The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) closed the Fall 2024 Referendum polls on Nov. 8. Just 17.2 per cent of downtown campus undergraduate students cast a vote, two percent less than that of the Winter 2024 referendum. Six out of eight of the referendum’s ticket motions passed with a majority vote, including fee increases for CKUT, the Quebec Public Interest Research Group at McGill (QPIRG-McGill), the Ambassador Fund, alongside renewals for the SSMU Legal Essential Fee, Community Engagement Fee, and the Equity Fund. Students rejected the request for a Creation of a Contribution to Support Francophone Affairs along with the SSMU Base Fee increase, which has been denied five times since 2019.
The SSMU Base Fee increase was rejected with 58.1 per cent of voters casting a “No” vote. The motion sought to raise the semesterly fee that students pay for SSMU services by $14.68 CAD for full-time students to a total of $85.81 CAD and an increase of $7.22 CAD for part-time students to a total of $41.66 CAD. SSMU claimed the increase in funds would allow the organization to eliminate its current deficit of between $400,000 to $1.3 million CAD, and increase SSMUnion members’ salaries to reflect inflation. Without the added increase, SSMU stated that the organization will have to cut staff as well as funding for clubs, initiatives, programs, and student financial assistance.
In a written statement to The Tribune, SSMU President Dymetri Taylor explained that he believes the referendum question was rejected due to waning interest in the student union.
“Frankly, I’m neutral about the results,” Taylor wrote. “I hope that this serves as a waking-up call that perhaps the SSMU needs to work on improving its relationship with the student population and showcase why it is a vital part of our university’s culture, which has been degraded in recent years.”
Voters also rejected the Creation of a Contribution to Support Francophone Affairs. A vote in favour would have support creating an opt-outable fee of $1.00 CAD per semester to support francophone clubs and translation services. The measure failed with 59.7 per cent of voters selecting “No.” Maëla Dube, the SSMU Francophone Affairs Commissioner, explained to The Tribune that current francophone groups receive little to no funding from SSMU.
“I think [it] is a reflection of the experience of being francophone at an anglophone university in Quebec while also being a consequence of current governmental politics that make advocating for francophone rights and promoting the French language difficult,” Dube wrote.
While SSMU did not get some of the results it hoped for, many other organizations were successful in the referendum. CKUT, a campus and community radio station based at McGill, received its first fee increase since 2012, with 60 per cent of participating students voting “Yes.”
In a written statement to The Tribune, Madeline Lines, a representative for the radio station, relayed that CKUT staff, volunteers, and community members are “elated and relieved” with the result.
“CKUT’s deficit will be eliminated, staff will receive a more livable wage, and the workshops, student jobs, and overall offerings the station will be able to offer will be expanded,” Lines wrote. “CKUT will be able to go from surviving to thriving with this result.”
Voters also approved the Committee Engagement Fee Renewal with a 67.9 per cent “Yes” vote. The $0.72 CAD per semester opt-outable fee funds students and clubs at McGill, and seeks to give students autonomy to create events.
SSMU Community Engagement Commissioner Nika Rovensky highlighted that the fee increase will help establish new initiatives, such as the creation of a free food pantry that seeks to address food insecurity on campus.
The QPIRG fee increase from $5.00 CAD to $6.75 CAD passed, with a 53.8 per cent “Yes” vote. The increased funding will help QPIRG maintain programs like its free textbook loan program, upkeeping its alternative library, and supporting independent research projects over the summer.
“Passing this referendum ensures that we can strengthen the communities around us, and that we can support activists who fight for social change for the years to come,” the QPIRG team wrote to The Tribune.
The group also noted how significant this favourable vote is for them, especially considering students’ financial limitations.
“We don’t take it for granted that students have voted to increase our funding at a time of unprecedented inflation, when their own finances may be severely constrained,” QPIRG wrote. “We aim to give them back greater value than what they contributed to us.”
