Climate Justice UBC and the former AMS associate vice-president sustainability said they were not consulted before the AMS put a referendum item cutting the student fee for the Sustainability Projects Fund on its spring election ballot.
The Sustainability Project Fund (SPF), established in 2011, was designed to support student-led sustainability projects by providing funds up to $15,000. During the 2022 AMS election in March, students voted to reduce the SPF fee by 43 per cent, from $2.66 to $1.50 as part of a referendum item cutting several student fees. It passed with 90 per cent, or 8,013 students, voting 'Yes' and 10 per cent, or 890 students, voting 'No.'
But Britt Runeckles, a coordinator for Climate Justice UBC (CJUBC), told The Ubyssey in July that the AMS did not consult with CJUBC ahead of adding the SPF fee reduction as a referendum item.
With a reduced fee, Runeckles believes that the application process for the Sustainability Projects Fund will become more competitive with students and group trying to get access to a smaller fund — which they think would make people less inclined to apply. The SPF currently has $520,867.
According to Runeckles, the application process for the fund was already challenging for CJUBC. Specifically, they pointed to the part of the application that requires applicants to “be able to list every foreseeable expense at the beginning of the year.”
“[This] is difficult because a lot of Climate Justice UBC’s work is event-based and those events come with changing politics,” they said
Former AMS Associate Vice-President (AVP) Sustainability and member of the Sustainability Project Funds Committee Jason Pang said he too was not consulted.
“This was very disappointing, especially as the AVP sustainability working on the fund directly for the past two years, that the Executive Committee didn't even consider to consult or ask me about the changes prior to doing so,” he said.
Pang was disappointed to see that students voted to decrease the fund. “I do believe that the fee shouldn't have decreased because now, if you're requesting an increase from students it'll be very, very difficult.”
In a statement to The Ubyssey, Ben Du, the AMS vice-president administration and who served as the associate vice-president administration during last year’s referendum, pointed to the 90 per cent of students who voted to reduce the SPF fee during the March elections.
“This SPF fee reduction was brought to a vote to match our fee collection with historical usage, to reduce significant rates of accumulation in the SPF, and to save students money,” Du added.
He also said the AMS cannot comment on the decision-making of a VP admin no longer in office.
Du did not offer an alternative to climate groups, but said the AMS would add another fee readjustment item to next year’s referendum if the demand for the SPF changes.
In regards to the future, Pang hopes that “this year's team is able to pick it back up and be able to fund students and their projects to the fullest potential that the AMS can.”
Runeckles contributed to The Ubyssey in December 2020 and served on the Board of Directors in 2021/22. They were not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
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