An emergency motion was presented at the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) council meeting on March 28.
The motion, which was presented by student-at-large and former CUSA presidential candidate Mehdi Bouchentouf, sought to begin the impeachment process for CUSA vice-president (student life) Abdullah Jaber.
This motion came as a response to a video Jaber posted to his Snapchat in which he and two other recently-elected CUSA executives appeared to be mocking another former byelection candidate.
Currently, Jaber is on a two-week suspension and his paycheque is being donated to Kids Help Phone, an organization which provides free counselling to youth.
At the meeting, Masjedee said no further disciplinary actions were being discussed after he consulted with Shannon Clarke, the university’s director of students affairs.
Masjedee said Clarke classified the video as un-sportsmanship behaviour, not harassment, especially considering the behaviour was not “repeated.”
“Based on her expertise and the information that she told us, we decided not to pursue any further disciplinary measures,” Masjedee said.
He also said Jaber will receive additional training for social media etiquette when he returns.
Bouchentouf disagreed as he presented the motion to council, saying that the standard for student representatives needs to be higher.
“Be it resolved, that Abdullah Jaber be impeached for the rest of his 2017-18 term,” he said.
Bouchentouf said that even though Jaber would only be impeached for a few weeks before his second term as vice-president (student life) would begin, he plans to start the impeachment process again in May.
CUSA council chairman Shawn Humphrey said that if the motion passed, it would initiate a referendum. The referendum would require more student signatures than the number of votes Jaber received in the January 2018 CUSA election to pass.
According to a previous article from the Charlatan, Jaber was elected by 3,680 votes.
Alternatively, Bouchentouf could give council 15 days notice before presenting a motion directly for Jaber’s impeachment to council.
In both cases, two-thirds of the council vote would be required for the motion to pass.
Bouchentouf argued that the video is “consistent” with Jaber’s behaviour.
“It’s not the first mistake I’ve seen Abdullah Jaber make,” he said.
When questioned by Humphrey for proof regarding these allegations, Bouchentouf referred to some of Jaber’s previous posts on social media.
Humphrey cut in, reminding Bouchentouf to stick to the issue at hand.
“I don’t care about any alleged behaviour, okay?” he said.
Faculty of public affairs councillor, Cameron Wales, voiced concerns over the motion.
He said the council hadn’t been able to hear from Jaber directly, and if he was impeached, he wasn’t sure there would be time to hold a recall election before the end of the year.
During the debate, one student in attendance said Jaber’s actions fell within Carleton’s definition of cyberbullying.
“Cyberbullying is a form of electronic communication that is persistent and unwanted,” Carleton’s webpage reads.
However, Masjedee challenged this, saying Jaber’s actions haven’t been persistent.
“Persistent, as in like, repeated,” he said.
Masjedee also said students need to consider whether these actions merit impeachment, saying “I would argue that they don’t.”
“[The video] is not the worst thing in the world, and I think some students are treating it as the worst thing in the world,” he said, before encouraging council to vote against the motion.
However, the student responded by saying Masjedee’s argument and Jaber’s apology were “meaningless.”
“It’s not up to you to decide. I don’t care what you think,” she said.
She argued that Jaber’s actions have been persistent and began citing examples, when Humphrey cut her off.
The room briefly debated the format of the vote as well, when Masjedee requested a roll-call vote—where votes are recorded—after someone else requested a secret ballot.
After looking through Robert’s Rules—a widely used guide for parliamentary procedures—Humphrey ruled in favour of a roll-call vote, citing the serious nature of the motion.
Bouchentouf officially challenged Humphrey’s decision, saying students should be able to vote without being pressured.
His motion to challenge the council chair failed, as he needed the support of two-thirds of council, but garnered only one vote.
The motion to begin the impeachment process failed with three for, 20 against, and two abstentions.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
