Since at least last April, a group of Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) councillors have been working together on a private Facebook group called A Better Carleton— the slate name of this year and next’s CUSA executive.
Public affairs councillor Alex Watson said the point of the group was to encourage councillors to vote with the executive, and that he was often encouraged to vote a certain way.
Two anonymous sources leaked screenshots from the group. Now it’s been shut down, said journalism councillor Matthew Couto, who said he was also a member of the group.
Those anonymous sources didn’t like what was going on in the group. Neither should students.
It makes sense for councillors to talk about policies outside of official meetings, and for them to vote together if they have the same views.
But making decisions and encouraging councillors to vote a certain way from the privacy of a closed Facebook group contradicts the policies of transparency many of these councillors campaigned on.
Every decision made, every policy passed should be explained and justified to students in the public forum offered by council meetings.
Next year, councillors who vote with A Better Carleton are the clear majority – they can pass whatever they want. They’ll be making decisions on major issues: CFS defederation, service centre funding, and advocating for students.
Without open, extensive, and honest discussion of CUSA’s decisions, students won’t be able to have a real say in how hundreds of thousands of their dollars are spent.
That’s something to get angry about.
