Statement on Impeachment of Four Board Members

Click here to read this statement as a PDF.

April 30, 2026

TMSU’s mandate is to serve its student members, and its Board Members have a legal obligation to act in the best interests of the Union. Pursuant to TMSU By-laws, the Board will not hesitate to take swift and decisive action against any Board Member who violates their fiduciary duties. In keeping with this commitment, the Board has recently voted to impeach four Board Members: Sakina Haider, Eisa Kapadia, Abdullah Saiyid and Raiyan Mirja.

These actions were not taken lightly.

The TMSU Board had overwhelming evidence that these Board Members were acting in the interest of outside parties and not in the best interest of TMSU and its Members. This evidence included three reports from external investigators, MNP LLP, and Board Members’ own direct observations.

This is a flagrant breach of a Board Member’s obligations to the Union.

All four Board Members were found to have violated By-law 4.9.3 as they failed to exercise the “care, diligence, and skill” expected of a Board member in upholding the By-laws and procedural processes as well as the best interests of the Union.

Further details are outlined below.

Decision to impeach Sakina Haider and Eisa Kapadia

In early March 2026, MNP received detailed information from a whistleblower who stated that former TMSU President Ali Yousaf had instructed a Board Member to arrange an emergency Board meeting on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 3 pm. According to the whistleblower, Mr. Yousaf wanted to call that meeting to regain control of the Union.

Mr. Yousaf is one of many defendants in litigation commenced by TMSU alleging civil conspiracy, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract, among other serious claims. The lawsuit alleges Mr. Yousaf conspired with elected representatives to hire and fire staff who were loyal to them in order to ensure high value contracts were awarded to their preferred businesses, for their personal financial gain.

The whistleblower also provided MNP with the text of draft motions that they said had been formulated by Mr. Yousaf.

After MNP received this information, Ms. Haider and Mr. Kapadia took a number of actions that led the Board to conclude that they had breached TMSU By-laws and their fiduciary duties.

Specific examples of their breaches included:

• On 8 March 2026 Ms. Haider attempted to call an emergency virtual Board meeting in violation of TMSU’s By-laws (without appropriate notice, without informing the Chair of the Board, and only notifying a subsection of Board Members). Board Members who attended reported that, after waiting a considerable amount of time, the meeting was ended abruptly without discussion. After this meeting, a fellow Board Member and the Chair of the Board wrote emails drawing the entire Board’s attention to the proper way to call a Board meeting under TMSU By-laws.
• On 8 April 2026 Ms. Haider and Mr. Kapadia attempted to call another emergency virtual Board meeting, on three minutes’ notice, again in violation of TMSU’s By-laws.
  • At that meeting, Ms. Haider and Mr. Kapadia attempted to pass motions that were substantially similar to a set of motions a whistleblower had provided to MNP one month prior, saying they had been drafted by Ali Yousaf.
  • These motions sought to remove TMSU’s Chair of the Board, fire all current legal counsel and investigators, require current management to report to a newly created management position while working from home, and would have centralized control of the Union in the hands of three Board Members.
  • The meeting was not properly called but nevertheless the “minutes” were later circulated. These purported minutes listed 10 Board Members as being in attendance. Two Board Members who were listed as attending confirmed that they had not been there. One other Board Member said they tried to attend but had been denied entry.
• Mr. Kapadia signed a direction to an Ottawa-based law firm to transfer all legal files from TMSU’s current counsel to that firm. Mr. Kapadia does not have legal authority to retain a law firm on behalf of TMSU, nor does he have authority to sign a contract binding TMSU.

MNP produced several reports investigating these incidents, and concluded that, in their opinion, Ms. Haider and Mr. Kapadia lacked transparency, violated TMSU’s By-laws, and called a Board meeting which would be used to advance Mr. Yousaf’s interests.

On April 12th, TMSU’s Board Conduct Committee met to discuss what, if any, action should betaken against Ms. Haider and Mr. Kapadia.

Based on the events that transpired, the facts presented, and MNP’s investigations and conclusions, the Committee recommended the Board pass an interim suspension motion and serve Notices of Impeachment for Ms. Haider and Mr. Kapadia. At the April 18th Board meeting, the Board accepted the recommendation of the Board Conduct Committee and suspended Ms. Haider and Mr. Kapadia pending an impeachment hearing. Both Board Members were provided an opportunity to make submissions to the Board in their defence before the vote to impeach.

