On May 27, Jim Nosella, a sustainable energy engineering student, filed a claim against the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) with the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) concerning how the SFSS conducted their annual general meeting (AGM) last year. The CRT is an online tribunal that allows people to submit claims without having to obtain a lawyer and go to court.
During the meeting, a disagreement arose between Benjamin Tischler, the 2022 vice-chair of Council, and previous SFSS president Emmanuel Adeboyega around whether three bylaw motions could be voted on, as the meeting took longer than 30 minutes to reach quorum.
Quorum is “the minimum number of members that must be present in order for a meeting to be considered legitimate.” According to bylaw 4.4, if quorum has not been reached “within 30 minutes from the time appointed for the AGM,” 20 members total can make quorum and the meeting can deal with items listed in bylaw 4(3) a–f. Bylaw changes are not included in this. Ultimately, the three bylaws motions were voted on and passed during the AGM.
Nosella told The Peak that this issue was “raised by multiple members, myself included, during the AGM.”
Nosella brought this issue to the CRT to request that the bylaw changes be suspended and revoted at a future AGM that meets the quorum requirements.
According to the claim, the AGM in 2024 was scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m., but by 6:15 p.m., quorum had not been reached, and the meeting was not called to order until 6:33 p.m. As such, Nosella claimed the bylaw motions should not have been voted on. He told The Peak that this issue was “raised by multiple members, myself included, during the AGM.”
The SFSS was provided the claim on June 25, and on July 10, they responded to the claim, saying that they disagreed with Nosella’s interpretation of that clause: the bylaw “does not impose a requirement for the AGM to meet quorum at a certain time.” At the time of writing, Nosella awaits the arbitrator’s decision on who is in the right.
