By: Nathan Hood
Trying to keep up with the recent developments at the UPEISU? Here’s what we can confirm so far.
How did this start?
On the evening of March 12th, a letter containing a notice of a motion of non-confidence in UPEISU president Chelsea Perry was circulated to councillors. The letter contained a number of allegations about Perry’s conduct, but were not substantiated within the letter.
The individuals behind the email had requested that their identities be withheld until the matter could be discussed at the next council meeting. According to SU’s ombudsperson Sweta Daboo, the individuals were told by chair of council Zak Jarvis that he was possibly able to grant their request for anonymity under the constitution. While it is unclear which section of the constitution grants the ability to provide anonymity in such circumstances, the individuals were nevertheless granted anonymity which is expected to last until the next council meeting.
The afternoon after the letter had been circulated to council, Perry submitted a letter of resignation that was “effective immediately.”
Who is the President?
William McGuigan, the current vice president finance and president-elect, has been appointed as acting president.
Despite submitting a resignation letter, Perry was working in the office on March 15th, a day after the CBC reported she was confident the motion of non-confidence would not pass and her the resignation would not be accepted, allowing her to remain as president.
In correspondence with The Cadre on March 16th, she said she would not be in the office that day because “[her] resignation will announced as accepted soon.”
Although the UPEISU’s media release said that according to the SU’s policies, council must accept the resignation for it to go into effect, The Cadre was unable to find such a clause in the policies available on the website.
Who authored the motion of non-confidence?
The SU has not yet released the names of the author(s), but one person who was involved has written a letter clarifying their stance and involvement.
Health & wellness representative Amy Rix says she was not a mover of the motion but was CC’d on the original email to the chair and stands by the allegations.
In the letter circulated to councillors and The Cadre, she claims the allegations made against the president “were not shocking to the employees of the UPEISU” and adds that while complaints had been passed on to SU employees, those employees “did not follow the proper procedure to deal with these complaints, essentially dismissing them.”
The text of the letter is available below:
[scribd id=374122110 key=key-WpnaMrohIzWZwzh6kAK4 mode=scroll]
What happens next?
Daboo is currently investigating who was involved in the development of the letter and is also working to determine the veracity of the allegations made against Perry.
After a request from six councillors, an emergency meeting will be held on March 18th to receive a report from the ombudsperson about her findings to date.
The motion of non-confidence will not receive a vote at this meeting because the notice of the motion has not yet been advertised for a full week. Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is March 25th.
Photo: UPEI
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