GSA Vice-president (Indigenous relations) appointment rescinded

On June 4, the Indigenous Graduate Students’ Association (IGSA) appointed Tamara Dubé to be the Graduate Student’s Association‘s (GSA) first vice-president (Indigenous relations) (VPIR). The Elections and Referenda Committee (ERC) passed a motion on June 3 that gave the IGSA the authority to appoint someone to the VPIR position. 

On June 9, the ERC rescinded the motion granting the IGSA appointment decision authority. As a result the appointment of Dubé was deemed invalid.

The recession was because of bylaw I.BYL.5.2, which states that if a vice-president directly elected officer (DEO) position remains vacant after the end of a by-election, the position shall remain dormant for one year.

An email obtained by The Gateway giving notice of the ruling stated that “while the GSA Bylaw and Policy documents may contain contradictions on this matter, the Bylaw takes legal precedence per our governance structure.”

Dubé and others claim this was a political act to remove Indigenous representation, amounting to election interference. The GSA has denied that claim.

Emails obtained by The Gateway state that between June 4 and June 9, Dubé had not received any information about the onboarding process or access to an official email address. All other GSA DEOs have an official email address.

Additionally, there was no public announcement of Dubé’s appointment. Emails also stated that Dubé had emailed the other DEOs to introduce herself. She said that only one DEO, the Associate vice-president (labour) Nathan Lamarche, had acknowledged her response.

“I want to be clear that this treatment and behaviour towards an Indigenous person is vile,” Dubé says

In the emails, Dubé said that one DEO had emailed Lamarche to question the legitimacy of her appointment. 

“Such a lack of response is not only exclusionary, it also perpetuates deeper levels of systemic bias,” she wrote in an email.

She also stated that other DEOs claimed having two Indigenous DEOs was a conflict of interest. 

“To single out Indigenous representation in this way is harmful and unjustifiable,” Dubé said in an email.

Dubé also claimed in an email that the GSA had removed her photo and bio from its website. 

“This further contributes to the perception that my role is not being afforded the same level of recognition as other DEOs. This presents like election tampering.”

She ended her email with “I want to be clear that this treatment and behaviour towards an Indigenous person is vile.”

In response to the rescission of her appointment, Dubé said “this decision sends a chilling message to Indigenous students: that their leadership is conditional, that their representation is subject to removal when it challenges the status quo, and that procedural tools will be used to shut them out.”

Process of appointment

The IGSA helped created the VPIR role last year and the role was open during the GSA’s general election along with the other DEO positions. 

The minutes of the ERC meeting on June 3 were obtained by The Gateway. The minutes include both D.POL.10.1.f, which outlines the procedures for filling the VPIR role, and I.BYL.5.2, which states that the unfilled position shall be dormant for one year.

The ERC discussed giving the IGSA the authority to appoint a candidate to the VPIR position. A member of the IGSA present at the ERC meeting expressed that they would like to appoint a candidate and then clarify the policy for future years.

A member of the ERC said the policy around the process after a by-election is not very clear. Another agreed and said Dubé could help with that process in future elections.

The only noted concern raised was about in-person and online work, as Dubé is a student at the Augustana campus. 

The minutes state the ERC passed the motion.

“The procedures were not followed,” Kumar says

In an interview with The Gateway, GSA President Aashish Kumar said he and other DEOs cannot interfere with elections, if they do they can lose their position. 

“If there is even a perception of that if you’re interfering in that election, that can get you out of your position,” Kumar said.

He emphasized that he cannot act unilaterally when it comes to elections and other matters with the GSA.

Kumar said that after he learned that the IGSA had appointed someone to the VPIR role, he checked the bylaws and the policies. 

“I’m not an expert, but I knew that there’s something wrong with this. The procedures were not followed,” he said.

He said that he treated the position the same way he’d treat the other positions. So he reached out to the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) asking for clarification on what had happened. 

Kumar said he was seeking confirmation before he welcomed somebody.

“The [DEOs] were not involved, and we were not aware of what is happening with the election processes, and we do not interfere in the election processes,” he emphasized.

He said that he also believes that neither the bylaw or the policy were properly followed. 

Kumar pointed to the wording of the policy D.POL.10.1.f, which states “the GSA Council will be asked to nominate a student who meets the eligibility criteria, in close consultation with the Indigenous Graduate Students’ Association (IGSA).”

Kumar said there’s a difference between nominating and appointing a student. He also pointed out that the decision was not made by the GSA Council.

“If we were against FNMI people, we wouldn’t have this position,” Kumar says

He said going forward, the GSA will put the $40,000 designated for the VPIR role towards Indigenous graduate students in consultation with the IGSA.

