Written by: Paige Riding, News Writer
Council agrees to a referendum to address the lack of Rotunda space allocations
The SFSS Council passed a motion to hold a student referendum on housing Rotunda groups in the Student Union Building (SUB) in the Spring 2020 SFSS general elections.
Council wrote a letter of condemnation to the SFSS Board of Directors in December, asking them to reconsider their decision not to house Rotunda groups in the SUB. During the SFSS Board meeting on January 8, the Board members drafted a response to Council’s letter. The SFSS’s response reiterated that they would not reconsider their earlier decision, and that housing these groups in the Forum Chambers and the Undergrounds is a viable option.
The referendum will ask students if the SFSS should sublease organizational suites in the SUB to Embark, SOCA, SFPIRG, and CJSF for a minimum of 10 years.
Women’s Centre Collective Representative Simran Randhawa said, “I don’t think 10 years is fair at all, because these organizations should have gotten permanent space to begin with. But at this point, 10 years is the least that we can ask for in this referendum because it provides some form of stability.”
SFU student and former SFSS Board member Corbett Gildersleve addresses Fall Kickoff deficit
Corbett Gildersleve, SFU student and former SFSS Board member, presented on the 2019 Fall Kickoff’s deficit of over $100,000. In his presentation, Gildersleve urged Council to recommend that the Board conduct a forensic audit.
Gildersleve described the event as “high risk,” and noted that that the budget report following the event was “only two pages long.” He mentioned that the emergency Board meeting in August where the SFSS decided to increase the allowable deficit from $15,000 to $60,000 only lasted 14 minutes long.
“Realistically, the debate period was between eight-to-ten minutes at most,” Gildersleve said.
According to Gildersleve, a forensic audit is much more thorough than the standard audit that the SFSS conducts yearly, and would be able to better determine how the event was planned.
The SFSS cuts ties with student resource Lifeline
Osob Mohamed, Health Science Representative on the Board of Directors, commented during the meeting that Lifeline will no longer be funded through the SFSS.
“We had a discussion with the group, and from that moment forward, they were made aware that they would no longer be funded through the SFSS, they were not permitted to participate in clubs days, and they will no longer from this moment forward be receiving any resources.”
Gabe Liosis and Tristan Raymond voted chair and vice-chair of the Council
The two Council members will hold these positions for the remainder of the 2019–2020 term. Liosis is the Representative of the Political Science Student Union. Raymond heads the Psychology Student Union as their president and representative on Council.
