Meow everyone . My long time readers may recall that for many years, when I started this blog , its purpose was to expose the blatant corruption of radical student unions, the Canadian Federation of Students and the Ryerson Student Union itself. That exposure ended up being far more than what I could ever image, and while it has taken me on some very interesting trips , there was always the radical student unions, somewhere in the picture. While those trips are not going to end anytime soon, Today, I wanted to take a slightly different route.
One of the radical student unions I focused on , simply because it is the university which I attend , is the Ryerson Student Union ( RSU ) . It is no secret that for a great many years, corruption was not only common practice within the RSU , it was practically built into their constitution. Nepotism was institutionalized there, anarchy had a home there , radicalizing of students was the goal. HOWEVER, last year, there was a major change in the RSU government.
Last year, the student government changed from the, to then, status quo , where only CFS policy was to be followed, with real student concerns being totally ignored . Nepotism was rampant . Then, an election was held , and while the CFS slated RSU tried every dirty trick in the book, including trying to rig the elections, something they have likely done for years, last year, they got caught red handed ballot stuffing. A new slate won the elections with a VERY SIGNIFICANT majority and things were about to change …… change for the better.
The new executive was going to face some significant hurdles , they were going to be ambushed by the CFS affiliated CESAR student union , they were going to be accused of everything imaginable, yet, they prevailed. They were harassed , lied about, set up to fail at every turn, yet, they came out stronger each time, with each day . They were personally attacked, threatened , yet they remained strong and focused . This administration did something that the previous student government had not done, indeed, previous student governments went out of their way to ignore . This new administration put STUDENTS FIRST AND FOREMOST . They accomplished more in their first week for students, than the previous governments had done in the past ten years. They gave the students their voices back . They listened to the students, they acted on behalf of the students , NOT the CFS. This administration lead by example. They had to make hard, tough decisions . They prevailed .
So, as the year comes to end both academically as well as for the present student union government , I wish to offer my most sincere thanks to :
Andrea Bartlett : President
Rabia Idrees : Vice-President Equity
Cormac McGee : Vice-President Education
Obaid Ullah : Vice-President Operations
Harman Singh : Vice-President Student Life & Events
You guys have made history and will be remembered as the ones who gave us , as students , back our voices. Y’all have shown that a student government can LEAD , take students to a new ( to many students ) direction, as opposed to following to the same old garbage that the CFS has been spewing for years. Y’ all showed class and dignity when you were attacked at every possible front by your detractors . You showed class during the rough moments . You stuck to your commitment to students . To each of y’all , THANK YOU .