The University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) would like to address recent concerns and clarify the situation regarding the review of funding for certain service centres, including the Women’s Centre (WC). This decision follows extensive attempts to ensure compliance with agreements in place, which are designed to ensure accountability and transparency for all service centres funded through URSU’s student union fees.
Why Review the Funding?
Service centres are established to provide vital resources and support to students. However, over the past four years, some centres, including the WC, have failed to meet the basic obligations outlined in their compliance agreements. These obligations include:
-Holding regular elections and Annual General Meetings (AGMs).
-Providing up-to-date constitutions, bylaws, and financial statements, as required under The Non-Profit Corporations Act, 1995.
-Despite repeated extensions and requests for compliance, some centres have not fulfilled these
responsibilities. Students have also frequently expressed concerns, asking what services these centres provide and why their operations remain unclear.
Specific Concerns Regarding the Women’s Centre
The Women’s Centre has been largely inactive in fulfilling its purpose as outlined in its own constitution. For example:
● The last social media activity was over a year ago (Facebook: December 2022, Instagram: September 2022).
● No significant workshops, training sessions, or events have been hosted in the past two years.
● The majority of its funding has been allocated to staff salaries, with minimal impact on actual services for women on campus.
Additionally, the Women’s Centre has not held elections or AGMs since 2022, nor has it utilized URSU resources to communicate with students, as required under its own guidelines.
Addressing Concerns About Student Services.
URSU is committed to ensuring that all students receive the services they need. While the Women’s Centre has been closed for extended periods, students seeking support have often turned to URSU for assistance. We will continue to provide these services, regardless of the
outcome of this review, ensuring that all demographics are served effectively.
Status of Other Service Centres
Other service centres, including UR Pride and Engineers Without Borders, have also been given ample time to comply with their agreements. Some have made efforts to address compliance, while others have not. URSU’s responsibility is to ensure accountability and transparency for all centres funded through student fees.
Response to Media Inquiries
It has been noted that the Regina Leader-Post contacted URSU President Mahad Ahmad on Monday for a comment. However, he was unable to respond the same day, as it was his day off during the busy exam week.
Next Steps
No decision on defunding will be made unilaterally. As per our processes, any such decision will involve consultation with our membership through a referendum. In the URSU referendum students will vote on whether to fund or defund the centre. We remain committed to
transparency and have given these centres multiple opportunities to rectify their compliance issues before reaching this stage.
We have received numerous queries and questions from students and media outlets regarding the reasons behind these actions. Most of these questions follow similar themes, and we have made every effort to address them comprehensively. Please find the questions sent by
members of the media and URSU answers outlined below.
“Question: Why are you looking to defund these associations? Are there students maybe
asking questions about why they are paying?
Response: These are not associations; they are service centres funded through a portion of URSU’s student union fees. Each service centre operates under a compliance agreement with URSU, which outlines specific requirements they must fulfill. The decision to review their funding is based on their compliance with these agreements. Additionally, students frequently approach the URSU Front Desk asking for information about what URSU does or what these student centres provide, and why URSU is not taking action to address their concerns.
Question: What are the normal steps to take to defund an association? Is it something that happens a lot?
Response: Defunding a service centre is not a frequent occurrence. However, in this case, we have provided ample time and notice for these service centres to address compliance issues outlined in their funding and space agreements with URSU. These agreements, approved by our membership, require service centres to fulfill basic obligations such as holding fair elections,
conducting annual general meetings (AGMs), and completing yearly financial audits. Despite these extensions and notices, some centres have failed to meet these requirements, prompting this course of action. While URSU executives or the board cannot make defunding decisions, it is our fiduciary duty to ensure service centres remain compliant and to highlight any anomalies to the membership. This allows members to make informed decisions through the same process
that was originally followed to establish these levies.
Question: Have you told the associations concerned that a referendum will be taking place?
When is the referendum planned to take place?
Response: The concerned service centres have been notified and repeatedly asked to provide the required compliance documentation. At this time, we have not decided when a referendum will be held, as we have been focused on giving these centres extensions and opportunities to meet compliance requirements.
Question: Why did you choose these associations precisely?
Response: There is no selective targeting involved. All service centres were sent the same documentation and compliance requirements. While some centres are actively working towards compliance, others have chosen to focus on creating media hype rather than addressing the outlined issues and fulfilling their obligations.
Question: What kind of communication have you had with the Women’s Centre? The director says no one has talked to her about the services the centre provides or been given a chance to explain the impact the centre has had on students?
Response: The Executive Director of the Women’s Centre (WC) was contacted early in September 2024 to provide us the deliverables as per the agreement. Apart from that, I have attached the WC’s articles/constitution where it clearly mentions how to get involved with WC.
