KSA council pulls $241,000 from reserves and increases associate president honorarium to $9,000

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The Kwantlen Student Association pulled $241,000 from their reserves to allocate into various budgets that have started to run dry during a council meeting on Sept. 6.

An amount of $30,000 was added for ordering KSA swag, another $30,000 was added for conferences, $12,000 was added for the September welcome week event, and $20,000 was added for local mileage. 

A total of $10,000 was added for executive retreats and $40,000 was added for orientation and development, which are subsumed in the wages and benefits of elected officials in the KSA’s 2024 budget, which can be found on their website. 

Another $10,000 was added for sports prizes and appreciation, which is a new budget, and $9,000 was added for the January 2025 welcome week. However, the budget for 2025 is yet to be created. As per the KSA’s bylaws, the budget should be recommended “for the ensuing Fiscal Year to Council by no later than the first day of December.”

“The funds for that can’t be low yet because the budget doesn’t exist,” Advocacy Coordinator John O’Brian said. 

Students of Colour Representative Ishant Goyal said the funds pulled from the reserves for the January welcome week will be added to next year’s budget. 

An amount of $80,000 was added for legal and professional fees. Students with Disabilities Representative Lesli Sangha said over the past few years, the KSA’s legal fees have been maintained at around $60,000 for governance work. 

“I’m very concerned about this increase in legal and professional fees to be added on for this year because there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to do business within the retainer that we’ve paid [previously],” she said. 

Goyal said the legal fees are high at the moment because “almost everything is now going to legal counsel.” 

Council also increased the associate president honorarium from $5,000 to $9,000, which is paid out semesterly. Goyal was appointed associate president in July, in which he assists the president with their duties and attends executive committee meetings, among other responsibilities.  

The associate president honorarium increase was a recommendation from the governance committee, which Goyal is a member of. 

Richmond Campus Representative Nitin Aggarwal asked where in the KSA’s budget the increase in pay will be coming from. 

“The accounting team will have to look into that. I believe it will be coming from either reserves or something along those lines,” Executive Director Timothii Ragavan said, adding that $9,000 was an “arbitrary number” that the governance committee came up with. 

Goyal said the decided amount came out of a discussion with the legal counsel about what they “see is around the market and then also around the roles and responsibilities of the associate president.” 

Kwantlen Polytechnic University student Senator Jasnoor Bains asked why the associate president honorarium is being increased. 

“What extraordinary work is being done by the associate president? We would all like to know, and where were the meeting minutes posted for all of the committees?” she said. 

“These questions should never come if there was transparency within the council and the students. I firmly believe the funds are being used inappropriately. I know it’s a very big statement to say, but it feels like dictatorship.” 

Goyal directed Bains’s questions to KSA President Yashanpreet Guron, who wasn’t present at the meeting. 

“This is a very weird thing that the president of KSA is missing from the meeting, and is this not a lack of responsibility?” Bains asked. 

Vice-President External Affairs Paramvir Singh said Guron was not present due to being “busy with family problems.” 

Bains, Aggarwal, and Sangha also brought up that council had attended a retreat in Kelowna over the Labour Day weekend, which not all council members were informed of and some KPU students attended. 

“No email was sent out to me, and I guess Lesli as well,” Aggarwal said. “We weren’t aware about that. Then it just happened in a [Snapchat], and we got to know from students that it happened after two days of the council retreat that went to Kelowna.” 

Bains asked why students were at the retreat if it was only for council members. 

“We can see Instagram stories and posts and all that stuff, so we all know who were there at the Kelowna retreat,” she said. 

Events Coordinator Balkaran Singh wrote in the meeting chatbox that retreat was “co planned along with ecomm and associate president and the events did only the hotel bookings and transportation.”

Ragavan said he can launch an investigation into the Kelowna retreat. 

“I have a request also for the [executive director] to look into this, because if there was a retreat, I was not given the opportunity to respond on whether I would like to attend it or not. So I was not even aware that a retreat took place,” Sangha said. 

Council also changed their regulations to require all candidates running in the KSA elections to provide a police information or criminal record check to the chief returning officer within seven days of the nomination period. Students should acquire the checks at their own expense, and failure to provide them would result in disqualification. 

“The cost is potentially a barrier to people. I just wanted to make sure you checked … it’s not considered to be discrimination … against people with a criminal record, because that’s specifically not allowed,” O’Brian said. 

Goyal said the change was a recommendation from the legal counsel.

Any candidate contesting for elections who engages in defamation or derogatory remarks against the KSA will be disqualified from the election, as per amendments to the regulations. Derogatory remarks include hateful, discriminatory, or offensive comments intended to damage the reputation or standing of the KSA. 

“I do just want to point out quickly that most of you did campaign making derogatory marks about the KSA last year. It is very normal for people running for student union campaigns to have critical things to say about the incumbents in the student union,” O’Brian said. 

Goyal said this change was also a recommendation from legal counsel.

During the meeting was an opportunity for the executive committee to present their work reports, which were sent out via email prior to the meeting. The reports were not read out during the meeting. 

In his report, Guron wrote the welcome week event held on Sept. 3 was a success and feedback from the event was “overwhelmingly positive.” Guron has also been working with clubs to increase student membership, and is planning mental health and wellness initiatives. 

Paramvir wrote he has been working with local businesses to offer student discounts. He is also working on compiling a report to highlight key areas where international students can be supported, and is planning to talk with local government officials “to advocate for improved transit options and address housing affordability issues.” 

He also wrote that he has been in contact with the Alliance of BC Students (ABCS) chair to plan advocacy week through ABCS. Goyal is the chair of ABCS. 

In Goyal’s report, he wrote he has been “keeping everything running smoothly behind the scenes” and working to refine the KSA’s long-term strategic vision. 

The Runner did not receive copies of reports from VP Finance and Operations Simranjot Sekhon and VP University Affairs Yugveer Gill.

The next KSA council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 27 at noon. Scheduled council meetings are currently not listed on the KSA’s website. Interested students can email info@kusa.ca to join.