‘That’s not democracy’: KSA breaks regulations to remove vice-president finance

Vice-President (VP) Finance and Operations Manmeet Kaur was removed from the executive committee without the notice required by the Kwantlen Student Association’s regulations, during a Feb. 27 council meeting.

Council first passed a motion to remove Kaur from the VP position, then suspended the regulations to bypass the removal requirements.

Kaur did not attend the council meeting. 

“I became aware that my position had been listed as vacant only after reviewing the circulated agenda for the upcoming council meeting,” she wrote in a statement to The Runner.

The agenda was sent out on Feb. 24 at nearly 7:00 pm. Last April, Kaur ran unopposed for her position on the executive committee and was unanimously elected by council.

President and VP University Affairs Gurdit Singh proposed the motion to remove Kaur during question period.

Council voted to amend the agenda to include this motion, which was moved by Associate President Anmol Bansal and seconded by Mature Students Representative Ashutosh Dhingra.

Speaker of Council Amandeep Kaur Brar did not say whether the motion passed or was defeated.

“I had not received any formal written confirmation or communication regarding a decision affecting my role or the procedural basis for such action,” Kaur wrote.

A member of the executive committee may be removed by a two-thirds resolution of council based on a joint recommendation from the governance and internal committees, as per the KSA’s regulations.

Bansal chairs the governance committee, and the internal committee chair position is vacant. Both committees have not yet met in 2026.

Singh did not clarify whether the motion came from the governance and internal committees.

The executive must also be given at least 72-hour notice, provided brief reasoning for their removal, and given an opportunity to speak or write to council before the vote.

Kaur wrote that none of the regulations had been met for her removal.

Bansal and Dhingra moved and seconded the motion respectively to remove Kaur and were the only councillors to vote — both voting in favour. Singh, who had proposed the motion, VP Student Life Ishant Goyal, and VP External Affairs Rohit Uppal were all in attendance but did not vote.

Kaur requested clarification from KSA Executive Director Timothii Ragavan on March 1 and had not received a response by publication time. She will still be the women’s representative until the end of this council’s term on March 31.

Some students in attendance raised concerns that the motion was out of order.

“That’s not democracy. You understand?” said Elysia Ritchotte, the newly elected 2026-27 KSA Indigenous students representative.

“It’s called unanimous consent, if there is no one opposing the motion,” Dhingra wrote in the meeting’s Microsoft Teams chat.

Dhingra then moved a motion to suspend the regulations “to give effect to” the motion for Kaur’s removal.

“That’s wild and unnecessary,” Ritchotte wrote in the meeting chat.

Council can suspend the regulations by a two-thirds resolution if a specified timeframe is provided and that the suspension ends by March 31 of the year it was effected.

No timeframe was provided.

“If you can suspend the regulations for every motion, what value do the regulations even hold?” KPU student Timothy Pavlushik wrote in the meeting chat.

“I think suspending the regulations is typically left for … more severe situations,” said Diamond Obera, the KSA’s policy and political affairs coordinator.

The motion was approved, and Brar ended the meeting while in question period.

“Question period is already done and you had time to ask questions,” Bansal wrote in the meeting chat. “[The] meeting is adjourned by [the] speaker.”

Goyal also announced his resignation from the executive committee “due to health reasons.” He will continue as a business representative until March 31.

“I [will] not be able to complete the full portfolio and that would not be productive on my portfolio,” Goyal said.

He has been a member of the KSA’s executive committee since the 2024-25 council. Goyal was the 2024-25 associate president and was re-elected to the executive committee as VP student life during an April 7, 2025 council meeting.

With Kaur and Goyal’s absence, the executive committee now has just three members: Singh, Uppal, and Bansal. As associate president, Bansal is a non-voting member of the committee.

The next KSA council meeting is scheduled for today at 1:00 pm. Students can email info@kusa.ca for more information.