The Carleton branch of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) evaded their impending eviction from 326UC, as the group signed a new lease with the Carleton University Student’s Association (CUSA) July 29.
OPIRG and CUSA released a joint statement confirming the two groups have reached a new agreement: a seven-month lease, which will become a month-to-month lease when it expires.
“OPIRG-Carleton and its membership expressed concerns that the new office would hinder its ability to continue the organization’s work on campus. Taking this into consideration CUSA began looking for a solutions that would be mutually beneficial to both organizations,” the statement reads.
CUSA President Fahd Alhattab said he thinks the new agreement with OPIRG is something to celebrate.
“Our priority has been the clubs and societies and I think when we’re able to find win-win situations like this it’s something we should celebrate and be very happy about, and so everyone is excited for this,” Alhattab said.
Angela Mooney, a co-ordinator at OPIRG, said the agreement between OPIRG and CUSA is a step in the right direction.
“I think it’s good to secure the space for sure, but it’s a seven-month agreement,” she said. “There are some things that are difficult for OPIRG as an organization to deal with.”
The new agreement includes a 16 per cent increase in rent, which amounts to about $300 per month.
VP Finance Craig Handy said the lease was short to allow future CUSA executives freedom from this year’s decisions.
“It’s very important that we’re not locking in future executives based on whatever ideas that they have or whatnot to whatever we’re thinking right now,” Handy said. “It’s important to set goals but not restrict our goals so that nobody else can breathe around [them].”
Mooney said the board has to consider its options in order to accommodate the increase. The change will be reflected in next year’s budget, set in August.
“A lot of the things we support are grassroots initiatives, workings groups . . . it’s not something the board has had a chance to consider yet, but in the next month the board will have to decide where the extra $300 per month will come from,” Mooney said.
The group was served the eviction notice on July 2 and given until the end of the month to vacate the space, Mooney said. OPIRG has not had a formal lease with CUSA since 2003, making the one-month’s notice given by CUSA legal under Ontario law.
CUSA planned to use the office to create a co-working space for clubs and societies to use. That space will now be housed in the Clubs and Societies office. The Clubs Commissioner’s office will move into the space behind the office, while the group formerly there, National Education Association of Disabled Students will move to 514UC.
“Opening up the back space of Clubs and Societies allows us [to] use the front part of our entire clubs and societies as a co-working space, and collectively the entire space is actually just as large, if not larger than the OPIRG space and so it allows us to accomplish our goal,” Alhattab said about the move.
Alhattab said while negotiations came through on a tight deadline, this is reflective of the crunch for student space on campus.
“It’s coming down to the wire . . . so you can see how long this took. There’s a lot of moving pieces, a lot of different leases, a lot of legal agreements and all that,” Alhattab said.
Vice-president (student life) and OPIRG board member Sean Smith said although he supported the clubs and societies space, he didn’t believe OPIRG should be evicted.
“That office is used everyday, campaigns are started there, groups meet there . . . There are resources every student can use,” Smith said.
OPIRG board member Ash Courchene said the space at 326UC is essential to what OPIRG is and what it stands for.
“When people come by, it’s not just room 326, it’s OPIRG. It becomes synonymous and intrinsically linked with that space,” he said.
Courchene said support from student groups was “paramount” to being able to keep the office.
“[The students] were key. Without them the executives would have bulldozed us without a second thought,” Courchene said.
For now, the agreement brings relief as OPIRG can once again focus on its work, he said.
“Generally it’s a weight off everyone’s shoulders, at least for the next seven months. We’ll see what happens next,” he said. “There will always be a wariness now, when dealing with the CUSA executive. I’d say at best we are cautiously optimistic, but I think we’ve always been like that.”
