The Martlet

The pro-life student club Youth Protecting Youth was denied clubs funding again by the UVic Students’ Society, despite Clubs Council voting in favour of the group receiving funding.

In the fall, when YPY last sought funding, the majority at Clubs Council voted that YPY could be recognized as a club, but should not receive funding from students. That decision was upheld by the UVSS board of directors, which has the final say on funding issues.

At the time, all the executive members of the board said it was best to uphold the decision of Clubs Council.

“Those are students [on Clubs Council] telling us what they want,” Director of Services Christine Comrie told the board last November. “We should support that majority and not overturn their decision.”

But this term Comrie, who chairs clubs council, told the board the recent council vote was less representative of students’ wishes because fewer clubs attended the meeting.

However, both meetings had 18 voting clubs. At the fall meeting only four clubs supported funding YPY, while in the more recent one a 12-club majority agreed they could have funds.

Comrie and other board members also said the meeting was undemocratic because YPY brought over 10 of its members to the meeting, as well as a reporter from a Christian media outlet, and students complained they felt intimidated to speak — though each club present only gets one vote on matters.

But YPY president Anastasia Pearse said people who wanted to vote against the club receiving funding did so. A majority supported their funding.

“We’re really frustrated,” said Pearse. “Clubs funding is for Clubs Council to decide on, not the UVSS.”

Director of Academics Edward Pullman suggested at the board meeting that if they were unsure if the vote was democratic Clubs Council should have another opportunity to vote on it. Other board members said this would just put off making a decision that ultimately would come back to them anyway. Pullman’s motion to send the question back to Clubs Council was defeated.

When the vote to deny funding came up, Pullman and Director-at-Large Dylan Hardie abstained. Meaghan Kerr and Erin Lacharity, the two directors-at-large who voted to give the club funding in the fall, were again the only ones who voted to give the club funding.

The remainder of members at the meeting voted as a majority to deny the club funding.

No member of YPY was present at the board meeting to defend the club’s position. Pearse said she did not receive notice of the meeting, despite a point in clubs policy which states: “Clubs must be given one week notice of any Clubs Council or board of directors meeting where a complaint against them is to be heard, and must be allowed to attend and state their case.”

However, there was no specific complaint filed against the club and the motion to deny funding was added mid-meeting by Luam Kidane, the board rep for the Students of Colour Collective.

Comrie said after the meeting that the club should have known to attend the board meeting because the same process happened last semester.

But YPY changed presidents since last semester.

Pearse said the board also failed to notify them after the meeting that they wouldn’t receive funding.

She was only informed of what happened by the Martlet, and subsequently contacted the board herself to appeal the decision at the next board meeting.

But Comrie said it’s unlikely the board will overturn their decision.

“I don’t think they’ll go in favour of giving them funding,” said Comrie. “Their feelings are pretty clear on this. We’ve discussed it so many times at different meetings.”

While clubs do not have to comply with the students society’s policy, the UVSS is mandated to support freedom of choice on the matter of abortion.

When YPY asked students at an Annual General Meeting in 2005 if they supported scrapping their pro-choice stance, more than 600 showed up to vote to uphold the mandate.