Lowry scored 23 points, and had five assists and five rebounds on Thursday. Marc Gasol dealt with a hamstring injury, Serge Ibaka replaced him in the starting five and led Toronto scorers with 26 points.
The @Raptors Serge Ibaka is the only player in NBA history with at least 500 3-pointers made and 1,500 blocks.
Pascal Siakam had 19 points and four steals. Norman Powell scored 16 points in 26 minutes of action. Chris Boucher scored 10 points. Fred VanVleet had eight points and 12 assists.
Kevin Love and Collin Sexton scored 23 points apiece for the Cavaliers. Darius Garland had 16 points and eight assists.
Larry Nance Jr. scored 13 points and grabbed 9 boards, while Kevin Porter Jr. also scored 13 points. Brampton native Tristan Thompson had two points and 12 rebounds.
Humber College said it is monitoring the novel coronavirus outbreak and its “potential impact on the institution” in a statement posted online last week and updated on Monday.
Toronto Public Health told the college that “there are no particular actions required” at this time.
A special group tasked with keeping the campus community informed on the latest precautions for the virus has been established, made up of stakeholders from various departments and the University of Guelph-Humber.
Humber points students, staff and faculty to the Ontario Ministry of Health website’s dedicated webpage for updates.
The college’s announcement also asked that those on campus “wash their hands as frequently as possible” due to it being the winter flu season.
As of Tuesday morning in Ontario, there is one confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, one “presumptive” case and 11 cases under investigation.
(CUP) — The Ryerson Studentsâ Union announced on Tuesday that they have filed a legal claim with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against Ryerson University.
This comes after the university announced that they have terminated their 34-year-old 1986 Operating Agreement with the RSU on Jan. 24, meaning they no longer recognize the RSU as the official student union.
In a press conference on Tuesday morning, RSU president Vanessa Henry said that they are âasking the court to require the university to comply with their contractual obligation which includes: recognizing the RSU as elected student representation and remit all student fees to the RSU.â
âThe renegotiation process was difficult. We were willing to make concessions but not at the risk of jeopardizing our autonomy and ability to effectively advocate for students,â said Henry.
Henry also said that the RSU was âin fact, hours awayâ from sending a new draft of their agreement when they received notice from the university of their termination.
She added that since the release of Ryersonâs statement, the university has refused to allow the RSUâs academic coordinator to represent student misconduct and has dismissed the RSUâs senate representative from attending tonightâs meeting.
âWe are no longer just defending the RSU, we are setting precedent for student voices throughout Ontario and across Canada. The administration has tried to silence students. We will not be silenced,â said Henry.
âWe as the RSU will not let over 50 years of history to be destroyed. The university has denied our request to release funds and has advised us that they will no longer be returning to the renegotiating table.â
Henry added that the RSU will host a blackout demonstration on Thursday. Student services, including the Equity Service Centres will be closed.
âStudents will witness the impact of Ryerson Universityâs decision to not recognize the Ryerson Studentsâ Union and the important work we do on campus,â Henry said.
âWeâre deeply disappointed that we have to take this action. However, over the past year the RSU has had to deplete its resources so that it could continue to provide essential services to students,â said Henry.
Story syndicated from The Eyeopener via the Canadian University Press by Madi Wong.
IGNITE on Tuesday posted details and nomination packages for its 2020 elections on social media, setting up its first ever election without executive positions.
There are 10 positions open for students to run for, all on the Board of Directors.
There are four positions open at North Campus, three seats at Lakeshore, two open at Guelph-Humber and a sole position available at Orangeville.
All nomination packages are due by Feb. 14 and can be filled out on the elections webpage.
The studio has sought potentially interested companies in purchasing their assets which contain one of the biggest franchises in film history.
The film studio MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayer) has sat down with interested buyers for their film assets which includes the James Bond catalog.
The two biggest interested parties are Apple and Netflix. The outcome of either one would lead to an interesting future for franchises like Bond where any subsequent instalments in the franchise could lead to streaming-only content.
Apple’s new streaming service launched with very little hype, at least in comparison to its recent competitor in Disney+, but adding something like James Bond to it could draw some subscribers, especially if any future movies, or series, are kept exclusively to Apple TV+.
Should either of these companies move ahead with the acquisition, it will also lend to a shift to the ‘big six’ of media companies, which include; Disney, Netflix, Amazon, Comcast, AT&T and Apple.
