KSA president permanently banned from CASA due to sexual harassment allegation

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Editor’s Note: This article mentions sexual harassment. If you or someone you know needs support, reach out to VictimLinkBC at 1-800-563-0808 or the Crisis Centre of BC at 1-800-784-2433. Help is available, please reach out.

A previous version of this article mentioned that Stern was not able to access in-camera minutes due to a policy change. The article has been updated for accuracy and clarity. The Runner regrets the error. 

Kwantlen Student Association President Abdullah Randhawa was permanently banned from the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) in August due to a sexual harassment allegation. 

A series of anonymous documents sent to The Runner state Randhawa was permanently banned from the organization on Aug. 4, after CASA board of directors approved a recommendation from the code of conduct officer that “a permanent expulsion from the organization be issued.”

CASA is a federally focused student advocacy organization that represents students across Canada to advocate for issues important to them on a federal level. Student associations sign up to become a CASA member, and the membership carries down to each student at the school, meaning all Kwantlen Polytechnic University students are members. 

“The allegations are not true. It’s pretty annoying to have to say this, but I take these things seriously, even if they are made up,” Randhawa wrote in an email to The Runner. “The ban from CASA was a shock. I’m not happy about it, and I think they made a mistake. I’m dealing with it and will prove that the allegations are false.” 

The decision was made after Randhawa was allegedly “temporarily barred” from the CASA Policy and Strategy Conference in July, at the University of New Brunswick and was not allowed to attend any CASA spaces for the remainder of the conference due to inappropriate behaviour. 

On July 17, an attendee at the conference told the CASA member relations officer “they felt uncomfortable with Abdullah Randhawa.” Afterwards, the complainant gave consent to have the CASA member relations officer and the executive director talk to KSA Policy and Political Affairs Coordinator Diamond Obera, who was also at the conference, and ask that they have a conversation “about inappropriate behaviour on the grounds of sexual harassment.” 

CASA received a written complaint on July 19, a document states, and in the evening, the complainant came forward with more information and indicated they felt unsafe in the CASA space due to continued contact with Randhawa. 

The same day, other attendees at the conference verbally let the members relation officer know they also felt uncomfortable with Randhawa. Later that night, the executive director let Randhawa know he was not allowed to attend any CASA spaces for the remainder of the conference. 

The document states CASA repeatedly attempted to receive a response from Randhawa about the breach of CASA’s code of conduct from July 20 to Aug. 3, but did not receive a response. 

CASA’s code of conduct revolving around sexual harassment states “attendees shall not harass anyone on the basis of any enumerated ground” and “includes, but is not limited to, sexual harassment.” Some examples mentioned in the code of conduct include unwelcome physical contact, “sexual remarks or jokes which denigrate one’s gender, unwelcome sexual solicitations or advances,” and “displaying derogatory materials such as pictures etcetera. that denigrate a gender.” 

On Feb. 2, the KSA announced in a council meeting that they terminated their contract with CASA, which will end in May, Vice-President External Affairs Jasmine Kochhar said. The council voted on the decision at the Jan. 12 meeting in an in-camera session with unanimous consent and two members abstained from voting. 

Kochhar said the primary goal of ending the CASA contract was to focus on provincial issues to understand what to advocate for before doing so on a federal level. 

When council decides to have an in-camera session, two-thirds of the council have to agree, and it can only fall under legal matters, human resources matters, the purchase or sale of a property, and funds related directly to such, according to the KSA bylaws. 

Randhawa says he wants people to know the ban and the KSA ending their membership with CASA are not connected. 

“No, it wasn’t at all,” Randhawa says in an interview with The Runner. “Because if that was the concern after [the Policy and Strategy Conference], we would have come back and we would have resigned from that.” 

During the voting process to decide if the KSA would continue its CASA membership, Randhawa says he abstained from voting along with Queer Students Representative Destiny Lang and Students with Disabilities Representative Usha Gunatilake. During the Feb. 2 council meeting, Kochhar said only two people abstained from voting. In a follow up statement to The Runner, Kochhar said she mispoke during the council meeting and three people abstained from voting.

Gunatilake wrote in an email to The Runner on Feb. 23 that she abstained from voting. Lang wrote on March 1 they are “not at liberty to confirm or deny” their decision as KSA in-camera sessions should not be made public. 

“I spoke with some KSA staff after, and was informed that political decisions about how to best represent students should be out in the open instead of being made in-camera,” Lang wrote to The Runner. “This frustrating circumstance binds me to neither confirm or deny my decision.” 

“In the voting process, I abstained from my vote. I wasn’t in favour, and I wasn’t against [it],” Randhawa says. “It doesn’t have to do with that conference at all, it was the board’s overall decision.” 

Records Coordinator & Archivist (RCA) Amanda Stern wrote in an email to The Runner that she hasn’t been able to attend in-camera meetings since the end of 2022 and she isn’t sure why. She wrote the decision was solidified with the introduction of the new council in April last year. 

When the records coordinator and archivist cannot attend a private session, usually the speaker of council or another member will record the minutes for council meetings and the president will record the minutes for executive meetings.

“As per the RCA job description, the RCA should ‘maintain internal and confidential records — including in-camera governance information,’” Stern wrote. 

The Runner did not receive a response about attaining the Jan. 12 in-camera meeting minutes before publication time. 

Randhawa says they decided to go in-camera because the “debate” during the Jan. 12 council meeting was going in a different direction, taking a longer time than planned, and there were legal issues revolving around CASA. 

“We didn’t want to have a legal debate on anything,” Randhawa says. “Anything could have been pushed back on us if any of the council members would have stated anything or something.” 

Kochhar says council decided to vote on ending the CASA membership in an in-camera session as they wanted to have a transparent discussion. 

