper advertising to the membership,” he said via email.