Aside from Bond, one of the other large properties coming with an MGM acquisition includes The Handmaid’s Tale which has been a popular show on Hulu for the past couple of years.
Basketball legend and Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant died in a California helicopter crash on Sundayalong with at least one of his daughters and seven others, reports and officials said.
LIVE: Coverage from CBS News
A fire broke out sending his Sikorsky S-76 helicopter spiralling out of an overcast sky above Calabasas and killing all five on board. It has been widely reported that Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria Onore is among the dead.
During a brief initial press conference on Sunday evening, authorities said that there were nine killed in the crash. Police received a call at 9:47 a.m. that a helicopter may have crashed, officials said.
The Bryants were on their way to Mamba Academy for basketball practice, reports say.
Allen Kenitzer, an FAA spokesman, said his agency and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating. Sikorsky says it is cooperating with authorities to find out the cause of the crash.
Photo of the crash scene via Twitter.
Bryant is survived by Vanessa, 37, and their daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, 17, Bianka, three, and Capri, sevens months.
The L.A. Lakers star is considered one of greatest basketball players of all time. He spent his entire 20-year National Basketball Association career with the California team.
Bryant, 41, won five championships and was an 18-time all-star. He is known for scoring 81 points in a single game.
The basketball great’s final tweet was sent out on Saturday evening, congratulating LeBron James for taking his position as third on the ladder in overall career points.
Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother đȘđŸ #33644
Bryant retired from the NBA in 2016 but began a new career in Hollywood. In 2018, he won an Oscar along with director Glen Keane for the animated short film âDear Basketball”, the L.A. Times reports.
IGNITE Vice President Ryan Stafford, who represents Lakeshore Campus, posted a tribute to the basketball legend on his Instagram Story.
Obituary
The following obituary was posted by Reuters news agency:
“A transcendent star who went straight from high school to the gameâs biggest stage, Bryant won five NBA championship rings with the Los Angeles Lakers and was the face of the franchise during his 20-year career.”
“Bryant, a small forward and shooting guard, averaged 25 points during his career and twice led the NBA in scoring.”
“He was an 18-times NBA All-Star who wore the jersey numbers 24 and 8 – both of which were retired by the Lakers – and continued the âShowtimeâ tradition of the storied franchise that has been home to the likes of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille OâNeal.”
An NBA game taking place at the time the news broke took a moment of silence and soccer superstar Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. made a “24” symbol with his fingers after scoring a goal on Sunday.
Provincial health officials announced Canada’s first “presumptive” confirmed case of the new coronavirus on Saturday with a male patient in Toronto.
“We’re pretty well 95 per cent sure” that the patient has the virus, said Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Williams during a press conference. Authorities will give a new update if the patient upgrades to a confirmed case of the virus.
Williams was flanked by provincial officials, including Health Minister Christine Elliott.
The 50-year-old patient had returned back on a plane from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus originated from before being admitted to hospital feeling “quite ill”, an official said.
The patient is being treated at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and is in stable condition.
“Toronto Public Health is continuing to work closely with provincial and federal health colleagues to actively monitor the situation and respond as appropriate,” Mayor John Tory said in a separate statement.
The Canadian case is just the latest of several confirmations that have sprung up around the world over the last week.
The province has set up an information webpage that will have daily updates.
Bell will be bringing their yearly Let’s Talk event to Humber College this week.
Let’s Talk Day is a national day of raising awareness about mental health and furthering the conversation of acceptance, support and to decrease stigma.
The day also encourages the use of various platforms including social media to engage individuals. Bell also donates money to mental health funds based on messages sent throughout the day on their cellular network and social media posts.
Bell will be hosting two events at both Humber North and Lakeshore Campuses on Jan. 29.
The first event will be held at North in the LRC, starting at 10 a.m. and finishing at 12 p.m. The second event will be held at Lakeshore in A170 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The event is open to both Humber and Guelph-Humber student
Students who wish to contribute to the cause can make a tweet, a social media video, use Bell’s Facebook frame or Snapchat filter and also use the hashtag #BellLet’sTalk on social media.
The Ryerson Studentsâ Union said late on Friday that it would continue on and encouraged student support despite Ryerson University saying that it would no longer recognize the organization as the official student government.
The university said that it would cut off the RSU because the student union did not fulfill all three requirements set out by Ryerson last January in the aftermath of an incident involving the misuse of student union money.
