By Jasmine Makar, Jerry Zhang and Lillie Coussée
The Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) adjourned its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday night, after failing to meet quorum.
The meeting was set for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 25 but was pushed to start at 6:22 p.m. in an attempt to meet quorum—and was ultimately moved to the fall semester.
According to section 3.4 of the TMSU’s bylaws, a quorum of 100 people must be met for there to be a vote on agenda items.
Due to this, items on the agenda were not be discussed and have been pushed back to the fall general meeting. These items include the audited financial statements and bylaw amendments.
The Chair, Nicole Brayiannis and the Board of Directors (BoD) President, Nikole Dan, discussed a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:23 p.m.
“If we motion to adjourn, if the room [is] in favour of that motion, all business on the agenda will move to your fall general meeting,” said Brayiannis.
Dan then called the motion to adjourn.
Former Ted Rogers School of Management director, D’Juan Callaghan, called a Point of Order to discuss the fact that the meeting was never called into order to begin with, which must be done in accordance with Roberts’s Rule of Order, which the TMSU follows.
Brayiannis explained that there is a clause that allows the motions to be adjourned without a call to order.
Callaghan seconded Dan’s motion to adjourn the meeting. No abstentions or oppositions were noted and the motion was carried.
Brayiannis thanked everyone for coming. The meeting was adjourned at 6:27 p.m.
Although the meeting was adjourned, the agenda laid out new motions that will be discussed in the fall Semi-Annual General Meeting.
This includes a motion moved by Victor Ufot, the TMSU director for the Lincoln School of Law, inquired about an addition to section 5.5 of the TMSU by-laws. This motion would require each standing committee to meet a minimum of two times a semester as there is currently no minimum requirement under the operational policy.
In addition to the bylaw amendments, financial statements have not been audited for three years, since April 2020 according to public TMSU records.
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