With the UOSU’s March elections around the corner, students Connor Chase and Hanna Methot debate whether previous SFUO executives should be allowed to run.
Rizki Rachiq
This GA was voted on as an emergency motion in the last BOA meeting. That’s right, your democratic participation was an afterthought.
If Rachiq really believed that the needs of the student body come before those of one student, he would have broken his silence and offered his resignation and full cooperation earlier than he did.
A forensic report from PwC says the fraud allegations levelled against three SFUO executives were not factual.
Rachiq’s resignation was announced at the start of the meeting, along with the resignation of Gaga, and Emily Seguin, the board’s Indigenous representative.
The SFUO may well be the first post-secondary student union in the country to have their university terminate their contract.
The letter highlights a series of recommendations for a new student union: a constitution that can only be amended at an annual General Assembly with a majority vote, elections managed by an independent third party, a model of governance which includes mechanisms for punitive action should trust be breached, and accountability to its membership.
The BOA of the SFUO met on Oct. 14 to discuss a series of 10 motions relating to governance and the ratification of the company handling online voting. Near the seven hour mark, quorum was lost as most of the United slate walked out.
The SFUO announced that three executives will vacate office, and their intention to continue operations in light of the university’s contract termination notice.
In a document recently obtained by the Fulcrum, the University of Ottawa administration has said that they expect the resignation of all SFUO members involved in the recent fraud allegations until the completion of a forensic audit.
The SFUO held their monthly Board of Administration meeting to discuss the ratification of the constitutional committee’s choice of forensic auditor, a letter received from former SFUO president, Hadi Wess, and the announcement of an executive’s resignation.
Around 50 students gathered in front of the SFUO office on Sept. 6 to protest and call for impeachment of the SFUO executives named in recent fraud allegations.
On Sunday, there was an opportunity for members of the BOA, on behalf of the students they represent, to stand up and do the right thing. What happened? BOA members failed to protect students and fight for us at the table, leaving myself and many others feeling frustrated and angered.
The resolution, pertaining to the forensic audit, would ensure that results from the audit cannot be used in a prosecution unless approved by the BOA. Further, the board would call upon Wess to pay the federation $994 in external legal fees by Oct. 1.
Your money was allegedly stolen from you by someone you should have trusted. Be angry about it, talk with your friends about it and make it an election issue. But what you should never do is make this a partisan issue, and that’s what one of my colleagues did. Contrary to his attempt, Alexei Kazakov’s letter does nothing to galvanize students and if his advice is heeded, the student body will be worse off for it.
“Allegations against Dorimain range from fraudulent use of SFUO funds under the guise of office cleaning and the catering of the SFUO Leader Action event on April 28, while Rachiq is accused in the report of possibly forging the certification of a “faulty” club called Testing Restaurants UOttawa and claiming funds for personal use.”
I write to you in the wake of the latest SFUO scandal to tickle the part of our brains concerned with righteous indignation, i.e. president Rizki Rachiq engaging in large-scale embezzlement of SFUO funds to buy himself luxury goods, including but not limited to visits to a haute-couture hair stylist in Montreal, Louis Vuitton shoes, and a $950 pair of glasses.
The petition, spearheaded by Lucie Atangana, a first-year political science student at the U of O and resident of the Henderson building, calls for the move out date to be pushed back to May 1.
This is the second time in four years that the GA has met quorum, likely due to the controversial motion on the agenda calling for the SFUO to endorse the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The elections committee further took measures to “restore faith in the elections office,” like making sure ballots were stored in a locked storage room off campus and that multiple people were counting each ballot.
Question of the Week
Loading ...Now Tweeting
-
For the @GeeGeesMHKY team, the 2019-20 season was about finishing what they started. The Gees travelled to Halifax… https://t.co/nOoyhVZGc5
-
#COVID19 Update: Around 65 people will move into the building on King Edward Avenue on Monday after a request was m… https://t.co/ZPVxxakwOb
-
RT @Sue_Hylland: Thanks to @The_Fulcrum for this recognition of our @uOttawaGeeGees ! Good one! @GeeGeesWHOC @GeeGeesMHKY… https://t.co/apqCHDA8EN
Now Tweeting
-
For the @GeeGeesMHKY team, the 2019-20 season was about finishing what they started. The Gees travelled to Halifax… https://t.co/nOoyhVZGc5
-
#COVID19 Update: Around 65 people will move into the building on King Edward Avenue on Monday after a request was m… https://t.co/ZPVxxakwOb
-
RT @Sue_Hylland: Thanks to @The_Fulcrum for this recognition of our @uOttawaGeeGees ! Good one! @GeeGeesWHOC @GeeGeesMHKY… https://t.co/apqCHDA8EN