The RSU said the termination of a 34-year-old agreement between Ryerson and the student union âundermines the authority and democratic rights of studentsâ, adding that it âdoes not accept this termination as valid under the agreement.â
The student government said in a statement it anticipates talking to students at an upcoming general meeting on Feb. 3 and encourages students to get involved in upcoming yearly elections.
The RSU is a separate entity from the university, with its own Board of Directors elected from among the students on a yearly basis and corporate structure.
In January 2019, The Eyeopener unveiled alleged financial mismanagement to the amount of $250,000 by former RSU executives that took place over an eight-month period that started in May 2018.
The questionable spending included bills from LCBO locations, a shisha lounge and Casino Rama, The Eyeopener reported. It led to the impeachment of former president Ram Ganesh.
Ganesh’s successor announced in March 2019 that PricewaterhouseCoopers would tackle a full forensic audit of the expenses. It was recently completed and the students’ union earlier this week filed a report with Toronto Police.
In its statement earlier on Friday, Ryerson University said that it had “tried, in good faith, to negotiate an agreement that ensures that a model of good governance and accountability forms the basis for a partnership that puts the student experience first.”
“Despite the universityâs best efforts to be an accommodating and collaborative partner, the RSU has failed to meet the conditions set out in January 2019,” Vice Provost, Students Jen McMillen said.
The university made the decision last year to withhold the ancillary fees collected from students instead of transferring them to the RSU unless three conditions were met: a forensic audit was carried out, the audit was shared with Ryerson and a new operating agreement was negotiated.
Ryerson claims the forensic audit the RSU just completed was not shared with the administration. A new deal to replace the now-cancelled 1986 Operating Agreement has not been worked out.
Despite not fulfilling all of the requirements set out by Ryerson, the RSU insisted it “has always been willing to engage with the [u]niversity, but refuses to make concessions to the [u]niversity that will jeopardize students.â
Decision undermines âdemocratic rightsâ: CFS
The Canadian Federation of Studentsâ provincial division said Ryerson Universityâs decision âundermines the democratic rights of students and student organizations that represent themâ.
In a more formal statement released on Friday evening, CFS argued that autonomy was key for a student union to âeffectively represent their membershipâ.
âInternal challenges are best addressed through the democratic structures that exist within studentsâ unions because they are the processes agreed upon by the unionâs membership,â the organization said.
They added that the RSU has demonstrated it took the allegations of financial mismanagement âseriouslyâ and had taken several actions to address the problems.
The statement did not mention the universityâs statement that the student union did not follow through the three demands set out by the administration.
The CFS went on to argue that there are mechanisms in place internally so that the greater student body can hold student organizations accountable, explaining that students are empowered by elections, general meeting and referendum to solve issues that arise.
âRyerson Universityâs move to terminate their agreement with the Ryerson Studentsâ Union is a paternalistic overreach that undermines these democratic mechanisms,â the press release says.
The University of Guelph told The Avro Post on Friday that there are no plans to physically relocate the University of Guelph-Humber “at this time”amid an ongoing process to develop a new strategic plan expected to be completed by the spring.
After a report revealed that last year that Guelph-Humber’s sole building at Humber College’s North Campus was over capacity and there were unverified rumours that the university would be moved, questions arose over its future.
Guelph-Humber was established in 2002 through a partnership between the University of Guelph and Humber College.
There has not been a new strategic plan since the governing framework of Guelph-Humber was written in 1999 to establish the university and so a year-long process was launched last May to make a new plan, according to a press release from the presidents of Guelph and Humber.
Guelph-Humber graduates receive a bachelor’s degree from Guelph and a college diploma from Humber. Guelph-Humber students have access to many of the supports provided by Humber and are also members of the IGNITE student union.
In a dramatic move on Friday, Ryerson University said it no longer recognized the Ryerson Students’ Union as “the official student government” after it failed to meet conditions set out by the university following a credit card scandal uncovered last January.
“The university has lost confidence in the RSUâs ability to represent students with good governance and to supply the services that students pay for,” Vice Provost Jen McMillen said in a statement, adding the administration has terminated its 1986 Operating Agreement with the RSU.
The RSU is a separate entity from the university, with its own Board of Directors elected from among the students on a yearly basis.
The Canadian Federation of Students Ontario called the termination as an “attack on student democracy”.
The development comes just days after the RSU asked Toronto Police to investigate alleged financial mismanagement by its former executives after completing a forensic audit.
The scandal was first unveiled a year ago, when an RSU credit card bill with approximately $250,000 in unusual spending was revealed by The Eyeopener.
