Has our student council opened Pandora’s Box?

Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan  

Rousing the rabbles

And now for something completely different.

The UNB Student Union Council deserves our most irreverent accolades for its recent motion concerning the destruction of academic infrastructure in Gaza. The motion’s sponsor was asked whether this was going beyond the bounds of the scope of the Union, but this did not deter him or the other supporters of the motion. Although Renaissance College Councillor Matt Abbott readily admitted this was indeed going beyond what is “traditionally” the role of the Union, he argued away this concern by insisting that this relates to academic matters because universities were being destroyed in Gaza.

Shouldn’t we all strongly applaud this shift? It diverts the attention of your SU away from tangible results for UNB students, prioritizing instead the apparently pressing need to speak out against the destruction of academic institutions. We apparently should not concern ourselves with the fact that the motion was presented originally as an expression of support of a UN Security Council resolution that has no bearing and makes no mention of universities, colleges, or anything else of an academic nature.

In fact, I now expect that our SU to issue edicts in the defence of academic institutions at risk all over the world. As the SU expands its role to decrying the risks posed to universities, I expect to see motions on the Council agenda concerning the Sri Lankan Civil War, the Kivu Conflict, the war in Afghanistan, the war in Darfur, the war in Iraq, the war in North-West Pakistan, and the Somali Civil War. As well, the SU should pass motions in support of academic institutions affected by fighting in Colombia, Uganda, Chechnya, Thailand, Niger, and Chad.

Don’t you agree?

Forget the fact that the SU is meant to advance the interests of UNB students right here who face their own extreme challenges. Forget the fact that the SU’s last efforts to rally students together to address rising levels of student debt produced fewer than 50 students and that it has some serious work to do.

Forget the fact that there are real concerns about the value of students in matters at UNB as simple as the functionality university’s new website and as broad as their role in university governance; UNB’s track record is not the greatest on that front. Forget also the rampant safety concerns and risks that our own university poses to students as it continues to suffer from crumbling buildings and infrastructure due to a lack of government funding.

Shouldn’t we all rest assured that our SU is properly representing us by spending its time passing resolutions supporting academic institutions in war zones?

Of course not, because the following is both salient and unforgettable. These kinds of motions are completely outside the scope of the SU. They are also ineffective in achieving their arguably laudable goals.

Don’t get me wrong. War is pervasively devastating; it destroys societies, it ruins families, and it eliminates entire communities, including university communities. That is as an abominable shame, and it must end. But that does not change the fact that last week’s motion was out of place.

What value does last week’s motion hold in the hands of students? None. As much as we might like to think otherwise, it will not bring government action in Canada, let alone in Israel or Gaza. It will not end destruction. As laudable as those goals are, it is the role of nations and communities to resolve these disputes. It is not the role of student unions.

Before I am criticized by somebody who insists something along the lines that “indifference is injustice’s incubator,” let me reiterate that although social and humanitarian issues such as the recent Gaza attacks are properly of concern to individuals, the forum for addressing these issues is not the SU. That the matter greatly affects and impacts on the students of UNB who might have family in the Middle East is also fails to justify the intervention of the SU. Does the effect that the abortion debate has on UNB students justify the intervention of the SU by taking one side over the other? No.

The role of the UNB SU is simple and is set out in its enacting legislation. It is to promote events for students, to provide for the service needs of students, to act as their official representative on the UNB Fredericton campus, to create and maintain infrastructure for them, and to co-ordinate the activities of student organizations on campus.

It is not a humanitarian forum for imposing a single, unitary view on the students of UNB about different moral and social issues. Make no mistake about this: the motion on Gaza was presented with a view to insisting that UNB students take a side in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Anybody who doubts this can refer to the text of the motion as originally moved by Councillor Abbott, which obviously shows it as a thinly veiled attempt to side with the interests of Palestine over Israel. This is as unfair to students as it is a poor representation of them.

Should Council pass motions and plan activities concerning the conflict in the Middle East that fall in line with the its stated purposes, so much the better. Tangibly, the SU might have considered offering funding the local student groups attempting to promote and debate the cause or to organize a campus forum on the issue. However, this was not what was done. The time the SU Council spent debating this motion could have been better spent in bringing about real results for UNB students.

I can only hope that last week’s motion has not opened a Pandora’s Box for every social concern that arises on a whim in the minds of Councillors.

Unfortunately, I am disheartened by the appearance of a motion concerning recruitment efforts by Lockheed Martin on the agenda for the Council meeting of Monday, Jan. 19. Going down this apparent slippery slope will not help UNB students.

Before going any further with these motions, I implore Councillors to take a step back and consider what they are doing. The simple adoption of motions supporting social and humanitarian concerns will not achieve results halfway around the globe. It only diverts the attention of the Council away from problems it actually has some ability to help resolve.

Councillors who voted yes last week should not feel a sense of accomplishment that might arise when taking a stand on a personally held belief, because the reality is last week’s motion failed. It put Councillors’ own beliefs ahead of the interests of students, leaving them in a trail of dust.

Nick Ouellette is a third year law student who has served on the UNB Board of Governors, the Student Union Council, and other university and student bodies. He is currently completing his second term as a UNB Senator for Fredericton and is the Don of Neville/Jones House, one of UNB’s residences.