The Muse

On March 2nd, Bowmanville-Oshawa North MP Jamil Jivani hosted his 13th ‘Restore the North’ campus event, in the business building at Memorial University.

Jivani says Restore the North was inspired by campus tours by the late Charlie Kirk and his organization Turning Point USA.

The format was simple: Jivani starts off with an introduction, explaining who he is and why he is doing the Restore the North campus tour. Then he turns it over to the audience to pose questions to him and state how they believe “the North can be restored.”

The event had about 30 people in attendance, with most of the audience conservative leaning, but a decent portion not. The debates ranged all across the policy spectrum, from the far-right Dominion Society and immigration to electoral reform and CANZUK.

The first person to step up to the mic was one of the few people there who was not a conservative, he had a tense exchange with Jivani after telling the MP he believed Jivani’s Restore the North slogan was a “dog whistle” and stated that he was “not being genuine” in his claim that these events are to foster more political engagement.

A handful of protesters picketed the event. Munroe Molotov, held a sign that read, “Restore the North to what?”

In an interview with the Muse, Molotov said that Jamil Jivani’s event and slogan was “sort of this idea that is inherent to fascistic belief of an imagined past,” and likened it to the MAGA movement in the United States.

Munroe also said that Jiavani’s events are “inspired by Charlie Kirk,” someone who Munroe says was a “far-right extremist.”

In an interview with The Muse, Jivani said that Charlie Kirk “literally died for free speech.”

Jivani’s said that “no country has ever been perfect at any time, but for most of Canadian history, people from all around the world could come here, people could be born here, and there was opportunity to have a better life. And it’s just not the case anymore.” 

The Graduate Student’s Union (GSU) has responded to the petition put forward by the TAUMUN calling for a vote on its dissolution. 

The petition calls for an Extraordinary General Meeting for graduate students to vote on the dissolution of the GSU, citing proposed fee increase, financial mismanagement, and issues with transparency.

The Muse received comment from the GSU’s Executive Director of Communications, Gaayathri Sukantha Murugan, responding to the motion proposed by the TA’s union. 

“GSU strongly disagrees with this proposition,” says Murugan. 

“While we understand the concerns raised by TAUMUN, a vote of this nature cannot happen until robust conversations are had with the Canadian Federation of Students to ensure the continuation of membership benefits available to graduate students, especially health insurance.”

In recent years, GSU ended its Grammarly Premium subscription service offered to students, and closed Bitters pub following extensive renovations. 

Murugan says that despite financial hardships, the student union still offers important services.

This includes the Health and Dental services administered by Greenshield, to whom the GSU says it owes $1.6 million in outstanding fees.

The student union is part of a national health plan it accesses by being members of the Canadian Federation of Students. Murugan says that if the union were to be dissolved it would no longer have access to this health plan.

“The loss of this affiliation, and access to student-oriented insurance plans, would significantly impact all students who rely on health insurance including international students, student parents, students with disabilities, as well as all students without any other coverage, all of whom rely on this coverage for life-sustaining care while being enrolled in academic programs,” says Murugan.

She cautions that “voting to dissolve the GSU before establishing a safety-net for students may generate more harm than intended.”

She also cautioned about the loss of funding for ratified graduate clubs and societies, as well as a projected lack of student advocacy, representation, and input within both internal and external institutional decision-making processes.

She says that “the impacts of dissolution cannot be captured in words alone, as it would represent a loss of community, safety, and support that would be felt for years to come.”

Murugan also says that dissolving the GSU will not absolve outstanding debts to Greenshield and both provincial and national chapters of CFS.  

According to Murugan, GSU would be required to work with a lawyer, Memorial administration, and impartial third parties to liquidate all assets. 

Failing to repay outstanding debts in full will “[affect] the abilities for any newly formed graduate unions to obtain health insurance through providers such as Greenshield or other reputable companies.”

Murugan says, should the membership vote to dissolve the GSU, it would lose the opportunity to investigate past financial mismanagement and hold guilty parties accountable.

Proposed fee increases

Murugan says the proposed increase of around $15 dollars a semester would only amount to an additional $5.56 if GSU had been increasing fees based on the Consumer Price Index.

According to the statement, the union’s governing documents require membership fees be adjusted annually to reflect the CPI, and the GSU membership fee has not been updated in approximately 10 years. MUNSU and CFS adjust their membership fees annually based on CPI.

The Muse will provide updates as the story develops.

A motion to remove Executive Director course reimbursements failed to pass at MUNSU’s latest board meeting.

MUNSU executives are reimbursed for the cost of one course every semester, with the student union spending between $7,020 and $35,100 annually, depending on domestic or international tuition rates.

At MUNSU’s meeting on March 4th, Nathan Gillingham, Executive Director of External Affairs, brought forward the motion to eliminate this policy.

According to Gillingham’s motion, MUNSU’s latest audit indicates a deficit of over $200,000, and the union is in need to find savings.

He says MUNSU’s mandate is to “serve the students,” and that removing the course reimbursements would “restore a lot of trust” to MUNSU.

Gillingham and the Executive Director of Finance, Farhan Probandho, along with nine other board members, supported removing this reimbursement.

The vote ultimately failed, requiring at least 12 votes, as bylaw amendments require 2/3s approval.

Six members voted against, whilst one member abstained—leaving removal one vote short at 11/18.

For reference, there are five Executive Director positions: Advocacy, Campaigns, External Affairs, Student Life, and Finance. 

