KSA executive committee voting results weren’t approved, council members raise concerns during election

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The Kwantlen Student Association held its third council meeting for the 2024-25 term on April 19 at 11:00 am in a hybrid format through Microsoft Teams where they held the executive committee election. The election results failed to pass as a two-thirds majority vote was not met by council members. 

Council members Yugveer Gill, Nitin Aggarwal, Simranjeet Singh, Paramvir Johal, Jasmine Kaur Kochhar, Ishant Goyal, Jaskaran Sohal, and Yashanpreet Guron were nominated by other members or themselves to be on the executive committee. 

Gill and Aggarwal were nominated to be vice-president (VP) finance and operations, Simranjeet and Johal as VP university affairs, Kochhar and Goyal as VP external affairs, and Sohal and Guron for VP student life. When two council members are nominated for an executive position, a secret ballot takes place for council members to submit to the speaker of council. 

All 22 council members were in attendance, either in-person or online. After nominations, those selected had the opportunity to give a candidacy speech. 

Gill wrote in the Microsoft Teams chat he would like to contest for the position to navigate the finances of the student association from managing the honorariums and salaries to checking everything regarding funds. Aggarwal then gave his statement and said he would dedicate his full time into the role and follow all the duties under the bylaws and Regulations. 

Council members Yuvraj Bains, Arnav Grover, Keerat Goyal, and Kochhar raised concerns in the chat asking for more details on why Aggarwal should run for the position. 

“Does VP Finance position just revolve around following bylaws? What else would you offer to the student body and students[?]” Bains wrote, also asking when Aggrawal is graduating. 

Aggarwal said he is committed to the position full-time and would fulfill all duties under the bylaws and that the position has nothing to do with his graduation. 

“With all due respect seeing you in the office and mentioning bylaws over and again don’t define the duties of VP Finance and Operations. Kindly elaborate,” Kochhar wrote in the chat. 

Gill was elected as VP finance and operations. Johal then gave a statement on why he should be elected as VP university affairs and said he is passionate about enhancing student experience with a strong background in student leadership and community engagement. 

“I believe I can effectively represent the interests of our student body. My dedication to fostering positive relationships with faculty, administration, and fellow students makes me the ideal candidate to address the diverse needs of our university community,” Johal wrote. 

Council member Ranveer Singh wrote in the chat that his statement “sounds like ChatGPT.” 

Simranjeet’s statement was, “I tell you what to do and what to not.” Johal was elected to VP of University Affairs. 

Goyal then gave his statement on why he should be VP of external affairs. 

“I’m not just a candidate for vice president external affairs, I’m a passionate advocate for our community that I have had the honour to serve in various capacities,” Goyal said during the meeting, adding that he has involvement outside of the campus community with St. John Ambulance among others. 

“I will work tirelessly to build partnerships, advocate for our policies, and ensure that the voice of a community is heard loud and clear at every level of government.”

Grover raised concerns regarding Goyal’s statement and wrote, “ChatGPT Plagiarism,” which Goyal denied. Bains asked in the chat to clarify what Goyal has done during his time as a Board of Governors student representative. Goyal said students can check Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s website to see what motions he agreed to. 

Council member Levi Okrah raised concerns about Goyal’s behaviour and said he was subjected to “multiple instances of harassment by people associated with [his] party.” 

“How do you plan to address and rectify these concerns moving forward to ensure the trust of the community and student body is earned back?” Okrah said. 

Goyal said if elected, he would try his best to advocate on the local and provincial government levels. 

Kochhar said she was the previous VP external affairs and some of the events she hosted last year, such as “Brick by Brick,” and student advocacy is the “utmost priority,” during her candidacy statement. 

“As the primary contact of a student organization, external affairs is primarily dealing with politicians, keep a ventilate after MPs and MLAs, keep a check on how they [do] their work.”

Kochhar was elected. 

Guron submitted his statement in the chatbox for the VP student life position and wrote he would try his best to establish a fun and educational life on campus for students by organizing tabling events, gatherings for students, and “[having] a good time.” Sohal had no speech. Guron was elected. 

After the election, a motion was put forward to approve the results. The motion failed as 10 people voted yes and 12 voted no, which doesn’t meet a two-thirds majority vote as required in the Regulations. This means there is no executive committee. 

Council should elect executive committee members at its first meeting taking place on or after April 1, according to the Regulations. 

Electing the internal affairs committee was the next item on the agenda, however, with no executive committee, the Regulations must be suspended in order to elect other committees, which needs a two-thirds majority vote to pass. 

Kochhar moved a motion to suspend the Regulations to allow the internal committee to be appointed before the executive committee. Nine council members voted no, and the motion failed. 

Simranjeet proposed a motion to have an “experienced consultant” conduct an independent investigation looking into the hiring process of employees by the KSA, conducting an audit into the association’s finances and expenditures, reviewing and disclosing any conflicts of interest of council members (elected and resigned), and violations of bylaws and Regulations from April 1, 2023 to present. 

Kochhar said as student representatives, council has been elected to cater the needs of students, and “definitely not sit [and] check how the people have been hired by the organization.” 

She also raised concerns about how “no proper discussions” have been made during the third council meeting of the 2024-25 council. 

“I feel there was already instability in the last council, so I would like to get all the financial statements from the council members or [those] spent on [events]. I would like to get the proper inquiry. After that, we can go for the future council,” Simranjeet said. 

The financial statements and all the audit information for the year are available on the KSA’s website, Kochhar said, and looking into these inquiries will cost a lot in funds which could be used for students. The motion failed as it did not meet unanimous consent. 

“Many of our current council members have highlighted the importance of accountability and transparency of council in the past, so I’m quite disappointed in the hypocrisy of the result of the motion today. This was a chance to extinguish the rumors and resolve doubts to move forward with reliability, but instead, Council has shown this isn’t important,” students with disabilities representative Lesli Sangha wrote in the chatbox. 

“KPU wants transparency, the KSA needs transparency and students deserve transparency,” Sangha wrote. 

The meeting adjourned at 1:39 pm. The next KSA council meeting is scheduled for April 29 at 12:00 pm. Interested students can email info@kusa.ca to join. 

Editor’s Note: The print version of this article states the motion to approve the election results were 13 yes and seven voted no and the motion to bring an experienced consultant to investigate the KSA’s internal operations failed due to not meeting a two-thirds majority vote. The online article has been updated for accuracy. The Runner regrets the error.