BIG WINS FOR ADVOCACY AS BILL 33 LOOMS OVERHEAD
The UOSU’s Autumn General Assembly kicked off on Sunday Nov. 30, just as predicted — 30 minutes behind schedule, with an additional half an hour needed to sort out technical difficulties for live interpretation.
On the docket were six motions, the most contentious of which was Daniel Thorp’s motion on the Bounce app. A few days earlier, Thorp had sued UOSU over the removal of his motion from the agenda, an issue which was resolved only two days before the general assembly.
When the assembly resumed at 11 a.m., UOSU executives gave their updates. Notably, the president of the Union, Jack Coen, highlighted his work on expanding membership to include all students regardless of fee-payment status, creating the Faculty of Education Students’ Association, securing $50,000 for the UOSU Food Bank, and securing an agreement with the U of O to ensure free printing for all undergrad students.
Operations Commissioner Elnaz Enayatpour went next with the following updates: the budget had a 200k surplus, they increased UOSU Food Bank funding and new student jobs, they reimbursed students $3,000 in transportation costs due to the STO strike, and reimbursed students for the 2024 opt-out levies. She is also looking into providing free Canva Pro to clubs instead of reimbursing clubs individually.
Advocacy Commissioner Alex Stratas talked about major student wins: the launch of Flying Squad, the Union beating the 5% increase to the U-Pass, and the hosting of multiple events such as “Take Back the Night” and “Can You Beat the Bus?”. In the new year, Stratas will be launching Careers4Change, building an anti-RBC coalition, and collaborating with Fossil Free Research to hold the university accountable to its fossil fuel divestment goals.
Francophone Affairs Commissioner Eve Tremblay was excited to talk about the success of “Expresso Yourself,” a coffee hour for both fluent students and those interested in learning how to order in French. This semester, they served over 650 students, with six clubs and one RSG participating.
Student Life Commissioner Emilia Bah’s last working day was the AGA, so she gave her final updates to a supportive crowd, most notably the removal of the 300 club cap, with a subsequent adoption of a tiered system.
Lastly, Communications Commissioner Kaitlin Ma recounted her internal and external-facing work. She hired four new members to the communications team: a coordinator, a videographer, a translator, and a graphic designer. She also acknowledged the success of the @uottawa.2029 Instagram account, which has more than one million views.
QUESTION PERIOD
The assembly moved to an open question period for the executives. In past GA’s, questions have mostly focused around club payments or issues raised by club executives. On Sunday, the question period turned into a recollection from Thorp about the legal process he went through while suing the union. In particular, he questioned why the student union immediately consulted lawyers, leading to legal fees that Coen estimated at $10,000.
Enayatpour responded, saying, “I’m not happy about the spending either, but it’s necessary sometimes.” Over the course of the GA, the Chair of the Board of Directors, Maya Sinclair, called Thorp out for “unparliamentary language” in assuming mal intent on Coen, the Board of Directors (BOD) and other executives’ behalf.
Next up was the approval of the 2024-25 Audit, which passed without a hitch. The only question raised was about why the audit approval had been delayed leading to the GA being moved from the 23rd to the 30th. This was resolved by Enayatpour pointing to large financial changes in the organization and consolidation of bank accounts.
APPROVAL OF BY-ELECTION RESULTS
The approval of the by-election results is usually one of the fastest passed items on the GA agenda. However, this year’s curveball was the questioning of an Indigenous director’s identity. Interim Director for Indigenous Students, Kim Mantha, was nominated by the Indigenous Students’ Association, and has been serving in that role since September 2025.
When the motion was introduced, Luca Piomelli, who is white and not Indigenous, spoke in opposition, telling the assembly that his proxy, who is Anishinaabe from Rama 139, told him to ask Mantha “What tribe are you a part of?”
When Mantha answered that she was part of the Metis Nation of Ontario (MNO), Piomelli responded by telling the assembly that his proxy does not recognize the MNO as having a traditional connection to the land. The Anishinaabe nation under the Grand Council Treaty #3, does not recognize the MNO as a treaty participant.
The ISA’s Co-president External Quanah Traviss clarified to the assembly that Mantha’s nomination was done in consultation with all of its members, including some who are from Treaty 3. He also stated that Mantha was appointed unanimously, including with the support of students from Treaty 3.
Co-president Internal Bianca Miron also told the assembly, “I think it’s unacceptable to ask what denomination or type of Indigenous someone is”, raising concerns about the harm of a non-Indigenous white person asking an Indigenous person to prove their identity.
The ISA is planning to release a statement about this incident later this week.
MOTION A: RESTORE DEMOCRATIC ACCESS TO CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
After debate over a couple of constitutional amendments, the assembly switched to discussing Motion A. The motion, proposed by Thorp, called for the General Assembly to express its support for amending Article XIV to remove or reduce the 10 per cent General Assembly quorum requirement for amendments.
This motion was not heavily debated; after Sinclair clarified that 10 per cent of eligible members is roughly 4,000 students, more speakers expressed their support for this motion. Overwhelmingly in favour of increasing the practicality of this article, the motion passed.
