Based on numerous trips to the U of O’s archives and interviews with alumni, this is the unofficial history of the Fulcrum.
SFUO
If you support students unions and want to see changes at the U of O, start showing up. Show up for yourselves, show up for your peers, and show up for student interests.
“(These changes are) not benefitting anyone except Ford and his cronies … we’re going to have to fight back.” — Susan Spronk, president of the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa.
A majority of candidates are running uncontested, and many positions have no candidates at all.
Because whistleblowing is a serious check on corruption, the establishment of whistleblowing protection is something worth considering moving forward with the University of Ottawa Student Union (UOSU).
The development follows allegations that the SFUO laid off employees and began liquidating assets, following a breakdown in negotiations with the UOSU.
Currently, the SFUO is crashing on different friends’ couches and futons throughout the city until she can “get back on her feet.” According to one friend who wishes to remain anonymous, the SFUO is not a great roommate.
University of Ottawa students filled the Sala San Marco Centre Conference Centre on Feb. 27 for a night showcasing cultural and artistic displays from the black community. This year’s theme, “Surviving Violence,” was punctuated by a keynote address by Keke Palmer on her experiences as a black woman.
The SFUO’s role in this transition period was first laid out in their interim agreement with the University of Ottawa’s administration.
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.
“We told UOSU that if a plan wasn’t in place very soon we have been advised that we have no choice but to start a process we want to avoid” —Paige Booth.
“Both parties agreed to open and transparent communication throughout the transition process,” said a representative of the UOSU in an email to the Fulcrum. “The SFUO has failed to maintain open communication with us and we have been left in the dark regarding most of their plans.”
These services were voted in by students, for students, and for the most part are run by students. In threatening the stability of these services, the Ford government is ignoring the democratic means through which these services came to be.
“I don’t think anyone expects this to be easy, and I don’t think anyone claimed it would be easy,” —Tiyana Maharaj.
To commemorate the end of an era, MTV brought on former SFUO presidential candidate Oprah to host a lookback special of some of the SFUO’s most cherished moments.
An independent investigation spurred by recent releases of Fyre Festival documentaries, has revealed that student unions were behind the whole thing. Samantha Odd and Angel Shawarma, the lead investigators, held a press conference earlier this week.
It’s time for students at the U of O to start being more involved in the democratic processes that directly impact both their lives and their education. In the 2014 general SFUO election, for example, just over 10 per cent of students voted, an embarrassingly low number. Squaring this number with the over 57 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 who voted in the 2015 federal election proves we can—and should—do better.
Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) executive coordinator Vanessa Dorimain is alleged to have created a fake Facebook account under the name of Gabriella Auguste to boost the SFUO’s online image.
The debate was the final event planned before the vote for a new student union at the U of O on Feb. 8. Tensions were high as both unions answered questions from students and moderators about the future of student services on campus.
“They’re putting a Band-Aid on a (major problem) and it’s not the right type of Band-Aid, it’s going to fall off after your first shower,” said Brittany Wilson, who uses OSAP’s soon to be scrapped free tuition grant.
With the February referendum fast approaching, students voice what they expect out of their next student union—regardless of who wins.
It’s something all of us have been thinking recently, but not wanting to say out loud, out of fear of being labelled as “capitalist scum” by those really cool Marxists in your political thought class. But hear me out, maybe there’s a lot more in dissolving the union than what meets the eye.
We do not need a new student union to make student politics more democratic, transparent, and accountable.
The motion ultimately failed to pass during the annual general meeting of the CFS due to a lack of time for debate. It was referred to the CFS’ national executive but the results of the vote are unknown.
For a government that cares so much about freedom of speech, it seems odd not to include campus media as an essential part of post-secondary institutions, especially given the fact that student press holds administration and student government accountable in ways that the larger media landscape both cannot and would not do.
