On Friday night, VUSAC held its final meeting of the 2015-2016 school year. Following an election season plagued by poor turnout, VUSAC’s constitution required both the new VUSAC board and several referenda to be ratified by the existing council. The VUSAC constitution requires a 15 percent VCU turnout for elections, and a 10 percent turnout for referenda, for the results to be considered binding. Neither of these thresholds were met in the election.
The VUSAC office was packed with nearly 40 people, as incoming and outgoing levy heads gathered for ratification of their successors and to argue for the ratification of the referendum to increase levy funds in line with the Consumer Price Index. Levy funds have not increased in over ten years, necessitating that almost every levy fund use most of their budgets to cover fixed costs. Some levies, such as Acta Victoriana, have gone over budget this school year as a result.
For example, in previous years, The Strand has been able to print 4,000 copies of each issue, a figure that has now been reduced to 1,800 due to budget constraints. Allowing the levy fund to increase with the Consumer Price Index would allow for an increase with inflation, allowing for budgets to increase with inflation and remain at a constant level.
A lengthy debate surrounding the validity of the referenda results ensued as a result of a turnout below the 10 percent threshold. The VUSAC constitution states that in a case such as this, the results “may not necessarily be considered binding by the VUSAC, upon the discretion of the council.”
Outgoing Chief Returning Officer Saambavi Mano and Vice-President External Alex Martinborough argued for a literal interpretation of the constitution, saying that it is not the Council’s discretion to make referenda decisions on behalf of the VCU if the 10 percent threshold isn’t met. They insisted that the decision be delayed until another referendum can be held during the fall election cycle.
Other VUSAC members, such as outgoing Co-President Gabriel Zoltan-Johan and Councillor Carl Abrahamsen, argued that, despite the low turnout, granting this funding increase would only serve to benefit the student body, and that any further delay would not benefit levies or VUSAC. Abrahamsen pointed out that the wording of the constitution indicated that it was up to Council to deem the results not binding, and doing so would only further the conception that VUSAC is stuck in the “Vic bubble.”
A further referendum held in the recently finished election cycle was to allow VISA, the Victoria International Students Association, to become a levy. It was argued by VISA Co-Presidents Satoko Nakamoto and Maiko Mitsuhashi that allowing the group to become a levy, and the benefits that would come with that designation, would allow for greater accessibility and involvement of international students in the Vic community.
All incoming levy heads were ratified, along with the various referenda, in an omnibus format.
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