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- PROBLEM: Your money is unprotected: This section lists how the RAF have dealt with your money since taking office in May 2005. Here's a bit of what's happened over the last year...
- Removal of external independent auditor...
- Liquidation of investments...
- New rules allow questionable, risky investment of student money...
- No budget or spending transparency...
- REMEDY: Ways your money can be protected...
1. PROBLEM: Your money is unprotected...
The sad truth of the matter is that the Reduce All Fees Party has abused the power given to them by the students of Kwantlen University College. Here's a bit of what's happened over the last year...
- Removal of external independent auditor: Illegally amended the KSA Bylaws to give the KSA Board of Directors power of the hiring and firing of Society auditors, a Bylaw which contravenes the Society Act of British Columbia;
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- Liquidation of investments: On June 27, 2005, in MOTION:EBOD2005-134 the Executive Board approved a motion to liquidate society investments that were held with Quadrus Investments, without reporting on why this was done, or reporting on where this money went to. This motion was out of order for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:
- the fact that it was moveded by Acting Director of Operations John Jeffries, who was not a voting member of the Executive Board. Mr. Jeffries was a non-elected student hired to perform the staff duties of the duly elected Director of Operations Mr. Mathew Huff who was on an approved leave of absense during the summer of 2005. As such, Mr. Jeffries did not carry a vote on any body in the KSA and therefore had no right to be moving or seconding any motions at any KSA meeting, let alone an Executive Board meeting.
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- New rules allow questionable, risky investment of student money: Amended Section VIII. Finances and Budget, Article 7. Investment of Society Funds (4) of the KSA Regulations which used to say that the KSA...
"may purchase or place the Society’s assets in secured investments such as deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, savings bonds, investment grade bonds and investments, government treasury bills and guaranteed investment certificates"
to say that the KSA...
"may purchase or place the Societys assets in investments such as realestate or reasonably secure land investments."
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- No budget or spending transparency: The Reduce All Fees Party has been notorious for not letting students know about what they are doing. This, in spite of the REDUCE ALL FEES Party Spring 2005 General Election question to students, asking, "why not see that money go towards something meaningful?" In the end, yes, it would be nice to see where our money is going...
- Attempts by students and even former voting members of the 2005-06 Board of Directors were blocked from analyzing and accessing current copies of the KSA Budget as well as expense reports and spending records.
- Attempts, such as student Rob Mumford's, to get copies of KSA Meeting Agendas and Minutes have been denied.
- It is rumoured that students currently requesting to see the KSA Budget are being required to sign a confidentiality agreement which could fetter them from distributing the information they are entitled by law to receive, and which apparently also limits the KSA's liability in that they are not responsible for the reliability of the information provided --- meaning that they could knowingly give out false statements and not be held liable! We are currently in the process of trying to obtain the full text of one of these confidentiality agreements and once we do, it will be posted here.
- The KSA's refusal to let students freely and easily access financial records could actually be in contravention of Section 37 of the Society Act of BC.
- There was no transparency in the budget approval process for the new 2006 KSA Budget.
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2. REMEDY: Ways your money can be protected...
Here's what should be done to rectify this situation:
- Amend the Society Bylaws to:
- Remove the ability of the KSA Board of Directors to have control over the appointment and removal of the auditors by restoring that power to the students at properly convened Annual and Special General Meetings as perscribed by the Society Act of British Columbia.
- Place the rules that currently exist for approving the Society's budget into the Bylaws so that this process can never be suspended or disregarded in any way, thereby helping to ensure that:
- the KSA's budget process is open, transparent and accountable to the membership; and
- only the KSA's Board of Directors will be able to approve amendments to the budget.
- Require that any budget amendments be included in the KSA's agenda which is distributed at least 48 hours before a meeting, so that students have the opportunity to know what is happening to their money.
- Place the conflict of interest rules that currently exist into the Bylaws so that they can never be suspended or disregarded in any way.
- Increase the amount of advertising required for serving notice of a referendum, to include at least twenty-five (25) posters per campus, notice on the official website of the Society, as well as notice in at least two consecutive issues of a Campus Publication (such as the Kwantlen Chronicle) so that students know when fee increases and other important questions are coming;
- The following document presents a summary of the specific Bylaw changes that could be made to ensure the safety and security of your money:
- Hold a referendum to bring in a new way of paying fees that breaks down where student's money is going to, a system similar to the system at the UBC AMS.
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