Frustration rises as KSA council struggles to appoint committees

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The Kwantlen Students Association held its second council meeting of the week on May 3 at 1:00 pm in a hybrid format where they voted to approve the executive committee election results for the third time. All council members were in attendance. 

The executive committee elections took place on April 19 where council members Yugveer Gill, Paramvir Singh, Jasmine Kaur Kochhar, and Yashanpreet Guron were voted into vice-president positions. Council voted to approve these results on April 19, April 29, and May 3, but the motion failed each time as a two-thirds majority vote was needed. On May 3, 12 council members voted yes and nine voted no. 

“If individuals are not in favour of supporting the [executive committee] or having the elections … with all due respect … we really cannot have any important business done in the council,” Kochhar said. 

“If individuals are not convinced with the people being elected, I guess we should give opportunities to see how it goes because it’s been a month, no sort of work has been done.” 

Also on the agenda was a motion to nominate and elect members for the internal committee. Business Representative Simranjot Sekhon said council did not receive proper notice of this motion, making it invalid. To move forward with the motion, council needed to give unanimous consent, which was not met. 

Motions to elect the internal committee have been on council meeting agendas since the 2024-25 council’s first meeting on April 4, and have failed to pass each meeting. According to the KSA’s Regulations, the executive committee must be appointed before any other committee. 

“Wasting more time is a waste of time and resources, it is unfortunate council members are against moving forward to the greater good of all the [Kwantlen Polytechnic University] students,” wrote Harpal Singh, a business representative, in the Microsoft Teams chat box. 

“I think we should shut down KSA rather than wasting resources of students,” Business Representative Keerat Goyal wrote. 

Queer Students Representative Arnav Grover wrote that “people just want [their] decision to be [the] final decision,” and “they don’t know the meaning of democracy.” 

“Can anyone tell how much resources we have wasted so far with these useless meetings.” 

Also in the meeting chat, Students with Disabilities Representative Lesli Sangha raised concerns regarding the increase in executive committee stipend pay, which the previous KSA council had raised from $1,273.69 to $1,592.80 on June 23, and it took effect immediately. 

According to the KSA’s Regulations, “any changes to the honoraria or pay structure shall not take effect until April 1.” 

“The previous Council attempted to suspend specific portions of the Regulations to try to avoid adhering to the requirement of a 2/3 recommendation of Council and 14 days of notice required for a Regulation change as well as to allow the Executive stipend increase to take effect before April 1,” Sangha wrote, adding they had improperly done so and “these are all breaches of the KSA Regulations.”

At the past two council meetings, a motion to conduct an investigation into the KSA’s internal operations from April 1, 2023 to present was discussed, debated, and, after a vote, failed to pass. 

“I’m concerned about the failed motion for a forensic enquiry,” Sangha wrote. 

“If a forensic audit takes place, it might reveal other breaches of the Regulations that put the KSA’s integrity at risk. As a Council member, I have a fiduciary duty to try to protect the organization from further controversy.” 

Sekhon asked if the money needed to be returned to the KSA since the motion was out of order. Executive Director Timothii Ragavan said he will ask the association’s legal counsel. The difference in stipend pay from the time it was raised in June until March 31, the end of the executive committee’s term, is around $5,700. 

Following the meeting, Business Representative Nishant Kapoor wrote an email to KSA staff asking about this breach of the Regulations, which was also sent to The Runner. 

“It raises questions of the credibility of our regulations, are the KSA Regulations only a document of formality or there is emphasis to adhere to them even?” Kapoor wrote. 

“As a Board of Director, I am concerned that if previous executives do not pay the money back to KSA, KSA regulations loses its credibility and KSA Accounting gets questioned about the payroll.” 

During the meeting, council passed a motion to approve $3,150 from the KSA’s events budget for “Empowerment in Every Sip: Women’s Tea Party and Panel Discussion.” Women’s Representative Suhana Gill is organizing this event, which will be held on May 30 at the KPU Surrey campus Conference Center. The event aims to bring together KPU students, faculty, and professionals to network and discuss the challenges and opportunities women face in various aspects of life. 

Students of Colour Representative Ishant Goyal requested access to the planning tool for this event, which Grover told Suhana to send in the meeting chat box. 

“That will be easier for people because they don’t get simple things,” he wrote. “They want complications for every thing I guess.”

Ishant presented a report and said he’d attended KPU’s summer semester student orientation as an orientation leader, in which he addressed students’ questions and “highlighted all the amazing services that KSA has to offer for students.” 

He also said himself along with other council members have been working to plan events that address societal issues. In terms of food insecurity, he’s hoping to start a hot meal project where students’ would be able to get a hot meal every week or so. He’s also looking into hosting a blood donation drive and organizing first-aid classes on campus for KPU students.

The next KSA council meeting will take place on May 17 at 12:00 pm. Students can email info@kusa.ca to join the meeting.