By Garrett Raakman

The Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) said it is reviewing the closure of CopyRITE as part of an ongoing investigation of the TMSU’s past operations.

The CopyRITE printing service was permanently closed in May 2024, after being temporarily closed between 2020 and 2022 due to the pandemic. At the time of its closure, it was operating at a $200,000 deficit, as previously reported by The Eyeopener. 

In its release at the time of the closure, the TMSU stated that the union closed CopyRite to “redirect our resources and efforts towards ventures and services that are more beneficial for our students.” 

The decision to close CopyRITE is under new scrutiny in the wake of the administrative suspension of all five members of the TMSU executive team. 

The TMSU is currently investigating several board members after concluding that the 2025 March/April election was illegally interfered with. As a result, the election was nullified.

“The decision to close CopyRITE was made in May 2024 by the 2024/2025 elected TMSU executive team,” said Scott Miller Berry, one of the two interim co-executive directors of the TMSU, in an email statement provided to The Eye.

“Like many of their operational choices, it is currently under review in light of an ongoing independent investigation into corruption and election interference,” he said.

After the closure of CopyRITE, the space was left unoccupied. The space is now partially used by the Good Food Centre, while the rest is being utilized for storage.

In an email statement provided to The Eye, Michael Orlando, executive director of the Palin Foundation—which owns and operates the Student Campus Centre—said, “The new administration of TMSU – which we have full confidence in, has committed to using that remaining space to continue to deliver student services.”

TMU students have called for the space to be repurposed into an area that better serves all students.

“Some club members came to me and they proposed that it should be turned into small spaces, office spaces for clubs,” said Aasim Ul Haq Khwaja, a second-year business technology management student who previously ran for president of TMSU with Team Reform.  

“The third-party investigation is ongoing, and a forensic accounting report is expected later this fall, which we hope will reveal the full scope of the issues at play and help direct our next steps,” said Berry. 

The TMSU is expected to hold a Special General Meeting (SGM) on Sept. 29 to discuss issues concerning the nullified election.