Richard BaganIn this year’s SU elections, the Aboriginal Student Council (ASC) is putting forward a referendum to establish their own dedicated fee unit (DFU). I will tell you, as a self-declared Indigenous student of the Métis Nation, why I do not support this referendum.
There are many gaps that need to be filled, as well as questions answered, regarding the DFU, as many things went unanswered at the first SUBstage forum. Arts councillor, and former ASC president, Deirdra Cutarm brought up a very valid question about how the funds would be handled, and if ASC had hosted any info sessions about the fee. ASC “Yes” side representative Katherine Belcourt admitted that the DFU campaign never hosted any kind of information events. Later on, an Indigenous student from the elections livestream asked how it would be feasible for the ASC to handle that much money. Belcourt said she has been in conversation with First Peoples’ House and the Students’ Union to see if either organization can help manage the funds, but there is obviously no concrete plan.
On their Facebook page, ASC posted a link to their platform proposal outlining several ambitious objectives for their DFU including increasing funding for cultural supports and events, education, Aboriginal awards, childcare subsidies, and operational costs. Full-time students would pay an opt-outable fee of $1 per term to fund these objectives, and part-time students would pay $0.50.
The proposal claims that the DFU would generate a total of $91,945.50, but the math done to get to this amount isn’t clear. If there are around 31,000 undergraduate students on campus, with 29,000 of them being full-time students, the DFU would only generate $91,945.50 if all those students took classes every semester, including spring/summer. It’s not likely that these students would be taking classes every semester, so the revenue will likely be much lower.
I’m also concerned that much of the money would go unspent, voiding ASC’s status as a non-profit. So where does all this money go? What about the why and the how?
ASC’s initial proposal to UASU Bylaw Committee had no mention as to what the ASC’s financial oversight process for these funds would be. Furthermore, this issue was never brought up by the committee members, nor councillors when Student Council received it for approval. Though bylaw does state that Finance Committee is responsible for oversight of all DFUs, it should still be the responsibility of an organization to explicitly state how they will handle the funds appropriated to them. Had an information event been held like the one Cutarm asked about, students would have been allowed to ask this how their money will be handled by ASC, and oversight would have been present.
Even if the plan had sound financial oversight, a lot of what is being allocated through this DFU is essentially already put into place. First Peoples’ House already has aboriginal awards programs in place, and the university is already affiliated with six daycares in the campus area.
We’re almost halfway through an 11-day campaign and we haven’t seen any substantial answers to all these questions. While Belcourt says a more detailed document will be released today, it feels a bit late.
In student politics, we get caught up in the idea that we can establish an institution within the institution. But at the end of the day, we are all students first. Student politics should teach us how to advocate for people and concerns in our communities so that once we walk across that convocation stage, we can utilize those skills in real world.
Doing an initiative like this requires time, money, and a full-time staff to run such an operation. Is a registered student group made up of an executive of full-time students up to the task? I don’t think so. These are creative and ambitious ideas on paper and in theory, but in reality will not be achieved. That is why I would vote “no” in the ASC DFU referendum.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect an updated understanding of the math the ASC DFU took to get to their maximum revenue. The University of Alberta’s undergraduate enrolment numbers aren’t broken down by semester, making it difficult to gauge how much money would be brought in the fall and winter semesters.