Unfortunately, students have found WC to be closed the majority of the time from when the pandemic hit until the day I sent the email. The following text is from WC’s own constitution which you can find here : https://www.urwomenscentre.com/about
“ARTICLE XIII- SERVICES OF THE WOMEN’S CENTRE The Women’s Centre shall provide a meeting place for women in Room 226 of University Centre, the University of Regina. The Women’s Centre shall provide free coffee or tea and shall ensure a friendly and supportive environment is available. An alternative updated resource file, feminist files and magazines shall
be available for use at this location to meet students’ needs. The Women’s Centre shall welcome all students, female and male, to use our resources in order to learn more about the issues that concern women. The Centre shall offer peer counselling and referrals for students
needing support. The Centre shall work closely with the Student Advocate of the University of Regina Students Union and the Sexual Harassment Officer of the University of Regina. The Centre shall encourage women to come into the Centre or call for help with their problems or concerns. As the Women’s Centre volunteers are not professionals, the Women’s Centre must ensure that their staff and clientele understand that the assistance that may be provided by the Women’s Centre will generally be limited to lending a sympathetic ear or referring an individual to a professional or an agency. The Women’s Centre shall organize programs and events that promote and celebrate women as well as affect change in our environment. The Women’s Centre shall actively and continuously try to raise the consciousness of the public. As such, the Women’s Centre shall bring in guest speakers, sponsor film showings, conduct seminars and workshops, and sometimes sends members to relevant conferences, so they are better informed and able to share the information acquired The Women’s Centre shall support women students in their endeavour to educate themselves at the University of Regina. The Women’s Centre shall provide a place for women to socialize and network with others to discuss their lives, including their problems and successes. Very often an individual’s problem is part of a much larger social issue and at the Women’s Centre ways of overcoming and dealing with these problems and issues shall be discussed. The Women’s Centre shall be open to all students, all
staff; and all faculties at the University of Regina. The Women’s Centre’s philosophy includes a commitment to work at the eradication of sexist ways of thinking and seeing in our culture. The Women’s Centre is a feminist organization made up of people who believe that women,
historically, have not been allowed the same opportunities and advantages as men, in this and
other cultures. The members are committed to realizing these inequities and working towards better social, economic, and occupational opportunities for all women.”
Maybe WC’s management and current board has restarted providing coffee and tea again since
their office door started opening again just recently. Apart from that, the questions still remains:
When was the last time anyone from WC ever contacted Student Advocate of the University ofRegina Students’ Union or the Sexual Harassment Office of the U of R? Can she even name who are the individuals working at these positions right now?
What was the last event WC hosted/organized for women on campus? Any event: workshops, trainings, guest speakers, film showings, seminars? Or even any mass email sent to the members?
There are not many opportunities to socialize when the office of WC was closed for several years in a row.
Question: What are the specific requirements in the compliance agreement that everyone must follow?
Response: There are quite a few requirements but two major clauses are:
1) Centre shall maintain its existence and comply with all obligations under The Non-Profit Corporations Act, 1995.
2) Prior to URSU being required to make any payments to the Centre pursuant to this Agreement, the Centre shall be required to verify to URSU, by providing a copy of the following or having the following posted on the Centre’s official website;
a) A copy of its up-to-date constitution and bylaws;
b) A copy of its financial statements for the most recent fiscal year;
c) A report of the auditor, if any; or the report of the person conducting a review of the financial statements of the corporation pursuant to subsection 150(4) or 151(2) of The Non-Profit Corporations Act, 1995;
WC has not had an election or update/change of directors since 2022. Mentioned below is the
section that addresses to the calling of meetings:
“ARTICLE X· CALLING OF MEETINGS
- Meetings may be called by the Board of Directors.
- Notice must be given for all General Meetings as defined in Article IX (I), such notice not being
less than fifteen days or more than fifty days before the meeting, as required in Section 125 of
The Nonprofit Corporations Act, 1995. - Notice as required by Article X (2) and section 125 of the Act shall be:
- Given in a publication of the University of Regina Students’ Union; and
- Placed conspicuously on at least 20 different bulletin boards on the University of Regina
campus that The Students’ Union of The University of Regina, Inc. operates or has control of,
and there shall be no less than one notice per building situated on the University of Regina
Campus. - The notice in Article X (3 X a) must appear in two consecutive publications of the University of
Regina Students’ Union. - When a publication of The Students’ Union of The University of Regina, Inc. is not being
published, copies of a publication containing the notice must be available to members during the
time periods specified in Article X (2).”
WC hasn’t contacted URSU or used URSU resources for any notice to call the General
Meetings, nor has it held any elections since 2022.
Question: The centre has been in existence for 56 years. For women who need a safe space,
or are facing violence or assaults, if there is no more centre, what plans do you have to replace
it?
Response: We already are covering for most of the services that WC was supposed to be
providing. All concerned students have to come to URSU when they find WC’s door closed very
frequently in the last few years.
Question: What is the status of the two other service centres, UR Pride, and Engineers without
borders?
All of these service centres were given extended amount of time to get their house in order. We were fully aware of the backlash and the dirt campaign that might follow. And that’s exactly what some of the individuals involved have resorted to. But we are not doing our job if we don’t enforce the agreements in place. These service centres were established by the membership to provide services to students. If all that’s been happening is collecting funds and dispersing salaries, and doors remain closed to the students, the least we can do as the Students’ Union is to point this out to membership so they can make an informed decision. But before doing that,
we had given all these centres enough time to fix their issues, and that was the reason we didn’t
go to the referendum questions in the by-election. I am really thankful to the WC’s team for bringing this to the media, now students can ask them directly all the questions and maybe WC’s team will give them satisfactory answers about their presence and conduct on campus.
Additional Information:
The Women’s Centre was established to provide services to women on campus. Unfortunately,
this purpose has not been fulfilled for at least the last two years. The center’s last social media
activity was on Facebook in December 2022 and Instagram in September 2022. No workshops
or training sessions have been conducted for students during this time. The overwhelming
majority of the center’s revenue is allocated to staff salaries, with minimal contributions to actual
services for women on campus. It is noteworthy that these non-compliant service centres only
became active when asked to provide deliverables and address compliance issues. We are
disappointed that some individuals have resorted to name-calling and making baseless claims
of a gender-targeted attack. There is no truth to these accusations. The issue is that these
service centres are not providing the services they were intended to. Even if they are defunded
by the membership, URSU is already serving the campus community and will ensure that better
services are provided to all concerned demographics
