The Carleton Food Collective presented over 100 petitions to the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) from undergraduate students Jan. 13 in support of the Food Collective receiving their levy.
The petitions were delivered to CUSA vice-president (finance) Folarin Odunayo.
The letters were pre-typed by the Food Collective. Students then signed them and included their student number.
Wesley Petite, a Food Collective volunteer, said the letters show there are students who disagree with CUSA’s actions.
“We do find that students are very concerned about the way CUSA executive is acting as if they have some sort of control over the levies,” he said.
The university’s Board of Governors takes the levies from students’ tuition fees, and passes the money to CUSA to release to the organizations.
The Food Collective and the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) Carleton, both student-funded organizations who usually receive their levies in November, were asked for financial information by CUSA in 2013.
OPIRG-Carleton received the first instalment of their levy from CUSA on Dec. 9, while the Food Collective did not.
The Food Collective’s levy is $2.18 per undergraduate student and OPIRG-Carleton’s levy is $6.89.
Odunayo said the Food Collective does not have their levy because “they haven’t adhered to our requests.”
“We try to operate in a financially accountable manner. That’s something we do ourselves . . . We just request the same thing from the Food Collective,” he said.
Petite said CUSA is treating them with “an increased amount of scrutiny.”
“We have our own ways to ensure accountability,” he said.
According to Petite, the Food Collective has a general assembly and posts their financial information, including revenues, expenses, and projected budget on their website.
But Odunayo said CUSA wants to make sure the Food Collective is legitimate.
“You have to prove you are the Food Collective and that’s just one of the ways that we want to do it,” he said.
