To: The University of Windsor Students Alliance, UWSA Members Date: February 20, 2014 From: Mike Maher,

Law Student, Member and former Chair of the UWSA Re: Concerns with the UWSAs Elections and Referendum. I am currently an applicant to the EMC as a student member. Section 10.2.1 of the Elections Policy places a duty on members of the EMC to be knowledgeable of the By-laws and policies that govern elections overseen by the UWSA. In doing so, I have discovered several instances in which the organization is not acting in accordance with its by-laws. I am chiefly concerned that the Electoral Monitoring Committee is not currently formed. I began this letter focused exclusively on this concern, but in researching the matter, I quickly discovered issues that appear to run deeper than absent-mindedness.

1. The EMC must be formed

The Electoral Monitoring Committee, as per By-Law 10, 6.2.1.4, the EMC shall be composed of the CRO, two Councillors appointed by Council; and two additional Members appointed by Council. While quorum of the EMC can be satisfied with the CRO and two Members of the EMCthe committee cannot be considered properly constituted if council has never chosen the two additional Members appointed by Council. The EMC, currently not properly formed, has not discharged its duties of oversight over the referendum currently underway or the general election accepting nominations. The EMC, as per section 5.11 of the Elections Policy, the EMC is the body in charge of disqualifying candidates for violating section 5.11 (5.11.1: The EMC may issue a penalty to any individual who engages in campaigning during the Nomination Period by deeming that that individual cannot be a Candidate in the election.). This is a significant responsibility affecting the core governance of the UWSA. The EMC, as a standing committee, should have been chosen as soon as possible after the current UWSA Council is chosen. The student members should also have been called for at this point. Instead, the EMC is currently not meeting, overseeing the election, or assisting the CRO in accordance with sections 3.2, 5.6, 5.9, 5.11.1, 5.11.2, 10.2-10.2.4, or 13.1.1. All sections of the By-laws and Elections Policy are reproduced below for your convenience.

2. Non-Compliance with UWSA Council Motions and Policy

I expressed my interest in being part of the EMC at the Council meeting at which the Elections Policy was amended, the referendum was accepted, and the general election was accepted. I was told that applications will be sent out and applicants will be chosen that way. I would include the relevant motions but the minutes of Thursday, November 22, 2012 are the most recent meeting minutes available on the UWSA website. This is despite the fact that a motion was passed at that same meeting which would allocate any and all resources necessary (including professional help) to get the organization up to date. It should be further noted that despite section 4.5 of the Election Policy requiring the CRO to present the above proposals, he was not in attendance. The report to be delivered by the CRO was still being finalized at the meeting it was approved at.

3. Treatment of the Faculty of Law

I anticipated the arrival of the application, and was surprised at how long it was taking to be sent out. I later noticed a Message from UWSA posted by SLS President Phil Cumbo at 3:11pm on Feb 12 (it is reproduced below for your convenience). I opened it only really because I found it so peculiar that the UWSA would send a general membership email to only the SLSor that the UWSA didnt itself have the capacity to message Law Students. There, squished between the notice of the General Election and UWSA Presents..."#Love is Love" Video Campaign for Valentines Week + Date Night Prize FREE VALENTINE'S CANDY & SNACKS ALL WEEK, I found a mention of the referendum. There was also a line about the EMC with a deadline of February 12, 2014 by midnight. I took that to mean that the application was due less than 10 hours later at midnight, which is the technical meaning of midnight: minute at which the 11th would turn into the 12th. Semantics asideeven less than 48 hours is a very tight deadline buried in an email not exclusively about the referendum or the EMC. This could easily be missed by even a very interested party like myself. A casually involved student might not even understand what was going on by the text of that message, simply that the referendum was happening, that it was the UWSAs first, the text of the question, and a call to contact the CRO at one of two email accounts. No references to the By-laws, Elections Policies, an outline of the role of the EMCnothing. Unless one knew exactly the context of what was going onnamely an interested party or someone an interested party contacted and informedthey would have no idea what this meant. The anecdotally, a majority of Jewish students at UWindsor are concentrated in the law school. The only Jewish student association on campus is at the Faculty of Law. This is a well-known fact that has been mentioned repeatedly in Council. These students have obvious interest in the referendum because the referendum disproportionately affects them. Furthermore, the law student population would have been a natural applicant pool for any elections oversight on account of their legal knowledge, their undergraduate experiences, and the fact that they remain mostly separate from undergraduate students. The call for CRO applications was never sent to the general law student population.

