Since 2022, 46 per cent of all elected AMS executives have left the society in some capacity — whether by resignation, removal or extended leaves of absence during their term. Some of these former executives have alleged a toxic culture inside the student society, calling into question the AMS’s leadership and structure.
Former VP AUA Drédyn Fontana was removed from office after the AMS’s Executive Performance and Accountability (EPA) Committee completed an inquiry into his performance in fall 2024. According to AMS Code, the role of the EPA Committee is to keep the AMS’s five executives accountable.
VP Finance Gavin Fung-Quon and VP External Ayesha Irfan resigned earlier this month. Now, Fontana is planning to sue for wrongful termination, alleging he was reviewed and removed out of retaliation for concerns he raised about AMS President Christian ‘CK’ Kyle’s performance.
At 10:43 p.m. on February 12, Kyle sent an email to the student body on Fontana’s removal and Irfan and Fung-Quon’s resignation. In response to Fung-Quon and Irfan’s resignation letters — which both call on the AMS to better its workplace culture — Kyle wrote “we are looking at ways to better support our AMS Executives.”
“I am proud that this year’s AMS Council has ensured that being an AMS Executive will never be taken for granted,” Kyle wrote.
A 45 page report obtained by The Ubyssey, titled “INQUIRY REPORT: DRÉDYN FONTANA VICE PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC AND UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS,” allegedly created by the EPA Committee, details the Committee’s alleged inquiry process into Fontana’s performance.
In a statement to The Ubyssey, EPA vice-chair Riley Huntley wrote the EPA Committee produced a 45 page report of the same name on the inquiry into Fontana, but he could not confirm the validity of the document obtained by The Ubyssey as he was not provided the full obtained copy.
The EPA Committee began an inquiry into Fontana under three main areas: misrepresentation to AMS Council and constituencies, poor performance and conduct, and a lack of confidence in Fontana’s ability to complete his executive goals.
In Kyle’s February 12 email to students, he wrote this is the first time in AMS history an elected executive has been removed from office and said “this decision was not taken lightly.”
Misrepresentations to Council
According to the alleged EPA report obtained by The Ubyssey, misrepresentations to council refer to Fontana’s characterization of securing funding from the Food Security Initiative (FSI) and of budget submission timelines.
The FSI provides funding to student-led initiatives promoting avenues to aid food insecurity. The VP AUA works with the VP Students’ office and the FSI Committee to help facilitate the funding of its various initiatives.
In an interview with The Ubyssey, Fontana explained that the FSI Committee had agreed every initiative from last year would get the same funding from the previous year — except UBC Meal Share, which is no longer running. This meant $39,000 had not yet been allocated.
Fontana said the VP Students representative said $10,000 from the $39,000 left over had been allocated to UBCO because of student body population increases. Fontana told The Ubyssey since he thought the $10,000 was going to student-led initiatives, he didn’t oppose the allocation.
In its summary of inquiry on FSI funding, the alleged EPA report found as fact that Fontana made “assurances to constituencies” regarding securing FSI funding. Fontana told The Ubyssey he made no such assurances.
“I recall making it pretty clear [to AMS Council] that funding was not guaranteed,” Fontana said.
In its summary of findings, the alleged EPA report includes statements from witnesses interviewed by the Committee. Some statements contradict the alleged finding that Fontana made funding assurances. Despite the testimonial discrepancies, the EPA allegedly found as fact that Fontana made assurances that FSI funding was secured.
In regards to Fontana’s representation of budget timelines, the alleged EPA report claims timeline discrepancies around the AMS Student Priorities for the 2025/26 UBC Operating Budget. The AMS budget submission is an advocacy tool compiled annually by the AUA office to highlight student needs for which the AMS wants further funding.
Fontana claimed, in an interview with The Ubyssey, that at the October 9, 2024 AMS Council meeting, Council told him he should have completed and circulated his budget submission before his October 10 budget presentation.
In the alleged EPA report and to The Ubyssey, Fontana said he was never informed before the October 9 Council meeting that he needed to finalize his budget submission prior to when his budget presentation was due. To his understanding, the more formal submission wasn’t due until early November.
Fontana told The Ubyssey he and Kyle met with VP Students Ainsley Carry around October 31, 2024 as Fontana was finalizing the report, and he said that Carry gave no indication it was too late to send the budget submission as EPA had implied. The Ubyssey was unable to independently verify if this meeting occurred.
In the alleged EPA report, when a witness was asked if Fontana was aware of the budget submission timeline, they said, “I would say yes,” and elaborated by citing Fontana's access to past VP AUA transition reports to help him understand the submission timeline.
