Well, I feel left out
THE STUDENT FEDERATION of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) supported the Occupy movement, organized a Day of Action for the Education is a Right campaign, and picketed with the postal workers in the summer. The Canadian Federation of Students, which the SFUO is a part of, openly supports political candidates, recommending ones students should give their vote to. Why?
Every undergraduate student at the U of O pays just over $40 per semester to be part of the SFUO, but not every student is represented in the same capacity. I’ve never, for example, seen our student union endorse a Conservative candidate, nor have I seen alternate views on popular campaigns, like Education is a Right, even acknowledged.
Don’t get me wrong, many political campaigns the SFUO supports are important, but that doesn’t mean every student agrees, and believing otherwise is naive.
Yes, student unions should be advocating on behalf of students, but not when those messages are politically charged and unrepresentative. But it’s not just that: Many of these campaigns don’t make a measurable impact—think of the Occupy movement—and when they do, it often doesn’t affect students directly. Does this mean our money is being thrown into the wind? I think it could be put to better use.
This year, the SFUO organized effective campaigns, fundraisers, and awareness weeks. As far as I can tell, SFUO-funded clubs on campus are blossoming, and with them, is student experience. So why does our union insist on participating in political campaigns instead of improving our campus?
It goes back to the constitution governing the SFUO. According to Paige Galette, vp communications for the SFUO, advocating for certain policies and campaigns is a part of the constitution—basically, it’s a part of the executive’s job.
If that’s the case, maybe it’s time to modify the constitution. We are a campus of many political views and values, and if all of them can’t be represented by the SFUO, then none of them should be.
—Jane Lytvynenko
(613) 562-5260
