Geronimo Alec allegedly failing to perform work duties
CHRISTINE BEYLEVELDT //NEWS EDITOR
The Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) has requested that First Nations Student Liaison Geronimo Alec resign for failing to properly perform the duties associated with his position last semester, which he held for three consecutive terms. Executive Director Chris Girodat explained that the board couldn’t compel a liaison to resign, but under their rules they can remove a board member by resolution at a general meeting. Instead his resignation was requested. This comes just a couple months after the Board of Directors prepared to reduce Senate Representative Erik Steel’s stipend to zero dollars for the same reason, prompting Steel’s swift resignation prior to their vote on Nov. 3.
“It’s an unfortunate situation when someone is so busy with other stuff that they can’t do any work for the board,” said Vice President Equity and Sustainability Owen Sigurdsson, adding that he presented a notice of motion at the last board meeting on Dec. 15, which read that he would request Alec’s resignation at the board meeting on Jan. 12. “There have been numerous complaints about this individual, they haven’t fulfilled their job requirements whatsoever.”
The complaints about Alec’s failure to perform his work duties were not made internally. Fine and Applied Arts Faculty Representative Abbey Doucet explained that the CSU has received numerous complaints from First Nations students who felt that their needs weren’t being properly addressed, which would’ve fallen to Alec as their liaison. “There already has been a process to address these concerns, so it’s not just on a board level, it’s from his constituents,” she said.
Sigurdsson added that he addressed the complaints with Alec last semester and informed him that First Nations students had asked for his resignation as their liaison. To this Alec reportedly responded that he would make a concerted effort to attend more board meetings for the CSU and perform his work-related duties or he would resign.
First Nations Student Services and the Kéxwusm-áyakn Centre have also been in touch with the CSU, requesting that Alec’s responsibilities be assigned to other CSU staff instead.