SUS’s position on Bill 18 The Advanced Education Statutes Amendments Act.
The basis of our concern is that provisions in Bill 18, which was given first reading in the Legislature on November 3, makes changes to a board of governors in a way that undermines this representation.
If adopted, sections 19, 34, and 49 of Bill 18 would amend the College and Institutes Act, Royal Roads University Act and University Act to allow a board of governors regulated under those pieces of legislation to remove from office any elected student, faculty, or employee representative on the Board.
Student concerns with these proposed amendments are threefold: (a) that they are unwarranted and without any reasonable or defensible justification; (b) that they will undermine the representation of students in post-secondary governance; and (c) that the Act was brought to the legislature without any evidence of meaningful student consultation.
It is worth noting that sections 20, 32, and 50 of the Act disqualify any employee from holding office who is a voting executive or officer of an association of the University with a potentially competing responsibility from those duties of the board.
If the government feels that there is an issue with conflict of interest, it is best pursued through specific conflict of interest legislation rather than the current course of action.
We believe that whereas students, faculty, and employees are elected by their peers, their removal from office should also be at the sole discretion of their peers.
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