The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is among other Canadian student unions that have been receiving unnamed packages since September 2017. The contents have included dildos, vibrators, other sex toys, mobile phone chargers, and iPad sleeves. They were delivered using Amazon and Amazon Prime services.
“There weren’t any names attached to it,” said CUSA president Zameer Masjedee. “It was just addressed to ‘Student Unions.’ ”
Maxine Tagay, an Amazon spokesperson, said in an email that there is an ongoing investigation being conducted.
“We are investigating inquiries from customers who have received unsolicited packages,” she said. “But we have confirmed the sellers involved did not receive names or shipping addresses from Amazon.”
She added that they routinely remove sellers “in violation of [Amazon] policies,” and “work with law enforcement to take appropriate action.”
CUSA has received at least six packages so far, while the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association (UWSA) has received four. However, the UWSA did not receive any sex toys and began to send them back to Amazon after their fourth package.
“After we got four packages and nobody claimed them, we sent them back to the [Amazon] headquarters,” said Meghan Linton, vice-president (external affairs) of the UWSA. “We do still receive them, but now we just turn them away at the door.”
Refusing packages has become a growing trend with other unions as well. The Western University Student’s Council (Western USC) has refused to accept any packages since they began to receive them in October 2017.
“We didn’t open up any packages, so we’re unaware of any contents within them,” Jana Cernavskis, communications officer of the Western USC said. “We just simply refuse them and send them back, as per standard procedures.”
But, the University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) does not have a similar protocol to follow. They have received 16 packages so far, the last one arriving two weeks ago.
“We’ve received the most random items, including vintage turntables, first-aid kits, a cape, and mobile chargers, apart from the sex toys,” Shawn Wiskar, vice-president (student affairs) of the URSU said. “Instead of refusing them, we just started using them for inter-office stuff.”
“I do think it’s getting quite old now,” he said. “But just based on the media coverage and our conversations with Amazon so far, I would assume the packages would stop coming anytime now.”
Wiskar said he was told the packages seem to have arrived from a company in China, following a conversation with an Amazon representative.
The University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU), which has received five packages so far, said they now err on the side of caution with each package that arrives from Amazon.
“We haven’t yet approached the police,” Jehan Moorthy, vice president (finance and operation) with the UMSU. “But we are cautious and vigilant the next time we receive a package, since we now know this a nation-wide phenomenon.”
The Ryerson Student Union (RSU) has also confirmed that they have received five packages so far, and was concerned about possible identity theft and financial loss over the matter.
“Our main concern was our finances and whether they had been compromised,” Susanne Nyaga, president of RSU, said.
The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) was one of the last ones to have received any such packages, with one arriving on Jan. 29.
“This was definitely a low-effort prank,” Mathias Memmel, president of the UTSU said. “Although the dildos are blue and white, matching the UTSU’s colours, which was a nice touch.”
The UTSU is among many other unions that have decided to raffle their items off to students.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
