KSA to oppose Kinder Morgan MOU at Board of Governors

Some council members worried about impact on relationship with KPU

A motion was submitted to the Kwantlen Student Association council meeting on Sept. 11 pertaining to Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s recent memorandum of understanding with Kinder Morgan. The motion, submitted by Aboriginal students’ representative Justin Bige, proposed that the KSA write a letter to the Board of Governors stating the need to rescind the MOU, and that the KSA present the letter at the next Board of Governors meeting on Sept. 23. The original motion also requested that the MOU be reviewed by the KSA’s legal counsel, and that the legal counsel also attend the BoG meeting, but those components were struck from the passed motion.

Prior to its passing, the motion underwent extensive discussion by council members which lasted close to two hours. Waheed Taiwo, the vice-president of finance and operations, suggested Bige was in a conflict of interest between his role in the KSA and in other groups such as KPIRG.

KSA president Allison Gonzalez expressed that she was concerned that presenting such a letter to the Board of Governors would hurt the relationship that had been built up between KPU and the KSA. Bige agreed that this was a valid concern, but suggested that the KSA had enough clout to tell the administration that they are unhappy with the MOU. Numerous council members noted that they felt the KSA had already done enough.

When the matter was called to a vote, the motion passed, with the amendments that struck the clauses referring to legal counsel. Nine council members voted in favour of the motion, and five voted against.