Polls opened for SSMU’s fall referendum on October 29th and closed at 5 p.m. on November 8th, asking McGill undergraduates to cast their ballot on various fee increases and renewals to aid in funding campus organizations and initiatives. Since the ballot opened, you may have seen students around the McGill downtown campus standing by folding tables, passing out brochures and flyers in a campaign to “save CKUT”. McGill’s radio station had asked for an increase to their opt-outable student fee, something they hadn’t done in over a decade, and the student body has voted in favour.
After first reaching listeners’ ears through 90.3 FM in 1987, CKUT has broadcasted a variety of music featuring diverse Canadian and local artists. The station also hosts various podcasts created in collaboration with volunteers from around the city, journalism initiatives, local news, and more. During the referendum, CKUT asked the undergraduate students of McGill to vote for a $3 increase to their $5 fee. The results came in within hours of the polls closing, revealing that 60% of students had voted in favour of the increase. In an interview with Madeline Lines, CKUT’s funding and outreach coordinator, she discussed the importance of saving the station, saying “We’ve been a resource to platform issues and voices that don’t normally get heard on mainstream radio or mainstream media.” She continued by adding that “I think it’s important to save these things while they exist instead of looking back in time and saying, oh my god, I can’t believe we once had that, y’know?”
Lines described how important the increase is for affording the various costs CKUT faces as a non-profit radio station, including the almost $60,000 a year McGill charges the station for rent. She went on to explain how the transmitter rental and cost of broadcasting on FM costs tens of thousands of dollars yearly, acting as one of the core costs that have been putting them in a financial deficit over recent years. This deficit has been accentuated by inflation, increasing rent, and trying to pay staff living wages under the current cost of living crisis. Lines says the $3 increase is vital in “just being able to get the station to a financially viable place to which, from there, it can just be healthy, and will be able to better serve McGill students.”
In an effort to win student votes, members of CKUT had been campaigning around McGill’s downtown campus, pasting up posters and talking to students about the ongoing referendum. Lines credited the student volunteers from McGill, explaining that “we really have been trying to get out on campus, in the community with people, and actually be able to talk to them face to face to let them know what’s going on.” CKUT’s cause had received endorsements from various organizations throughout McGill, including the universities TV network TVM Television, the Midnight Kitchen Collective, and QPIRG McGill.
CKUT has been a staple in the McGill and greater Montréal community for decades, providing students and artists a unique space to collaborate and grow their skills. After a week of steady campaigning, the station’s efforts to engage undergraduate voters have paid off, allowing them the financial means to continue to grow and thrive.
