Blair Shumlich will finish his elected term with the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union.

After students voted to eliminate his position of vice president external from the executive at a special general meeting earlier this month, confusion arose as to whether or not he would resign immediately or finish his contract and leave on May 1.

There was some concern leading up to the March 10 meeting of student council that Shumlich might be impeached. Some students, including USSU president Chris Stoicheff, said they felt it was hypocritical of Shumlich not to resign, since Shumlich had been the one who proposed the elimination of his position.

In his campaign for the permanent removal of the VP external position, Shumlich argued that he did not have enough work to do to warrant a full-time paid position.

“I think it is hypocritical to say that you’ve got nothing to do, to hold an SGM to get rid of your position — the position is eliminated — and then stay on and justify it because you’ve got lots of things to do,” Stoicheff said to Shumlich at council.

“I do think that it is unethical and I do think that you should resign.”

No councillor put forward a motion to remove Shumlich and he did not announce plans to resign.

“I have absolutely no intention of resigning,” said Shumlich. “I was elected for a 12 month term and I will finish what I started because I believe in what I did.”

The motion at the special general meeting did not specify a date for his departure. This led to conflicting interpretations from Stoicheff and Shumlich.

“The motion says the position is to be eliminated. I take that to mean, just like all the other motions that were passed in that meeting, it is to take effect immediately,” said Stoicheff.
Shumlich quoted an email from the USSU’s lawyer that suggested he should stay in his position until the end of the elected term.

“The intent of the amendments to the USSU bylaw was to eliminate the VP external position on a go-forward basis, meaning that no VP external would be elected after the term of the current VP external expires at the end of April 2011. At no time was there a contemplation that the amendment was to immediately, upon being passed, end the current term of the VP external currently serving,” read Shumlich from the email.

The VP external position has been removed before, and in those years the executive in the position finished their term.

Most councillors assumed the removal of the VP external position would not take place until next year.

“When I voted on this motion — whether or not the VP external would be eliminated — I believed that it would be taken into effect next year,” said arts and science councillor Katie Salmers. “I believed it would not be affecting Blair [Shumlich] this year.”

Education councillor Alysha Joanette backed Shumlich’s decision.

“He never said that there was no work, he said there was little work. He has things that he has started — let him finish them.”

He is completing a summer U-Pass report and there are budget issues he is lobbying to see in the upcoming provincial budget.

Specifically, he hopes to see a rise in long-term tuition, an increase in the university’s operating grant and funding for both the Saskatchewan Scholarship Fund and the Gordon Oakes-Red Bear Students’ Centre.

“There is a certain irony to me saying that right after getting rid of my position will be one of my busiest weeks of the year,” he said.

The provincial budget will be released during the last week of March and Shumlich will be in Regina to discuss the USSU’s position on it.