KPIRG AGM elects new board of directors, discusses space

Khan announces that AGM is squatting in social justice space

Courtesy of KPIRG

The Kwantlen Public Interest Research Group held their annual general meeting on March 23 in the social justice room on Kwantlen’s Surrey campus. The meeting’s primary focus was to conduct the elections for the society’s board of directors, and to discuss KPIRG’s continuing issue with their lack of a permanent space.

The meeting began with the announcement that KPIRG did not choose the space they occupy now, and that no space had ever been provided for them. Ayesha Khan, KPIRG’s anti-oppression officer, made it clear that the social justice room and the adjoining Kwantlen Pride office were never meant to be KPIRG’s home on the Surrey campus.

“I want to let everyone know today that we’re actually squatting in the social justice space,” Khan told those in attendance for the meeting. “We don’t have this space booked because Student Life wasn’t able to accommodate us and give us adequate space for this AGM. So the school doesn’t even know that we’re using this space for this AGM.”

Since their formation, KPIRG has been operating out of the social justice space, as per an agreement the society made with Kwantlen Pride. This has been a point of contention for KPIRG, who claim that their lack of a dedicated office has impeded their ability to reach out to KPU students.

“We aren’t able to fully give our student society the resources and the space that they need in order for us to progress and abide by our mandate,” said Khan.

The space issue was punctuated when, during their financial report, KPIRG’s administrative and resource coordinator Richard Hosein admitted that all of the society’s financial and legal records had to be kept in his basement, a fact which he believed to be “wholly inappropriate.”

After reviewing their finances, they introduced the new candidates for the board of directors positions. Although few candidates were able to actually attend the meeting, both Russel Liu and Kim McMartin were able to make their presences and their intentions as directorial hopefuls known.

Liu said that he wanted to ““further engage the community at-large,” by collaborating with student organizations in different fields, while McMartin, who was until recently the Kwantlen Student Association’s disabilities representative, claims she mostly wishes to become a board organizer. She says she hopes to change the way KPIRG advertises in order to get more people out to the events, and also to take care of people’s accessibility needs while she’s at it.

Despite a number of false starts, where motions were passed without officially being called to vote, the members successfully voted to increase the number of KPIRG directors from five to seven.

Other candidates vying for a spot on the board included Lincey Amora, Ryot “R” Jey, and Monika Saran. All five candidates have unofficially been announced as winners in the election and will presumably be forming KPIRG’s new board of directors. Official results will be announced by April 6.