‘Almost unfeasible’: KSA council passes regulation changes ahead of general elections as ED expresses concern

The Kwantlen Student Association approved changes to its regulations during a council meeting on Dec. 12 after they were previously delayed three times.

The changes were first introduced during a Nov. 14 council meeting and subsequently pushed to the Nov. 21 and Dec. 5 council meetings.

In addition to implementing the changes — which were removing references to student clubs in the slating provision, correcting a typo, and reinstating the residency eligibility criteria for campus representative candidates — the motion also included two new actions.

First was affirming the council’s adoption of its regulations during the Oct. 9 council meeting “to be effective and valid.” At that meeting, council deleted and updated all of its regulations via a secret ballot, which some council members expressed concern about.

These changes included condensing the KSA’s mission, vision, and values statement, amending the composition of committees, and changing the mileage reimbursement rate for personal automobile travel by staff or elected officials to $0.70 per kilometre, among others.

At a Dec. 5 council meeting, Ragavan said the council did not meet proper notice requirements when it made the changes. The KSA bylaws note that council can alter the regulations if it provides 14 days’ notice and the existing and proposed revisions.

Vice-President Student Life Ishant Goyal said at the Dec. 12 council meeting that in light of the concerns and questions raised, the regulations are “being reaffirmed to be adopted again.”

The other change to the regulations was removing the reservation for the arts representative seat for third and fourth-year students. Goyal said that although this change is newly introduced, and therefore did not meet the 14-day notice threshold, it still follows the KSA bylaws since the motion passed unanimously.

The bylaws note that council can amend the regulations without notice and a recommendation from the governance committee, provided that the mover of the motion has received the unanimous consent of the present councillors.

“[OK] so we don’t even have a non-blacklined document available this time?” O’Brian asked in the meeting chat.

“The regulations were already circulated to council members earlier,” Goyal said.

After the motion passed, Ragavan said he wanted to reiterate that considering the large changes to the regulations and the looming general elections, it is “almost unfeasible” for himself, the chief returning officer (CRO), and KPU’s team to work with the updated rules.

“Within the next month, the preparations to make these changes are next to impossible on our side,” Ragavan said.

He also said after the motion passed that the changes should be proposed to the membership and councillors should not proceed until students had a chance to look into them.

“They should be able to see all the changes in the red and blacklined version, just so that they can discuss and maybe even join the next council meeting to look into these changes,” Ragavan said.

Goyal said the regulation changes were drafted with legal counsel, in line with feedback previously received from the CRO. He added enough notice has been provided since the regulations were given to council at the Oct. 9 meeting.

“[We] didn’t have sufficient notice at that time, but by now, more than 14 days have elapsed,” Goyal said.

Ragavan said while the CRO, KPU, and him have had continuous conversations about the changes since they were first proposed in October, they can’t predict what the outcome will be.

“Our concern will always be without any real trial-and-error period of this, we’re going to have to go by our first-time basis and hope that it goes well.”

The council also voted to appoint Gurdit Singh and Rohit Uppal to the positions of vice-president university affairs and vice-president external affairs respectively, effective Dec. 16. The motion noted the two who were previously holding these positions, Paramvir Singh and Harpal Singh, have their KSA membership ending this month.

The finance and operations committee must present the association’s budget to council by no later than Dec. 1, as outlined in the KSA bylaws, which has not happened.

In an email statement to The Runner, Vice-President Finance and Operations Manmeet Kaur wrote “the budget will be presented at the next Council meeting, or, at the latest, the subsequent meeting.”

“The budget is currently in discussion with the Finance Committee and is nearing completion,” she wrote. “We are currently waiting for the student enrolment projections from Accounting, after which the required adjustments will be made and the budget finalized.”

In his report to the council, Paramvir, president of the KSA, said he and the rest of the association’s delegation to the Université de Montréal in early November “met the people in office, and [they] asked them about their services.”

Records Coordinator and Archivist John O’Brian asked for clarification on who the delegation spoke to.

“It was, I think, the students’ department in Université de Montréal,” Paramvir said. “We went to their office and we just had a little bit [of a] chat with them.”

O’Brian asked if there was a specific organization, to which Paramvir said he does not remember the name.

Business Representative Gurdit, who was part of the delegation, said “we don’t remember the name of the organization, but it was the faculty of arts and faculty of business,” adding the group met with student representatives to discuss their services and students about the challenges they are facing.

When asked if they connected with both the student government and Université de Montréal officials, Arts Representative Jagjivan Sran, another delegate, wrote in the meeting chat that it was a “mix of them.”

The Runner has reached out to the KSA delegation to request more information about the trip and will provide updates as they become available.

Paramvir also said after talking with many students about throwing a KSA New Year’s party, the student union decided, in the end, to not hold the event.

Ragavan said he does not think it is feasible for the KSA to hold the event due to the association’s “budget constraint.” According to the KSA’s draft November financial statement, the student union is facing a $2,025,217 operations deficit.

Paramvir also said there will be an external mental health event open to students on Jan. 18 featuring motivational speakers. He said it is being put on by an events company, but he does not remember the name of it.

“[The speakers] will be listening to all the questions asked by students regarding mental health and they will provide solutions,” Paramvir said.

Ragavan added member services will make the tickets available to students in January and an announcement will be posted ahead of time with more information.

Ragavan said the KSA is still on track for its general elections, and that the association will be meeting with KPU on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the new year, rather than the usual Tuesday weekly meetings. He also said the KSA has worked on testing and finalizing its voting platforms and it should be ready to go with its election procedure in January.

Gurdit Singh of the Grassroots redevelopment committee said the cafe will have a new menu starting in the spring semester and that the KSA has changed its vendor to Sysco from Gordon Food Service.

Associate President Shawinderdeep Singh uploaded his report in the meeting chat, writing that he worked closely with the executive committee this month to “arrange an exciting paintball experience for KPU students, securing vendor partnerships and finalizing all event logistics for a high-energy recreational outing.”

“Tickets will be distributed directly to students in January 2026 by KSA Member Services through online platforms, campus postings, and social media channels to ensure maximum participation and engagement during the winter term,” Shawinderdeep wrote, adding that students can go whenever, as the tickets are valid for more than one year.

The next KSA council meeting is scheduled for Jan. 7 at 1:00 pm. Interested students can email info@kusa.ca to join the meeting.