KSA council discusses cancelling byelection
Multiple council members were also removed from all committees
The next KSA council meeting will be on Oct. 16. (File photo)
The Kwantlen Student Association was set to hold a byelection on Nov. 18 to fill nine vacancies on council. But, at the Oct. 1 council meeting, Executive Director Timothii Ragavan said it’s “very unfeasible” for the KSA to hold a byelection.
The KSA’s bylaws state that a byelection must be held if there are more than eight vacancies, unless there are less than 150 days left of the council term, where two-thirds of council can vote to not hold it.
“[Nov. 18] will be [133] days prior to the end of the term, which allows council to make the decision on whether the by-election is absolutely necessary,” Ragavan said.
The KSA discussed holding a byelection at council’s first meeting on April 15 — almost six months ago. At the time, Ragavan said it would be suitable to hold an election in June or September.
To hold an election, the KSA also needs a chief returning officer (CRO). In his report, Vice President (VP) University Affairs Harwinder Singh said the KSA is still hiring a new CRO.
“When we look at the current finance of the KSA, the cost to reward ratio for a byelection does seem a little challenging,” Ragavan said.
He added that any new council members elected will begin their term on Nov. 19 or 20 — three weeks before the end of the fall semester.
The 2026-27 KSA council’s term will end on March 31.
Committee changes
KSA council also changed committee appointments at the meeting.
Four council members now sit on all eight committees: Civic Plaza Rep. Gurnoor Singh, Students of Colour Rep. Sukhpalpreet Singh, Women’s Rep. Rukmandeep Kaur, and Arts Rep. Harkomalpreet Singh.
Business Rep. Gurustat Singh is on all committees except governance. Science and Horticulture Rep. Simranpreet Kaur is on all committees except internal.
President and VP Finance and Operations Anmol Bansal, VP Student Life Anirudh Agnihotri, Students with Disabilities Rep. Mehakpreet Singh, and Business Reps. Jasman Singh and Yuvraj Singh were removed from all committees.
In the meeting chat, Gurnoor wrote that Bansal and Agnihotri were removed as they are part of the executive committee, while Jasman completed his term.
However, the KSA’s bylaws require executives to sit on the committee pertaining to their portfolio — student life, finance and operations, university affairs, or external.
“I don’t think there are any rules against making committee member changes,” Rukmandeep said. “As the meetings for the committees are being held, people are just realizing that this is the committee that I feel I can be a part of or not. It’s just being done based on preferences.”
The next KSA council meeting is on Oct. 16 at 1:00 pm, and the next executive committee meeting is on Oct. 28 at 1:00 pm. Students can email info@kusa.ca for more information.
