Audit clears WATSA of wrongdoing

This article originally appeared in Imprint, University of Waterloo’s official student newspaper
- February 23, 2007

by Narmeen Lakhani

The Waterloo Tamil Students’ Association (WATSA) has been cleared of charges of mishandling funds through an independent audit enforced by University of Waterloo and the Federation of Students last year.

 

After the arrests of three UW alumni and one undergraduate student in August 2006, the UW HR and Student Services department teamed up with the Federation of Students to initiate a forensic audit on WATSA. The men arrested were former members and officers of this organization, and the allegations followed that they might have used WATSA funds to support the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an allegedly terrorist organization in Sri Lanka.

 

According to CTV news, beginning April 8, 2006, “The Conservative government has outlawed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, making it illegal for anyone in Canada to support or participate in the group’s activities… The change was partly motivated by reports of the Tamil Tigers raising funds through alleged coercion in this country.”

 

In an interview with Imprint at the time of these arrests, Feds president Michelle Zakrison commented, “The forensic audit is to determine that students’ money is being spent on legitimate things.”

 

Deloitte and Touche conducted the audit, covering the financial documents from UW, Feds and WATSA over the 10 years prior to August 2006. UW news release reported on the findings of the audit, “Approximately 60 per cent of disbursements were for the rental of on-campus facilities. The balance covered a donation to the non-profit Tamil Children’s Endowment Fund as well as reimbursement of individual expenses and small-dollar items.” Therefore, WATSA’s activities were declared legitimate and void of illegal aid to the LTTE.

 

Renjie Butalid, Feds vice-president administration and finance commented on the report: “We have strict guidelines and procedures that all our clubs and services follow regarding any financial transaction, and we are glad to see that WATSA’s name has been cleared with the release of this report.”

 

The goal of WATSA is to foster a better cultural understanding of the Tamil society and increase interaction among students to achieve better academic and social support within the UW community. Former president of WATSA, Mario Pushparatnam, had this to say about the clearance of the organization: “We are certainly glad that this unfortunate incident is behind us so that we can return our focus to promoting our club’s mandate and purpose… WATSA and its members have always played an active role in the campus community, promoting acceptance and diversity of cultures…”

 

UW is following up on plans to increase the monitoring of international co-op placements. In September 2006, Imprint reported the implementation of these plans as a result of the involvement of Suresh Sriskandarajah, one of the arrested UW students, in Sri Lanka during his co-op term. His placement during that term, secured independently of the university, was at a volunteer organization called the Vanni Innovation Group, which he founded.

 

This self-directed job was accepted as an “unpaid placement” at the time. Co-op placements fell under greater university scrutiny after allegations first emerged of possible illegal activities involving both the members of his organization and VIG itself.

 

UW representatives reported, “The committee reviewing work experience overseas endorsed the university’s assessment and pre-approval process for the small number of self-employment work terms abroad… [and] stressed the importance of ensuring that all procedures — which include a designated contact person and on-site visit — are rigorously followed and suggested ways on ensuring compliance.”

 

UW will follow these guidelines and check their progress after three years. It will also create an effective training program that will be required of all students traveling out of the country on activities authorized by the university.

 

Martin Van Nierop, UW communications and public affairs, said, “We are satisfied that an independent auditor has confirmed the integrity of our Tamil student group, and look forward to implementing the recommendations related to students working and studying abroad.”