November 27, 2023
THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
Vol. CXLIV, No. 11
At 2023 AGM, student dissent defeats UTSU execs’ attempt to abolish senate Students criticize the UTSU’s COVID-19 measures, AGM structure, Israel-Palestine response
Devin Botar & Selia Sanchez Associate News Editor & Deputy News Editor
On November 19, almost 100 students took part in the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) Annual General Meeting (AGM) after its first attempt to hold the AGM on October 29 failed to meet quorum. Members of the student body struck down UTSU executives’ plans to abolish the Senate and spoke about financial statements, executive committee reports, COVID-19 safety measures, and the union’s response to violence in Gaza and Israel. UTSU executives’ plans to strike the Senate The largest topic at the meeting was UTSU executives’ attempt to strike the union’s Student Senate, with the promise that it would replace it with another type of student advisory group. A group of mostly engineering students spoke out against abolishing the Senate, and members ultimately voted the motion down. At the 2022 AGM, members decreased the size of the Board of Directors and made plans to create the Student Senate to provide additional student voice, with the first senate elections to be held in September 2023. But, when September came, UTSU executives announced their plans to abolish the Senate, predicting it would be ineffective. Since September, UTSU executives have advocated for replacing the Senate with a council — whose name it never finalized, but which it has most recently referred to as “Advocacy Group Advisory Committee” — made up of representatives from different student groups. The Senate: To be or not to be? UTSU executives argued in favour of abolishing the Senate, saying the Senate would open the union to financial and legal risks. Executives also said that campus groups already had sufficient avenues for representation, citing biweekly meetings that the union has begun to hold with student government heads of each college. They added that the proposed Advocacy Group Advisory Committee would extend representation to smaller groups that need it and include student groups that the university does not recognize. Right at the beginning of the meeting, fifth-year engineering student Ege Feyzioğlu objected to the validity of the motion, arguing that the UTSU had provided insufficient notice for a bylaw amendment. UTSU bylaws require 30 days of notice, and she said the UTSU only published the agenda two days prior. UTSU VicePresident, Operations Samir Mechel said a UTSU newsletter gave notice of the amendment two months earlier on September 29, and voters struck down Feyzioğlu’s objection. Feyzioğlu, along with seven other students raised issues with the UTSU’s argument. These students argued that the Senate would have no binding decision-making power and, therefore, would pose no financial or legal risks for the union. They also argued that the Senate was important for student group representation. The students also said that if the Senate was abolished, they did not have confidence in the UTSU’s plans to replace it with the Advocacy Group Advisory Committee, when the details about the committee were all subject to change. Six of the eight people who spoke out against abolishing the Senate were engineering students, possibly reflecting a long history of conflict between engineering students and the UTSU. In an email to The Varsity, Feyzioğlu wrote that several of her friends had also joined her in attendance after she mentioned the AGM on a Discord server. The Engineering Society (EngSoc) has recently criticized the UTSU for a lack of representation in its governance. In his executive report, UTSU Vice-President, Public & University Affairs Aidan Thompson reported that the union is well on its way to repairing relations with the EngSoc. In an email to The Varsity, EngSoc President Parker Johnston said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the future of the EngSoc-UTSU relationship. Continued on page 2
Federal government set to reintroduce 20-hour weekly work cap for international students Student organizations and unions call for work cap’s removal James Bullanoff UTSC Bureau Chief
A pilot program the federal government implemented over the last year, lifting its 20-hour per week cap on the number of hours international students can work off-campus, is set to end after December 31. Student advocates have raised concerns about the federal government reinstating the cap, noting that it could mean students have less access to legal work opportunities and could impede their ability to earn enough to afford U of T’s high international tuition rates. Some also raised concerns that the reintroduced cap will lead students to seek jobs illegally, opening them to exploitation. Work limits for international students The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulation states that international students who hold a study permit but no work permit cannot work more than 20 hours per week off-campus during the academic session; however, they can work full-time during breaks between sessions. Students can work as many hours as they’d like on campus in addition to working off-campus. According to the Government of Canada’s website, students found to have violated the work cap could lose their student status, not receive approval for future study or work permits, or face deportation. In a press release on October 7, 2022, Federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser announced that, given employers’ challenges retaining workers and the shortage of workers, the federal government would lift the work hour cap on international students from November 15, 2022 until December 31, 2023. The announcement came after years of international student advocacy calling for the government to remove the work cap. As the December deadline approaches, the federal government has not indicated that it will renew its removal of the work cap. Work hour concerns Many student organizations have voiced concerns about the work-hour cap’s reintroduction. In an email to The Varsity, Scarborough Campus Students’ Union Vice-President Equity Denise Nmashie and Director
of International Students Fawzia Elhag argued that the government should remove the cap. They wrote that the cap might force international students to quit their current jobs or miss opportunities that would further their careers — which they characterized as “a form of discrimination against international students.” “I was talking to another student union president, who actually could not hold the job of student union president… if not for the lifting of the cap because student unions are counted as offcampus work,” said Aidan Thompson — University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) vice president, public and university affairs — in an interview with The Varsity. According to the federal government’s website, on-campus work can refer to research work or work done at any campus building. The change won’t impact all international students. Mayeesha Karim — a fifth-year international student from Bangladesh double majoring in human biology and psychology with a minor in linguistics — said a 20-hour limit wouldn’t impact her. “I think even doing 15 hours a week on top of my full course load… while doing extracurricular activities is already hard.” However, Thompson said that the “unprecedented affordability crisis” is leading many students to seek additional hours. At U of T, international full-time undergraduate students studying in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences paid almost 10 times the tuition fees charged to domestic Ontario students in comparable programs. International students cannot access funding through the provincially-run Ontario Student Assistance Program or the University of Toronto Advanced Planning for Students program — U of T’s largest financial aid system. Sarom Rho — an organizer for advocacy organization Migrant Workers Alliance for Change — told The Varsity that, given the financial situation faced by students, many will continue to work “but in more dangerous conditions.” “This is a question of whether we want a system that greenlights exploitation of international students,” she said. Phuong Le, a fourth-year international student from Vietnam double majoring in psychology and sociology, echoed this in an interview with The Varsity. “I used to watch a lot of my friends being exploited by certain jobs they work in and also have to work extra hours illegally,” she said. Last week, the UTSU travelled to Ottawa with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations advocating for the federal government to remove the work limit for international students.