At this time, the university said it would no longer pass along fees students paid to the RSU until three conditions were met. The university asked for a forensic audit that would be shared with its administration and a new operating budget negotiated between the RSU and Ryerson.
“Despite the universityâs best efforts to be an accommodating and collaborative partner, the RSU has failed to meet the conditions set out in January 2019,” McMillen said.
The vice provost said the university was further concerned by the recent impeachments and resignations by student leadership over the past two months, though they are unrelated to the credit card affair.
The recent turnovers have largely been due to executive failures to work full 40-hour weeks and for alleged harassment, according to reports from The Eyeopener.
Vice President of Operations James Fotak toldThe Eyeopener that the RSU has âno comment right now.â The Avro Post has reached out for comment from President Vanessa Henry.
Decision undermines âdemocratic rightsâ: CFS
The Canadian Federation of Studentsâ provincial division said Ryerson Universityâs decision âundermines the democratic rights of students and student organizations that represent themâ.
In a more formal statement released on Friday evening, CFS argued that autonomy was key for a student union to âeffectively represent their membershipâ.
âInternal challenges are best addressed through the democratic structures that exist within studentsâ unions because they are the processes agreed upon by the unionâs membership,â the organization said.
They added that the RSU has demonstrated it took the allegations of financial mismanagement âseriouslyâ and had taken several actions to address the problems.
The statement did not mention the universityâs statement that the student union did not follow through the three demands set out by the administration.
The CFS went on to argue that there are mechanisms in place internally so that the greater student body can hold student organizations accountable, explaining that students are empowered by elections, general meeting and referendum to solve issues that arise.
âRyerson Universityâs move to terminate their agreement with the Ryerson Studentsâ Union is a paternalistic overreach that undermines these democratic mechanisms,â the press release says.
With files from The Eyeopener/Canadian University Press.
(CUP) — The provincial and federal governments announced Wednesday that they reached an agreement to jointly fund a French-language university in Toronto.
Both levels of government will invest a total of $126 million toward the project over a period of eight years. The federal government will invest $63 million over five years which will be matched by the provincial government.
This morning announcement follows the September 2019 memorandum of understanding which saw both levels of government agree on the need for a francophone university in Toronto.
The Ford government had previously announced plans to scrap the project in November 2018. At the time, Ford said the project was an irresponsible promise made by the former Liberal government days before the 2018 election.
The former Liberal government had promised and began planning for a francophone university to open in Toronto all the way back in 2017.
It is still unclear where the university will be located in Toronto. The original project planned on sharing offices and classrooms with College Borealâs Toronto campus but nothing has been confirmed as of now.
Francophones delighted
Many influential French-Canadian figures and organizations took to Twitter on Wednesday to show their enthusiasm for the project.Â
With the passing of several bylaw amendments on Wednesday at a Special Meeting of the Members, IGNITE on Thursday strides into a new era with five months of decision-making behind it.
Elections will start in a matter of weeks and, for the first time in its history, the student union will not be electing executives. There will only be candidates for the Board, which sits at the top of IGNITE.
There will be open seats at Humber Collegeâs North, Lakeshore and Orangeville Campuses as well as at the University of Guelph-Humber. This next generation of directors will preside over a very different student union then the one the current term was handed last April.
In some ways, there will be more certainty.
They will enter a student union that has been reset with a new, more corporate direction moving forward through a new base rule: By-law No. 1 â which resets the rules for IGNITE with the bylaw amendments that students passed at the Special Meeting of the Members, combined with the skeleton of the previous Constitution.
Several student unions, including the University of Toronto Students’ Union, have cancelled opt-out portals, ending its optional student fees and returning to the previous status quo of 100 per cent mandatory fees.
IGNITE reiterated its position on Wednesday that it would not end optional student fees while the SCI was in essential legal limbo.
If the Ford administration is successful in repealing the court ruling, student union officials said they would not want a scenario where they would have to flip-flop between mandatory and optional fees.
Directors will also have to manage hiring and overseeing the new student engagement coordinators, who will replace the current executive model.
They will be hired staffers within the student union and sit below the executive director and alongside part-time staff, according to graphics released by IGNITE.
Carol Danvers’ sequel has officially been greenlit at Marvel Studios and is aiming for a 2022 release.
Debuting twice in a small window of March – May 2019, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) thundered into the MCU and became an icon for young women everywhere. Now, in a world post-Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios is moving ahead with a sequel for 2022.
Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, however, are not expected to return. Marvel is still looking to keep the female eye for the director’s chair but no frontrunners have been announced. Boden and Fleck will remain with Marvel Studios in some capacity, and are rumoured to be discussing an upcoming Disney+ property.
The film is expected to take place after the events of Avengers: Endgame despite the mild cliffhanger teased in the first film which hinted at a long-running war between Carol and Ronan The Accuser.
The sequel will be written by WandaVision scribe Magen McDonnell.
Following approval by the members of new bylaw amendments on Wednesday, IGNITE has replaced its Constitution with “By-law No. 1”, though it still needs confirmation by the members at the Annual General Meeting.
By-Law No. 1 contains eight pages of rules, a full five pages less than the previous Constitution. It states it will need confirmation by the members on Mar. 22, 2020, a potential reveal of the date set for the AGM, a normal timeframe.
Get ready to fly back to a time in that galaxy far, far away you haven’t visited in six years.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is returning for one more highly-anticipated seventh season and a trailer released on Wednesday has this galaxy buzzing with excitement.
It will of course release on Disney+, the streaming home of all Star Wars. Though in the past six months alone we got our first Star Wars live action TV series with The Mandalorian, the final film of the 40-year Skywalker Saga and a new video game with Fallen Order, fans are hungry for more.
There will be 12 episodes to bring an end to the iconic series with weekly releases starting on Feb. 21, a Friday.
Showrunner Dave Filoni returns to direct the new Clone Wars episodes, continuing the storylines introduced in the original series and exploring the events leading up to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
Featured heavily in the trailer are fan favourite characters from the series and Star Wars universe as a whole. Anakin Skywalker, Ashoka Tano, Captain Rex, Darth Maul, Yoda and others are back for what appears to be a wild ride to the end.
The series ran for six seasons between 2008 and 2014 but it was cancelled when Disney purchased Star Wars from George Lucas, ending the much-beloved show without giving Filoni and his team a chance to properly bring it to a conclusion.
But now the director who was behind Star Wars: Rebels and played a big part in The Mandalorian is back to give The Clone Wars what it has always needed: a proper finish.
Reporting by Eli Ridder; Editing by Nicholas Seles.
Jack Fisher Contributor, The Avro Post Our Opinion Policy.
I know well the stress that comes from hosting a public meeting as a student leader.
As the organizer of an event like the meeting IGNITE hosted on Wednesday, you know everything thatâs going on, and your ideas and your stance seem so incredibly obvious to you.
However,
just like so many other places, there are a lot of people that donât know how
to ask the right questions. Just like every comment section on the internet,
you can scroll through all the good comments and praise, but the one thing that
sticks with you is the negative and uninformed comments.
This stress
and frustration tend to build up until thereâs a whole flutter of butterflies
in your stomach. Even if youâve spent weeks planning something, its possible
that your advertising doesnât get out on time. You overthink whether youâll
achieve quorum, and you brace yourself for a barrage of uninformed questions
and criticism that you imagine will turn into a personal attack as soon as your
event is over.
This isnât to say that I know this is how anyone on IGNITE was feeling on Wednesday morning, but I can imagine the tension that was behind the table on stage today at Humber Collegeâs North Campus. I know the board has probably deliberated all the details for hours.
You could tell from the responses of the board members and chair that they had practiced their reasoning. Theyâve been thinking about this for weeks, if not months. You could tell, because what the crowd got as answers was internalized jargon. We heard citations of the Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act, and confident assertions that the decisions were made in consultation with legal professionals.
All of this is to say that, from a student executive position, the Special Meeting of the Members went incredibly well. There was only about 15 minutes of questioning, everything passed as planned, and the meeting itself was exactly 30 minutes long with maybe 70 people in attendance — more than was required for quorum.
Unfortunately, knowing how I felt as an executive, also tells me that there is a philosophical difference between myself and IGNITE.
When I was on the University of Guelphâs Central Student Association executive as president, we hosted one public meeting of this kind; the Annual General Meeting. We put aside almost two hours of time to field student questions, our nerves were running rampant, because one of our biggest principles was transparency with our finances, and clarity of information about process and activity.
So often,
student leadership can lead you to working in a small bubble where other people
donât understand what youâre doing or why, but it is so imperative for student
unions to be clear, and patient.
