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A special general meeting of the University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) ended Wednesday afternoon after two hours, without a vote on the only resolution on the agenda – the dissolution of the union.
The meeting had been called after months of allegations against URSU around how it was interacting with other student groups on campus, allegedly withholding funds, its own finances, and the university itself finally cutting ties and ending its leases with the union.
The resolution was whether to dissolve the union, which included putting its assets in a trust, and waiving liability for employees.
The meeting was beset by difficulties before it even began. It ended up being switched to virtual-only after difficulties around securing a venue for an in-person meeting.
Originally, it had been listed as a Zoom meeting but was switched to Teams, and the link sent out to students didn’t work.
The meeting started at 2:30 p.m., but people were still being verified as current students and let in twenty minutes later – the vote on the new chair for the meeting and whether to adopt the agenda had already taken place.
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Some students ran into technical problems during the meeting as well – some, like Wendy Lindblad, lost audio, video, and then the Teams application froze on them. Lindblad said she tried to get back in but couldn’t.
“I don’t know if they didn’t allow for such a large number of students to be part of this or what was happening, but very frustrating because I feel like my vote counts as well as others,” she said.
Comments from other students on social media recounted similar stories, and several students said in their comments during the meeting that they knew other students who couldn’t get in at all.
“At this point you’re beginning to really question about the authenticity of the present student union. They didn’t plan well, they didn’t foresee these things coming into play, and it also makes the students feel they might be covering up something, what is going on here?” asked Lindblad.
Several students were allowed to speak during the meeting before consideration of the dissolution resolution. Nearly all of them brought forward concerns about the technical problems stopping students from taking part, whether the meeting was following the proper rules, and were frustrated that the attendees couldn’t speak with each other through the chat.
More than five people demanded adjournment and a physical vote, saying the meeting was being held and run improperly. Many were accusing those running the meeting of ignoring the concerns of students in attendance.
Lindblad said she’d had limited experience with student government on campus before this, but wanted to be involved.
“I felt it was really important to be part of this and to see it through to an end where we could get the facts and get the right information, and we may not be able to do that,” she said.
Eventually, after about two hours, the chair stepped away briefly and then came back and adjourned the meeting, saying he wanted to make sure all the proper rules and procedures were followed.
No date was given during the meeting for the next one.