4. Lack of urgency in forming the EMC

To return to the issue of the EMC not being formed, my concern extends beyond the UWSA absent mindedly not following by-laws. Six days after the overnight deadline set by the VPA (Feb 18), I decided to follow up to see if I had simply not been chosen for the position and the EMC was in place. Much to my dismay, the VPA reported yesterday (Feb 18) via email: It was brought to my attention that Law
students didnt receive my email. I have resent my email again which students should receive in the next day or 2. After receiving all the applications, 2 students at large will be chosen.

This email was sent at 8pm. As of 1pm on February 20, the Students Law Society has not received any correspondence or a request to send anything to its members. There is no reasonable reason for an email message taking a day or 2. Further, it is troubling that the UWSA has no capacity to send the message itself. Applications for the EMC could be solicited in other ways, and absolutely no effort has been made. Nominations for the general election close and the referendum opens polls in eight days.

5. Non-compliance with Election Policy

Section 5.1 of the elections policy requires publication of:

the dates of the voting period, (4.4 A) the dates of the campaign period, (4.4 B) the dates of voting, (4.4 C) the list of positions to be contested in the election (4.5 A which arguably has been followed here) the relevant parts of the Constitution and By-Laws (4.5 B) this policy (the Elections Policy) and; (4.5 C) any additional rules that will apply to the election (4.5 D)

as soon as council has accepted the plan for the referendum and set all of the above. This is to be done using posters, on-campus media, the UWSA website, and any other appropriate mechanisms available. Currently, there is no reference to the referendum on the UWSA Facebook or Website. This is in direct contradiction of section 5.1 of the elections policy. The general election, approved at the same meeting as the referendum, was posted on Facebook on February 5th. The general election also has space on the UWSA Website at uwsa.ca/elections. It should be noted here that the general election notice does not include relevant parts of the Constitution and By-laws as per section 4.5 B of the Elections Policy. There are also no posters advertising the referendum in the law school (I have not checked other buildings on campus).

6. Non-compliance with By-Laws

While the By-laws or Elections Policy do not state precisely when the EMC is to be struck, but as a standing committee, the By-laws imply that the EMC should be chosen at the beginning of the Council term and serve the length of that term. As soon as it was discovered the EMC did not have proper membership, every action necessary to fill that absence should have been taken. The EMC has direct oversight of the nomination period of the general election which began over two weeks ago on February 3rd. It also has oversight over the nomination period (campaign-forming stage) of the referendum which has already passed (I would be more precise with exactly when it passed, but I cant find it on either of the yes or no side Facebook pagesthe only source of information about this referendum available to students).

7. Institutionalized Lax Compliance

My intense frustration with the conduct of the UWSA to date has led me to attempt to document it all and express my deep concern for the organization. While I know the culture of the UWSA does not lend itself to a strict interpretation of its governing documents, it is crucial to make elections policy clear and follow those rules scrupulously. Taken in isolation, each one of these oversights are understandable in the hands of a busy executive or CRO. But taken together, it points to a pattern of behaviour. This fact is exacerbated when the referendum and general election are seemingly given different treatment by the UWSAs media policy.

8. Uncertainty created by the UWSAs Master Copy

In writing this letter, I worked extensively with the UWSAs governing documents. From this experience, a few more concerns came to light. The Official By-Laws are not properly laid out. The Table of Contents remains from the old document making using them frustrating. The By-laws uploaded to Scribd are dated 2013/10/24 and bear the official signatures. The notation on the Scribd file says: Some changes/edits still need to be made, such as the table of contents and other additions passed by Council this year.