Fontana confirmed his access to the past VP AUA transition reports, but said they contained inconsistencies concerning the budget submission timeline.
In the alleged report, Fontana is quoted saying he was also not told how to write a budget submission and that his predecessor’s transition report was incomplete. A witness in the alleged EPA report said only two subheadings of Fontana’s predecessor, current AMS speaker, Board of Governors representative and EPA chair Kamil Kanji’s transition report were incomplete.
The Ubyssey obtained a 41-page long report, titled “Office of the Vice President, Academic and University Affairs Transition Report 2023-2024” which showed three empty subheadings — one was titled “UBC Budget Brief and UBC Policies Summaries.” The obtained report also said it was prepared by Kanji.
In a statement to The Ubyssey, Kanji wrote the final transition report Fontana received was 41 pages long and he is unable to confirm the validity of the document obtained by The Ubyssey as he was not provided the full obtained copy.
Kanji also wrote “[Fontana] and I were also having frequent meetings into his term anywhere from multiple times a week to biweekly to ensure he felt supported. I was available to answer any question he had.”
Despite the alleged transition report’s incompleteness, the alleged EPA report noted Fontana circled that Kanji had completed all duties before his transition honorarium was dispersed.
When The Ubyssey asked why Fontana circled all, he said “I considered Kamil a friend … I would have felt guilty to not give him the transition honorarium.”
“I felt generally supported at the time, so I was like, ‘Okay I'll sign that.’”
In the alleged report’s summary of inquiry, EPA found as fact that Fontana “did not adhere to project timelines despite evidence of extensive transition.”
Poor performance & non-confidence in Fontana’s abilities
On poor performance, the alleged EPA report cited delays on Fontana’s presentation of the AMS Academic Experience Survey (AES) — an annual AMS survey administered by the AUA office which polls students on a range of topics.
As VP AUA, Fontana was in charge of compiling the data gathered from the survey by a research firm the AMS uses, Kai Analytics, and presenting the final results.
Fontana said he assigned one half-time staff member to go through the data to help the office better notice any problems.
A witness cited in the alleged EPA report said the AUA office found problems with the data which resulted in a “back and forth” with Kai Analytics, increasing the timeline. However, the alleged report also found that the AUA office initially replied seven weeks after the office received the final information from Kai Analytics.
Fontana told The Ubyssey that Kanji never told him there was a set AES timeline. He said Kanji’s AES report was released in June, but the 2019, 2020 and 2022 AES reports came out close to September — which is around when Fontana’s report was released.
The alleged AUA’s transition report obtained by The Ubyssey did not contain an AES timeline.
According to their alleged report, the EPA Committee also reviewed the AUA student staff survey responses and comments collected from a private in-camera Presidents Council — a council composed of the president of each constituency — meeting to gather feedback on Fontana’s performance. The alleged EPA report said Fontana’s feedback was “overwhelmingly critical with 25/29 comments being critical.”
One survey respondent is quoted saying “constituencies feel disconnected from important updates and decision-making processes.” Five comments expressed discontent with Fontana's handling of FSI funding.
In his interview with The Ubyssey, Fontana expressed concern about the majority of the witnesses commenting on his performance being from Presidents Council despite the fact that Fontana said most of his work was done with the VP Academic Caucus, composed of the VP academics of each constituency.
Huntley wrote in a statement to The Ubyssey that gathering feedback from Presidents Council on executives is standard to AMS Code, and that EPA provided Fontana “every opportunity to submit names of individuals for EPA to speak to.”
Fontana confirmed the EPA Committee provided him the opportunity to call in witnesses, but said he was already filing issues to HR with the inquiry’s process and busy working on the budget submission.
“They're now asking me to respond to all of these allegations, to bring in all of these witnesses to do all these different things … [and] I have to point out issues that I think that there are with the investigation,” Fontana said. “It took a whole lot of my energy.”
“I just expected that they would call in witnesses who are relevant,” he said.
The Presidents Council is chaired by Kyle as AMS president. In a statement to The Ubyssey, Huntley wrote that seven constituency presidents were also members of AMS Council during the inquiry.
“The Presidents of these Constituencies are fully qualified to give feedback on the VP AUA’s performance,” wrote Huntley.
The Ubyssey interviewed three VP academics part of the VP Academic Caucus — Christianah Soneye from the Science Undergraduate Society, Luke Parolin from the Commerce Undergraduate Society and Adrianne Chow from the Land and Food System Undergraduate Society — all three said they had no concerns with Fontana’s performance.
