By Jasmine Makar and Daniel Opasinis
The Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) Semi-Annual General Meeting (SAGM) failed to meet quorum on Friday. The union also failed to comply with by-laws by not providing proper notice to their membership informing them of the meeting.
A minimum of 100 undergraduate students must attend general meetings for quorum to be met and to hold votes on agenda items, according to section 3.4 of the TMSU’s bylaws. The TMSU has not met quorum since December 2022.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m. by TMSU president Nadir Janjua due to insufficient attendance.
TMSU bylaw 3.3 states “Notice for General Meetings shall be provided at least forty-five (45) days prior to the meeting date.” The bylaw also includes guidelines on what information will be included in their notice such as date, time, a link to RSVP and accommodation procedures.
Although bylaw 3.3 outlines that notices must be sent to all members—including full-time undergraduate students— via email, the TMSU newsletter, emailed to all undergraduate students, did not include information regarding the SAGM. The union’s social media also did not mention the meeting prior to an Instagram story posted seven hours before the meeting.
In an email response to The Eyeopener regarding bylaw 3.3 and the lack of proper notice, Janjua expressed the future use of “multiple avenues to promote and encourage students to attend.” The response also touched on the difficult timing of the SAGM.
“We do understand that for the SAGM, the timing and the day may have made it difficult for the students to participate and to further work on this we plan on having AGM/Special Meeting much earlier in the semester than usual,” the email response read.
This year’s meeting was held by Janjua, the vice-president of student life & events Koby Biya, vice-president of education Aneesa Masood, vice-president of operations Muhammad Awais and vice-president of equity Hafsa Iqbal.
In an interview with The Eye after the SAGM, Janjua acknowledged the lack of attendance at the SAGM and emphasized they needed to improve their outreach methods for general meetings.
“I think we’re lacking in advertising…we’re going to try a better effort in promoting them and essentially gathering more people to come,” he said.
Additionally, audited financial documents have not been presented for approval in a general meeting since April 2020, according to public TMSU records. At this year’s SAGM, president Janjua submitted a motion to present all overdue financial statements from 2020-2024 which could not be passed without meeting quorum.
The meeting—scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the Tecumseh Auditorium—was moved to the Oakham Lounge at 6:05 p.m. Incoming attendees were informed of the change with a sign on the door of the auditorium.
The unaddressed agenda items—including motions to present audited financial statements from 2020 to 2024 and proposed changes to the bylaws—will be pushed to the next Annual General Meeting scheduled for April 2025.
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