Statement from the Board of Directors of the Ontario Tech Student Union
The Ontario Tech Student Union Board of Directors has received your call to action through your numerous emails. We have heard your concerns about the Bylaws, downtown representation, transparency, governance, and the Special General Meeting. We have also read about your specific concerns regarding individuals within the organization. Thank you for your patience as we diligently work to represent you as your Board of Directors. We want to begin by addressing the Special General Meeting announced on November 6th, 2024.
This was brought to our attention through the hundreds of emails by you, the General Members, expressing your concerns. We were unaware of this Special General Meeting being proposed, which was done without discussing it with the Board. We were also made aware of the proposed motions presented in the petition, including removing the VP Downtown position. The Board did not approve these motions, which were added without the Board’s knowledge. Please refer to the Board’s Septem- ber 2024 Meeting Minutes, where it is noted that these specific Bylaw amendments presented in our monthly Board meeting were tabled and not approved by the Board.
The OTSU’s VP of Student Life significantly contravened Bylaws 12.1 and 12.2. While acting as an Executive and a Member simultaneously, they accessed tools that would only be available to an employee of the Student Union. This includes utiliz- ing their influence as an Executive to direct staff to use OTSU resources such as Formstack, the Website, and Instagram to advance her goals without the approval of the Board. The Board unequivocally condemns this action and will remove the proposal from all OTSU materials effective immediately.
In general, allowing Executives to bypass the Board undermines the integrity of the decision-making process and creates a dangerous precedent. Executives hold a significant responsibility to represent students, and they must respect the authority of the Board to maintain transparency and accountability.
In addition, according to Bylaws 4.7 and 4.8, the Human Resources Generalist and Chief Returning Officer of the OTSU, cannot simply replace the Chair of a Meeting of the Members. The Bylaw outlines a clear process for the appointment of a new Chair. This process was broken.
We ask for your continued patience and support as we work towards solving these issues. The Board’s main forum is our board meetings. You will find the rest of our decisions concerning your issues presented at our November Board Meeting on November 25th, 2024 at SHA 136. As the voice of the students of the Ontario Tech Student Union, we are reviewing the student union’s internal operations to ensure that the students are served in their best interests.
Sincerely,
OTSU Board of Directors 2024/25
