STORM'S STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

• Principles
• Procedures

PREAMBLE

As the future society, young people have the right and the responsibility to criticize and act to change any and all elements of society proven as corrupt and exploitative socially, politically and economically.

Principles

1. Fee increases, program cutbacks, poverty-level minimum wages, so-called restructuring (like downsizing) and other basic service reduction tactics by governments are linked through a common strategy of the current governments in power to reduce the deficit and debt and "tighten our belts" at the expense of basic social services.

   STORM denies the right of political institutions, parties and corporations to attack what it considers basic and necessary democratic rights.

2. This strategy on the part of corporations and government was started for the sake of maintaining and increasing the profitability and "competitiveness" of the Canadian private sector. Cutbacks aid the private sector by off-loading the "social wage" (the cost paid by businesses in taxes to maintain the social programs structure) ontoother, less wealthy, sectors of society. In this process, thousands of benefits and concessions gained over the last 550 years are being brutally destroyed.

3. These gains in the form of social programs and services were not originally given to us by well-meaning governments. They were fought for by a variety of mass movements like the women's movement, the trade unions, civil rights groups among others. Therefore, the erosion of these gains should be seen as an indirect attack on the movements which fought for them in the first place.

4. STORM believes in strongly linking itself with the remnants of these original movements and believes in a common alliance with all groups opposing the government's austerity measures. We will accomplish our goals as a movement composed of high school, college, technical institute and university studentsalongside young and old workers and coalition partners. At its members' discretion, STORM may enter into a reciprocal relationship with labour and other social justice groups.

5. We also believe that the only effective way to engage in a long-term counterattack and offensive against the cutbacks and to reconstruct our social programs as they were, is to build a popular movement that will engage in education, mass action and grass roots organizing.

6. As our hopes lie with such a mass movement, we believe that the struggle against austerity measures will be prolonged, difficult and will necessarily be comprised of the following elements:

   1. It must be based on self-organization of the variety of groups affected by the cutbacks. Without such a democratic and grassroots approach, there will be no gains made and no growth in the movement. There are many examples of dysfunctional and un-democratic coalitions already in existence. STORM advocates a more effective, bottom-up approach and believes thattthe important tasks of expressing discontentshould not fall into the hands of undemocratic organizations.

   2. It must make education one of its fundamental goals. The key obstacle at this point is apathy. Apathy is formed out of inaccessibility of critical knowledge about the cutbacks and their effects. However, this knowledge in and of itself is not enough to mobilize people. With education comes the responsibility of engaging people incritical discussion and debate which will enable them to become part of a broader movement with goals that are incompatible with the governments' program. We must bring unity through this critical education and make "education through unity, unity through education" one of our working slogans.

   3. Similarly, we must complement education with group action; mass action along the lines of rallies, marches, civil disobedience as well as more modest forms, such as forums, protests, etc. Mass action makes people feel part of a positive group. It is inherently politicizing and brings about, inpractice, the same unity that education bringsabout in knowledge. As students and young people,wwe have the obligation to turn mass action from a laboured effort into a celebration of spontaneityaand voice. In short, we must make mass action enjoyable and open to spontaneous participation!

7. These proposals are part of an attempt to begin a process of igniting a mass movement underneath the government's feet. They are not enough in and of themselves. Eventually, such a movement must be translated from a negative, anti-cutback agenda, into a longer-lasting group determined to make sure thatwhat is happening in Alberta and now in Canada as a whole, does not happen again. We must make People Before Profits ours slogan in opposition to the dehumanizing, anti-democratic and slanted viewpoint of the government and its allies. Our fundamental goal is to build a movement that combats injustice with democracy and apathy with education and mass action.

Let's begin!

1. We will address social, economic and political problems that affect youth and other parts of the population.
2. We will organize ourselves and our activities democratically and non-hierarchically.
3. We will use consensual forms of debate and discussion that ultimately will result in a democratic vote. We will actively encourage full participation from all members of the group.
4. We reserve the right to remain an autonomous political organization.

5. Organizational structure:

   1. Regular Meetings of the members.
   2. Sub-committees for specific tasks (i.e. Communications).

6. Meeting structure:

   1. Personal introduction round.
   2. Election of the Chair and the Secretary.
   3. The Chair details the guidelines for the meeting. Review of last meeting's minutes.
   4. Set and prioritize the agenda.

7. Motions:

   1. A motion must be seconded and the chair must formally recognize and repeat it.
   2. A motion must be voted on after sufficient debate.
   3. Amendments must be repeated by the chair.
   4. Debate on the motion is at the discretion of the Chair, but s/he must make a round one of the membership one last time before the motion isvoted on.

8. To improve participation and facilitation of the discussion:

   1. Rounds will be made before a motion or amendment vote.
   2. Time limits with certain flexibility.
   3. Discussion will use understandable and non-exclusive language.

9. Chair's Responsibilities:

   1. The Chair must be aware and announce each motion and amendment. S/He must also ask for a second and a third.
   2. The Chair announces when time limit has passed and propose solutions.
   3. The Chair is wholly responsible to the group.
   4. The Chair must identify and encourage non-vocal people.
   5. If there is a large number of abstentions, the Chair must ask abstainers why.

10. Membership Criteria

1. The membership of this organization shall consist of members expressing an interest in STORM. An active member shall be any member making concerted efforts to attend regularly STORM meetings and who displays genuine interest in the organization.
2. Sign a membership form.
3. Only STORM members can make decisions in sub-groups. Observers are wholly welcome to participate and offer suggestions.
4. Detail expectations to new members and accept them openly.
5. Frequently absent people can access minutes on request.
6. The phone list will be separated into two lists: STORM Members and Interested people.

Section Under Debate:

11. Emergency Decisions

    1. We propose a general voucher system.
    2. We explicitly choose contacts and telephone networks for emergency situations which demand immediate action
    3. Contacts must be trustworthy and experienced.

Additional Proposals:

• That STORM establish an annual conference to promote communication between its various chapters and allies and to make collective decisions about matters concerning the movement (i.e. adding a disciplinary section, sharing resources and contacts, and defining an overall provincial strategy).