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CFS-SK scandal broke in September, but we still don’t know what’s happening

Mid-November is approaching and students enrolled at the University of Regina as well as part of the CFS membership still don’t know the result of the embezzlement scandal that broke out in September. I can’t speak for everyone, but I think it’s within reason that we, the students, know when this issue will be resolved.

To recap, news broke earlier this semester that Haanim Nur, the former URSU President and VP Finance and Operations from the 2012 fiscal year, confessed to taking funds from CFS-SK. These funds are the accumulated amount of membership fees students enrolled at the U of R pay every year.

While the outrage and public exposure of the scandal has died down, some students want the issue resolved, and others have more questions. And to be completely honest, some students just don’t care.

But, the questions people are asking are important. Questions such as why did Nur confess earlier this semester when she could have confessed when she resigned in June? Was Nur trying to preserve her reputation? Was she caught in the middle of the current URSU executives’ plans for damage control and the remainder of last year’s execs who planned to undermine their successors? Nur was vocally endorsed by her predecessor, Kent Peterson, during URSU elections last March. The elections occurred approximately a month after the bank holding the CFS-SK account contacted Peterson in February about forged cheques. Yet, Peterson sent out a mass e-mail to several students via using the student affairs email list, telling students to vote for Nur. Peterson has said that he couldn’t be sure at the time if it was Nur who forged his signature, but he was suspicious enough to freeze the bank account after Nur provided an explanation that was “not satisfactory.” Why would someone go to great lengths to endorse a candidate when he basically caught her stealing money?

Another question, why did she confess to begin with? She already resigned in June and she had nothing to gain by confessing, except a clearer conscious. The current URSU executive and board could not go public with this information as they said they had no documentation to prove it. Nur had everything to lose by confessing. If what Nur is saying in the interview she gave in September about the CFS giving her a second chance and Paige Kezima’s actions is true, why did it take Kezima, the current CFS-SK representative, six weeks to come forward with this information to URSU and the URSU Board of Directors? Despite Nur’s resignation, students were not informed until Nur confessed. That being said, was there something or someone motivating Nur to come forward with her confession?

With Nur’s confession, the CFS has been exposed for the corrupt organization that it is accused of being.

The sad reality of this whole mess is, the CFS-SK has done nothing effective or positive to repair or regain the trust of students at the University of Regina. Nur will have to live with this mistake for the rest of her life, which will close several doors on possible opportunities, professionally or otherwise. I’m not trying to guilt, harass or offend Nur. My intention is to encourage you, U of R students and readers of the Carillon, to ask questions that you still don’t have answers for about CFS-SK and the whole situation. I am sure I am not the only one that is upset that there has been no resolution to this problem.

Jordan Palmer
Contributor

2 comments

  1. Tim H 15 November, 2012 at 14:21

    All the more reason to join CASA instead. Focus on advocating only on student issues in Ottawa, with a transparent and egalitarian organization. Every school has the same vote and voice in CASA, regardless of size. 

  2. Reason 21 November, 2012 at 10:11

     
    Tim,
    Post-secondary education is administered at a provincial level. We do not not need advocacy groups lobbying at the federal level in Ottawa. Not CASA nor the CFS.
     

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