Club funding, the Menstrual Equity Project, and The Brock Press were all topics of discussion in the BUSU BoD’s December and January meetings.
After November’s lengthy meeting, the BUSU Board of Directors (BoD) ended 2024 and began 2025 with two relatively simple agendas.
Here is an overview of the BoD’s winter meetings.
December Meeting
The BoD held their Dec. 10 meeting online, making it easier for a virtual audience to follow along. They called to order at 7:22 p.m.
Before approving the agenda, BoD Chair Brielle Kaminsky pointed out that the BoD had failed to complete financial metric reviews on “staff budget spending, staff reimbursements, Club Levy spending and Engagement Levy spending,” which should have been done in September and November as per Policy 102. She said these updates happened every month when she was on the Brock University Students Administrative Council (BUSAC) — now the BUSU Advisory Council or A-Team — so she’d like to start that moving forward and be caught up on the missed reports.
General Manager Robert Hilson said that could be done in January before he and BUSU President Anusha Pahuja added verbal reports to the end of the agenda.
The first item of discussion was a request from Brock Human Rights and Equity (HRE) for BUSU to contribute $7,500 per year for the next four years to help support the Brock University Menstrual Equity Project, a donation which HRE would match.
Hilson explained that this program, which provides free menstrual product dispensers and disposal units across campus, was piloted in 2019 by BUSU, which gave a one-time donation of $10,000 in 2021 for four years of service, a donation HRE also matched at the time.
Hilson made clear that this was HRE’s request and “not a recommendation of [his],” saying that BUSU’s Division 1 Operating Budget only has room for $2,500 per year for the project, and any more would require the advocacy budget to be altered.
Kaminsky said that while menstrual equity is important, the amount requested was somewhat high, especially considering these “free products” were coming out of student funds anyway. She said giving $2,500 per year for four years would match their previous donation and allow them to keep funds for other advocacy projects.
Board member Mohiz Imtiaz asked why the requested funds were increased, and Hilson reported that HRE and Brock’s Custodial Services were not forthcoming on why, nor did he think they would be, only that they said the project costs upwards of $15,000 a year.
Kaminsky said she wished there was more transparency, but that $2,500 per year seemed a reasonable and fair donation. With no opposition, the BoD voted and the amended motion to support the Menstrual Equity Project passed.
The next item for discussion regarded the transfer of $22,370.38 from the Brock University Chinese Student and Scholars Association (BUCSSA) club’s Scotiabank account to the BUSU Clubs Funding account.
BUSU’s Director of Governance and Advocacy, Kayleigh Rossetto, explained that while BUCSSA has been a popular club for many years, they did not re-ratify this school year, meaning their club Scotiabank account had to be closed and the money reallocated.
Typically, BUSU Clubs Manager Chloe Villers puts any outstanding funds into the Clubs Levy for other Brock clubs to use, but Rossetto explained that after being shocked by the sheer amount in BUCSSA’s account, they were seeking board approval.
Rossetto said that as of Dec. 5, there was only $2,300 left in the Clubs Levy, which had funded all current Brock clubs who requested, but left little for any newly ratified clubs in January. This $22,370.38 would help these new clubs, she said.
Imtiaz was concerned about dissolving the club and this fund because of the few alternative spaces for Chinese students at Brock, suggesting that BUSU reach out to the Chinese population in their home language to empower students to maintain this important club and community space.
Rossetto sympathized but explained that all student clubs have a natural life cycle that includes de- and re-ratification as years pass and students come in and out of the university. She gave Brock Pride as an example, describing how despite being an important space, the club disappeared for several years before new students picked up the mantle and made it into a thriving community once again. Students must be the ones to maintain club settings, explained Rossetto, not BUSU.
Pahuja also said that while BUSU “should probably look into supporting East Asian students more,” Brock’s English as a Subsequent Language (ESL) program does provide support and information about news and services on campus such as clubs.
The board voted and approved the transfer of funds back into the Clubs Levy.
As promised in the November meeting, Hilson provided an update on The Brock Press. At the time of the meeting, the paper’s management had given BUSU a timeline for when their “Stakeholders” page, on which most of the requested documents — except their bylaws, which were still being formatted for Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) compliance and needed more time — would be fully constructed and uploaded over the winter break.
Hilson reminded the BoD that all not-for-profits were supposed to be ONCA compliant by Oct. 18, but it was now Dec. 10, and The Brock Press was still not.
[The following disclaimer has been provided by the Press’ Editor-in-Chief in response to Hilson’s update:
While before Jan. 9 the Press didn’t have their written bylaws formulated to reflect the changes to ONCA, the Press’ legal counsel made clear that the updated legislation simply supersedes the parts of the old legislation that have been augmented by the change, regardless of whether written bylaws are formatted to reflect this change. Not having the bylaws reflect the changes to ONCA doesn’t automatically mean the organization is non-compliant. If, however, an organization’s bylaws don’t align with ONCA, it could create practical issues for governance, voting rights and other operational matters, to be sure. But non-alignment of this kind was never an issue with the Press’ old bylaws; there simply needed to be new clauses added to the old bylaws to make the bylaw compliant to the changes.
