2015-02-25 DSU Open Letter - Final-2

To: Andrew Christofi, Dalhousie Student Union Council Chair

Ramz Aziz, President of the Dalhousie Student Union Cc: Dalhousie Student Union Council Dal Gazette Wednesday, February 25, 2015 Dear Mr. Christofi and Mr. Aziz, We are writing this letter to express our concerns about the prospect of the DSU disaffiliating from Students Nova Scotia. We concerned both about the implications of disaffiliation for Dalhousie students and other post-secondary students across the province, and with the process being undertaken to consider such a decision. In our understanding, the Dalhousie Student Union Council is considering a motion to disaffiliate from Students Nova Scotia on February 27. A last-minute general assembly has also been convened for February 25 in response to a petition from 101 students. Until February 23 the possibility of disaffiliation had not been broadcast to the student body except in the form of promotion for the general assembly and during reading week, a time when students are not expected to be on campus and are unlikely to be tracking events at their student union. In contrast, in both 2012 and 2014 Dalhousie students voted in favour of membership within Students Nova Scotia in referenda held fully in keeping with the DSU Constitution. This weeks proposed decisions would overthrow these votes and notably reallocate tens of thousands of dollars in spending. Students Nova Scotia has interpreted its bylaws to indicate that a referendum is necessary for the DSU to disaffiliate given that referenda have been held in the past and that no specific alternative process is outlined in the DSU Constitution. It seems that individuals within the DSU are seeking to proceed through a council motion based on a vague clause outlining a process to change its existing membership level instead of a clear clause referencing how it can renounce its full membership. It is not fully apparent that even the conditions of this vague clause have been followed in terms of informing students and council of the possibility of a decision. Clearly it is up to Dalhousie students to interpret their own constitution,

but we would suggest that the DSU err towards greater consultation and engagement, not less. Earlier in 2014, the DSU Council had committed to complete an Advocacy Review, at arms-length from the executive, to inform any decision on StudentsNS membership. This project has not been pursued. Students have not been engaged to learn objectively about StudentsNS, make their own assessment and inform any decision by the DSU council. StudentsNS was never contacted in reference to any type of advocacy review, despite DSU delegates to the StudentsNS Board being repeatedly asked for information. To this point, no information to our knowledge has been provided to students to present the pros and cons of membership within StudentsNS to inform any deliberations at Council or the general meeting. The proposed general meeting is a highly flawed mechanism for any kind of consultation or decision on this issue, given that it is framed in a fundamentally confrontational fashion, is unlikely to provide space for balanced discussion of the facts of the case, and has been convened at the last possible moment with minimal steps to engage the broader student body. We do not view this as a legitimate consultation or decision-making process given the flaws in its organization and the fact that it seeks to encourage less than 1% of the student body, who are not elected representatives, to consider reversing a decision made less than 12 months earlier by a referenda with the participation of 10% of the student body. We are concerned that considering no information has been provided to inform the decision at Council, all information will be provided at the last minute and not given adequate scrutiny. Certainly, last years similarly dysfunctional process illustrated the real risk of inaccurate information being shared with the DSU council and the importance of allowing time for fact checking. While StudentsNS and its members may seek to fact-check via social media as the DSU council deliberates, this is clearly less than desirable. This letter should also act as notice to the Chair, pursuant to StudentsNS Governing Policy 21, that the DSU VP Academic and External Jacqueline Skiptunis has been absent without regrets from more than five meetings of the Board of Directors (6) over the past nine months.1 Given also that Ms. Skiptunis missed all board orientation activities during this year we would advise that she not be considered as prepared to provide representations as a fully engaged member of the Board. No other StudentsNS Board Member has been invited to present to Council to our knowledge. The DSU has been a critical member of StudentsNS/ANSSA since its inception. DSU delegates have notably held the Chair position for five of our eleven years. Together, 1 Meeting dates: May 16, July 2, AGM July 17, August 26, October 3, December 12. This does not account for partial absences, including for full-day segments of Board business on June 5-6 and January 18.

we have been making real progress in reducing student debt, improving access to financial assistance, increasing funding for graduate students and strengthening student voice. All of our organizations are concerned about the likely impacts of the DSU turning its back on the rest of the province. It would be terrible for the student movement in Nova Scotia to be further divided. Certainly each student union is unique, but students across our universities and college campuses also share many common challenges that we can better address together than on our own. We believe fundamentally in the importance of student union autonomy. The DSU absolutely should leave StudentsNS if that genuine reflects Dal students preference. However, we hope that the DSU will recognize its responsibility to meaningfully engage and represent its students and follow due process in such a decision, instead of pursuing in a manner that we view as unbecoming of a deliberative body such as the DSU. We believe that by working together we can do more for our students, and hope that the DSU will continue to be a strong partner with our student unions moving forward. Respectfully submitted,

Callie Lathem Acadia Students Union President

Brandon Ellis Cape Breton University Students Union President

Alex Elderkin Kingstec NSCC Students Association President

Brandon Hamilton StFX Students Union President and StudentsNS President

James Patriquin SMU Students Association President