Two questions were deemed out of order and seven questions were removed when members of the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) finalized this year’s referendum questions March 9.
The referendum was originally scheduled to run in conjunction with the 2012 CUSA elections. It’s now scheduled for March 20-21 and will ask students to decide on a variety of issues.
Questions asking students if they wanted CUSA to “cease to exist” and whether they wanted out of the Canadian Federation of Students were deemed out of order, but students will still have the opportunity to decide the fate of the U-Pass.
While CUSA council spent well over an hour discussing wording of questions and technicalities, the real debate was reserved for questions about Carleton’s investment policies and anti-abortion groups on campus.
The investment policy question originally asked students if they want Carleton to adopt a “binding socially responsible investment policy that would require it to divest from companies complicit in illegal military occupations and other violations of international law, including, but not limited to: BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, Motorola and Tesco Supermarkets.”
However, the question was amended by some council members to avoid being too “controversial” and to avoid specific references to companies involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, much to the chagrin of members of Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) and other students who came to support the question.
“I’d like to address the issue that this is somehow a controversial issue on our campus,” said a member of the gallery. “Well, so is the U-Pass, so is a student-run sexual assault centre. There are many different issues that divide students, but we vote on them.”
SAIA members said the amended version takes away the original intent of the question. Journalism councillor Yaelle Gang said that was partly the point.
“My amendment was more neutral and opened the concept of socially responsible investment to a wider variety of issues, like environmental boycotts, instead of merely focusing on divesting from Israel,” Gang said.
SAIA member Dax D’Orazio said the matter is not about divesting from Israel, but divesting from companies involved in “the occupation alone.”
Sarah McCue, councillor-elect and proxy for George Parry, suggested the amended divestment question be dropped from the writ of referenda altogether, because the new question “perverted” the original intent of the question. Councillors later voted to drop the question from the writ of referenda.
The controversial question dealing with Carleton Lifeline was also amended.
The question in its original form: “Are you in favour of banning groups such as Lifeline, the Genocide Awareness Project, Campaign for Life Coalition and other organizations whose primary purpose is to use inaccurate information and violent images to discourage women from exploring all options in the event of pregnancy from Carleton University campus?” was also a source of contention.
Faculty of arts and social sciences councillor Dustin Hutton-Alcorn argued against the question. To put forward a question that could possibly ban students from showing their displays would be “draconian,” he said.
“We should not, as an association, be preventing these students from voicing their opinions . . . we represent them, they pay our fees,” he said.
The question was amended so as not to ban groups or discussion but just events and displays that were either inaccurate or showed violent displays. It remained contested but still passed.
McCue said she didn’t want to stop discussion on the issue — she said she just wants to ensure students’ safety.
“I’ve supported triggered students for hours on end after seeing images in the atrium,” McCue said. “CUSA has a responsibility to make this campus a safe space for everyone. That’s why we have a safe space policy, and I don’t understand why councillors are trying to limit student safety on campus.”
The final decision will be made by students who turn out to vote March 20-21.
Related Coverage:
CUSA 2012 referendum questions
— with files from Jessica Chin
