To:

Andrew Christofi, Dalhousie Student Union Council Chair

Ramz Aziz, President of the Dalhousie Student Union

Cc:
Dalhousie Student Union Council

Dal Gazette


Wednesday, February 25, 2015


Dear Mr. Christofi and Mr. Aziz,

We are writing this letter to express our concerns about the prospect of the DSU
disaffiliating from Students Nova Scotia. We concerned both about the implications
of disaffiliation for Dalhousie students and other post-secondary students across the
province, and with the process being undertaken to consider such a decision.

In our understanding, the Dalhousie Student Union Council is considering a motion
to disaffiliate from Students Nova Scotia on February 27. A last-minute general
assembly has also been convened for February 25 in response to a petition from 101
students. Until February 23 the possibility of disaffiliation had not been broadcast to
the student body except in the form of promotion for the general assembly and
during reading week, a time when students are not expected to be on campus and
are unlikely to be tracking events at their student union.

In contrast, in both 2012 and 2014 Dalhousie students voted in favour of
membership within Students Nova Scotia in referenda held fully in keeping with the
DSU Constitution. This weeks proposed decisions would overthrow these votes and
notably reallocate tens of thousands of dollars in spending.

Students Nova Scotia has interpreted its bylaws to indicate that a referendum is
necessary for the DSU to disaffiliate given that referenda have been held in the past
and that no specific alternative process is outlined in the DSU Constitution. It seems
that individuals within the DSU are seeking to proceed through a council motion
based on a vague clause outlining a process to change its existing membership
level instead of a clear clause referencing how it can renounce its full
membership. It is not fully apparent that even the conditions of this vague clause
have been followed in terms of informing students and council of the possibility of a
decision. Clearly it is up to Dalhousie students to interpret their own constitution,

but we would suggest that the DSU err towards greater consultation and
engagement, not less.

Earlier in 2014, the DSU Council had committed to complete an Advocacy Review, at
arms-length from the executive, to inform any decision on StudentsNS membership.
This project has not been pursued. Students have not been engaged to learn
objectively about StudentsNS, make their own assessment and inform any decision
by the DSU council. StudentsNS was never contacted in reference to any type of
advocacy review, despite DSU delegates to the StudentsNS Board being repeatedly
asked for information. To this point, no information to our knowledge has been
provided to students to present the pros and cons of membership within
StudentsNS to inform any deliberations at Council or the general meeting.

The proposed general meeting is a highly flawed mechanism for any kind of
consultation or decision on this issue, given that it is framed in a fundamentally
confrontational fashion, is unlikely to provide space for balanced discussion of the
facts of the case, and has been convened at the last possible moment with minimal
steps to engage the broader student body. We do not view this as a legitimate
consultation or decision-making process given the flaws in its organization and the
fact that it seeks to encourage less than 1% of the student body, who are not elected
representatives, to consider reversing a decision made less than 12 months earlier
by a referenda with the participation of 10% of the student body.

We are concerned that considering no information has been provided to inform the
decision at Council, all information will be provided at the last minute and not given
adequate scrutiny. Certainly, last years similarly dysfunctional process illustrated
the real risk of inaccurate information being shared with the DSU council and the
importance of allowing time for fact checking. While StudentsNS and its members
may seek to fact-check via social media as the DSU council deliberates, this is clearly
less than desirable.

This letter should also act as notice to the Chair, pursuant to StudentsNS Governing
Policy 21, that the DSU VP Academic and External Jacqueline Skiptunis has been
absent without regrets from more than five meetings of the Board of Directors (6)
over the past nine months.1 Given also that Ms. Skiptunis missed all board
orientation activities during this year we would advise that she not be considered as
prepared to provide representations as a fully engaged member of the Board. No
other StudentsNS Board Member has been invited to present to Council to our
knowledge.

The DSU has been a critical member of StudentsNS/ANSSA since its inception. DSU
delegates have notably held the Chair position for five of our eleven years. Together,

1 Meeting dates: May 16, July 2, AGM July 17, August 26, October 3, December 12.
This does not account for partial absences, including for full-day segments of Board
business on June 5-6 and January 18.

we have been making real progress in reducing student debt, improving access to
financial assistance, increasing funding for graduate students and strengthening
student voice.

All of our organizations are concerned about the likely impacts of the DSU turning
its back on the rest of the province. It would be terrible for the student movement in
Nova Scotia to be further divided. Certainly each student union is unique, but
students across our universities and college campuses also share many common
challenges that we can better address together than on our own.

We believe fundamentally in the importance of student union autonomy. The DSU
absolutely should leave StudentsNS if that genuine reflects Dal students preference.
However, we hope that the DSU will recognize its responsibility to meaningfully
engage and represent its students and follow due process in such a decision, instead
of pursuing in a manner that we view as unbecoming of a deliberative body such as
the DSU. We believe that by working together we can do more for our students, and
hope that the DSU will continue to be a strong partner with our student unions
moving forward.

Respectfully submitted,

Brandon Ellis
Cape Breton University Students Union
President

Callie Lathem
Acadia Students Union President

Alex Elderkin
Kingstec NSCC Students Association
President

James Patriquin
SMU Students Association President

Brandon Hamilton
StFX Students Union President and
StudentsNS President