CSU council stands by its president and rejects petition to remove her

CSU President Lex Gill is under fire. A petition demanding her immediate removal from office was presented to CSU council yesterday. 

Former CSU Councillor Tomer Shavit, Arts and Science Federation of Associations President Alex Gordon and Commerce and Administration Students’ Association President Marianna Luciano are the three authors of the petition now online at www.stoplexgill.com. Shavit was present at the meeting to defend his arguments.

“The idea of removing Lex Gill, who is a weight to the CSU right now, was brought up to strengthen the CSU so that we could be united,” Shavit said.

The petition holds Gill responsible for several issues including the decrease of student representatives and budget cuts at the Board of Governors. To be passed, the petition requires 10% of the student body to sign it - approximately 3500 names.

Though the document is now in circulation, whether it is valid or not, was called into question by council.

Under the current CSU Bylaws, a president cannot be removed from office individually. The only way this can happen, Gill explained, is if the entire executive is recalled for reelection. In other words, to replace her would mean to replace everyone. Shavit calls this ambiguity open for interpretation and plans to stick with the petition. 

Along with its validity, the content of the petition was disputed as well. “[The clauses] are rife with conjecture, misinformation, logical fallacies, defamatory statements and straightforward lies about myself, and more importantly the work of my executive team,” Gill said. 

Before Shavit was invited to speak, council voted and passed a motion of confidence, showing their full and unanimous support for their president. VP Chad Walcott added that focus should be placed on more important issues. “This is unnecessary and a waste of time,” Walcott said. “If individuals have so much time on their hands as to go around circulating a petition full of lies and defamatory accusations then let me extend a hand and ask for their help in the tuition campaign, which is the largest campaign the Concordia Student Union brought in since 2005.”

After the vote, Gill expressed confidence in both herself and her team. “I have absolute faith in the people I work with and the people that sit on this council,” Gill said. “There is really nothing fundamentally that has been done that merits this sort of behaviour.”

A Facebook event titled "Stop Lex Gill" was put up by the petition's organizers as a forum for debate. A counter website was also created to satirize the petition. You can find that site at www.stoplexgill.ca.