Three takeaways from the latest SRA meeting

Students were returning to Hamilton after a week off for fall break, but the Student Representative Assembly was putting in work.

The SRA discussed a variety of topics, but there were a few takeaways.

Negative stance on vice-president at-large referendum

After two hours of discussion, the SRA took a negative stance on the topic. This means the SRA is recommending that students maintain the current system, where vice-presidents are elected by the SRA.

Vice-president at-large has been part of the MSU conversation for years. In 2016, there was a vice-president referendum question put on the MSU Presidential ballot after an SRA member went to the 2015 MSU General Assembly – where most attendees were there for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement – and submitted a motion to make vice-presidents elected by the student body. The vote did not have quorum, so the issue went to the SRA and following a student petition, the at-large question was put on the 2016 ballot.

The 2015-16 SRA chose to take a neutral stance on this issue.

Moving forward, there will be a campaign that urges students to vote yes for the referendum. They can campaign during the Oct. 31-Nov. 3 window. At press time, there was no official vote no side.

Negative stance on Exclusive Club Card referendum

During the SRA by-election, there will be a number of referendum questions. One of the questions will be offering a local discount card through Olekt Inc., a Hamilton-based marketing company. The Exclusive Club Card would be a $5 student fee and provide discounts at retailers, restaurants and other stores throughout Hamilton.

Prior to the meeting, vice-president (Finance) Ryan MacDonald circulated a memo, calling for the SRA to take a negative stance on the referendum question. MacDonald wrote that the card provides “terrible value to students” because the McMaster Students Union could provide a similar card at no additional cost. The MSU Almanac and Student Survival Guide are already available to students and offer many of the same discounts, according to MacDonald.

MacDonald also raised questions about the merit of the card.

“This referendum is a clear example of a corporation misleading students for their financial benefit,” he wrote.

The Exclusive Club Card came to referendum because of a student petition.

The SRA also tasked the vice-president (Finance) with creating a similar card by the end of his term.

Ad-hoc committee

The discount card sparked a concern amongst the SRA about the current governance structure. Only three percent of the student population signed the petition for the Exclusive Club Card, and in the MSU memo, they allege that the petition “is driven by non-students who have coerced three percent of the student population through financial incentives or misleading to sign a petition.”

The SRA created an ad-hoc committee that will evaluate alternatives or shortcomings within the current structure.