By Colin Ahern — Opinions Editor

The SRC’s website is a relatively new creation in an attempt to increase transparency and student engagement. This website was created over the summer of 2021 and requires a great deal of navigating to find any information, assuming of course that the information available is public and up to date.

       SRC meetings are open to the student public. While this is true, outside of the occasional cold and uninviting email from the Secretary General, it is also extremely difficult to find out when and where they are being held. Students are inundated with so many emails that border on spam that an email with an uninformative subject line is a terrible way to reach them. The emails also omit any details on what the meeting’s content and previous meetings’ content are. Meeting information is not on the calendar of their website and, after a great deal of digging, seems to be listed at the end of the recorded minutes from their meetings. The most recent public minutes are from the meeting on Oct. 17.

       In the September meeting, little content was discussed. A letter of resignation was received from Jay Dasani, Graduate Student Senator, on Sept. 19. He had formerly run for president. A few minutes later, congratulations were shared as 23 per cent of students voted in the fall elections. The remainder of the meeting was used to discuss positions in clubs and government that needed to be filled.

       The financial records of the SRC are public. After some looking, it was made clear that between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 financial statements, there was an increase in payroll expenses by about $30,000. Seeing as how the pay for most student jobs in the SRC are either salaried or honorarium, this is a large sum of money and I believe it should be made public how it was allocated. This is particularly pertinent as it came at the same time as an increase in student fees, and student money should be reinvested in student initiatives.

       Further research into the 2021-2022 year also revealed that Toast radio had been allocated a projected budget of about $8,000. The budget for the 2022-2023 year is not online yet. While this is a small sum for a radio station, Toast has produced a single 13 minute interview in the last 11 weeks. If the radio is incapable of producing a reasonable amount of content, it should be disbanded or have its funding reduced to match its output.

       Beyond the finances of the SRC, it is very difficult to find information about the organisation itself on its website. While the events it runs are all public and accessible, the strategic plan, social media, Gaiter Good News, and the Quad yearbook tabs are all labelled “coming soon” and have no other information posted. Students looking for the bylaws can find that information under the constitution tab.

       I would strongly urge all students to either look into the website or speak to members they know in the SRC if they have any questions or concerns. While holding public meetings are nice, if the effort put into advertising these meetings is practically non-existent they may as well be private. The student government should be transparent in their actions and decisions. Accountability is the key to government, and the SRC’s performance in the last year does not reflect this.