Big decisions at final SRA

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The last meeting of the Student Representative Assembly on March 22 marked the end of the 52nd elected assembly.

The current SRA made key decisions that will affect the MSU going forward into next year; namely, the assembly passed the motion to terminate the MSU’s membership with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.

VP (Education) Rodrigo Narro Perez reaffirmed his position on the MSU’s membership with CASA following deliberations on the issue at the previous SRA meeting.

“We acknowledge all the great work the organization does ... but unfortunately right now the Board does not see that the amount of fees that we’re paying to stay in this organization will adequately give us the same amount of value. We’re not getting our ‘bang for our buck’ compared to other external organizations that we belong to,” Narro Perez explained.

Concerns about leaving were voiced by some members on the SRA, whose discussion centered on the upcoming federal election and a reduced, affiliated member fee of $25,000 as considerations for remaining with the organization.

Anser Abbas, SRA Science, explained why he was planning on voting to remain with CASA.

“We do not currently have a viable alternative,” he said. “Without a federal advocacy structure in place, next year we suffer from that. We don’t have the resources necessary to advocate on the specific things that CASA would or could do for us and I just don’t think it’s a good idea to leave an organization instead of trying to make it better.”

MSU President-elect Ehima Osazuwa echoed Abbas’ statement.

“I do believe we have a very very good opportunity, by staying in CASA, to shape the direction of the organization. CASA has credibility with almost everyone, and as the MSU, we can shape the direction of CASA ... Our federal advocacy is important.”

During the meeting, Operations Commissioner Tristan Paul noted that if the SRA were to vote to leave CASA, the MSU’s bylaws prevent them from joining again.

However, the prevailing sentiment amongst the members of the SRA was that the supposed benefits of CASA had been far outstripped by other advocacy groups like OUSA, and that the MSU’s only real reason to stay for another year would be to hope to see an improvement in CASA’s poor efforts. Narro Perez noted that over the past year, both the University of Waterloo and Western University’s student unions had voted to leave CASA.

Said Mike Gill, SRA science, “knowing who we are, it’s easy for SRA members to romanticize the idea of federal advocacy. I think when you look at the reality of things, and look at things from the perspective of student value ... it becomes to difficult to say we should stay with CASA.”

The motion to leave CASA passed with a clear two-thirds majority after more than an hour of discussion.

In contrast, the ratification of WGEN as a full MSU service only required a few minutes of deliberation before the assembly unanimously voted in its favour. Jessica Soubas, SRA Humanities, called the decision a “no-brainer” in a short discussion beforehand, and cited examples from several universities in Ontario that have dedicated centres towards gender empowerment and diversity services.

WGEN was first launched in January 2015 as a pilot service dedicated to creating a “safe campus environment for women-identified individuals, trans people, and survivors of sexual assault.” WGEN is the 34th MSU service available to students.

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