“We decided to put this to the council, [as] we wanted a transparent discussion to happen,” Kochhar says. 

Randhawa says he has been debating ending the KSA’s CASA membership since April last year in addition to change’s to the association’s departments.

“External Affairs Committee also had a meeting regarding these things. If you go back starting our council term, you can check we were questioning everything,” Randhawa says. “We were questioning our department, and we were also questioning we are a member of CASA.” 

Public external affairs committee, governance committee, internal committee, council, and executive meeting agendas and minutes posted on the KSA’s website don’t state conversations revolving around questioning or ending the membership before August. 

Executive meeting minutes in May and June show the committee discussed participating in the Foundations Conference and repaying their CASA membership fees. The governance committee on Sept. 28 discussed wanting to leave CASA as the benefits aren’t worth the membership. It also states “the sexual harassment allegation from a CASA member isn’t trustworthy either.” 

The Sept. 29 external affairs committee minutes mention having a meeting the following week to “discuss the issues at CASA.” However, Sept. 29 is the latest date for the minutes of the external affairs committee. 

To end a membership with CASA, Kochhar says a student association needs to let them know 30 to 90 days in advance to present to the council. She says discussions about the CASA membership began in November, a week before the Advocacy Week conference, from Nov. 20 to 24. 

“It was not about leaving, it was is it being fruitful? Are we getting what we want? And we were like, ‘Let’s wait for Advocacy Week, let’s see how things work out,” Kochhar says. “If this is something [that] people have been speaking about all year, maybe it is beneficial.” 

Advocacy Week is an annual conference where student associations go to Ottawa to talk with members of parliament across the country about issues that post-secondary students face. 

When Kochhar came back from the conference, she says she didn’t find it fruitful. She says when she talked to an MP, the experience was different at provincial meetings versus federal ones. 

“When we came back, I’m like, ‘It’s better if we can work on our province first, because [B.C. has] the second biggest [post-secondary institution in Canada], they are not part of anything, but they have students who know how to make a point and impact,” she says. “So that’s the reason, that is how this discussion came onto the table.” 

“We left it to the council, this is my point of view. Yes, you do lose the federal representation … but if you are that impactful, you can walk up and book an appointment, you can get what you want.” 

CASA Executive Director Wasiimah Joomun wrote in an email to The Runner that she could not comment on the situation to ensure the confidentiality and safety of the people involved. She says she received notice from the KSA about leaving CASA on Jan. 12. Their membership will end on April 11. 

While Joomun has not been in the position for a long time, she says code of conduct violations have been an issue in past CASA settings. She says it’s hard to say how big or small of an issue it is due to different delegates attending every year. 

“The magnitude of it from my [email] inbox, I can tell that this year is not the only year. I’ve seen from previous years some of the code of conduct violations,” Joomun says. 

CASA’s code of conduct goes over the grounds of the violations, which are violations of human rights, substance use, criminal behaviour, and business practices. It also discusses how to report a violation to the organization and examples of how each of these sections can be violated. 

The KSA is still a member of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), an organization that provides students a voice provincially and nationally across the country. They represent over 530,000 post-secondary students across Canada. 

Kochhar says the KSA will be focusing on the Alliance of BC Students (ABCS), which helps advocate for post-secondary students at the provincial level.

Vice-President of Student Life Jashanpreet Singh Sekhon says he is not in favour of the KSA ending its CASA membership. Sekhon was not present during the meeting, so he was not able to vote, he says. 

“I’m not feeling quite positive about it, I think they work for students,” Sekhon says. “But there may be some point which I can’t see.” 

He says the KSA ended its membership because they were paying a lot in fees that include conferences, transportation, and other expenses to be a member. 

In the preliminary election results released on Feb. 21, Sekhon was re-elected for the next term in council. He says he will talk to the new council members and see why it was voted out and their thoughts on bringing back CASA to the KSA. 

“If there is no valid reason to leave CASA, I will definitely try what is best for KPU students.” 

KPU student Sylvia Simpson is asking the KSA to reconsider their decision, not only for her, but for future students. 

“I’m very sad about it, I hope that they can reconsider because I feel like it’s a missed opportunity for other Indigenous students … [and] future students,” Simpson says. 

“Having that opportunity to be able to go to Ottawa and meet people in government, who make policy changes and big decisions that affect all Canadians and students.” 

Simpson is part of CASA’s National Indigenous Advocacy Committee (NIAC). With the KSA ending their CASA membership, Simpson won’t be able to advocate for Indigenous issues in Ottawa as a student from KPU. 

“If you’re going to a place as important as Parliament Hill to represent your province and your school, it’s very important to put your best foot forward,” Simpson says. “I [am] very sad that we don’t have that opportunity again.” 

Simpson attended the Jan. 12 council meeting to share her concerns about the KSA possibly ending their CASA membership. After hearing the decision, she feels her voice or concerns didn’t matter as they made the decision afterwards in an in-camera session. 

“I didn’t feel like it really mattered to them what my thoughts or opinions were, they’d already made their decision when they went to the table.” 

Simpson says she understands the need to focus on provincial advocacy, but focusing on both provincial and federal is vital. She says CASA has given her opportunities she didn’t have before, and is asking for more awareness about the KSA and voting processes. 

“I’m in my fourth year, and it was just last summer that I found out about all of this stuff and opportunities for Indigenous people through CASA and council,” she says. 

“If it were possible they can reconsider,” Simpson says. “I feel like it [is] vital for somebody  myself [and] future Indigenous students to have the opportunity to go out and stand and speak with senators, council members, and … to be able to learn to advocate for Indigenous issues.” 

Moving forward, Randhawa wrote that the KSA is talking about the allegations and will make sure things like this don’t happen again. 

“We’ll make some changes to stop any drama like this in the future,” he wrote.