In separate interviews, Soneye said Fontana “was a very supportive VP AUA” and Chow noted, “He was definitely very passionate about advocacy, and he was very hands-on.”
When asked about big accomplishments the AUA office and VP Academic Caucus completed together, all three brought up the success of the AUA office’s record-breaking Workday Survey and acquisition of co-op seats.
“That was a really big win for the caucus,” Soneye said, referring to the secured co-op seats.
Fontana told The Ubyssey he was most proud of his work with the Caucus because he’d wanted to make structural and lasting changes during his time in office.
“My whole approach was, how do we give students more leverage? How do we put students in a position where, in future years, they can ask for more student aid?” Fontana said.
“It feels as though advocacy for students … is not being taken seriously."
All three VP academics said they were not consulted during the EPA’s inquiry into Fontana’s performance. Chow said the Caucus is a “decent part of the work that goes on in the VP AUA office,” and Soneye said “having insight from us would have been good.”
“I would say there was a sense of confusion and a lack of transparency,” Parolin said of the EPA’s inquiry.
All three VPs also said the Caucus came to a standstill after Fontana was removed.
“You essentially lost the whole portfolio in the span of a few weeks, and it halted almost everything,” said Parolin. He also said that when Fontana was removed, two of Fontana’s three student staff left, and the remaining member, Zarifa Nawar, became the interim VP AUA. In January’s VP AUA by-election, Nawar was elected to serve in the position until May.
“It feels as though advocacy for students … is not being taken seriously,” Soneye said. “The promise for advocacy to not be interrupted is not evident with the transition to the interim and future plans as well.”
Chow said Fontana’s removal was “brushed over” by Nawar during their first Caucus meetings together, and she found it frustrating the AMS never shared an explanation for his removal other than what is on the AMS website.
In a statement to The Ubyssey, Nawar wrote the VP Academic Caucus meets bi-weekly and has been working on various advocacy-related promises such as “Advocacy Workshops.”
The alleged EPA report obtained by The Ubyssey found as fact that “It is premature to make a determination on the progress of [Fontana’s] goals due to the number of ongoing goals and multi-year goals.”
In his February 12 email to UBC students, Kyle wrote he strongly believes the AMS should strive to be as transparent as possible.
Kyle also wrote that, on February 5, Council unanimously directed him to release the EPA’s entire inquiry report on Fontana’s removal for transparency. However, Kyle wrote the AMS’s legal counsel advised that due to BC’s privacy laws, disclosing personal information about any individual without their consent is prohibited.
In a written statement to The Ubyssey, Kyle said Fontana had since his removal on November 6, 2024 to give the AMS his consent to circulate personal information and that Fontana has not yet provided it. Kyle did not clarify if the AMS had explicitly requested Fontana's consent to release his EPA Committee inquiry report.
On February 13, Fontana told The Ubyssey the AMS had not reached out to him to get his consent to release the EPA Committee’s inquiry report.
Kyle also made the unsubstantiated claim that The Ubyssey purposely delayed publishing this story on Fontana's removal to align with the AMS Elections All-Candidates meeting as to "align with [Fontana's] running for AMS President." At time of writing, The Ubyssey was unaware of Fontana's potential involvement in this year's elections and had been pursuing this story since his removal.
Poor conduct
On poor conduct, the alleged report claimed Fontana breached the AMS’s Standards of Conduct for Directors of the Society.
According to AMS Code section 2.1.8, AMS directors — which are all voting members of Council including councillors and executives — must demonstrate respect and refrain from conduct which constitutes bullying or harassment.
A witness in the alleged report expressed concerns around Fontana’s conduct, claiming he said, “fuck Council, they are so fucking stupid.”
The alleged report also cites a recording of Fontana where he makes statements questioning Kyle’s integrity by calling him “a compulsive liar” and a “piece of shit.” When asked about those statements by the EPA in the alleged report, Fontana maintained his criticisms of Kyle’s character.
“During the [inquiry] … two people came into my office and recorded me while I was speaking,” said Fontana to The Ubyssey. “I was not yelling, I was not threatening. I was talking to someone who I thought I was on the same page with.”
When asked about breaching the AMS’s standards of conduct, Fontana said he felt his quotes were decontextualized and claimed the report made him sound harsher than he was in reality.
The alleged EPA report also includes a statement from a witness who claimed Fontana was planning on taking legal action against the AMS.
Fontana told The Ubyssey that he told people he planned to take legal action, but claimed he did not threaten anyone with it.
According to Kanji, Fontana “has made explicit promises of legal and reputational retaliation against the witnesses in this process.”
