This year’s Feds annual general meeting (AGM) took place on October 28, during which there were a number of interesting items on the agenda. Among them was a potential Feds fee decrease and the election of three new members to the Feds Board of Directors. Most notable of all, however, turned out to be the referendum motion for the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group’s (WPIRG) student fee, proposed by Sacha Forstner. If you weren’t there, here’s a little recap of the discussions, decisions, and drama.
The first item on the list (after agenda and minute approval) was the election of the director seats. Eleven candidates of various faculties and skill sets ran for the three open seats. They were given the opportunity to make 2-min. speeches (shortened from the original 10 min.), followed by a question period. Most questions served to clarify their duties, plans, and the Board’s decision-making process in general. The WPIRG motion was also brought up at this point, due to the apparently large interest in the subject of the majority of attendees. Two of the candidates hailed from the Faculty of Engineering, and one of them, Lisa Belbeck, scored a directorship. The other two positions went to Maaz Yasin and Danielle Burt.
Addressed secondly was the controversial WPIRG referendum motion. Originally next to last on the agenda, it was motioned to an earlier spot to suit the WPIRG-supporter-dominated attending body. WPIRG is a non-profit organization dedicated to involving students in environmental and social justice issues. Currently, every student pays a $4.75 fee to the group every academic term, and it was proposed that a referendum determined by the Students’ Council would be held to determine the necessity of such a fee. It was alleged that the group had little on-campus student involvement and little transparency. Supporters of WPIRG (and therefore protesters of the motion) turned up in large numbers to in order to strike it down. Members of Engineers Without Borders, the Muslim Students’ Association, Students for Justice in Pakistan, Conrad Grebel Peace Society, UW BASE, and other groups affiliated to WPIRG were amidst them. Sacha Forstner began the talk by humbly backtracking and apologizing for some of the statements, admitting that WPIRG’s importance to the student body was previously underestimated given the turnout. However, he still maintained that a referendum should be held out of responsibility to the students, stating that any organization should, from time to time, be called to justify their funding even if only to validate them further. The ensuing debate explored various aspects of the issue, such as the power of the Students’ Council over the organizations fee allocation and referendum wording, and the legality of the referendum itself. Ultimately, the referendum motion was defeated, to the joy of most attendees.
The following items involved approving the Auditor’s Report, reviewing the year’s financial statement, and changing the Feds election voting system into a ranked system. The latter issue allows students to rank their desired candidates according to preference rather than simply picking a single one. This system had been used previously in the meeting when selecting the Board of Directors’ positions.
The next pertinent item was the proposal of a potential decrease in the mandatory Feds fee by 10%, thereby reducing it from $48.51 to $43.66. While those opposed to the motion believed that Feds required the money, as many of its services operate on a deficit, those for the motion argued that student money was not being spent responsibly with clear priorities and efficiency. Before the vote could be held, however, the meeting was adjourned. The meeting had started 50 minutes late and had continued for longer than expected. The discussion will be brought up again at the general meeting in March.
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