Bylaw amendment passes at AGM with 2/3 majority.
Despite pushback from a small group, the bylaws have been updated after an amendment passed at the recent Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The Student Association (SA) held its AGM Oct. 29, from 12 Noon to 2 p.m. While routine items such as disclosure of financial statements and key updates took place, the highlight of the meeting was item nine, a proposed amendment to the bylaws. The intention of the amendment is to add onto the eligibility requirements already enshrined within the bylaws.
With the item having passed, those who wish to run for the board must “not have been found guilty of serious misconduct of any kind following an investigation by the Association (in a formal investigation under the applicable Employment Human Resources Policy), the Board Mediation Committee, the Review Officer, or any investigator acting on any of their behalf.”
The bylaws are the rules under which the SA is governed. All non-profit organizations such as the SA have their own bylaws which contain language such as this.
Toby Lew, director of education & equity, was fully in favour of this item and motivated it at the meeting.
“It is an essential barrier to ensure that we’re bringing in board members that are genuine and willing to work and create a healthy working environment. The provision itself stipulates that they are not found guilty of serious misconduct, and it was very explicit as to how we define serious misconduct, which parties and entities will have the right to give out that ruling, and it is essential to have that in place to not just create a healthy working environment, but also to protect the association, to protect the student body from bringing in someone that is coming in with ill intent, and also preventing protecting our employees in the association from harm from individuals who, like I said, are not here to work and create a fruitful and healthy environment to work,” Lew noted.
During the AGM, Nikita Yadav, director of communications & internal, was leading the charge against having this item pass. During both the AGM and emergency meeting of the board – held Oct. 6, 2025 – she alleged multiple times that these bylaw changes could be “weaponized” against people; she did not provide concrete evidence to backup the claims.
During the Oct. 6 emergency meeting, Ben Millard, legal counsel for the SA, described the process that committees and executive members went through to work on the amendment. He also pointed out that members worked this out to ensure it only applied in the most serious of circumstances.
“So, the policies and procedures committee, the members of that committee, had some good feedback, and we made some revisions to really narrow this provision and only have it apply in the most serious circumstances where there’s been formal investigation and a finding of serious misconduct. And that made it through the policies and procedure committee to be presented to you,” said Millard.
Within the bylaw amendment “serious misconduct” includes:
- discrimination or harassment;
- threats or violence of any kind;
- dishonest, intentional and/or bad faith misconduct;
- unlawful reprisals; and
- any other misconduct that was determined to be serious misconduct by the investigating entity.
It should be noted that Yadav is part of the policies and procedures committee, the group which worked on this bylaw amendment before it was brought to the larger group.
Rosalyn Miller, general manager of the SA, added some clarity on how the process of a misconduct investigation would go, including how the powers of the review officer (RO) and board mediation committee (BMC) work.
“The RO can only forward files as an initial step to the BMC and the BMC is comprised of students who ultimately make the final decision and no member of the board can be removed, suspended or impeached unless the BMC comprising of students make that ruling. The students of GBC make the final determinations,” said Miller.
At the AGM, Bryndoven O’Krafka, community services & early childhood educational centre representative, pointed out that working in and with certain industries and groups requires background checks. She says the bylaw amendment provides the SA with a similar padding to provide students with peace of mind that their elected officials have no checkered pasts.
“When we think about the board that we have right now, we want to make these motions follow through for the next elections so that we can have the strongest board elected now, right now I’m talking as a student, because I have been in the early childhood education program. This is my second year, and with working with children, we have certain rules and regulations we have to follow, such as being able to have a valid police check,” said O’Krafka. “I’m going to say that in my eyes, this is kind of like the similar thing for a board of directors to have something that tells the students that the person that is being elected has not committed a crime. I believe this is important, because just like children are vulnerable, I think students are vulnerable, and we are going to be representing the students. So why wouldn’t we want to have a board that has the best intentions and can support with a welcoming pairing atmosphere.”
Each year the Student Association (SA) hosts an AGM, bringing membership together to discuss and vote upon items which affect the organization – and the student membership as a whole. In addition to the bylaw amendment, students will hear about the SA’s financial status among other items.