When asked what action he might bring against the AMS, Fontana said he has legal counsel and will be pursuing a lawsuit due to his unlawful termination.
Conflicts of interest within inquiry process
Throughout the EPA inquiry’s progression and during his interview with The Ubyssey, Fontana expressed concerns about procedural fairness, claiming members of the EPA Committee and interviewed witnesses in the alleged report had potential conflicts of interests (COIs).
Fontana claims the inquiry’s purpose was to seek his removal, rather than look into his performance.
In Kyle’s February 12 email, he wrote that the EPA Committee made every effort to ensure a fair hearing, that complaints about bias were taken seriously and that Fontana was given every opportunity to present his case and respond to allegations.
In his statement to The Ubyssey, Kyle said Fontana’s allegations of EPA-member conflicts were “a blatant attempt to obstruct the [inquiry’s] process.”
Fontana, however, said he “felt the process was designed to throw [him] off balance and to cause outbursts.”
“It was a witch hunt,” said Fontana.
According to AMS Code section 2.1.15, a COI is anything which may influence a director’s objectivity, judgment or ability to act in the best interests of the AMS.
In his statement, Huntley wrote that the EPA sought the advice of legal counsel and HR on all conflicts flagged by Fontana, and that a COI management plan was prepared and distributed to directors.
“This was an exhaustive process,” Huntley wrote.
In email correspondence from October 18–23 between Fontana and an AMS HR Generalist obtained by The Ubyssey, Fontana wrote he had COI concerns with Kanji, Nawar, Kyle and councillor and EPA member Eshana Bhangu. Bhangu was previously the 2022/23 AMS president.
Fontana wrote that Kanji — who is the chair of the EPA Committee as Speaker of Council — “suggested that if I were no longer in the picture[,] executive strife would disappear,” and claimed Kanji had a potential COI because his “girlfriend” was a likely witness.
“I did tell him that he was causing issues for no reason and risking damage to the AMS,” wrote Kanji.
The alleged EPA report wrote Kanji’s relationship with a member of student staff was declared, and that Kanji recused himself from the EPA Committee. Huntley then took over the Committee’s inquiry.
“I recused myself … To allow for the process to continue without constant interruption,” wrote Kanji.
In her statement, Nawar said it is “public information” she is “dating Kamil Kanji” and is sure the EPA took that into account.
On page 32, the alleged EPA report also stated that “recused members would not be present for or participate in any witness interviews.” Riley told The Ubyssey this meant recused members would not conduct or observe any interviews, but that recused members could still be interviewed.
The Ubyssey asked Huntley if anyone who’d declared a potential COI was interviewed as witnesses in the inquiry. Huntley replied “Yes," and said if an individual had involvement in key events, their testimony may be essential to establishing an accurate record.
“A declared COI does not automatically preclude someone from being a witness,” Huntley wrote.
In the alleged EPA report’s section on poor performance, two of Fontana’s three student staff provided positive feedback, calling the AUA office environment one of “communication, collaboration, and feedback.”
One student staff member noted “defensiveness and hostility” from Fontana.
When the three student staff members were asked about Fontana’s level of preparedness at AMS Council, one called Fontana unprepared while two called him prepared.
During the inquiry, Fontana wrote in an email to AMS HR that the VPs filled out a feedback report for Kyle in August, but many of their concerns had “remained unaddressed.”
In his February 12 email to students, Kyle linked his own executive review done by the EPA Committee to give students an understanding of how the process works — the review reported that 93 per cent of respondents felt Kyle is respectful of their opinions and ideas on work-related matters.
On October 29, a special Council meeting was called to discuss “the appropriate procedure for investigations of the executive.” At this meeting, Irfan also spoke to executive concerns regarding the EPA Committee.
“We don't feel safe coming to EPA, and I think that should speak volumes,” said Irfan.
Huntley told The Ubyssey that none of the AMS VPs sent their concerns to EPA, thus “depriving us of the opportunity to address these concerns.” Kyle said he was not made aware of the VPs concerns before the meeting.
Fontana also told AMS HR he was worried Kyle would use his relationship with Bhangu “to retaliate” for Fontana expressing concerns with Kyle’s performance. Neither Bhangu or Kyle confirmed this when asked by The Ubyssey.
“The Vice-Presidents remained hesitant to reach out to EPA regarding this matter for fear of retaliation given [Kyle’s] relationship with Ms. Bhangu and her influence over both the structure and outcomes of EPA as a member,” Fontana wrote to AMS HR.
