By Jasmine Makar
The Ted Rogers Student Society (TRSS) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is facing a $17,000 debt due to missed deadlines and policy breaches by the president regarding a Canadian student business competition, according to official TRSS meeting minutes.
Final-year business management student and TRSS president Nika Nobari signed a legally binding Letter of Intent on Sept. 12, 2024, committing the student society to a $17,000 financial agreement in order to allow 27 students to attend the Jeux de Commerce Central (JDCC) business competition hosted by The Canadian Association of Business Schools (CABS).
According to TRSS policy manual section 2.13, “before any contract is signed, the terms of the agreement must be discussed amongst Student Engagement representatives and the Toronto Metropolitan Legal team to ensure risk mitigation.”
Student Engagement is a branch in TRSS that “connects you with the different supports and resources you have access to as a Ted Rogers School student,” as stated on their website.
Nobari signed the Letter of Intent without consulting with Student Engagement regarding payment for the competition, according to meeting minutes #16, #17 and #18 published on the TRSS website. In addition to Nobari’s signature, the letter was also signed by Executive Director of Student Services and JDCC co-captains appointed by the TRSS president herself, according to meeting minute #16.
JDCC co-captains are separate from the TRSS board of directors and are redacted from the meeting minutes.
Policy 2.13 additionally states that any student violating the policy to share contracts with student engagement “will be subject to consequences from the Ted Rogers School of Management Administration, as well as could face consequences as determined by the TRSS Board of Directors (BoD).”
On Sept. 19, 2024, Nobari met with members of Student Engagement but did not disclose the letter of intent, according to meeting minute #16 on page 15. When the letter was discussed, it was “made to sound more like a Letter of Participation, however, the Letter of Intent has obligations to make payments.”
According to the minutes document, on Oct. 3, 2024, Nobari mentioned to one of the JDCC co-captains that they needed to present JDCC funding to the BoD for funding. By Nov. 14 to 17, 2024, the first initial payment deadline had been missed and CABS initiated communication with Nobari regarding the financial situation according to meeting minute #16.
Section 2.7.4 of the policy manual was also breached as the BoD never approved the money before the letter of intent was signed, as stated in the minutes. The section read,s “Non Budgeted Expenses require approval from the Board of Directors prior to any financial commitment.”
In an email statement to The Eyeopener, Nobari emphasized the difficulty of the situation and her communication throughout.
“My intention was not to withhold information, but to avoid discrediting others while we navigated a complex situation…it was my responsibility to keep the Board informed, and in hindsight, communicating the ambiguity would have been more appropriate than remaining silent,” she said in the statement.
Attention to these policy breaches was brought to the board by some of its executives, including TRSS Executive Vice President Ayden Santiago and School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) director Rose Amabelle Mendoza, as mentioned on page 18 of meeting minute #16.
Mendoza expressed frustration with the president’s lack of communication, as mentioned in the minutes. “From September 10th (Board Meeting #10) to November 22nd (Semi-Annual General Meeting), it felt like a gap of understanding for us on the Board of Directors, and there were no proper updates regarding finances, even if you didn’t sign off on it yet, you should’ve mentioned JDCC was happening,” she said, addressing Nobari in the board meeting.
While discussing the steps needed to acquire the money for CABS, Nobari apologized during the board discussion about how to secure the funds owed.
“I do want to reiterate the importance that again, the amount of financial loss that we are incurring are coming from student levies and it’s important that myself…[to] formally apologize for any of the parts that I had been involved with,” she said in the minutes.
TRSS Retail Management (RTM) Director Natalia Sulek responded to the apologetic statement from Nobari made to the board by emphasizing accountability and repercussions towards all parties involved.
“Our goal is not to pin someone down and force them to take full accountability. However, just because there are multiple individuals involved does not mean that no repercussions should be faced or no accountability should be taken,” said Sulek in the minutes.
In meeting minute #18, Item 21, the BoD discussed impeaching Nobari from her presidency. Article 15 of the TRSS constitution outlines that “Gross violation of the TRSS Constitution, By-laws, platforms, policies, regulations, or Board decisions” can result in the impeachment of a TRSS member.
In response to this motion being brought to the board, the minutes outlined Mendoza confronting Nobari’s lack of due attention and miscommunication with the board. “There was a lack of due diligence and hid this from the board, responsibility under bylaws and policies, especially with a financial commitment with something that was not in our TRSS budget.”
An email chain included in the minutes outlines concerns raised by multiple executive members of the TRSS—including vice president of events Gurleen Dhaliwal, vice president of marketing Haniyah Baig and vice president of finance Parsa Vafadarantabrizi—who expressed their concerns regarding the speed and the approach to impeach Nobari.
Vafadarantabrizi’s email stated: “Accountability needs to be shared across all parties involved. Moving forward with impeachment without a full and objective evaluation risks oversimplifying a complex issue and could create further challenges for TRSS.”
In response to the motion of impeachment, Nobari said there are many “contradictions” within the TRSS by-laws, policy manual and the constitution. She pointed to fundamental issues with the governance and structure of TRSS as she believed she was acting within her authority. In addition to this response, she admitted to her wrongdoings and breached policies.
“If impeachment is pursued based on governance gaps rather than the genuine misconduct, it will set a precedent that hinders future leaders from taking initiative. I remain committed to TRSS and its values into students members and I encourage the board to take a stance,” said Nobari, according to the meeting minutes.
On page 29 of the minutes, she also stated, “These words [regarding breached policies] hold value, and they are serious allegations and I believe that the bylaws that were suggested that were breached, there is more to what you see on the paper.”
Business management director of TRSS Iliyan Karim acknowledged in meeting minute #18 the impact the impeachment motion would have on the student society’s reputation, saying the student body’s interpretation of the scenario could lead to further trouble.
“Within this decision pending [to impeach the president] how can it be brought up [to] the student body and the potential scenario that it’s on the [The Eyeopener] which can harm TRSS’ reputation which may cause another scandal,” Karim stated.
Sulek echoed Karim’s point, saying, “If the integrity and leadership of TRSS is questioned, whether it be by The Eyeopener, you should all individually be able to justify the decision that you made here tonight.”
The vote to impeach Nobari in accordance with article 15 of the constitution failed with six votes to impeach, six votes to not impeach and three abstentions.
According to the email statement from Nobari, the $17,000 will be paid from the “furniture project budget line which TRSS uses to yearly invests to revamp TRSM’s buildings furnitures to better serve students need, this line would’ve been under-utilized regardless of this situation since the implementation cost of the original plan was not feasible.”
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