Therefore, Hilson implying the Press overall was “not” compliant with ONCA prior to our updating the bylaws in January is misleading. For the Press to be non-compliant with ONCA, the paper would have to be, in practice, violating the substance of the updated legislation. BUSU’s General Manager and Board have not provided any concrete proof that the paper has violated the substance of the ONCA for the simple reason that no such violation has taken place.]
Imtiaz appreciated the timeline but wished it was more concrete. Kaminsky suggested that the BoD request a deadline, taking Hilson’s earliest suggestion of Jan. 10 for all requested items in order to have an update before their January meeting.
Pahuja wondered if the board should give The Brock Press more time on the bylaws as they’d requested, but Kaminsky and Imtiaz said Jan. 10 was ample time.
Kaminsky inquired as to what The Brock Press meant by “stakeholders,” and Hilson responded that their shareholders — at the time, at least — and board members, according to their bylaws and worker cooperative structure, were elected staff members.
Stakeholders, which Hilson did not explain, represent anyone with a stake in the company but mainly Brock students because they fund The Brock Press, which reports primarily for them.
Following this update, the BoD had a 15-minute in-camera discussion and then Hilson gave his verbal General Manager’s report.
Hilson said that the new building is coming along nicely and the architect wants to present plans to the board in January. He also mentioned Patricia (Patty) General, who will be replacing Rossetto when she goes on maternity leave, and provided some updates on an upcoming EDI audit and Omnibus agreement he’s assisting with.
Pahuja then provided her verbal President’s report. The second A-Team meeting, held in December, had about seven students in attendance, which Pahuja said was “not the biggest turnout but still good.” Pahuja also provided updates on various events and meetings, including BUSU’s recent free poutine night with over 600 students in attendance and a meeting with Dr. Robyn Bourgeois about the Indigenous Strategic Plan that will be developed. Pahuja also said she met with Brock Associate Vice-President, Students Brad Clarke about the Food First Program, which was “not the best conversation” but of which she would have more details in January.
Finally, Kaminsky inquired as to why BUSU wasn’t holding the “12 Days of BUSU” giveaway event this year. Hilson explained that the event was only about getting followers and not student engagement or “giving things back,” and since BUSU is now organically gaining followers — having the second-highest followers based on the ratio of undergraduate students in the province — that money has gone into other resources like the Food First Program.
The December meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m., marking one of the shortest of the year.
January Meeting
The BoD’s Jan. 13 meeting ran for nearly four hours, but featured the shortest public runtime by far, with a video of only eight minutes and 24 seconds.
After being called to order at 6:37 p.m. and undergoing the standard approvals, the BoD moved in-camera where they remained until 10:14 p.m. No motions were voted on after the session; instead, Hilson launched into an update on The Brock Press.
He said that as of Jan. 13, The Brock Press had posted its budget from this fiscal year, audited financial statements from last year, and minutes on its website. Hilson also reported that they had sent BUSU their latest version of ONCA-compliant bylaws, which BUSU’s legal team had indeed confirmed were ONCA-compliant. The next steps for The Brock Press included voting on the revisions and submitting the documents to the ministry, but aside from that, no legal troubles remained.
Imtiaz asked if the board had any concerns, and Hilson said yes, their governance structure had not changed:
“Certainly the fact that literally, you know, let’s say we both work together we can say ‘hey listen, do you want a $10,000 raise and I want a $10,000 raise’ and we say ‘yeah sure’ and then we vote on it, that is still an option for them, and it remains an option for them. If that’s concerning to the board, then that may be something you want to have a conversation with down the road,” said Hilson.
[Disclaimer: The Brock Press is preparing a public statement about this concern and encourages students to read its “Stakeholders” page to see exactly what its remuneration figures are and generally how the paper divvies up the spending of its funds.]
No other board members had anything to say about The Brock Press, so they moved on to the next agenda items — the Division 1 Operating Budget financial update as well as General Manager and executive reports — which they tabled for the next meeting due to a lack of time.
Before the BoD adjourned, Hilson provided an update on Pahuja’s absence: being in the process of renewing her visa for a postgraduate work permit, Pahuja is on non-paid leave until her return, which was intended to be Jan. 15 but has been pushed to Jan. 27.
Hilson said there have been no complications in the process; it’s just taking a long time. He noted that while she could have better communicated this absence with the Board, BUSU has known about this, and she has not just disappeared without any notice. With no other questions, the meeting adjourned at 10:22 p.m.
All BUSU board meeting recordings can be viewed on their YouTube channel, and all meeting minutes are available on their website. If students want to attend meetings in person or contact the board, they can email Brielle Kaminsky at chair@brockbusu.ca.