The Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS) has obtained a legal opinion regarding the Report of the University of Toronto Student Societies Summit. At last week’s Governing Council meeting, APUS distributed a letter to provost Regehr from Vilko Zbogar, the lawyer advocating on behalf of APUS, arguing that the recommendations in the report contravene the rights of the Governing Council.
The letter, dated May 22, defended student societies’ right to act in accordance with their own bylaws without external interference, stating that the Governing Council does not have the jurisdiction or authority to unilaterally implement the recommendations of the report. One of the recommendations that APUS objected to is the establishment of a university-wide Student Societies Appeals Board. The board would permit university input in the governance and administration of student societies.
The letter also criticized the university’s adoption of the Policy for Compulsory Non-Academic Incidental Fees, which stipulates that the university shall collect fees on behalf of student societies as long as they operate “in an open, accessible and democratic fashion.” Zbogar believes that “[the university is] interpreting this phrase liberally, rather than in the very restricted manner in which it is intended.”
According to Zbogar, the policy is only legally effective with the consent of student societies. “In our view, any effort to expand the power to withhold fees collected on behalf of student societies would be vulnerable to a court challenge, and any attempt to exercise such power may constitute a breach of trust and a breach of fiduciary duty,” the letter said.
In an e-mail to The Varsity, Zbogar clarified that there is no legal action at this time, and that none will be required if the university does not seek to intervene without APUS’s consent.
“Whatever the merits of the recommendations of the Student Society Summit may be (and I appreciate that people have differences of opinion in that regard), as a matter of law they cannot be unilaterally acted upon by the university,” Zbogar said.
Provost Regehr is currently reviewing the Report of the University of Toronto Student Societies Summit and will provide a formal administrative response to governors in the fall.
“At the University of Toronto, policy creation and change are within the authority of Governing Council,” said Michael Kurts, U of T’s assistant-vice president, strategic communications and marketing.
“Should new policy be considered, it would need to go through the governance process and would be supported by a legal assessment that it was within the Governing Council’s powers and complied with the law generally,” Kurts added.
“APUS supports the autonomy of all student groups to provide resources to and advocate on behalf of their members… As we have successfully done in the past, APUS will initiate a legal challenge if necessary to defend the interests of students,” said Kriya Siewrattan, president of APUS.
“The future of our student societies is not merely a philosophical exercise; it is consequential and impacts the lived experiences of our members. We look forward to the opportunity to engage our members in an ongoing discussion as to how we can best support them and the values of democracy, equity, and representation in our organization,” Siewrattan added.
APUS, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union, and the Graduate Students’ Union will be given the opportunity to provide input on the recommendations to the provost over the summer.
