DIE Board ruling finds passed motion to violate UASU governance regulation

On July 15, 2025, the University of Alberta Students’ Union (UASU) Students’ Council passed a motion amending Students’ Council Standing Orders 13.2(c) so that votes made by council members are not publicly disclosed. 

This motion followed the passing of a March 18 motion that amended standing orders so that votes made by council members are disclosed. 

The July 15 council meeting saw lengthly debate over the motion. Those in support spoke largely of safety concerns, particularly for international students, while those against mainly cited transparency and accountability concerns. 

Following the passing of the July 15 motion, Levi Flaman, former vice-president (operations and finance) filed a Discipline, Interpretation, and Enforcement (DIE) Board hearing application on August 12. The hearing was held on January 16. 

The Gateway initially reached out to the DIE Board Chief Tribune Tahsin Tarannum for comment, but was later referred to DIE Board Registrar Courtney Graham.

In a written statement to The Gateway, Graham said that the hearing was delayed “primarily due to the uncertainty of student status of the complainant.”

Prior to the March 18 council meeting, Flaman was the sole vote in opposition of the motion when it was presented to the Council Administration Committee (CAC).

According to him, public voting can compromise the integrity of council members’ votes by exposing them to “immediate social backlash, bullying, or whipping up the votes from their peers or the executives or any number of parties.”

Former vice-president expresses concern over procedural integrity

For Flaman, the issue wasn’t the outcome of the July 15 motion, but rather procedural process surrounding it.

“On principle, I could have just kept my mouth shut … but after seeing how the proper process and procedure was not followed, that’s when I felt necessary to speak up and complain that the rules are not followed.”

The ruling found that the motion to repeal Standing Order 13.2(c) “is a violation of UASU Governance Regulation 100.01 Section 05.”

The motion violated Governance Regulation 100.01 Section 05 because it was listed as originating from Executive Committee rather than CAC.

The ruling also states that “technical errors excused on past rulings and unfamiliarity with UASU legislation do not constitute as valid excuses for not agreeing to the guidelines on UASU Governance Regulation 100.01 Section 05 when proposing to repeal a Standing Order.”

Flaman emphasized the importance of Students’ Council knowing and following its rules.

“When you’re a statutorily recognized governance body under the Post-Secondary Learning Act, you kind of need to be on your game at all times,” Flaman said. “And if you’re starting to say, well, we didn’t know what we’re doing … then it’s really a race to the bottom.”

High turnover led to technical oversight, speaker says

Speaker of Students’ Council Angelina Raina was the respondent to the application. According to Raina, considerable turnover within the UASU contributed to technicalities being missed.

She emphasized that CAC members discussed and debated the proposal to change Standing Order 13.2.(c), but “there was just a failure to write things down in the proper way.”

“So we were definitely following the spirit of the regulation, but just with people being new in their positions at that time, there were some errors made in the way the information was presented.”

Raina said she learned about the DIE Board ruling when The Gateway reached out about the matter. In her statement, Graham said that Raina “was kept apprised of all DIE Board hearing updates.”

When it comes to proceeding with the outcome of the ruling, Raina said it’s a conversation she’ll have with governance staff following the 2026 UASU elections.

Additionally, she mentioned wanting to create a more rigorous training program for new councillors to better understand bylaws and regulations.

Reansbury shares concerns regarding Indigenous consultation

Denee Reansbury, the 2024–25 Native studies councillor, was among those who expressed concern about the July 15 motion. She raised concern with the impact the motion would have Indigenous students, especially as it relates to transparency.

Following the motion’s passing, Reansbury reached out to UASU vice-president (academic) Katie Tamsett to understand how to rescind a motion. Reansbury expressed concern about the motion violating Bylaw 200, which states that First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FMNI) students must be consulted on issues that impact them in a way that is materially distinct from the larger student body.

Reansbury told The Gateway that when she asked Tamsett if there had been any Indigenous consultation on the motion to not publicly disclose votes, Tamsett said that because consultation had been done for the initial motion making the votes public, further consultation was not necessary.

In a written statement to The Gateway, Tamsett said she consulted governance staff, the Manager of Reconciliation, Inclusion, and Sustainability, and other UASU staff “and was advised that this did not constitute an instance where this bylaw was applicable.”

Additionally, Reansbury told The Gateway that UASU President Pedro Almeida and Tamsett said that the motion was not an Indigenous issue.

In her statement, Tamsett denied having said that, stating that she instead “simply reiterated the assessment that this Standing Order change did not constitute an instance where Bylaw 200 was applicable.”

In a written statement to The Gateway, Almeida said the issue of whether the Standing Order change violated Bylaw 200 was discussed among UASU executives and staff, but he does not recall having a conversation directly with Reansbury on the matter.

Reansbury also expressed concern with UASU governance training not being comprehensive. For incoming councillors, “there’s really no training there to allow them to be able to be effective at their job,” Reansbury said.

“You really don’t know how these wordings are being used against you, and as Indigenous people, we lack that political education that allows us to ensure that we are making those the proper processes in place.”