The Silence
“Yes, we are,” responded myself and two other students sitting in the gallery.
Shortly after Ms. Fitzner asked her question, I began to worry.
I thought to myself, “Is her question representative of the level of knowledge each member holds?”
The repercussions of the members of the Student Representative Council not knowing such a basic by-law would be horrific. It would mean that they lacked a general understanding of the rights of their constituents, the people they are supposed to represent. In relation to this important meeting, it would mean the Student Representative Council would be incapable of taking part in any serious discussion about the matter at hand: the impeachment of Ryan Dubois, the CBUSU’s Chief Financial Officer.
He was facing the charge of impeachment because he had not been registered for any courses during the fall 2007 term. To make matters worse, he did not inform the students’ union that he failed to register for courses and the union did not find out about his actions (or lack thereof) until late in the month of December 2007.
“The union checked in December and this is how we caught this,” said Ian Lindsay, CBUSU President.
Once Lindsay knew of Mr. Dubois’ status, he notified Mr. Dubois, the executive held a meeting, and then the union called an emergency meeting of the Student Representative Council.
After Mandie Fitzner asked the gallery her question, the meeting was called to order. Ian Lindsay gave a brief presentation and said that he did not feel the union could move forward with the impeachment of Mr. Dubois because of the poorly constructed by-laws the student’s union was following. The by-law that the conflict revolved around was the first by-law in the students’ union’s manual, by-law 1.01. It reads:
Any student who is registered at the of Cape Breton University [sic] as a full-time, part-time, distance education, or correspondence student in any given academic year, including spring and summer sessions, is automatically a member of the Students' Union (CBUSU By-law 1.01).
After Lindsay’s presentation, Mr. Dubois was given the floor. He contended that he spoke to lawyers and the council members were asked if they had any questions. After the chair of council asked if there were any questions, there was an awkward silence in the room. Some council members looked shamed and some looked stunned. One thing is for certain, the shame in the air was as thick as some of the skulls of the council members present.
The members of SRC sat so quietly the silence was deafening. Did they ask for some background information? No. Did they ask about other possible interpretations of the by-law? No. Did they ask for Mr. Dubois’s resignation? No. Did they ask why he consulted lawyers if he thought things were on the level? No. Did they ask why he did not inform the union of his actions? No. The SRC failed to ask the infinite number of possible questions floating around in the air. On January 11, the SRC, the voice of the students, went mute.
Did they care? Did they feel as though they let their students down? I do not know. What I do know is that many of the same SRC members who failed to ask Mr. Dubois questions went to drink with him in The Pit after the meeting was over.
Jill MacPherson, vice president of the CBUSU, said she would only answer questions if her answers would no be recorded. In other words, she would only talk to the press if there was no real record of what she said.
Mr. Dubois said he knew, all along, that he was going to be taking courses in the second term. However, when asked when he registered for the courses in the second term, he said that he registered for them late in December of 2007.
Mr. Dubois stated that he believed that this course arrangement still allowed him to be a member of the students’ union.
Dubois stated that, “Myself as well as two separate attorneys believe that as long as you are a fee paying member of the students union, meaning as long as you register for at least one course, then you are eligible to work here.”
It seems, by Mr. Dubois’s own admission, that he was not registered for any courses until late December. The CBUSU by-law required Mr. Dubois to be registered; however, he was not registered until late December. This would mean that he was not a member of the CBUSU until December and was, therefore, in violation of the CBUSU by-laws from September up to when he registered in December.
Mr. Dubois did not agree with this line of reasoning. He argued that because he had “intent to register” he was classified as a member of the students’ union. This is an interesting line of logic. This means that anyone, so long as they have the intent to register in a course at some point in the academic year counts as a member of the union and can use their services.
Based on the CBUSU by-law 1.01, if Mr. Dubois was registered for a course in the winter term and not in the fall term, he could work for the union and would, therefore, be a member of the union so long as he was registered in September. However, he was not.
Later in the interview, he changed his definition of a member of the union. Dubois added that, “It is the act of paying [that makes you a member of the students’ union].” Mr. Dubois’s statement contradicted his earlier statement that it was the “intent to register” that makes you a member of the students’ union.
This means that in the span of five minutes, he changed his definition of a union member from someone who intends to register to someone who actually pays union dues. By both definitions, Mr. Dubois was not a member of the students’ union from September to December and, accordingly, should not have been allowed to serve as an executive member, collecting a pay cheque.
When asked what he would say to students that were upset by his actions, Mr. Dubois replied, “I don’t believe that I did violate the spirit of the students’ union and clearly the law is on my side. I have made no violation of any of our policies or procedures.”
However, as Mr. Dubois’s own words showed above, he was in violation of the by-laws for some time and the law was not clearly on his side.
Why didn’t the SRC find any of this out? The SRC did not ask any questions. Why didn’t the SRC ask any questions? I do not know, they were; however, in an awful hurry to make it to The Pit.
Originally published in the Caper Times on January 24, 2008.
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