The chair of the University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) judicial board disclosed the outcome of a conflict of interest investigation regarding an UMSU executive at the Nov. 21 board of directors meeting.
In a written report to the UMSU board of directors, judicial board chair Jared Murphy wrote that the “judicial board has thus decided that this complaint was unwarranted, and a conflict of interest does not exist.” The judicial board reached the decision on the complaint on Nov. 18.
On Oct. 8, the judicial board received the formal complaint pertaining to an UMSU executive and a “perceived conflict of interest relating to several ongoing legal matters that the union is engaged in.” Following the complaint, the judicial board conducted an initial interview with the complainant and respondent, according to the written report.
For the next several weeks, statements were collected from students-at-large and other UMSU executives “who would be directly affected if the alleged conflict of interest was, in fact, true,” wrote Murphy. In an email statement from Nov. 7, Murphy told the Manitoban that “I cannot comment on the status of any ongoing investigations except that they are happening.”
Murphy’s written report to the UMSU board of directors concluded, “no recommendation will be made to UMSU’s board of directors, and the complaint is hereby dismissed.”
UMSU’s Governance and Operations Manual defines a conflict of interest as a “situation in which private interests or personal considerations may affect a person’s judgment in acting in the best interests of UMSU.” The definition includes using a position, confidential information, time in which a person is required to devote to UMSU, UMSU’s materials or facilities “for private gain or advancement or the expectation of private gain or advancement.
“It also includes a situation that creates, either in appearance or in reality, a perceived or real opportunity for improper influence in the performance of the person’s duties and responsibilities to UMSU.”
