News Brief: KSA council fails to appoint executive committee for 5th time, approves $13,000 for ‘Lok Sewa’ event

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The Kwantlen Student Association held a council meeting on June 7 at 12:00 pm in Birch 250 on Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Surrey campus and online via Microsoft Teams. 

Council members Nitin Aggarwal, Simranjeet Singh, Jashanpreet Singh Sekhon, Paramvir Singh Johal, Jaskaran Sohal, Ishant Goyal, Lesli Sangha, Suhana Gill, Jasmine Kaur Kochhar, Simranjot Sekhon, Keerat Goyal, Levi Okrah, Bhoomika Seera, and Ranveer Singh were in attendance. Abhijeet Singh, Yashanpreet Guron, Arnav Grover, Yugveer Gill, Dishika Gour, Yuvraj Bains, Nishant Kapoor, Harpal Singh were absent. 

The council had a presentation from Chief Returning Officer Sameer Ismail. Executive Director Timothii Ragavan proposed a motion to move the presentation in-camera, which passed. 

The next item on the agenda was to appoint Abhijeet, Grover, Seera, Simranjot, and Jashanpreet as members of the internal committee, who had been elected at the previous council meeting. Speaker of Council Amrinder Sandhu read a message from the KSA’s legal counsel, Miller Thomson LLP, regarding the appointment. 

“[When] the elections are announced, the candidates that received the majority of the votes are elected in the order of most votes received. The election is then complete,” he said. 

“There’s no requirement to have subsequent resolutions confirming or ratifying the election unless the bylaws or the Regulations provide otherwise, which they do in the case of the executive committee.” 

Sandhu then confirmed the candidates who won internal committee elections are “automatically appointed” into the committee.  

Council then moved on to approve the results of the executive committee election, which took place on April 19. A motion to appoint Yugveer as vice president (VP) finance and operations, Paramvir as VP university affairs, Kochhar as VP external affairs, and Guron as VP student life to the executive committee was moved, but failed to pass for the fifth time. 

Ragavan then presented his report and said the KSA will start classroom presentations in the fall semester to educate students about the association and the services they offer. 

During the reports from constituency representatives, a motion to provide KSA councillors with desk name plates and business cards for networking failed. 

In her report, Suhana, the women’s representative, said she focused on networking, community dialogue, media appearances, and advocacy over the past couple of weeks. She also attended the Alliance of BC Students’ (ABCS) skills and training conference alongside Kochhar, Sangha, Goyal, and Ranveer, and “gained valuable knowledge and insights to make the KSA a better council for the students.” 

Suhana was also invited to RED FM Vancouver with Johal to discuss their “Supporting International Students: A Community Dialogue” event on May 9, along with the challenges students face, potential solutions, and how to build support systems. 

Kochhar, a faculty of arts representative, said she gained confidence and a valuable set of skills at the ABCS conference to help post-secondary students achieve their goals and push the KSA towards excellence. Ranveer, a faculty of science and horticulture representative, said the conference provided an opportunity to connect with other council members and network with student unions outside of KPU.

Kapoor, a faculty of business representative, said “Welcome Week” was a success as he talked to students about their time at KPU and the importance of appreciating differences, making friends, and fostering diversity.

Several motions to provide clubs with funding were approved in addition to $13,538.35 for the “Lok Sewa” event, which aims to “promote cultural awareness and unity by offering a traditional Sikh community meal (Langar) and showcasing the art of turban tying,” the event’s planning tool reads. 

Ragavan said he had a meeting with KPU about holding the event at the Surrey campus courtyard, which he’s hoping will be approved by the end of this week. 

The meeting adjourned at 4:11 pm. The next KSA council meeting is scheduled for June 13 at 1:00 pm. Scheduled council meetings are currently not listed on the KSA’s website. Interested students can email info@kusa.ca to join.