In an email to Fontana, AMS HR acknowledged that Fontana expressed concern regarding personal relationships between executives and members of the EPA Committee, what AMS HR characterized as “Ms. Bhangu is dating a likely witness – the President of the AMS, Christian Kyle,” but said no conflict of interest existed.
“We have considered this allegation and believe no conflict exists. We believe Ms. Bhangu … [will act] in the best interests of [the] AMS, and will not put the interests of Mr. Kyle ahead,” AMS HR wrote.
AMS HR also asked Fontana to consent to having Bhangu continue to sit as a member of the EPA Committee “to avoid any doubt that there is no conflict.” Fontana denied consent, and Bhangu recused herself from the EPA Committee’s inquiry.
In a statement to The Ubyssey, Bhangu wrote she “did not use [her] position as an elected member of AMS Council and ex-officio member of EPA during the inquiry to aid the President, or any executive at any point of time.”
“I voluntarily recused myself from the inquiry despite legal advice that I was not in a conflict of interest at [Fontana’s] request to avoid attempts to delay the process,” she wrote.
Prior to her recusal, Bhangu was present for the EPA Committee meeting in which the Committee recommended Council direct them to formally consider Fontana’s executive performance.
“The EPA committed to making best efforts to ensure that, in compliance with the Code, no member with a conflict or who had shown bias participated in decision-making or carried out EPA duties,” wrote Huntley.
He also wrote that no one — including Fontana — made any appeals to the conflict of interest management plan.
A culture of ‘petty politics’ and ‘casual bullying’
In the interview with The Ubyssey, Fontana pointed to larger issues of the AMS functioning by using fear — specifically fear of legal action.
According to AMS Code section 2.19.1, only the managing director and AMS president are able to contact the society’s lawyers. Fontana said the AMS often enters in-camera sessions to keep conversations private, implying legal action if in-camera confidentiality is broken.
According to AMS Code section 2.1.11, unless disclosure has been compelled by law or Council, directors must protect the confidentiality of information they acquire by virtue of their position. This includes all information discussed in in-camera meetings.
“There's a reason why it took me as long as it did to talk,” Fontana said. “[There’s this] pattern of making things confidential, which threatens silence, because they have access to lawyers.”
“It’s an abuse of power,” Fontana said.
In his statement, Kyle said “There is an inherent power imbalance between any manager and their direct report. Council manages me and I manage the Vice-Presidents –this is much like every other workplace."
Kyle also said the AMS offered to reimburse Fontana for his legal fees “should he choose to seek legal counsel on his own while going through the inquiry process.” The AMS also offered resources such as the UBC Ombudsperson to Fontana. Fontana confirmed this occurred.
Since 2022, 7 out of 15 (or 46 per cent) AMS executives have either resigned, taken leaves of absences for various reasons or — in Fontana’s case — been removed.
Dana Turdy, who served as the 2022/23 VP AUA but took a leave of absence in January 2023 until the end of her term, told The Ubyssey in January that the AMS reminds her of “toxic corporate culture.”
“Burnout is frowned upon. It's like you're supposed to stick through it and just get through your year,” said Turdy.
“I didn't know what was happening behind my back. People would tell me different things that other people had said to them ... I was scared all the time.”
Esmé Decker — who ran under the candidate name Remy the Rat — served as AMS President from May to October 2023 before she took an indefinite leave of absence.
In January, Decker said executives are expected to work 60 to 80 hours a week to get the job done — despite the positions only being paid for approximately 40 hours.
“Being an Executive will always require hard work, long hours, and dedicated service on behalf of our membership,” wrote Kyle in his February 12 email to students.
When asked what the biggest issue with the AMS’s culture is, Decker said “petty politics.” She said the work environment cultivates distrust and paranoia among the executives and within the offices.
Decker also claimed she witnessed a lot of “casual bullying” during her time in office, and she alleged people yelling and throwing pens at each other as examples.
Of the things she dealt with as president, Decker said one of the worst was seeing people lie.
“I didn't know what was happening behind my back. People would tell me different things that other people had said to them,” said Decker. “I was scared all the time.”
In their separate resignation letters, both Irfan and Fung-Quon referenced a need for the AMS to reconsider its culture.
“I encourage the AMS Council to think about the environment that is currently being created and how this hinders retention and success amongst the student union executive team,” wrote Irfan.
Fontana called the way the AMS treated him — particularly by announcing its inquiry publicly but keeping its findings private — indicative of the larger, ongoing transparency and accountability issues within the AMS.
“It’s a pattern of behavior. I’m not the first victim of this,” Fontana said. “I want people to know the truth.”
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