The Tribune’s Editorial Board presents its endorsements for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Winter 2025 referendum questions. Editors researched and discussed the questions before voting on each endorsement. These endorsements reflect a majority vote of the editorial board, with editors who have conflicts of interest abstaining from pertinent questions. 

Amendment to the Constitution – Section 1.3: Yes

If passed, this motion would revise the Constitution’s Preamble interpretation clause, shifting from describing the Preamble as an “integral part of the Constitution” to stating that the Preamble is not to be interpreted as obligating SSMU legally or contractually. Given past lawsuits based on petty interpretations of the Preamble’s language, SSMU is seeking to save legal fees and prevent the overuse of the Preamble as a tactic to hold the Society to an unrealistically high standard. While voters should be aware that this amendment reduces the Constitution to a procedural document, effectively removing any binding statement of purpose or intention from the document, The Tribune ultimately endorses a “Yes” vote for this motion due to its potential to free up SSMU’s time and funding for other projects.

Do you agree to the merge of the VP Sustainability and Operations with the VP Internal, saving the SSMU $43,000: Yes

If passed, this motion will remove the position of Vice-President (VP) Sustainability and Operations, saving the SSMU $43,000 CAD. The role’s responsibilities of Sustainability and Operations will be reallocated to the President and the VP internal, respectively. The position entails managing the use of space in the SSMU building. However, the Society found that its duties are redundant, with many of them overlapping with existing positions within the SSMU. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote for this motion as it will relieve pressure on the Executive Committee by reducing the financial resources needed to compensate Executive Officers, ultimately leaving extra funding for other initiatives.

Do you agree to making the VP Finance position into a hired position, focused on experience?: No

This motion aims to designate the VP Finance as a position hired by the Board of Directors instead of being elected through the same process as the other Executive Officers. This risks reducing student voices within the Executive Committee hiring process, opens up the possibility of the position remaining vacant, if membership does not approve of the appointee. Given low voter turnout in recent by-elections, The Tribune is not confident the position would be adequately filled. Furthermore, it would further decrease the number of elected candidates on the Board who are directly accountable to students, further hindering SSMU’s democratic process. The Tribune endorses a “No” vote to this amendment. 

SSMU DriveSafe Fee Increase: Yes

DriveSafe is a student-run SSMU service that provides free rides home for students from Thursday to Saturday. Throughout the years, they have driven thousands of students to their destinations. Another service offered in part by DriveSafe is SafeHome: An accompanying service that drives students from McLennan Library to their homes, typically during exam season. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to increase DriveSafe’s portion of the semesterly, non-opt-outable SSMU Safety Services Fee (SSSN) by $1.00 CAD, from $1.65 CAD to $2.65 CAD. The SSSN, which currently funds MSERT, DriveSafe, WALKSAFE, and the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students Society, would thereby increase from $7.15 CAD to $8.15 CAD per semester. With a mission to protect students by offering safe and accessible rides home, this increase would help keep the program up with inflation, reduce wait times by renting more cars, offering free services during special events (such as Frosh, Carnival, and Science Games), and ideally transitioning to sustainable electric vehicles for the 2025-2026 academic year. Because of the importance of DriveSafe in helping students get home safely, as well as their goals for accessibility and sustainability,  The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote.

Francophone Affairs Fee Creation: Yes

If passed, the Francophone Affairs Committee (CAF) Fee Creation will introduce an opt-outable $0.50 CAD fee per semester, excluding Summer, to finance the francophone affairs of the SSMU. The CAF advocates for francophone students’ needs by facilitating the francophone community’s integration, promoting the French language and supporting French language-learning initiatives. SSMU currently allocates the CAF budget. The fee would allow the CAF to increase its efforts to support francophone students while providing funding to external groups whose activities are tied to the CAF’s mandates such as Centre d’Enseignement du français de McGill. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to implement this opt-outable fee as it will increase support for Francophone communities, enhancing accessibility for Francophone students and fostering linguistic inclusion. 

ELEVES DES CHAMPS ISG Fee Approval: Yes

If passed, the Élèves des Champs (EDC) ISG fee approval will introduce an opt-outable $1.25 CAD fee to support the student-run farm on the Macdonald campus. The farm grows over 50 types of vegetables with an emphasis on sustainability. EDC aims to partner with student groups like Midnight Kitchen to provide fresh produce for their meal services. The group has run a deficit in past years and relied on one-time donations from the Dean’s Office at Macdonald Campus. This fee would help the group sustainably operate and subsidize hourly wages for their workers. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to introduce this opt-outable fee as it will further promote sustainability on campus, may help with food insecurity, and create stable, educational, and career-helping summer job opportunities for students. 

TVM Fee Renewal: Yes

The TVM Fee Renewal proposal would extend the current opt-outable fee of $1.50 CAD per semester for all full-time and part-time students, beginning in Fall 2025 and ending in Winter 2030. If approved, the fee will remain unchanged. TVM is a student-run television and entertainment service that offers a range of free video production services—such as event coverage, promotional video production, and live streaming—to SSMU student groups and McGill-affiliated undergraduate organizations. It also provides free equipment rental and training for its general members. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to renew this opt-outable fee. TVM provides McGill students with technical film and television production skills that are not covered by university courses, and it helps keep costs low for other student clubs and organizations by providing video production services free of charge. Since the fee is both minimal and opt-outable, the financial impact on students is very low.

Indigenous Equity Fee Renewal: Yes

The Indigenous Equity Fee Renewal would extend the current non-opt-outable fee of $1.50 CAD per student per semester for both full- and part-time students. This fee goes toward three primary purposes: First, it funds the activities of the Students’ Society of McGill University’s Indigenous Affairs Committee. This committee works to increase visibility, representation, and services for Indigenous Students. Second, this fee funds student projects led by Indigenous student groups or Indigenous equity groups, thus investing in the success and expanded platform for McGill’s Indigenous students and affiliated projects. Third, this fee is a source of financial support for Indigenous undergraduate students at McGill to which any Indigenous student can apply for financial assistance for anything from groceries to school tuition. Further, the fee is minimal, making it a minor change to existing student fees. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to renew this non-opt-outable fee in support of McGill’s Indigenous student population. 

Menstrual Health Fee Renewal: YesIf passed, the Menstrual Health Fee would be renewed at a non-optoutable cost of $2.40 CAD per student per semester. The SSMU Menstrual Health Project stocks over 160 washrooms around campus with pads and tampons, distributes reusable products (including period underwear, reusable pads, menstrual cups, and menstrual discs), holds menstrual education events, and employs five students part-time. Last spring, they also began offering menstrual products in residences. The project is funded exclusively by the Menstrual Health Fee; as such, if the fee renewal fails to pass, the project will cease to function. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to renew this non-optoutable fee, as the project promotes menstrual health, employs students, engages in sustainability initiatives, and provides an invaluable service to the student community as a whole, as menstrual products are essential items.