The Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Legislative Council (LC) convened for the third time this semester on Thursday, Feb. 12, beginning with an introduction of the new recording secretary, Alissa Gharzouzi.
Vice-President (VP) Clubs and Services Hamza Abu Alkhair then proposed an amendment to the agenda, seeking to advance three motions moved by the Student Group Committee regarding group fees to the top, which were approved unanimously. Two motions regarded the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Student Refugee Program fee, while the other pertained to the SSMU ECOLE Project fee, and all were passed after discussion.
The minutes from the Jan. 29 council meeting were then approved unanimously with no changes or amendments. This was followed by a report from the Steering Committee.
The announcement period followed, during which VP University Affairs Susan Aloudat gave an update on McLennan Library’s sixth floor.
“I am so happy to announce that the sixth floor of McLennan no longer has a mold problem, and that means that the new reflection zone is officially open,” Aloudat said. “It’s a space specifically for quiet meditation. I really encourage everyone to check it out, it’s a very unique space that no other library has, and I’m so glad it’s finally available.”
President Dymetri Taylor then delivered the executive reports, followed by VP Finance Jean-Sébastien Leger. Reports by councillors came next, with those from the Medical (MSS), Nursing (NUS), and Education (EdUS) undergraduate societies providing updates on their respective responsibilities.
Next, Taylor moved a motion regarding the renewal of the McGill Writing Centre fee. He then put forward three more motions pertaining to the Student Services Ancillary Fee, a referendum question on the renewal of the University Centre fee, and the Anti-Violence Fee, all of which passed unanimously.
The Steering Committee’s motion to update the Standing Rules for the 2025-2026 SSMU Legislative Council was then passed unanimously, followed by a motion moved by VP External Seraphina Crema-Black to increase the SSMU Food Bank Fee by $1 CAD.
“At present, we restock the food pantry twice a week, and everything is gone in the 30 minutes after we restock it. So, obviously there’s […] high demand,” Crema-Black said. “We have been expanding it to a full-on food bank as opposed to a food pantry, so we need more money so that we can stock a food bank as it should be stocked.”
After a brief recess, the council unanimously passed the last motion on the agenda regarding the SSMU Daycare fee, moved by Abu Alkhair.
The discussion period concluded the meeting, with Taylor introducing a plebiscite period where students could voice their opinions on the quorum for strikes.
“Right now it’s just 10 per cent of the students [who] need to participate in a vote to ratify it, going forward the question is […] particularly for student strikes, whether that should be increased to 50, 40, 30, 20 or 15 per cent to determine is there a certain amount of students that we need a threshold of to actually go on strike,” Taylor said.
Moment of the Meeting:
The discussion session’s second item concerned DriveSafe’s inoperable phone number last Friday. The mistake is being investigated to determine how the error occurred and to ensure it is not repeated.
Soundbite:
“Last Friday, there was a Valentine’s Ball that was occurring at the University Centre. During this time, there was […] an incident that often comes up when alcohol is involved unfortunately, to which Drivesafe was called to transport the individual home. However, the phone number unfortunately did not work, instead routed to a number in Montreal […] to a gentleman who stated that he was very much not DriveSafe, […] and would not be giving anyone rides.”—Dymetri Taylor.
