Holly Stewart

On Thursday, Quebec Public Interest Research Group supporters and Board of Directors members surrounded a table hosted by the QPIRG Opt-Out Campaign in the hallway between the McConnell Engineering and Frank Dawson Adams buildings. QPIRG attempted to block QPRIG Opt-Out campaigners from distributing flyers and reportedly hurled slurs. The incident culminated in a QPIRG board member ripping QPIRG Opt-Out posters and leaving the scene with a stack of the Opt-Out Campaign’s flyers.

The QPIRG Opt-Out Campaign had set up a table to distribute flyers to passing students with information on why students should opt-out of the QPIRG fee and instructions for how to do so on Minerva. Jess Weiser, one of the leaders of the Opt-Out Campaign, said that a number of QPIRG board members and supporters were also present and tried to “obstruct [Opt-Out campaign members] from giving a flyer and would instead give a QPIRG flyer.”

According to Weiser, the number of QPIRG supporters around the Opt-Out table steadily grew from two or three to about 10, at which point McGill Security was contacted and QPIRG was told to move down the hall.

However, QPIRG board members moved back towards the Opt-Out campaign’s table and continued the competitive flyering until one QPIRG supporter and board member, Maddie Ritts, “stormed up to the Opt-Out table and proceeded to steal and violently rip several posters,” according to an Opt-Out Campaign press release. The press release also called for her immediate resignation from the QPIRG Board of Directors.

Ritts said her actions were completely self-driven and not in any way mandated by QPIRG. According to Ritts, she grabbed several flyers and was then seized by Weiser, who Ritts said refused to let go of her as she yelled, “Let go of me. Please let go of me.”

“Despite my attempts to free myself from this person’s physical control,” Ritts said, “he would not release me until the person who was flyering with him reminded him that physical harm done to another person is, unlike the removal of a stack of flyers from a table, on a whole other level of violent and aggressive behaviour.”

Weiser, however, denied these allegations, saying he never touched Ritts.

Rae Dooley, a member of the QPIRG Board of Directors and former Students’ Society of McGill University VP university affairs, said she could understand the intensity of this debate.

“The [QPIRG Opt-Out Campaign] fundamentally disagrees with a lot of our political stances,” she said. “When you’re getting into sort of very heated ideological debates like that, it’s going to get heated.”

But Weiser explained that he felt although heated debate is expected, there is a line that all parties involved need to respect.

“It’s extremely disheartening,” Weiser said. “I mean we can have political discussions, we can have political debates, we can have political disagreements. But when it comes to destroying private property, it’s a problem. And when it comes to using physical violence, it’s a big problem.”

Thursday’s events were the latest in a series of incidents involving the two groups, including the hacking of QPIRG’s website and phrases like “SLANDER” and “FUCK YOU” being written on Opt-Out flyers on campus.

“Stuff like getting our website hacked. Come on, are we in university?” Dooley said. “It’s escalated but I don’t think it’s going to get out of hand, I’m not really concerned about that.”

Weiser also expressed concern over some of the actions related to this ongoing debate, citing what some QPIRG members said to him at the time of the aforementioned incident.

“QPIRG likes to talk about themselves as an anti-racist group, yet it’s ironic that they used racial slurs against us,” he said. “‘Fucking rich white boy.’ Those were the three or four words [they used].”

The two groups have yet to have an official discussion in a formal setting. “They’ve never asked to talk to us directly,” Dooley said.

 “[We’ve made] consistent and serious efforts to talk to [the Opt-Out Campaign member] groups individually,” Ritts added.

In an interview, though, Weiser said he was willing to sit down with QPIRG members and discuss the issue.

“If anyone believes there’s anything [in their campaign] that’s not factual or that warrants any kind of revision, bring it to our attention immediately,” he said. “We will check it over, and if it deserves to be revised or changed, we’ll duly do it immediately.”

 Weiser said he felt that the Opt-Out Campaign has been very successful this year and has reached a large number of students.

“Students see what QPIRG does [and] students don’t like what QPIRG does,” he said. “Students are taking their money back from QPIRG and QPIRG is seeing a big drop on their bottom line and clearly they don’t like that.”

The opt-out system was originally devised by QPIRG in 1988, but the organization has since grown dissatisfied with it.

“[The current opt-out system] is fundamentally undemocratic and in violation of our MOA with McGill University,” Ritts said.

In the past, students could opt-out of a fee by visiting the organization in person or by loggingon to its website. Ritts said QPIRG believes McGill is out of line in its collecting and distributing of student fees through Minerva.

“The McGill administration does not support QPIRG or independent student organizations financially, but they made a decision affecting the budgets of many of these student groups (including QPIRG) without consultation, and without addressing the concerns of the SSMU,” she said.

Spencer Burger, an Arts representative to SSMU, said he thought both groups were out of line and that all on-campus debate and discussion must be “civil and non-violent.”

“It was a very inappropriate action, what some members of QPIRG did in vandalizing property, because ultimately, everything is free in the marketplace of ideas and it’s important that we do not have any form of intimidation take place on the campus,” Burger said. “Students have a right to their opinions and I think we should all respect that.”