CELEBRATING 20 1 0
1910
YEARS
volume CI number 40
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inside
the official student newspaper at the university of alberta
www.thegatewayonline.ca
thursday, march 17, 2011
Faculty association seeks arbitration University administration, academic staff failed to reach an agreement in compensation negotiations Aaron Yeo News Staff
The fruits of his labour Even though the Court Pandas season has come to a close, Scott Edwards watches his graduating athletes with pride as they move beyond basketball. Sports, Page 12
YouTube catches the Black Plague The Gateway’s Alex Migdal lays into the internet monstrosity that is Rebecca Black’s “Friday” music video. A&E, Page 11
Councillors get poor marks for attendance Ryan Bromsgrove lambastes SU councillors who can’t be bothered to attend meetings they’ve been elected to sit on. opinion, Page 5
Salary negotiations between the academic staff and the administration at the University of Alberta may be going to arbitration later this month, as the staff association looks for a higher salary increase than the university is currently offering. The Association of Academic Staff: University of Albera (AASUA) will be seeking approval from their executive and council to go to arbitration over salary negotiations, according to Ian MacLaren, chair of the AASUA negotiating committee. The current compensation agreement was settled in 2008 and is due to expire on July 1 of this year; the two sides have been negotiating a new deal since December. The AASUA made their second proposal public, suggesting an increase of 3.5 per cent in salary for each year of a two-year agreement. In response, the Board of Governor’s third proposal to the AASUA was released to the public at the beginning of March. Their offer outlined a
three-year plan with increases of 0.5 per cent for the first year, 1.5 per cent for the second year, and two per cent in the third year — significantly lower numbers than what the association asked for. Because both parties have been unable to settle on an agreement, a third party will be brought in to serve as an arbitrator, as outlined in the collective agreements between the association and the university. Both sides will submit a final position on the salary principles, as well as any other unresolved items. The arbitration process will be almost entirely confidential, with only the final conclusion made public. The arbitrator will have 30 days once appointed to hold a private hearing, and will provide a binding decision as soon as possible afterwards. Because a large portion of the university’s operating budget is comprised of salaries and benefits to staff, going to arbitration would affect next year’s budget, according to a U of A spokesperson. Please see AAsua Page 3
dan mckechnie
LOCKS FOR LEUKEMIA Members of Kappa Alpha Theta shaved heads of Farmhouse members after raising $1,400 for The Leukemia and Lymphona Society.
Immigration minister Kenney talks border policies Calgary-southeast MP summarizes campaigns against bottom feeders, false asylum seekers Simon Yackulic
Deputy News Editor
Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney spoke at the University of Alberta yesterday to elaborate on changes to Canada’s immigration system, which he hopes will make the system more “fair.” Kenney discussed how he plans to ensure that the immigration system maintains public support for taking in a high number of immigrants. “Canadians will only support these high levels of immigration and refugee protection if they see it working for Canada, and if they see the system conforms to the Canadian stance of fair play and rule of law. And that’s why a number of things we have done the last few years is to reinforce the
integrity and fairness of the refugee system,” Kenney said.
“If we’re going to maintain public support for big immigration, you need a fair process.” Jason Kenney Minister of Citizenship, immigration, and multiculturalism
“There is a consensus in Canada on immigration. There are differences between political parties, but they tend to be differences of degree rather than kind. We do not have, as do most western European
democracies, xenophobic parties that are anti-immigration. We have a pretty robust pro-immigration consensus.” Kenney pointed out that Canada has some of the highest immigration rates in the world — the United Kingdom caps immigration rates at 100,000 a year, while Canada will receive more than 250,000 newcomers next year, despite having a smaller population. Kenney said that he has been focusing on changes to ensure the system remains fair, so as to maintain public support for high levels of immigration. In particular, Kenney said that he has been on a campaign against “bottom feeders” within the immigration industry who portray themselves as consultants, and then charge exorbitant fees to immigrants for obtaining visas. He also expressed concern with
the difficulties associated with removing people who “overstayed their welcome” from the country. “If we’re going to maintain public support for big immigration, you need a fair process,” Kenney said. “We’ve also addressed some of the problems in our asylum system, which has been too much plagued by abuse from false claims and people seeking to immigrate to Canada through the backdoor.” A few students showed up to indicate their dissatisfaction with his message. Before Kenney’s talk, a student passed around a pamphlet which referred to Kenney as the “Minister of Exploitation, Censorship, and Deportation” and expressed a concern that deportations have increased and accepted asylum claims have decreased. Please see Kenney Page 3