The UTSU’s Annual General Meeting ended without a new board structure in place, thereby continuing the UTSU’s non-compliance with the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. After two years’ worth of negotiations among campus groups and three different board structure proposals, the question that remains is: What comes next?
“A lot of people have been asking that recently—are certain divisions on campus just fundamentally different from each other? … Maybe there should be a conversation about how to further parcel out representation in the UTSU. But right now, that’s not a productive topic,” VUSAC Co-President Ben Atkins said in an interview. “The only way forward, to preserve our union, is to improve it. And the way to do that is to pass the proposal that has already been elected by the majority of students.”
The selected board structure, proposed by Khrystyna Zhuk and Daman Singh, was expected to pass both election and ratification votes after months of development and negotiations from not only St. George campus groups, but also representatives from UTM. The proposal passed the election vote, which required a simple majority, but did not pass the ratification vote, which required a two-thirds supermajority.
UTSU’s representation of over 44,000 undergraduate and professional faculty students, within seven different colleges and two different campuses means that many interests are at play, which has made the selection and ratification of a new board structure all the more difficult.
A second meeting, with the explicit aim of ratifying a new board structure, is expected in the near future. Beyond this, receipt of the 2014-15 audited financial statements (in other words, approval regarding how the UTSU spent their money last year), requires immediate attention as well, as it was not addressed at the AGM due to time constraints. Several by-law amendments also demand attention in the near future.
With a certain level of doubt in the air, precautions are being taken and options explored with regard to Victoria College’s relationship with the UTSU. Although not a pressing concern at the moment, dissolution of the union will become a serious threat if non-compliance with the CNPCA persists.
“We continue to talk with our administration, our President, the Bursar, the Board of Regents, about Vic’s role in this—about Vic’s future in the UTSU, and in any campus-wide student organization. That’s important, simply because we would like to reform the union, and we have to prepare for any contingency,” Atkins said, while also stressing the immediate need to pass the elected board structure to avoid such a situation.
Continued efforts on the part of student governments campus-wide are still being made to avoid such a situation, and there is still hope that the elected board structure can and will be passed. Atkins particularly praised the efforts of Vic students for their involvement in the process.
“Because of the engagement and interest that Vic students have in preserving their representation and improving the union, we’re at the point where at least it is only one more step, which is ratification.”
With an operating budget of over $2.5 million, $1.35 million of which is collected from student membership fees, the future of the UTSU is an important concern for all students.