Kumar said that as this situation has unfolded, some of the emails sent have been “on the verge of being xenophobic” towards international students. 

“It’s very easy to paint a certain picture where that this particular group of international students or people of colour are biased or are corrupt, which is again very, very dangerous. It’s a very racially charged thing to do.”

He added that the claims that the GSA is anti-Indigenous are misplaced.

“The organization is always open to working with [First Nation Metis Inuit (FNMI)] people. GSA has been working with the FNMI people since the past. That is why we have this VPIR position. If we were against FNMI people, we wouldn’t have this position.”

“Our trust in the GSA has been broken,” IGSA says

In comment provided in an email, the IGSA said that the GSA approached them in late April about filling the VPIR position. According to the IGSA, they met and discussed the different options for filling that position. The GSA then sent the IGSA the bylaws and policies on the VPIR position and how it can be filled. 

The IGSA said that it was then invited to an ERC meeting on June 3, “where we made it clear that it is important for the election of the VPIR to be handled Indigenously. A motion was passed to allow the IGSA to appoint our recommended candidate, Tamara Dubé, to the position.”

The IGSA told The Gateway “it is our belief that we are still following the appropriate steps in the policies and bylaws, as D.POL.10.1.f makes it very clear that the step after a re-election is to nominate a student who meets the eligibility criteria in close consultation with the IGSA.”

The emailed comment said that the IGSA’s executive council had voted unanimously to nominate Dubé. 

The IGSA said it had been copied on several emails about the lack of onboarding. However, the IGSA was not consulted before the decision to rescind the motion that allowed them to appoint Dubé.

The IGSA said it is angered and unsettled by the decision and that the benefits of having someone in the VPIR already beginning their work would be immeasurable.

“The GSA and ERC’s decision has caused significant stress and trauma to members of the IGSA’s executive council. Our trust in the GSA has been broken and we are concerned for the impacts this will have upon the Indigenous students at the [U of A].”

The email stated that the IGSA would continue to work to support Indigenous graduate students, including continuing to share its support for Dubé as the VPIR.

Co-creator of the VPIR role weighs in

Benjamin J. Kucher helped create the VPIR position when he was president of the IGSA in 2023–24. He was also the GSA’s 2024–25 vice-president (student life) until he resigned in December 2024. Kucher also served at the chair of the National Indigenous Advocacy Committee (NIAC), which is part of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) which the GSA is a member of. 

He sent a “formal indictment” of the treatment and rescission of Dubé’s appointment in an email to the GSA executives, which The Gateway obtained. 

Kucher wrote that the GSA’s actions “constitute a direct and deliberate betrayal of the principles of equity, justice, and reconciliation, and which are actively perpetuating new and deeply harmful forms of institutional violence against Indigenous graduate students and the broader Indigenous community at the [U of A].”

He said that this is an escalating pattern of erasing and silencing Indigenous representation and leadership. 

Kucher also said that the recision is a “manipulation of governance processes to preserve control and deny Indigenous students their rightful place within the GSA’s leadership.”

He said that national Indigenous advocacy organizations, U of A leadership, and the national post-secondary advocacy organizations would be made aware of the situation. 

Along with demanding a public apology for Dubé, Kucher demands an independent investigation into the GSA staff and executives’ conduct.

Chen Okafor, the GSA’s vice-president (academic), responded to Kucher’s email, which was obtained by The Gateway. In Okafor’s response, he asked Kucher to “please refrain from harassing the GSA.”

“It is very inflammatory to insinuate that a group of people tasked with promoting the interests of graduate students are anti-[I]ndigenous. Frankly, I am getting tired of hearing it, and I would ask that you please stop,” Okafor wrote.

He said that he had appointed two Metis students to a committee, not “because I am virtue signalling or because I pretend to care about [I]ndigenous folks. I did it because issues of representation matter to me.”

“The constant retort that we as the GSA are anti-[I]ndigenous is outrageous, and I as the VP Academic ask that you and your cohort please desist from this.”

In a phone call with The Gateway Okafor said that he took offence to the claim that the GSA is deliberately harming Indigenous students.

He said he sent another email to Kucher expressing that he did not want to “feud” with him and wanted to find some mutual ground. Okafur later offer to meet with Kucher.

Okafur said he tries his best not to be political in his role and tries to help “all students, not just Indigenous students. Indigenous students are very important, what they do, who they are, their history, their culture, etc., but at the same time I also represent all graduate students.”

As of June 12, Dubé filed a complaint with the GSA’s Appeals and Complaints Board regarding the rescission of her appointment.