The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) passed a motion at an emergency meeting on Nov. 19 to hold a referendum asking students if they support a $1.75 increase per semester towards the clubs and societies levy.
The 2014-15 council overspent by $50,000 in clubs and societies funding. The current council has adhered to their budget, distributing $120,000 of funding to clubs and societies that requested a total of more than $300,000.
A previous referendum asking if students supported an increase in the clubs and societies levy was held in the spring of 2015. The clubs and societies question failed by a margin of 76 votes out of 4,497 in total.
“It’s going to be good,” CUSA president Fahd Alhattab said. “I’m predicting a 75 per cent yes.”
The campaign budget doubled from $200 in the last referendum to $400. This was done after receiving feedback from students that there wasn’t enough campaigning during the last period, vice-president (internal) Sofia Dala said.
At the meeting, the council discussed why the current clubs and societies levy amount of $3.30 will not appear in the question. CUSA vice-president (finance) Craig Handy said they decided not to include the current levy amount in the question to avoid confusing students about how much they currently pay and the proposed increase.
Public affairs councillor Hailey Mahoney proposed an amendment to the referendum with the addition of a second question. The question would ask if students support the decrease of CUSA executives’ salaries by 15 per cent, putting the money toward clubs and societies instead.
“We need more money for clubs and societies, and I thought, here’s the money already in the budget,” Mahoney told the council.
Mahoney brought between 800 and 1,000 student signatures to nominate the question. She said she collected the signatures over a period of two days.
Handy asked Mahoney if she explained the hours and job description of CUSA executives to the students who signed. Mahoney answered no.
CUSA’s six executives’ salaries are, on average, more than $33,000 each.
The meeting was put on hold as the council chair consulted with Mahoney and a few other executives, after a member of the council suggested it might not be constitutional under CUSA bylaws to add a referendum question through an amendment.
After the council chair concluded the amendment wasn’t constitutional, the council voted and passed the original referendum question almost unanimously.
After the meeting, Mahoney said she felt personally attacked while she was consulting with the chair on the amendment’s constitutionality. She said Alhattab and Dala asked her questions such as, “Do you run an $8- million organization?”
“I apologize if that’s how she felt,” Alhattab said later. “In no way do we ever attack any students.”
Alhattab made an announcement at the end of the meeting to say he was open to discussing Mahoney’s proposed amendment, and encouraged her to bring it forward again.
Mahoney said she plans to bring the referendum question through the formal channels before the end of the year.
“It’s unfair, the stigma that’s being created around your executives who tirelessly work all day, every day for the student body,” Alhattab said.
Mahoney said later, “It seems a trend, that every single time a councillor speaks out against the executives, [Alhattab] responds inappropriately and aggressively instead of taking it as constructive criticism.”
Alhattab said he thinks CUSA executives themselves felt attacked by “the way the question has been posed.”
Voting for the referendum will begin on Wednesday Dec. 2, and end Dec. 3.
