Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune

 On Feb. 15, AUS council focused its discussion on issues revolving around the motion to create an AUS strike committee, and the accessible education motion for the AUS to take an official position against tuition increases. Although often close to losing quorum, the semester’s lengthiest council meeting resolved the debate with a majority voting in opposition to both the strike committee motion and the accessible education motion.

Those in favour of the motions sought to promote accessibility, to protect those who cannot afford higher education, and to counter the consumer ethos of the current state of education. 

“I voted yes [to the creation of a strike committee] because I believe non-action on tuition hikes is synonymous with being pro-tuition hikes,” Hyun-Soo Lim, VP Internal for the African Studies Students’ Association, said. “I do believe these hikes may be that difference that prevents a willing student from pursuing higher education. While I know there are many on campus that won’t be as adversely affected by these hikes because they can afford it, we simply can’t ignore the grievances of a significant population who will be forced to give up education.”

Others sought to amend the motion for the strike committee, even though the original movers were not present, in the hope that a majority of councilors would vote in favour of it. Although a straw poll taken in the middle of an informal discussion session showed that a majority of councilors did not agree with the motion, councilors debated several amendments, including the creation of a fixed space for the committee and the creation of an anti-strike committee. Although the amendments did not enable the motions to pass, AUS President Jade Calver noted that the discussion process matters most in order to defuse the tension on campus.

“With regards to the strike committee question, I felt that it was important to support arts students in their initiative, and that supporting the question would have helped to close the gap within the student body over the current tuition hike and strike debate,” Calver said of her ‘yes’ vote. “I hope that, even with all the tension on campus, students in the faculty of arts will be able to come together through constructive dialogue.”

However, those in opposition did not agree that these issues should be discussed indefinitely, especially issues such as the accessible education motion, which has been presented before in a similar form. Those in opposition said that students should realize that we need to play an equal part in providing for a world class education. While education should remain accessible, it should also not be unreasonably cheap, to the point of refusing indexing to inflation or increasing funding to student aid.

“I am gratified to see that I am far from alone [in] my views,” he added. “Many other councilors … have echoed my position, noting that while they do not like paying tuition fees they recognize that we students must be willing to pay [our] fair share to continue receiving the first-rate education for which McGill is justly renowned. Let’s also recall that 30 per cent of the proposed increases will go to student financial aid. I think that’s important to note.”

Other motions of note included a motion to create a new Arts Dry Frosh event next year. While the Dry Frosh motion is not binding on next year’s executive, Justin Fletcher, the proponent for the motion, hopes that it will inspire new leadership from next year`s executive to increase accessibility to underage participants. 

“My vision is an event which anyone can attend—underage [or] of age,” Fletcher said. “I believe that AUS should take a leadership role among faculty associations in planning such an event. It sets up a framework for planning an event that is not exclusive based on age.”