I donât think IGNITE is out to destroy the culture of Humber and Guelph-Humber. Iâm sure they know the good work theyâre doing. Working firsthand in student support is a self-made internal justification for the decisions you make.
What I saw during the Special Meeting of the Members was a group of students whose hearts may be in the right place, but they have not embraced the communication aspect that some students demand.
Culture of
the school aside, I know IGNITE can do better.
I hope this new structure will allow the directors to be the liaisons that I didnât see Wednesday. Like I said in a letter to the provincial government last year: âproper policy is not created by consulting only those that agree with youâ.
The best we can do as student governments is to never stop asking questions, and always keep listening.
The Special Meeting of the Members on Wednesday saw the end of executive elections, the secretive Board of Directors gain more power and a reclassification of the students IGNITE represents into three different streams.
It all happened very quickly once the question period was over. In fact, reporters were almost cut off from some final queries when Vice President Ryan Stafford attempted to move ahead with the motion to adopt the amendments before the journalist was done.
Jack Fisher, a contributing columnist who was last year the president of the University of Guelph’s student union, called the meeting “rushed”, and explained to The Avro Post that it would have, from IGNITE’s perspective, seemed efficient without any major bumps along the way.
But what does this mean for you, the students? Likely the item with the biggest impact on your day-to-day student life will be the new classes of members.
Two of the classes are not new: there will be “part-time members” which are part-time students paying a small amount in fees to the student union. “Full-time members” are those enrolled in full-time studies at Humber College or the University of Guelph-Humber who choose not to opt-in to any of the optional IGNITE fees.
A third, new classification is “Full-Time Enhanced Members”, students who opt-in to at least one of the six optional fees.
As we’ve seen from the last semester, those that opt-in will receive some exclusives, but on Wednesday that was cemented in the new bylaw amendments.
“Members that pay particular fees are entitled to various rights and privileges of IGNITE,” the document only released to the public on Wednesday stated. It adds: “Explanation of their rights and privileges are outlined in the IGNITE Membership Benefits Policy.”
That’s the first public mention of the so-called Membership Benefits Policy, which officials said on Wednesday would be released after it was passed by the Board of Directors, without giving a specific time frame.
What else?
The public meeting came to a close with six new bylaws in place, a number different than the seven recorded in the September meeting minutes when they were first passed but still containing the same content.
Beyond the re-classification of members, the biggest change students may notice is the end of executive elections. This means the president and three vice presidents who each represent North, Lakeshore and Guelph-Humber respectively will no longer exist.
In their place will be three student engagement coordinators that will be hired via a panel made up of different stakeholders.
The changes will hand the Board of the Directors the ability to pass bylaw amendments that are applicable immediately without needing member approval until the next public members meeting.
If the larger student body votes down an amendment previously passed by the Board, directors said in response to reporters that there would be a retroactive rollback of the changes and its impacts.
The summary released at the Special Meeting on Wednesday also clarified the change in regards to the execution of documents. Because there will no longer be a âpresidentâ position starting in April, documents that need the signature of an IGNITE executive will be passed to the executive director â the top staffer of the student union â or by a designate chosen by the elected directors.
Wednesday also saw the end of the term âConstitutionâ that was used to describe the student unionâs document of bylaws. Now they will simply be titled as the âBy-laws.â
The amendments also included more details on the clarification between the mandatory and optional fees. Over a year ago, the provincial government introduced the Student Choice Initiative, mandating that certain fees paid by students were to become optional as of the 2019 fall semester. IGNITE has now classified these fees formally as âMandatory IGNITE Feesâ and âOptional IGNITE Feesâ.
Also included in the changes was the change to the format of Member Meetings. Instead of presenting items to be approved ahead of a meeting such as the one on Wednesday, IGNITE will present, approve and ratify proposals all within the same day.
It was an update made on the ârecommendation and request of IGNITEâS lawyerâ that Wednesdayâs agenda claims keeps with âindustry standardsâ and âbest legal practices for compliance with the Ontario Non-for-profit Corporations Act 2010.â
A lot of this will not have some major impact on your student life but some of the amendments will make it harder for you to know what is going on, coupled with a Board policy passed in November cutting the student body at-large from its meetings.
Members of IGNITE â full-time students enrolled at Humber College and the University of Guelph-Humber â voted in a strong majority to pass a package of bylaw amendments proposed by the Board of Directors on Wednesday, approving plans to bring an end to executive elections and hand more unilateral power to the Board, among other items.
