On October 25, the AMS met for a special Council meeting to discuss “the appropriate procedure for investigations of the executive."
This meeting was called by a petition signed by 11 members of AMS Council, including all four AMS VPs.
This is the first special meeting called since 2005, and was chaired by former Interim AMS President Ben Du. Du said AMS President Christian ‘CK’ Kyle asked him to chair the meeting to ensure “impartial and fair discussion.”
The agenda was moved by Councillor Abeer Amir, and Council adopted the agenda as presented.
Amir said she had been approached by the four VPs, as a member of the Executive and Performance Accountability (EPA) Committee, “regarding the investigation and its legitimacy." Amir did not specify what investigation she was referring to.
"There were quite some pressing concerns that they had brought up," she said.
Du said the only business which could be conducted at the meeting was a discussion about the appropriate procedure for investigations of the executive because of the motion's wording and Robert's Rules of Order, the parliamentary procedure Council uses.
“Robert’s Rules of Order prevents us from speaking to any one case directly … the conversation must be general in nature," said Du.
Du also said the AMS received legal opinion on the language in the petition, which he said suggested general procedure and not a specific case or executive. Senator Jasper Lorien asked Du if he could share the legal advice received with Council in a private in-camera session which lasted 25 minutes.
The only public investigation into an AMS executive is into the executive performance of VP Academic and University Affairs Drédyn Fontana because of "poor performance" and other concerns. AMS Council passed a motion from the EPA Committee to consider Fontana's performance on October 9.
The EPA Committee was also required to provide Council with "recommendations for executive accountability" by the October 23 Council meeting, which was rescheduled to October 30.
“The motion is quite absurd, because we're expected to come into the office and do our jobs and perform to our best abilities, when simultaneously, one of us is being investigated, and the VPs are pretty much alienated from the conversation at the entire office,” said VP Administration Amy Liao during special meeting discussion.
VP Finance Gavin Fung-Quon said there are often conflicts of interests (COIs) when investigations occur because councillors are usually friends. He suggested investigations should be handled by third parties.
Councillor Ryan Chiu asked for more details on what the procedure for an investigation of an executive looks like.
Councillor and EPA Committee chair Riley Huntley said the EPA Committee would consult with the AMS's HR staff, AMS legal counsel and include allowing the investigated executive to provide a statement or factual information. Then, a report of factual findings and a recommendation for executive accountability would be presented to Council.
Fung-Quon raised a concern that there may be “members of EPA who potentially might have close personal connections that are in conflict,” and asked if there is a process to raise these COI concerns before decisions are made.
Huntley said if someone is uncertain about a COI, they can raise that concern with the chair of the committee who would then determine if there is one.
Councillor Gavin Fung said EPA sessions guide EPA investigations and asked if there is a procedure to ensure undeclared COIs do not impact the start of investigations.
Huntley said this concern would go to the chair of the committee with the involvement of legal counsel. He also said perceived COIs determined by the committee would be included in the EPA report to Council to note any possible influence on the investigation.
Fontana compared EPA processes to a court hearing and said if a jury had a COI which could change the outcome of a hearing, the jury would be changed. Fontana also said if a COI was to be discovered, it may not be enough to present it after the fact.
VP External Ayesha Irfan said the EPA Committee is meant to be the place people can bring forward concerns about the AMS workplace.
“We [the VPs] don't feel safe coming to EPA, and I think that should speak volumes in terms of how we operate in the workplace and the toll that it's taking on us," said Irfan.
“There's a difficulty in raising concerns when you don't feel safe to do so [and] if you feel that your concerns will be met with retaliation,” said Fontana.
Fontana also said it would be "disheartening" if an executive hypothetically wanted to raise concerns through a special meeting but were then told they could not.
In closing remarks, Du reiterated the discussion being limited to the agenda item was due to Robert’s Rules of Order.
“It's not meant to be punitive,” said Du.
A previous version of this story misstated the occupation of Riley Huntley. Huntley is the chair of the EPA Committee, not the HR Committee. This article was updated on October 31, 2024 at 2:25 p.m. to reflect this change.
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