By: Lexey Burns, SFU Student
On October 30, the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) held their annual general meeting (AGM). During the meeting, executives went over the 2023–24 financial report, passed amendments to bylaws, went over committee highlights, and had an auditor from audit service Thompkins Wozny present the SFSS’ audited financial statements.
The SFSS’ attendance requirement, also known as a quorum, is 250 members of the society, which is“the minimum number of members that must be present in order for a meeting to be considered legitimate.” This was the first time in three years the SFSS was able to make quorum. Due to this, the meeting minutes from the previous two AGMs have not been received and filed until now.
Financial presentation
Simar Sahota, vice-president finance and services, highlighted the income and expenses from the general fund — the main operating fund that pays for the majority of the SFSS’ “programs, services, staffing, student group funding, and other key expenditures” — during the finance report. The SFSS’ general fund saw an increase in expenses, resulting in a loss of $473,758, while revenue “remained stable.” For one, the SFSS “increased its investment in student services, while also expanding financial support for student clubs and groups.”
Sahota also reported a decrease of approximately $150,000 in the Undergraduate Health Plan fund. The SFSS “plans to propose a referendum in the near future” to increase the Health and Dental Plan levy. This is to sustain the fund’s balance, without relying on it. The SFSS also plans to increase the Student Activity Fee as the union is struggling with inflation costs of ongoing services, programs, and events. The financial report claims that “with rising costs due to inflation and increased student engagement, expenses have exceeded budgeted amounts, resulting in a growing deficit.” The SFSS hopes to work towards balancing its budget.
The SFSS “plans to propose a referendum in the near future” to increase the Health and Dental Plan levy.
Bylaws
The SFSS presented three motions to change certain bylaws to fix grammatical errors or edit for clarification. There were technical difficulties with verifying student emails at the beginning of the meeting, which prevented the meeting from reaching quorum within the first 30 minutes of the appointed start time. Due to this, Benjamin Tischler, previous 2022 vice chair of Council, did not believe the meeting’s quorum had been met and moved to postpone these motions to amend the bylaws indefinitely. SFSS president Emmanuel Adeboyega explained that they did have quorum because technical difficulties “prolonged the start time.” He said that because of this delay, the 30-minute period to meet quorum did not start exactly at 5:30 p.m. Tischler believed it should start at the time the SFSS advertised.
Tischler explained that the motions “should pass — they should have passed two years ago in fact, but unfortunately, we didn’t have quorum for a similar reason why we don’t today. We need to make sure these motions pass right.” Adeboyega said the SFSS hopes to pass the motions and then seek legal support to ensure the process was correct. “[Tischler] does not have those legal credentials to provide that legal support, so that’s why we will not be taking his advice,” he said. A vote was held to come to a conclusion, with the majority voting to not postpone amending the bylaws.
In the first motion, 32 bylaws were changed, whereas in the second motion, 20 bylaws were changed and seven new subsections were added. One new subsection added — By-law 6(20)(a) — grants members “full speaking rights in meetings, subject to limitations via regulation.” The third motion focused on changing bylaws to reflect transparency in Council electronic voting. All of the motions passed.