Every spring, students campaign and are voted into these roles in an annual election.

Each Executive role is a full-time job at 35 hours a week, and this year’s executives will earn $22.99 per hour, placing their annual salary at around $35,000.

The positions are exclusively for students, meaning that they must be enrolled in at least one class during the Fall and Winter semesters.

Director of Campaigns, Rana Abuidris, said that “By executives having a requirement [to be enrolled], then not compensating for it makes the job inherently inaccessible … and as a union, we’ve advocated for paid work terms … because students should not perform required work without compensation.”

Some board members, including Mabrur Islam, Director of Advocacy, said that course reimbursement is not a privilege, but compensation.

However, other board members, such as Juairya Abdullah, raised the point that executives need to be “students to get the job…they are not being forced to be a student.”

Other compensation exists within the union, but costs proportionally less and is consistent year to year, such as the “mobile allowance” of $50 per month to cover phone expenses—a total of $3,000 a year for all five executives.

At Memorial, this year’s incoming international students pay $2,250 per course, while domestic students pay $675 per course.

Most international students are required to be enrolled in at least three courses per semester, as international student visas require full-time enrolment.

Executives are also not allowed to take more than three courses per semester. Meaning international executives pay at least $13,500 per year for courses, not counting student fees or other expenses.

According to Blake Colbran, Director of Student Life, “The question is not whether to cut, but where to cut, and I think there are better avenues for us to take than to disadvantage international executives.”

Addressing the cuts, Gillingham says, “Making cuts isn’t easy … everywhere MUNSU puts money can be justified with a very sound argument … all of it has a purpose … it is simply about our means.” 

To Director of Finance Farhan Probandho, “If MUNSU doesn’t correct in three or four years, we will be in dire straits.”

“The only way to do that is to evaluate our costs and the services we offer … and those conversations cannot happen if we do not take accountability, and if we don’t take action at the executive level first,” said Probandho.

Graduate Students may soon have a chance to vote for the dissolution of their union, which is in at least $2 million of debt and is proposing a $45 annual hike in student fees.

The Teaching Assistants’ Union of Memorial University of Newfoundland (TAUMUN), has introduced a petition to call for an emergency meeting with the intent to dissolve the Graduate Student Union (GSU) to “clear the path for a new, transparent organization designed to represent all campuses and faculties.”

According to emails graduate students received from Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. Amy Warren, Memorial and the GSU are reportedly working towards both the development of a new agreement and rectification of GSU’s outstanding debts to Greenshield, estimated by anonymous source to be approximately $1.8 million.

In addition to this, the GSU also owes Newfoundland’s chapter of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS-NL) $177,630.01 and the National branch of CFS $177,630.01, for a total of $355,260.02 owed from undelivered dues.

Altogether, the unions’ past outstanding debts likely amount to over $2 million, however it is unclear where they sit financially at the present moment. The latest financial statement on GSU website is from 2021.

The Muse contacted the GSU for comment and for clarification on its debt, and will update when we receive a response.

The petition

TAUMUN represents Teaching Assistants, Graduate Assistants, and Research Assistants at Memorial, which make up about 25% of graduate students.

In a Quarterly Newsletter on March 2, TAUMUN said it has concerns about TA labour and pay and an “unethical” proposed referendum to increase GSU membership dues, which would bring the annual membership cost from about $90 a year to $135 per year, a $45 increase.

In its petition, TAUMUN said it is proposing the dissolution due to the GSU reaching a state of “irremediable insolvency.” 

TAUMUN cites “institutional fiscal mismanagement,” “terminal organizational liability,” “erosion of service viability,” “compromised representative autonomy,” and the “necessity of structural liquidation” as its rationale for proposing the motion.

The TAUMUN executive said that they “condemn any Service Level Agreements or Memoranda of Understanding not ratified by the general membership,” urging GSU leadership to maintain their autonomy as a union.

“Graduate students deserve a better future than that proposed by the GSU, and therefore, they must have the democratic opportunity to decide their future,” says the statement.

The petition states that if members vote in favour of dissolution, the Graduate Student Union will “cease to exist, rendering all existing representative and service agreements null and void.”

The petition has surpassed the 25-signature rule, under the GSU constitution, for the Extraordinary General Meeting to go ahead, with about 40 signatures at the time of writing.

Comment from TAUMUN executives

TAUMUN Vice President Tristan Poulin said the tipping point in deciding to put the petition forward was the realization that the union intended to raise dues to solve its debt problem.

“We thought that was highly unethical to make current members pay for a debt that wasn’t contracted by them,” said Poulin,

“The best and simplest way to put it is we think it’ll be a clean slate,” said TAUMUN President Kieran Knoll.

“It’ll be a debt-free student body. It will be a body that has autonomy to make decisions for [itself]. At this point, without theorizing what a future could be, it essentially would be a future without risk by the GSU.”

He said TAUMUN isn’t trying to grab more power or replace GSU. Knoll said GSU members are simply using TAUMUN as a platform to elevate their concerns.

“The feedback we’re hearing from our members and from our community that we’re talking to is that there is a disconnect, that there is a kind of ‘why even bother at this point?’ kind of mentality,” said Knoll.

Knoll said he was equally concerned that according to him, the GSU executive were pursuing a potential loan from the university rather than listening to membership.

“That is an extremely weak advocacy position to put themselves in. And that actually impacts all of us as unions,” Knoll said.

We will provide updates as the story progresses.