The Carleton Food Collective started a sit-in protest at the offices of the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) on March 21 over the withholding of their student funding.
About 20 members of the collective, which runs non-profit food service the Garden Spot, or G-Spot, filled the reception area of the main CUSA office in the Unicentre. They held up signs demanding their student levy be released, bringing volunteer-made food.
Campus safety officers monitored the sit in, but did not try to remove the protesters. They declined offers of free food.
CUSA vice-president (finance) Folarin Odunayo said when the collective can provide a statement of financial position from an independent auditor or bank the levy will be released.
The amount of the levy is $36,001.47, he said.
“Again, once the Carleton Food Collective is able to provide CUSA with the information requested, the levy will be made available,” he said via email.
The collective says it has provided documents and its funding should be released. The collective’s website has a statement of financial position, but it is unsigned.
“The shortcomings in transparency and accountability have been addressed through regular operation of the reinvigorated G-Spot, and CUSA is without due cause to withhold the levy any longer,” read a statement released by the G-Spot at the protest.
Carleton collects $2.18 per year from every undergraduate student on behalf of the collective. The levy is then released to CUSA, which passes it on to the collective.
