For fourth time in 40 years, AMS AGM meets quorum

The AMS's Oct. 22 Annual General Meeting (AGM) was the fourth AGM in the last 40 years to meet quorum — with around 900 members attending.

The meeting was held over Zoom and in-person. In the weeks prior, the AMS announced $5,000 in prizes, including tuition credit, resource group funding and a school-year supply of Blue Chip cookies.

Here’s what you might’ve missed.

Bylaws amendments regarding executive, councillor discipline and resource groups passed

The AMS proposed several bylaw amendments, which, according to AMS President Riley Huntley, were developed in consultation with undergraduate societies, resource groups and the AMS’s legal counsel.

Huntley explained the rationales for the amendments were to ensure that AMS governance aligns with legislation and industry practice and to strengthen accountability measures for both the student body and AMS executives.

Some of the bylaw amendments included changes that would allow AMS Council to discipline, suspend and remove members of council (which includes both elected councillors and AMS executives) who are “found to be in violation of the Society’s Bylaws, Code, or internal policies.” Another amendment would formally enshrine the AMS’s resource groups into the bylaws; the amendments also aimed to address creating a procedure to deem a seat on AMS Council vacant and the ability for council to appoint temporary replacements for vacant members.

Some students asked if they could vote for specific bylaw changes and not other, but Huntley said the amendments were being presented as a "package" and would need to be voted on together.

The amendments unofficially passed with 92 per cent in favour. Huntley explained that they will have to recheck the voting to ensure only active members have voted and will announce the official results later, hence why these results were considered unofficial.

SkyTrain to UBC now formally a core AMS goal

VP External Solomon Yi-Kieran proposed a motion to enshrine advocacy for the SkyTrain to UBC as one of the AMS’s “core advocacy goals.”

“Right now, governments at all levels understand the importance of SkyTrain. They understand that students are finally rallying around this issue, and they understand the public pressure is on,” said Yi-Kieran.

“The public attention that we've generated has created a moment, but moments can pass very quickly in politics. I'm committed to keeping up the pressure.”

During the discussion period, one student raised concerns that building the SkyTrain to UBC would result in the demolition of affordable housing along the route. In response, Yi-Kieran noted that the Jericho developments — projects contingent on the SkyTrain to UBC — will be mandated to be 30 per cent affordable housing and 20 per cent social housing.

The motion unofficially passed with 93 per cent voting in favour.

Financial statements

Finally, VP Finance Gagan Parmar presented the AMS’s financial statements and auditors' report for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. In the presentation, Parmar reported an “outstanding year” for AMS businesses — led by strong performance from Catering and Conferences, which had nearly $4 million in sales according to Huntley.

When asked about his expectations for the upcoming fiscal year, Parmar said “[he didn’t] expect that strong of a performance.” He noted that the previous year’s surplus was due to “unique" factors, including investment gains and staffing vacancies.

Both items were unofficially passed with 97 per cent voting in favour.

Town hall

The meeting ended with a town hall for where students were able to ask executives questions; notably, the attendance of the meeting also dropped to around 100 people after the motions had been approved.

During the town hall, a student asked how the AMS is addressing student calls for UBC to divest from companies complicit in Palestinian human rights abuses; students have also called on the AMS specifically to support this effort. According to VP Academic and University Affairs Zarifa Nawar, the AMS’s advocacy efforts are currently focused on implementation and transparency, as “language alone is not enough.”

“UBC is in the process of developing a human rights framework to guide what kinds of companies it should and shouldn't invest in,” said Nawar. “That framework is in the works only because students continue to push for it and the AMS has also continued to work on it.”

“Once it's complete, the university will be able to take more tangible steps toward divestment.” She noted, however, that divestment is a long process and persistence is key to ensure these goals are seen through.

On climate advocacy, Nawar said that the AMS is working to ensure that UBC upholds its commitments set out in the Climate Action Plan 2030, as well as meets sustainability goals outlined in Campus Vision 2050. Yi-Kieran added that their office is advocating to the federal government for “a fully funded Canadian Youth Climate Corps,” which would create green jobs for young people.