This will be updated when ready. Article 10 of the UWSAs Constitution requires a Master Copy of the UWSAs by-laws to be kept and bear the signature of the President, Chair, and General Manager.

While this may seem insignificant, if this is indeed a scanning of the Master Copyall of the above mentioned changes/edits have not taken place. Section 10.1 of the Constitution provides that no amendment of the Constitution or the By-laws will be deemed to have taken place until the Master Constitution and By-laws is amended such that the words contained in the Master is consistent with the amendment.(emphasis added). I would look up what changes/edits need to be made to the Master Copy, but as discussed above, I can only track back as far as November 22, 201211 months prior to this Master Copy being signed. Referendums and elections that run contrary to these rules also run contrary to the only official direction the corporation may follow. While updating the Master Copy may seem trivial, it is the only way that the membership of the UWSA can know what rules officially govern the corporation. This, coupled with the woefully out of date meeting minutes--despite a specific UWSA motion to do so using all available resources--leads to complete uncertainty. Members considering letting their name stand for election and become executives, councillors, or board members cannot be sure which rules govern their candidacy or office.

9. Official Requests
a) I urge the UWSAs Executive, Council, Chair, staff, CRO and Board to take action to ensure that the referendum and general election follow the organizations By-laws, Constitution, and Elections Policies. b) I urge the UWSAs Executive, Council, Chair, staff, and Board to take action to ensure that the Master Copy reflects changes/edits made by Council this year. c) I urge the UWSA and CRO to update the website or choose some other means to publicize them. The motion to allocate any and all resources necessary for this was passed last meeting. d) I urge the UWSA executive to publicize the abrogation from the rules to campus media and use their own messaging abilities to ensure that all students are up to speed on the issue and understand exactly what is happening regarding both the general election and referendum. e) I urge the UWSA to strike the EMC as soon as possible to be confirmed at the next UWSA meeting, and to properly publicize when and where the meeting will take place. f) I urge the UWSA to bring a motion to council to address the fact that the CRO, Council, and its executives are abrogating from their responsibilities to the Corporation; it should further include a determination on whether the referendum and general election will be considered valid in light of the significant deviations from the rules which they are governed by.

10. Conclusion
Generally, all of this activity runs contrary to the obligations of the UWSA to act in the best interest of its members. It insulates the organization from outsiders wishing to participate or be informed. It brings the UWSA and our University into disrepute. If the referendum were to be contested, or an interested third party were to investigate how it happened, they would surely be left wanting. Again, taken in isolation, many of these issues seem trivial. The pattern of behaviour that has emerged as the UWSA deals with the referendum is deeply troubling. The nature of the referendum question and the controversy that surrounds it should lead the UWSA executive to ensure that all necessary actions are taken and all By-laws are followed. This is simply not happening.

I truly hope that this letter does not fall on deaf ears. The UWSA Council and parts of the Executive have supported the referendum until this point. They now seem to be doing their very best to insure that the issue is not publicized officially in any way, and further, that the Faculty of Lawwhere the only Jewish organization exists on campusare not informed of the referendum, or how they might participate. Instead, the task was left to the campaigns to inform the general membership, once it was too late to mount a campaign or intervene in any way. While this may not be the intention, the effects, and especially the optics of those effects are alarming and extremely disappointing. The UWSA needs to govern itself not only for those in the knowthe group of a few dozen students that have any idea what happens in Councilbut for the thousands of other students who call UWindsor home. Rather than bringing these people into the fold and growing, the organization is insulating itself from students at large. If I cant follow whats going onwho can? Yours Sincerely, Mike Maher

References to By-Laws and Elections Policy as well as a copy of the notice sent to law students follow.

