A marathon University of Toronto Graduate Student Union (GSU) Council session has averted a looming showdown between the GSU and longtime ally Ontario Public Interest Research Group (Opirg) Toronto. Roughly 90 GSU reps, guest speakers and observers were in attendance at the January 25th meeting, which considered a controversial motion to revisit the decades-old alliance between the GSU and Opirg. The motion was the latest in a series of contentious issues between the two organizations which have been brewing over the course of the past year.

Leading up to the Council meeting, members of the GSU Executive had accused Opirg of 'poisoning the well' after the student-run group released a public statement decrying the Executive's plan to re-negotiate its 30-year-old Memorandum of Agreement, under which graduate students pay an optional five dollar levy to support the organization.

The re-negotiation of the MOU had been seen by Opirg's supporters as the opening shot in a de-funding move. The student-run PIRGs, which spread across Ontario beginning in 1972, have a reputation as hubs for social justice activism. Opirg has been the target of de-funding campaigns in the past, particularly from pro-Israel groups that oppose its advocacy around the Palestinian BDS movement. An emerging NOPIRG campaign, the latest such attempt, has also spread to other campuses. After a similar vote at Concordia University resulted in an online opt-out, QPIRG Concordia's refund requests increased from under $100 to over $30,000. Two subsequent University-wide referendums, both of which overwhelmingly approved a reversal of the decision, have been ignored by the University administration. GSU Executive members, however, denied that the modernization motion was a defunding attempt. “De-funding is not the executive's intention,” said one executive representative. “GSU members asked us to do this.”

Almost one-quarter of those in attendance lined up for a chance to address Council on the motion, but were nearly cut short by GSU Executive Jason Dumelie, who proposed circumventing debate and moving directly to the vote after only three speakers (including Dumelie). This proposal, which failed, was one of several instances throughout the evening where executive members used meeting procedure in an effort to silence Opirg's supporters. Point-of-order and point-of-information privileges were frequently used to interrupt speakers with opposing views, leading to frustrated yells from several members. Several other agenda items were tabled as the subject of the MOU and a motion to amend GSU bylaws took up the majority of the meeting.

Danielle Sandhu, President of the undergraduate University of Toronto Students Union, noted that “the sheer number of people who came out tonight speaks volumes as to why this motion should not be passed.”

The motion, which was put forward by a representative from the Faculty of Medicine, called for the GSU Executive to “work toward amending the Memorandum of Agreement, so students can opt-out of each levy group using online alternatives.” The motion was subsequently amended to include all levy groups; among them was Downtown Legal Services, a well-known and uncontroversial legal clinic for UofT students which had been loudly applauded after delivering its report to Council earlier in the evening.

Clare O'Connor, Opirg Toronto's Volunteer Coordinator, urged Council to recognize Opirg's support of CUPE 3902, which represents Graduate Teaching Assistants, noting that “Opirg is one of the only groups talking about and supporting CUPE 3902” in the union's pre-strike bargaining with the University.

Noaman Ali, of the Political Science department, told Council: “You're wasting time that we need to organize a strike that is going to save money. A lot more than you're going to get from this opt-out.”

Those who supported the motion echoed the sentiment that 'a majority' of students in their departments wanted to opt-out, but were made to feel guilty when they went to the Opirg office to do so. University Affairs Commissioner Anton Neschadim, told Council: “You cannot have it both ways. If less than one percent [of students] want to opt-out, there should be no problem [with implementing an online opt-out].”

Many detractors seemed unclear on the purpose of the organization. One representative, John Li, stated: “I have no clue what Opirg is [or] what it does. The majority of students in my course union also have no idea. Even if I [did] know..I don't know where to find it” (ed. note: Opirg is situated directly across the street from the GSU office).

The motion was defeated by almost two thirds of the room.

When asked to comment on the results, GSU Internal/Finance Commissioner Ann McPherson, a vocal supporter of the motion, would only say “Council voted.”

O'Connor was pleased with the results, but said the motion had never been about modernization: “Clearly, another politic is playing out.” Others were more blunt in their assessment. One representative said the motion had been intended to “limit progressive voices on campus...this [was] about shutting them up.”

Leigh Brown is a Toronto-based writer who has worked for Opirg in the past.