Photos show damaged resort room KSA councillors stayed in during Kelowna retreat
Retreat attendees were charged $2,250 in cleaning fees
Photos The Runner received that show damages to La Casa Lakeside Resort room. (File photo)
A hotel room that Kwantlen Student Association councillors stayed in at Kelowna B.C.’s La Casa Lakeside Resort was left damaged, photos anonymously sent to The Runner depict.
Members of the KSA council went on a two-night retreat over Labour Day weekend this past summer — a trip that cost almost $20,000, The Runner previously reported. Of that money, $2,250 went towards a “cleaning charge,” the trip’s financial breakdown showed.
One of the photos shows an outdoor patio where food, drinks, and garbage were left out on rearranged furniture. A different photo shows a rip in a barbeque cover, while another is of a broken wine glass left scattered on the patio floor. A separate photo shows dirty dishes and garbage left in the kitchen. The final photo is of a spill on the carpeted floor, with some of it extending to the white sheet of a bed.
The Runner reached out to La Casa Lakeside Resort to verify that these photos are of the room that KSA councillors stayed in. The resort said that all information has been sent to the KSA, which was “true and accurate.”
Kwantlen Polytechnic University has a non-academic student conduct policy, ST7, which outlines that the standards of conduct require students to “demonstrate respect and care to members of the University’s community and to the University’s, and its community members’ property and resources.”
“The Student Conduct (Non-Academic) Policy can be applied to off-campus activities that represent the university or raise concern for the health and safety of students or the university community,” Jennifer Jordan, director of KPU’s Student Rights and Responsibilities Office, wrote in an email statement to The Runner.
“In the case of an off-campus retreat hosted by the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA), complaints of student behaviour should be brought forward directly to the KSA.”
As previously reported by The Runner, three council members — Nitin Aggarwal, Lesli Sangha, and Ranveer Singh — said they were not informed about this council retreat.
Of the 17 people who went on the retreat, about five attendees were KPU students but not KSA councillors, and about eight were outsiders, being neither a KPU student nor a KSA councillor, Aggarwal, who has since resigned from his position as Richmond campus representative, told The Runner.
According to the trip’s financial breakdown, retreat attendees spent $1,632.85 at La Casa Lakeside Resort and $2,329.28 at Siesta Suites. A total of $4,577.40 was spent on food, of which $2,107.37 was spent at Taaz Indian Restaurant, amounting to about $124 per person. Attendees also went parasailing and kayaking, and took part in a boat tour, totalling $3,412.47 for the activities.
The Runner reached out to KSA President Yashanpreet Guron, Associate President Ishant Goyal, and Executive Director Timothii Ragavan for a comment on the damages. They did not respond before publication. The Runner will provide updates as they become available.
