KSA dismisses CRO during in-camera session, increases meal allowance at Grassroots Café
Council voted to relieve Sameer Ismail of his duties during a meeting on June 13
The KSA held a council meeting in a hybrid format on June 13. (File photo)
The Kwantlen Student Association held a council meeting on June 13 at 1:00 pm where they appointed an executive committee, amended their Regulations regarding general election candidate eligibility, and passed motions in-camera in relation to the Chief Returning Officer’s (CRO) contract and an increase in meal allowance at Grassroots Café.
The Runner was unable to attend this council meeting due to limited staff availability and technical difficulties joining the meeting virtually.
According to the meeting minutes, Students of Colour Representative Ishant Goyal put forward a motion to re-hold the executive committee elections, which was approved. The first executive committee elections took place on April 19, where Faculty of Arts Representative Yugveer Gill, International Students Representative Paramvir Singh, Faculty of Arts Representative Jasmine Kaur Kochhar, and Cloverdale Campus Representative Yashanpreet Guron were elected. However, council failed to approve the election results for just under two months.
After the re-holding the elections, Gill was appointed vice-president (VP) university affairs, Singh was appointed VP external affairs, Faculty of Business Representative Simranjot Sekhon was appointed VP finance and operations, and Guron was appointed VP student life. Goyal nominated these councillors for the re-election and no further nominations were received, according to the meeting minutes.
Goyal then put forward a motion to move in-camera with the KSA’s Executive Director Timothii Ragavan, Speaker of Council Amrinder Sandhu, previous president Abdullah Randhawa, Kwantlen Polytechnic University students Harman Singh and Jaskirat Bains, along with the Events Coordinator Balkaran Singh.
In-camera sessions are private discussions for only legal and human resource matters, the purchase or sale of property, and funds related directly to such, according to the KSA’s bylaws. Council can only discuss matters that don’t fall under such categories when there is unanimous consent.
Policy and Political Affairs Coordinator Diamond Obera asked why council was moving in-camera, to which Goyal said a reason isn’t needed as the vote was unanimous. Later in the meeting minutes, a legal reason was given for moving in-camera.
The Runner anonymously received screenshots of the in-camera session’s meeting chat, held through Microsoft Teams, in which Goyal put forward a motion to relive the KSA’s CRO Sameer Ismail from his duties along with a secondary motion that Ragavan and the internal committee look for a new CRO. Both motions were passed. The CRO is responsible for conducting elections and referenda.
According to the KSA’s Regulations, the CRO may be dismissed prior to the expiry of their contract with reason. No reason for dismissing Ismail was provided in the motion that was put forward. The Regulations also state that if the CRO is removed, council must appoint a new CRO or an outside body to fulfill the position’s duties at the time of said removal.
Goyal also put forward a motion that for every regular or special council meeting for the 2024-25 council’s term, the council’s meeting allowance at Grassroots Café “be increased from $12 to $25 per Councilor effective immediately for Speaker and Councilors.” An anonymous source told The Runner this motion was also approved.
The Runner reached out to Goyal for a comment on the motions he put forward during the in-camera session but he declined commenting, quoting the KSA’s Regulations.
“Directors shall use the utmost care and discretion in the handling of confidential and privileged information and shall not use such information for personal benefit or gain,” he wrote.
“Furthermore, Directors shall not disclose any information discussed in an in camera meeting of the Council without the authorization of the Council by Resolution.”
The Runner reached out to Ragavan for a comment about the motions and Ismail for a comment about his dismissal, but did not hear back before publication.
After the in-camera session, Goyal put forward a motion to amend the Regulations in regard to KSA general election candidate eligibility. The KSA’s bylaws say KPU students aged 16 or 17 can be a council member, provided the Regulations have a procedure to ensure the majority of council members are at least 18 years old. Previously, there was no such procedure in the Regulations.
The motion put forward established this procedure, which council approved retroactively. Women’s Representative Suhana Gill, who was 17 years old when she ran in the general elections, abstained from voting, along with Faculty of Design Representative Levi Okrah.
Students with Disabilities Representative Lesli Sangha asked if the motion had been drafted or reviewed by the KSA’s legal counsel, to which Ragavan confirmed the counsel had approved the motion.