MOTION B: ADOPTION OF POSITION IN OPPOSITION TO BILL 33
Luca Piomelli drafted this motion before Bill 33’s passing on Nov. 19, and proposed that it be amended to “The UOSU opposes Bill 33” during the AGA. The amendment and the motion passed, making official a stance UOSU has been communicating through their Instagram account.
Advocacy commissioner Alex Stratas clarified that lots of work has been done to fight Bill 33 with eleven thousand emails sent with the Carleton University Students’ Association, an MPP briefing note created, and forms passed. With a lot of these actions occurring behind the scenes, Luca said he wanted the union to adopt a more visible strategy, and to coordinate advocacy efforts with on and off campus groups who oppose Bill 33. In this spirit, the motion further affirmed that UOSU officially endorse the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario’s ‘Fight the Fees’.
In lieu of making another amendment, Luca accepted Maya Sinclair’s suggestion that a board member make a verbal commitment to bring forward “expanded discussion on liaising with other public education focus groups in general,” and discussion around this motion ended.
MOTION C: PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FOR ACCESS TO EDUCATION
Motion C, also moved by Luca Piomelli, was based around the same premise as Motion B: fighting Bill 33. Motion C proposed that the UOSU Advocacy Commissioner launch a public campaign that addresses and reflects UOSU’s position statement on access to education. It passed without any debate, and was adopted by unanimous consent.
MOTION D: RECOMMENDATION ON BOUNCE CONTRACT
Four main camps emerged in the lengthy discussion around the Bounce app: Daniel Thorp, who was concerned with the legality of the contract, students who say it isn’t worth the cost, and club leaders who dislike or like the app based on personal experiences or safety concerns.
Thorp began by speaking for twelve minutes straight about the civil suit he had filed against UOSU earlier that week. Thorp’s concerns around the seemingly “perpetual” nature of the contract were taken up by Operations Commissioner Elnaz Enayatpour, who explained that UOSU regularly enters into multi-year contracts and clarified that the contract has fixed term dates. Enayatpour says, “It is entirely acceptable to be against Bounce.. but to imply that it’s something illegal is just not how organizations work.”
Éadaoin O’Gorman, co-chair of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), expressed concerns over how Bounce’s publicly displayed guest list compromises the safety of attendees. Further adding that this feature could be abused, given the culture of gendered violence that persists on university campuses. O’Gorman notes that LEAF will not be using Bounce for this reason.
The debate revealed mixed feelings students have about Bounce, and current Student Life Commissioner, Emilia Bah, encouraged students to reach out to the union with their concerns. Bah says, “If the issue is how the app actually operates, those are issues we can bring up to Bounce, and they can change things.”
Later, Bah expressed that she was uncertain what Thorp’s issues with the app itself were, as he had spoken mostly about the civil suit instead. But when Sinclair asked Bah if she was directing a question to Thorp, Bah replied “I do want to know what exactly [Thorp] doesn’t like about the app, but..I would prefer that sent by email.” Members of the assembly laughed, and seemed happy to move to a vote.
With 49 for, and 56 against, motion D did not pass. The close turnout signals that Bounce is a contentious topic. Luckily, further consultations on Bounce will nonetheless occur in the new year.
MOTION E: CLUB ENTREPRENEUR
This motion sought to remove the UOSU guideline that a club with 25 or more members must have annual elections. Drawing parallels between clubs and enterprises, mover Ethan Ronaldo Dolcino stated in his motion that “the current system of fair transition is at odds, in the case of founders, with many entrepreneurial principles.”
During the debate, UO concert band executive Ben Parridy opposed the motion, saying “It allows someone to run a club without checks or balances for multiple years [and that] even using the terms ‘entrepreneur’ and ‘enterprise’ is contrary to what a club is.” Anticipating concerns of the motion “abolish[ing] democracy”, Dolcino outlined means of removing a founder through a petition or a ⅔’s majority vote of active members .
Ultimately, the motion did not make it to a vote. Instead, Quanah Traviss’ motioned to table it indefinitely, effectively tossing the motion aside.
MOTION F: AMENDMENT ON INTERIM EXECUTIVE MEMBERS AND COMPLIANCE WITH BILINGUALISM
Motion F, proposed by Thorp, was not heavily debated. The motion’s intention was to encourage interim executives to meet bilingualism standards in English and French. An amendment was made so that interim executives who do not fulfill the bilingualism requirements under section A of the constitution are mandated to “pursue instruction in a language that allows them to meet Schedule A requirements, at the expense of the Union.” In other words, unilingual interim executives have an opportunity to learn an Indigenous language at the Union’s expense, encouraging qualified candidates to apply, even if they don’t initially meet the language requirements.
With 62 for and 6 against, motion F passed with ease after approximately 30 minutes of discussion
And that was the last item on the agenda! At 7:15 p.m. sharp, after over nine hours and a big sigh of relief, the general assembly officially adjourned.
Until next semester!
With files from Isabelle Jay, Kyla Perry, and Daniel Jones.
