The students’ union Annual General Meeting on Nov. 19 saw few remarkable changes and almost no discussion. In the context of the unprecedented challenges of 2020, however, no news is good news.

“The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union definitely would be the envy of many non-profit organizations this year,” said Alecia Nagy, an audit manager from the firm KPMG, before presenting the union’s audited financial statements at the meeting.

Despite the loss of revenue that the USSU has incurred since March due to the campus closure, the USSU has also seen some reduced expenses amidst the pandemic. Nagy says the union is closing off the period in a good place.

“The USSU is in a strong financial position to keep up operations in the coming year,” said Nagy.

The full auditor’s report adds that due to COVID-19 it is difficult to predict whether the unions’ strong finances will be more significantly impacted in the future.

“The situation is dynamic and the ultimate duration and magnitude of the impact on the economy and the financial effect on the business is not known at this time,” reads the report.

Following the discussion of the students’ union’s finances, the AGM turned to the topic of the motions up for vote. The seven motions on the table, all proposed by the USSU executive, were voted through by the around 60 students present with no questions or discussion. 

The motions largely concerned matters of wording, including some committee name changes, a change to using the pronoun “they” in the USSU bylaw instead of “he or she,” and a change to using the word “Indigenous” instead of “Aboriginal.”

“We’re just updating with words that are more appropriate to use now,” said USSU President Autumn LaRose-Smith. 

The other changes included the creation of a committee solely dedicated to campus groups, and a new councillor seat on the University Students’ Council, to be filled by a representative from the U of S Prince Albert Campus. Getting a representative from the northern campus on the council has been on the USSU’s radar since the campus was officially unveiled in 2019.

The meeting then ended after a report by the president and a 30-minute question period that ended early, seeing no questions. The USSU executive shared their contact information and encouraged students to reach out if they had any comments after the meeting, before the adjournment of the unusually quiet AGM.

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Ana Cristina Camacho | Copy Editor

Photo: Supplied