At last Thursday’s Council meeting of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), concerns about ambiguity in the SSMU constitution led councillors to vote to commit all nonbinding motions passed in the Oct. 15 SSMU General Assembly (GA) to the Steering and Policy committees. These committees will investigate SSMU constitutional ambiguities, and determine whether to bring these motions to the next council meeting, to be held on Nov. 1.
The fall GA lost quorum after passing two motions. The remaining four motions were therefore nonbinding, as they were adopted by what then became a consultative forum.
Following precedent from last year, Speaker Michael Tong decided to bring the adopted motions to Council after consultation with the movers of the motions and the Steering Committee. Tong explained that the SSMU constitution allows for two options when motions pass under a consultative forum.
The by-laws say that motions of this character “shall be inscribed upon the agenda of the next general assembly or at the discretion of the speakers in consultation with the movers and the Steering Committee, upon the agenda of the next council meeting.”
SSMU President Josh Redel said that he does not believe there has ever been a clear distinction on whether a motion that comes to Council from a consultative forum is considered a Council motion or still a GA motion.
The ambiguity in the constitution also extends to the process of passing unbinding resolutions, since a resolution passed last semester now requires the online ratification of motions passed at a SSMU GA. At the Oct. 15 GA, only the two motions passed with quorum moved into the online ratification process.
Speaking on behalf of the Steering Committee, Redel recommended tabling all four motions, which included one regarding SSMU support for accessible education, opposition to Plan Nord, opposition to Canadian military involvement in Iran, and ethical investment at McGill.
SSMU Vice-President University Affairs Haley Dinel, who also sits on the Steering Committee, explained that the idea was to table the motions at Thursday’s Council, rewrite them in Committee, and conform them to fit into SSMU’s mandate.
SSMU Vice-President Clubs and Services Allison Cooper said she wanted to consider ratifying the first of the four motions—the motion regarding renewing support for accessible education. SSMU Vice-President External Robin Reid-Fraser supported Cooper’s suggestion.
“I feel that this is a motion that comes from … a policy SSMU has had for five years … and that was renewed last year,” Reid-Fraser said. “[Ratifying this motion] is just renewing that policy. It’s not a new thing.”
Other councillors had reservations about proceeding with one motion, and tabling the rest.
“I believe that if we do decide to table the motions, I think we should table them all together or not table them all together,” Nicole Georges, arts representative to SSMU, said. “I really think that we should follow procedure and keep them all together … [I don’t think] we should start cherry-picking.”
Redel expressed concern about violating direct democracy, saying that he did not think the four motions should be changed or debated upon by Council.
SSMU Vice-President Internal Michael Szpejda suggested that Council first address the now apparent ambiguities of the SSMU constitution.
“We should fix the [ambiguity] first so we can be sure of how we pass these motions,” Szpejda said. “Then [we should] bring these motions back to Council.”
SSMU Vice-President Finance and Operations Jean Paul Briggs then proposed a motion which mandates the Steering and Policy Committees to further discuss the constitutionality of whether or not the four GA motions should be brought to the next Council on Nov. 1. Briggs’ motion passed with 18 votes for and seven against.
Following Council, Cooper expressed her disappointment about the vote.
“First off, the decision to table the GA decisions went against a precedent that students and movers of motions were expecting,” she said. “I think debating them … is entirely within Council’s role.”
