issues & id@as_ wrorsamrevows

THE VOICE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013 7

What to do about student unions?

As Kwantlen and Langara show, corruption is common in student unions at B.C’s
colleges. Is the solution a move to the Australian model of voluntary student unions?

‘Nobody would opt in’: CTV commentator

A prominent student union
watcher believes that student
unions would collapse if
made voluntary.

By KAYLA ISOMURA

voluntary they would ultimately fail be-

cause of a lack of funding says one promi-
nent student union watcher and political col-
umnist.

“The only way that the student union sys-
tem can survive is if the great apathetic ma-

I: membership in student unions became

jority is taxed against their will,” said J.J.
McCullough, Huffington Post columnist,
CTV Political Express commentator, and for-
mer opinions editor of Simon Fraser Univer-
sity’s campus paper The Peak.

“If student unions had to be something
that you had to opt into, nobody would opt
into them.”

According to McCullough money is the is-
sue. He noted that additional funding would
not become available for services, which is
why they wouldn’t be able to sustain them-
selves.

In Australia, student union membership,
including fees, is voluntary but money is pro-
vided from students another way.

Student unions earn money from a stu-
dent amenities fee (SAF), which is compul-
sory for all students.

This fee is administered by the university,
not an autonomous union like in Canada,
and is used to pay for student services on
campus like recreational or sports facilities
and clubs.

Some money is allocated to student unions
or councils to advocate the interests of stu-
dents to the government.

The SAF amount varies depending on the
university, but is capped at a maximum of
$263 per academic year for full time students
(Langara students pay between $300-340 per
academic year depending on course load).

“Ultimately, the reality of the business
model is that the system requires a lot of
money to pay for and the only reason you
can get this money is by taxing students
through membership fees that they have not
opted into,” said McCullough.

“T don’t think there’s any other solution to
it.”

McCullough said students don’t typically
participate in student elections but take ad-
vantage of student services, including U-
Passes and drinking at campus pubs, but
students wouldn’t pay optional fees because
“people generally as a rule don’t like to be
taxed.”

FATS TE WE a |
saa Me : aE ae

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A student walks outside of Langara’s student union building.

Autonomous nature of unions leads to scandals

Student union corruption scandals are common in B.C, but change is nowhere on the horizon

By GARIN FAHLMAN

secondary intuitions can regulate

or monitor student unions, while
the law requires all students to be a
part of them.

In British Columbia, the University
Act requires all students attending a
post-secondary institution to be a part
of a student union and mandates the
collection of fees. Student unions are
governed under the Society Act, which
gives considerable autonomy student
unions. Interference from a school’s
Board of Governors is only permissible
if a union fails to complete an annual
financial audit.

According to a representative from
the B.C Ministry of Finance, there is no
oversight role given to the Minister of
Advanced Education by the Society Act
in regards to use of funds and decisions
made by student unions.

The representative also said that
public feedback is helping the govern-
ment determine if changes should be

Ne the government nor post-

made, and that there are currently
tools for society members to address
internal issues, such as the power for
members to compel directors to con-
vene a general meeting.

Student unions across Canada are
not strangers to controversy, and stu-
dents have good reason to want to dis-
tance their wallets from them. From
2008-2011, Kwantlen Polytechnic Uni-
versity came under scrutiny after a se-
ries of public scandals involving its stu-
dent union.

As audits and exposes by the student
newspaper revealed, the Kwantlen Stu-
dent Association had mismanaged mil-
lions of dollars of student fees, and was
forced to impeach the student politi-
cians responsible.

In the 2010-2011 school year, relatives
of those who had misused the student
money in the 2008 scandal were re-
elected (without disclosing this rela-
tionship to voters) resulting in the
eventual impeachment of the entire
executive board along with 13 council-
lors in a spectacular special general

meeting (SGM) complete with pepper
spray bombs being let off and fire
alarms pulled.

KAYLA ISOMURA photo

Notable

The LSU provides services to stu-
dents such as bike repair, health and scandals
dental insurance, and the operation of
the Students’ Union Building (SUB) on ME n 2006, a forensic

campus.

While some students use these ser-
vices, it is clear that the student body is
generally apathetic given that less that
one-third of students voted in the last
major LSU election.

Langara business student Ashley
Tay says the problem is a lack of infor-

audit discovered
that a Douglas
College student
union director had
loaned $20,000 of
union funds to his
girlfriend.

. MA. 2007 audit of the
mation. . . . Kwantlen Student
I feel like a big problem is that we Association found
don’t feel informed about what the LSU that $2 million of
does,” Tay said. student fees were
She doesn’t use the SUB or many of mismanged by the
the LSU’s services, and she would like board of directors.
to see the mandatory membership fee
Min 2012, the LSU

go.
“The LSU knows students are unin-
formed,” she said.

“They are making a profit when no-
body has a choice.”

passed a series of
bylaw changes that
would ban students
from meetings.

A history of
unaccount-
ability

Year after year the LSU
continue to conduct bust-

ness behind closed doors
and eschew responsibility

By JACQUELINE LANGEN

Students’ Union (LSU) has devel-

oped a reputation of having un-
clear motives.

This year the LSU has been openly
hostile with the campus press even
threatening a reporter with legal ac-
tion. Historically, it would appear that
these aren’t entirely new tactics.

In 1995, the LSU conducted a series
of closed-door meetings concerning a
debt of $171,000 that was owed to the
Canadian Federation of Students at the
time.

In 20038, the LSU conducted a voting
referendum that was implemented to
increase student fees. Critics said this
“omnibus” style of referendum was
worded in such a way that the voter
might be mislead.

“You are putting the voter in an am-
biguous position where they can’t
make a distinction between different
parts of the question,” said Langara po-
litical science professor Stephen Phil-
lips at the time.

During the election in February of
2012, two candidates were disqualified
for allegedly not having followed spe-
cific campaign laws.

The fate of the two candidates was
decided at a meeting of the elections
committee - a committee that meets in
secret - and the two were never given a
chance to appeal.

As the Voice later reported, the LSU
ordered copies of the Voice to be
thrown in the recycling bin after this
was reported.

Tom Fletcher, a Legislature corre-
spondent for Black Press and a Langa-
ra journalism alum from 1984, said to
the Voice that the LSU’s refusal to ac-
knowledge the campus press creates a
lack of student comprehension and ap-
athy.

“Most ordinary students didn’t ap-
pear to know or care much about it,
which is typical for these organiza-
tions,” said Fletcher. “It seems that a
group of people can take advantage of
the apathy of the many, then and now.”

Tacs" history, the Langara