The Peak

Fee increases and housekeeping in upcoming referenda

By Carolina Dubanik

From March 16 to 18, SFU undergraduates will be voting in the annual Simon Fraser Student Society general elections, and along with voting in candidates, they will be voting on four separate referendum questions. The questions range from mere by-law housekeeping issues to a proposed new student levy for an on-campus not-for-profit group.

The first issue students will be voting on is whether or not they want to pay a fee of $2.00 per semester to Sustainable SFU, an on-campus student group that works toward increasing sustainability initiatives on campus.

In the past, the group has relied on sponsorship and government grants to fund its initiatives, including the Sustainability Festival and the Local Food Project. They recently became a not-for-profit group under the Societies Act of B.C.

However, the Local Food Project’s grant is complete, and according to Sustainable SFU President James McNish, previous Sustainability Festival coordinators explained that the focus has shifted to recruiting sponsors rather than organizing more events.

The proposed new funding, which is approximately $108,000 per year, would be used to fund both new and current sustainability initiatives, as well as to finance a new executive director, who would hold a permanent position within the organization. According to McNish, an executive director is instrumental in coordinating student activities, and providing the consistency and institutional memory that has in the past prevented initiatives from being successful, among other things.

“People have been trying to get composting on campus for over a decade. However, there’s such a high turnover of students that the programs die,” said McNish.

He asserted that a permanent executive director would also make Sustainable SFU more accountable as an organization, and ensure that by-laws were being followed.

The second question proposes making an exception to the SFSS Space Expansion Fund for the purpose of acquiring student space in the W2 project in the new Woodward’s building in downtown Vancouver. Currently, the terms of the Space Expansion Fund dictate that funds can only be used towards SFU-owned property. As the SFSS was unable to acquire space in the SFU-owned portion of the building, the Society is currently in negotiations with W2 for a five-year contract with provisions for renewal.

“This is an exciting opportunity to acquire space that might not be available down the road,” said Business Representative Karan Cheema.

The deal would include student access to a lounge, a performance studio in the basement of the building, and a conference room. Students would be given a discount at the Woodwards cafe, as well as provisions ensuring that SFU students are employed at the cafe.

The initial costs of such a space are estimated at $85,000 for the five-year term, not including an additional $8,000 a year in operating costs. This funding would make the SFSS a core member of the Woodward’s space and ensure the lounge is named after the Society.

Full-time students currently contribute $15 per semester to the fund, which SFSS Treasurer Joe Zelezny described as “mostly unused.”

Referendum question three is a change to the wording of By-Law 14.18(b), which refers to polling hours during SFSS elections. The by-law has not been updated since the transition from polling stations to online voting and still states that voting will occur between 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The referendum question proposes changing the by-law to say that polling will occur “at least” during those times, which allows for overnight voting. If passed, the changes would be in effect for the next election.

The fourth by-law change is also an update of the document, removing the by-law referring to funding of the Ombuds Office, which is now redundant.