Ah, the Annual General Meeting, the wonderful time of year when Innis students from different years, programs, clubs, and communities come together to eat free food vote on changes to the Innis College Student Society’s constitution. The 2022-23 AGM took place on March 2nd at the Innis residence events room and ran for a little more than two hours, covering 14 motions in that time. For those of you who missed it and don’t want to read through the 11-page meeting minutes, here are some specially curated highlights of the evening:

• In total, 108 Innis students voted at this AGM, attending online, in-person, or by proxy.
• All Innis students had the opportunity to submit motions, i.e. potential changes or additions to the ICSS constitution that they believe would help improve the student experience at the college. These motions would be presented at the AGM, discussed, revised, and voted on by the assembled quorum. Cue the fancy politics!
• After a short address by madam president Ayaka Teshirogi, as well as a rundown of the ICSS’ hard budget by VP Finance Emil Stonynov, the very first motion was brought up for discussion.
• (1) Student Fees might go up! The assembly voted in favour of the motion to allow the ICSS membership fee to be increased based on rises in the annual cost of living. Although such an increase would have to be approved by ICSS council members, it may lead to slightly higher student fees in the future (which also means better and more frequent events and activities!)
• (2) Kit Inferno, the adorable baby beaver that has been Innis College’s unofficial mascot for quite a while now, was voted in with zero opposition to be the official ICSS mascot! I don’t know about you but I can’t wait for all the amazing BEAVER-THEMED MERCH this will inspire!!! 
• “I’m gonna get a Kit Inferno tramp stamp if this passes.” Rhea Gosain, ex-OC, Grad Rep, Charlie’s #1 fan.
• (3) Ooh, this was kind of a spicy one. Taking effect in the 2024-25 session, the ICSS executives (President, and 3 vice presidents) can now each be awarded a $1000 honorarium for their work on the council! The executives in question would have to submit a report at the end of the year, to demonstrate that they’ve successfully met the requirements of their role. A vote will be taken and unless a 51% majority votes to repeal the stipend, the ICSS executive will be compensated for their hard work. There was quite a bit of healthy debate around this motion. Concerns about potential voting bias, abuse of power, equity issues, and the availability of funds were all brought to the table.  After lots of questions, concerns, conversations, and revisions, this controversial motion did ultimately pass. The assembly agreed that it’s important to compensate the student leaders for their work as it would motivate more people to get involved and make student leadership more accessible. 
• “EMIL USE A DAMN CALCULATOR” – Cindy Yan, VP Internal
• (4) Not one, not two, but three off-campus representatives can now be elected to the ICSS! Commuters make up a large portion of Innis’ population, and while those living at the Innis residence have the entire Innis Residence Council, students staying off-campus could do with more representation on the council.
• Skipping a few kinda boring (but very important) administration-related changes and we arrive at… (5) From now on anyone running for the role of ICSS president, Executive VP, or VP Internal would have to have served on the ICSS or attend at least 50% of ICSS meetings in the past year. So, if you’re eyeing any of those fun roles for next year, better pull up to the next ICSS meeting! (There are often snacks, friends, and political drama so it’s fun to attend anyway)
• (6) Last but certainly not least. Remember orientation? That was fun right? Well, it takes a LOT of planning, work, and sleepless nights to pull it off so it seems only fair that each of the two Innis College Orientation Coordinators will now be receiving an increased honorarium of 3500$!

Andddd…. What? You thought that was it? No, no, no. There was an additional referendum put in place so that three more incredibly important motions could be put forward. Taking place alongside the ICSS general elections, this referendum was bound by the same minimum quorum and voting rules as the AGM. Here’s a rapid runthrough of how it all played out:
(1) The proposed $4.97 increase in student fees (to a new total of $32) ultimately did not go through. 

(2) The next time someone wants to start a new funded club at Innis, the process will be a lot easier now that an OSL staff member will no longer have to be called in for approval. This gives the ICSS more autonomy and the students a little bit more control over what kind of clubs they want to support! 

And finally, (I promise this is actually the last one) motion number (3) gives the ICSS the ability to temporarily suspend portions of the constitution during extreme and unexpected scenarios. Oh ho ho ho, the power they now hold. Will this be the thing that pushes the ICSS into deceit and corruption? ICSS GONE ROGUE? Innis’ political NIGHTMARE?! Nah. They wouldn’t do that.

Or would they?

No, they wouldn’t.

Or would they?

Nope.

Nope?

I’m just kidding, the motion also included multiple safeguards such as a rigorous voting process and an easy way to repeal such temporary changes via petitions. In fact, this motion will actually make it harder for the ICSS to ignore the constitution, what with all the added red tape they now have to go through.

Well, there you have it, folks: the 2022-23 ICSS AGM and referendum recapped in far less than 11 pages. 

You’re welcome.