A he-said-she-said controversy alleging Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) connections to former KSA officials under investigation for possible mismanagement of over $2 million of student fees has escalated into threats of legal action.
An email issued on Monday from the current KSA president Sean Birdman Bassi demanded a retraction and an apology from The Runner, an independent student-run newspaper covering Kwantlen Polytechnic University, for coverage of the currently-in-limbo court investigation.
In response, Paul Li, chairman of the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society Board which publishes The Runner, posted a public statement rejecting the demands and condemning the lawsuit threats which would see student funds used against students. Li closed the letter inviting Bassi and KSA executives to speak directly with The Runner reporters to comment on the allegations.
Disagreements stem from a story published by The Runner on July 29, claiming reliable evidence that Justine Franson, the current KSA director of operations, is the sister of Aaron Takhar, the former KSA director of external affairs who is under investigation for embezzlement. Nina Sandhu, now director of finance for the KSA, is also mentioned in the article as being Takhars cousin.
The allegations raise questions about the status of the pending Takhar case. On April 1, Fransons first day in office, the KSA passed a resolution ordering the lawyer on the case to cease all related activity until further notice. The KSA simultaneously named Franson as the sole liaison with their legal counsel.
But the KSA is adamant that this does not mean the lawsuit has been frozen or paused.
On August 2, 2011 the Executive voted unanimously to reaffirm decisions of our Society since taking office, including matters relating to this case. The Directors of Operations and Finance had no involvement in the decision and noted their abstentions. Therefore, this conflict issue has now come to a close, Bassi wrote to the News.
This, however, does not explain why links on the media releases page of the KSA website, which included links to a PricewaterhouseCoopers forensic audit findings following the original Takhar scandal, have been removed.
Nor does it explain KSAs reticence, argues Li.
They refused to comment, they slammed doors in our faces. That letter [referencing legal action] from Mr. Bassi is as close to a response from the KSA as weve been able to get, said Li.
An alternate message, however, has been loud and clear. Members of the KSA have called the RCMP twice to warn Runner reporters to essentially tread carefully. During one of those confrontations, the RCMP told reporters their camera would be confiscated if they tried to photograph a member of the KSA.
They have not addressed the idea that they (Franson and Takhar) are related, theyre just simply denying that there is a conflict of interest, said Matt DiMera, the Kwantlen student and Runner news editor who broke the story.
Meanwhile, Kwantlen staff are looking into actions available to them should the allegations prove true. Its more complicated than simply disbanding the KSA, as the university and the KSA function as two separate business entities, said Kwantlen spokesperson Joanne Saunders.
We know the allegations. Were taking them very, very seriously. We are doing what we can to gather information on our end to support the students.
Saunders noted that generally only the current KSA members would be in a position to address the potential conflict of interest, but that the governing Society Act may come into play if allegations prove true. The Society Act requires directors of societies to disclose conflicts of interest.
DiMera hopes students will voice their concerns to expedite a resolution.
Students can keep asking questions, they can show an interest, they can show they care, he said.
And it appears they do care. One 365-member Facebook group, the Concerned Students of Kwantlen KSA Watch, is already tracking the news closely.
The supposed embezzlement is still fresh in the memories of some, who saw Takhar and his Reduce All Fees (RAF) party make headlines in 2007 and 2008 for being sued by the next round of KSA officials to recoup theft and fraud losses.
Takhar was again in the news in July 2008 after a pot-filled SUV he rented and was driving in front of as a caravan, according to police, fled from an RCMP road check and into the Nechako River near Vanderhoof, killing the driver, Richmonds Daljit Sandhu.
The passenger of the SUV, Pritpal Singh Virk, was murdered less than a year later.