Excerpts from Relevant Legislation BY-LAW 10: Council Part 6: Council Committees
6.2 Standing Committees 6.2.1 Electoral Monitoring Committee (EMC) 6.2.1.2 The EMC shall be the body responsible for assisting the Chief Returing Officer in the conduct of Elections and Referenda under the jurisdiction of the UWSA and receiving appeals related to those Elections and Referenda. 6.2.1.3 By Resolution or Policy, Council may charge the EMC with any other duties related to Elections and Referenda. 6.2.1.4 The EMC shall be composed of: a) The CRO, who shall b the chair and only vote in the event of a tie; b) Two (2) Councillors appointed by Council; and, c) Two (2) additional Members appointed by Council. 6.2.1.5 The Members on the EMC shall not be candidates, volunteers, paid assistants, or any other person affilitated with an Election or Referenda. Further, Members on the EMC shall not be affiliated with any campus media. 6.2.1.6 Where possible, both genders shall be represented on the EMC. 6.2.1.7 Quorum shall be the CRO and two (2) other Members on the EMC. 6.2.1.8 Decisions of the EMC may be appealed to Council.

ELECTIONS POLICY
3.2 The EMC is to assist the CRO in executing this policy 4.4 The CRO must bring the following schedule to Council. A)The dates of the nomination period, which must begin at least 4 weeks prior to the first day of voting and which must end at least two (2) weeks prior to the first day of voting; b) The dates of the campaign period, which must begin after the nominations close and at least nine (9) days from the first day of voting and which must end before the first day of voting; and, c) The date(s) of voting, which must be at least five (5) weeks after the CRO brings this information to Council. 4.5 At this same Council meeting, the CRO must also present A) The list of positions to be contested in the election; B) The relevant parts of the Constitution and By-laws;

C) This Policy; and, D) Any additional rules that will apply to the election 4.6 Items b, c, and d shall constitute the Election Rules 4.7 Council must pass a resolution to accept everything in 4.4 and 4.5 before an election can be held. 5.1 Once 4.7 has occurred (Council approval of election/referendum), the CRO and any DRO or agents are to begin publicizing the election using posters, on-campus media, the UWSA website, and any other appropriate mechanisms available. 5.6 The CRO is to store the Nomination Forms along with any other confidential election material in a secure location to which only the CRO and EMC have access. 5.7-5.7.2 (Nomination form guidelines) 5.9 A decision under 5.7 may be appealed to the EMC 5.11 During the Nomination Period there is to be no campaigning. 5.11.1 The EMC may issue a penalty to any individual who engages in campaigning during the Nomination Period by deeming that that individual cannot be a Candidate in the election. 5.11.2 The EMC may issue any other penalty in place of 5.11.1 that the EMC decides is appropriate. 5.11.3 The decision to penalize an individual may be appealed to Council, but the decision as to the type or magnitude of the penalty may not be appealed. 5.11.4 Information pertaining to the nature of the appeals will be fully disclosed to the EMC. 5.11.5 Council must be informed on the nature of the complaints and decisions of the EMC, while maintaining the confidentiality of the complainents [sic]. 10.2 For greater specificity and clearer articulation, during the General Election and By-Elections the role of the EMC is to: 10.2.1 Be knowledgable of By-law 10 Section 6.1.2, By-law 40 Section 3, and By-law 80 and meet criteria as set out in those By-laws before any provision in this Policy; 10.2.2 Dispose of appeals brought forward in accordance to the applicable By-law and Policies; 10.2.3 Assist the CRO; and, 10.2.4 Impose penalties on Nominees who campaign during the Nomination Period. 13.1.1 Any candidates who engage in an affiliation as judged by the EMC may be declared affiliated candidates, and be subject to penalties.

MESSAGE Posted Feb 12 at 3:11pm (Formatting Preserved)

The following is a message from the UWSA directed to all full time students at the University of Windsor. The SLS is not involved in planning or facilitating any of the events below, if you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to

the UWSA.