The Special Meeting of the Members was short and concise, lasting only 30 minutes. It started with a call to order before moving on to approvals of the agenda and the 2019 Annual General Meeting minutes, routine items that passed without objection.
The bylaw amendments, previously passed by the Board at its September meeting, were read to an audience of over 30 voting members in the North Campus Student Centre and to another approximately 25 watching from Lakeshore and Orangeville via a live stream.
The four executives — made up of a president and three vice presidents from each major campus — will be replaced with student engagement coordinators that will carry on a similar role and be hired via a panel that will include both directors, staffers and officials from Humber and Guelph-Humber, depending on the candidate.
The Board of Directors, made up of student representatives from each major Humber College campus and Guelph-Humber, will continue on as elected on a year-to-year basis.
Questions that arose largely centred around the fate of executive elections and the reclassification of students into different categories based on their opt-in decisions. Both students and reporters asked questions to the four directors and President Monica Khosla on stage.
Wednesday was the first time that the public received a more in-depth, formal summary of the bylaw amendments. A four-page document, for the first time, outlined the exact changes to the structure of the organization that will be carried out now that they are approved.
IGNITE maintains that the changes are both “in the best interests of students” and better align the student union with the Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act.
When it came to a vote of the members, a large majority of students raised their hands when Board Chair Neto Naniwambote asked who was in favour of passing the changes. When he asked who was against, it appeared less than 15 members across all campuses showed opposition.
The public meeting came to a close with six new bylaws in place, a number different than the seven recorded in the September meeting minutes when they were first passed.
Beyond cancelling executive elections, the changes will hand the Board of the Directors the ability to pass bylaw amendments that are applicable immediately without needing member approval until the next public members meeting.
If the larger student body votes down an amendment previously passed by the Board, directors said in response to reporters that there would be a retroactive rollback of the changes and its impacts.
IGNITE will now break students into three classifications of part-time, full-time and “full-time enhanced” — for those that opt-in to at least one of IGNITE’s optional fees.
The summary released at the Special Meeting on Wednesday also clarified the change in regards to the execution of documents. Because there will no longer be a “president” position starting in April, documents that need the signature of an IGNITE executive will be passed to the executive director — the top staffer of the student union — or by a designate chosen by the elected directors.
Wednesday also saw the end of the term “Constitution” that was used to describe the student union’s document of bylaws. Now they will simply be titled as the ‘By-laws.”
The amendments also included more details on the clarification between the mandatory and optional fees. Over a year ago, the provincial government introduced the Student Choice Initiative, mandating that certain fees paid by students were to become optional as of the 2019 fall semester. IGNITE has now classified these fees formally as “Mandatory IGNITE Fees” and “Optional IGNITE Fees”.
Also included in the changes was the change to the format of Member Meetings. Instead of presenting items to be approved ahead of a meeting such as the one on Wednesday, IGNITE will present, approve and ratify proposals all within the same day.
It was an update made on the “recommendation and request of IGNITE’S lawyer” that Wednesday’s agenda claims keeps with “industry standards” and “best legal practices for compliance with the Ontario Non-for-profit Corporations Act 2010.”
Confusion by some
There were over 30 students gathered at North while about 25 sat in Lakeshore’s K Building to participate in the proceedings. Orangeville Campus also had students watching remotely but it was not immediately clear the number of those participating.
Those present that voted included IGNITE officials not on stage, friends of the directors or executives, students who were aware of the proceedings ahead of time and others that popped in as they were passing by in the Student Centre.
Because there was a limited promotion period for the Special Meeting and not all seven amendments being proposed were posted by IGNITE ahead of Wednesday, Information Technology students Preetkamal Singh and Bhumi Shah told The Avro Post that they were completely in the dark over what was taking place.
“It was confusing for us because we’re new here” Singh said, adding that the pair would have to “go home and have to read” about what took place. The first-year North Campus students added that they chose not to vote as they were not clear on the specifics of the amendments.
Jack Fisher, who was last year a student union president at the University of Guelph, said in comments to The Post that he was “shocked by the speed of the meeting” and the rushed question period that nearly saw students cut off as officials attempted to move the amendments forward to a vote.
“It’s obvious that transparency to the student body is not high on their list of priorities” Fisher, who is now journalism post-graduate student at Sheridan College, added.
“My biggest question is ‘what’s next?'”
Reporting by Eli Ridder, Joelle Awad; Files from Kristy Lam; Editing by Eli Ridder.