Hi Students, It's been a cold winter but we are almost through to spring! We wish you the best on your mid term exams and your studies. Here are a few upcoming events: Hello all Full-Time Undergraduate Students! The University of Windsor Students Alliance has now begun the nomination period of the 2014 Winter General Election. If youre interested in serving in the student union here at uWindsor, you can pick up your nomination package from: -The UWSA Main Office (2nd floor CAW Centre) Forms are due back to the UWSA Main Office by Wednesday, February 28th, 2014 @ 4PM. Check out www.uwsa.ca/elections.php for more info! In addition: You can sign up to be part of the UWSAs first Referendum of the year. The referendum is on a campaign of Boycott Divestment and Sanctions. The question is: Be It Resolved That the University of Windsor Students Alliance: Join student organizations around the globe by endorsing and participating in the 2005 call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions from Palestinian civil society; and Commit to identifying and divesting from companies that support or profit from Israeli war crimes, occupation and oppression; and Affirm that students have a vital role in supporting struggles for social justice, and stand in solidarity with Palestinians' struggle for self determination and freedom. If you are interested in being on a campaign team for either side of the referendum, please contact the UWSA CRO at crouwsa@uwindsor.ca or crouwsa@gmail.com. Finally, if you are interested in participating in the Electoral Monitoring Committee, the body that oversees the Elections, two positions are available for students at large. Please email Shaista Akbar, Vice President Equity and Administration at vpauwsa@uwindsor.ca, with a paragraph of why you would like to be in this role, and your resume. The deadline to apply is February 12, 2014 by midnight. February 10-14, 2014 UWSA Presents..."#Love is Love" Video Campaign for Valentines Week + Date Night Prize FREE VALENTINE'S CANDY & SNACKS ALL WEEK Love is natural and it encompasses us all. Love is something that can't be bought or sold, it is therefore priceless and we should treasure it. The #LoveisLove campaign aims to bring all people together to celebrate and accept love for everyone. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, we are asking students to come share with us, what they love for a video that will be released on our social media in the weeks

to come. A videographer will be taking short clips of students that wish to participate and compiling the clips into a video that shows what our students love. It can be a person, place, peace, pet or anything that you feel deserves some love. Come check out the campaign video shoot and participate: FEBRUARY 11, 10AM-1PM, @ Human Kinetics FEBRUARY 12, 11AM-2PM @ CAW Commons FEBRUARY 13, 11AM-2PM @ Odette BLDG NRG THURSDAY! Thursday, February 13th we feature MONARKK. Local support from Triifecta & UWindsor student, Brendon Talbot FEBRUARY 14- David Pinard will sing love songs in the CAW Market Place 12-2PM. Can't attend the shoot? Tweet your thoughts, quotes, or stories about love and love equality to the hashtag #LoveIsLove @UWSAWINDSOR DATE NIGHT PRIZE: For those who participate in the #LoveisLove video shoot, you will be entered into a contest to win a date night compliments of the UWSA and City Grill. The prize includes: $100 Gift Card to City Grill, $25 Cineplex Theatres Gift Card, and $25 Gift Card to Bruce Philip Florist. February 8th, 2014 Out on Campus is hosting a Valentine's dance this Saturday (Feb 8th) at 8pm in the St. Denis Centre. They have a professional dance room booked, and everyone is meeting in the main lobby. There is no dress code, however if you would like to dress it up, go all out! Invite all your friends, the more the merrier. February 13,2014 - Celebrations of Nations Join us for the Celebration of Nations! Next Thursday, we will celebrate the rich cultural diversity of our campus community and Windsor-Essex County. The events starts at Alumni Hall with the parade flags at 11:45am. Continuing to the CAW Student Centre Commons area at 11am with performances, demonstrations, and cultural displays. Be sure to see this spectacular event before it ends at 2:30pm. March 1, 2014- KKIS Charity Fashion Show. Ambassador Auditorium. March 16, 2014- Bangladesh Students' Association Annual Talent Show. Ambassador Auditorium