At its April 25th meeting, TMSU’s Board voted unanimously to impeach Board Members Sakina Haider and Eisa Kapadia. In addition to their removal from the Winter 2026 Board, they are both ineligible to sit on the Board of Directors in the future, in accordance with TMSU By-law 4.4.

Decision to impeach Abdullah Saiyid and Raiyan Mirja

On April 25th, the Board also unanimously voted to serve Notices of Impeachment to two other Board Members, Abdullah Saiyid and Raiyan Mirja. The Board held those impeachment hearings on April 29th and voted to impeach Mr. Saiyid and Mr. Mirja.

In coming to these decisions, the Board relied on both their own direct observations, as well as information that had previously been considered during Ms. Haider and Mr. Kapadia’s impeachment hearings. This included the same MNP whistleblower reports that:

• In early March 2026 Mr. Yousaf issued instructions to arrange an emergency Board meeting to “regain control of the Board”; and
• Mr. Yousaf had drafted Board motions designed to replace the long standing TMSU legal counsel with counsel chosen by Mr. Yousaf, install a new Executive Manager to oversee TMSU operations and force the existing Interim Co-Executive Directors to report to this newly created management position and work from home

The Board also noted that, on 8 April 2026, Mr. Kapadia and Ms. Haider attempted to call a Board meeting in contravention of the By-laws. At that meeting, as previously noted, motions were put forward that substantially matched the text of the motions that the whistleblower said had been drafted and/or forwarded by Ali Yousaf. As set out above, one Board Member was denied admittance to that meeting and two who were listed on the “minutes” as present had not, in fact, been in attendance.

According to the meeting notes, Mr. Sayid was an active participant in the 8 April meeting, calling the meeting to order and moving several motions.

The meeting, which was not called in accordance with TMSU By-laws, purported to pass several motions which would have effectively handed control of TMSU to Mr. Mirja, Ms. Haider and Mr. Kapadia.

With respect to Mr. Mirja in particular, the motions included:

• Appointing Mr. Mirja to the “Interim Governance Committee”
• Appointing Mr. Mirja as the “interim contact for urgent operational matters” for TMSU until a Chair of the “Interim Governance Committee” could be elected.
• Appointing Mr. Mirja as “interim acting legal custodian of the Corporation’s Seal and all books, records, correspondence, contracts, and other instruments belonging to the Corporation”
• Designating Mr. Mirja as “the Corporation’s interim representative to Toronto Metropolitan University and to attend all meetings of the TMU Board of Governors”
• Designating Mr. Mirja as “Corporation’s interim representative on the Student Campus Centre/Palin Foundation Board of Directors.”

The Board also considered the following acts by Mr. Saiyid:

• On April 11th, Mr. Saiyid sent an email to the Board falsely stating that TMSU’s Nominating Committee had met, voted to remove TMSU’s current Chair of the Board, and replace her with Mr. Kapadia. The purported vote of the Nominating Committee did not comply with TMSU’s By-laws, and in any event, the Nominating Committee does not have the power to remove the Chair of the Board.
• On April 12th, Mr. Saiyid was one of two Board members who attempted to call a Board meeting for April 18th to take place half an hour before an official Board meeting already called by the Chair (the “Shadow Board Meeting”).
• On April 15th, Mr. Saiyid sent an email to Ms. Haider asking her to put motions onto the agenda of the Shadow Board Meeting that would remove TMSU’s Chair of the Board and designate Mr. Kapadia as Chair. This again did not comply with TMSU’s By-laws.
• On April 18th, shortly before the official Board Meeting was called to order, Mr. Saiyid sent an email that the Shadow Board Meeting was delayed due to a technical difficulty and that the Shadow Meeting would be called to order shortly.
• On April 18th, Mr. Saiyid joined the official TMSU Board Meeting. He was asked to explain his actions over the past 10 days. He did not do so, and instead asked to call for quorum, while at the same time requesting that he not be counted in the quorum calculation. Upon being advised that since he was still present, he would be counted for quorum, Mr. Saiyid left the meeting and attempted to call for quorum by email.

Based on Mr. Saiyid and Mr. Mirja’s conduct, the Board found that both Directors had breached their fiduciary duties and TMSU By-laws. The Board voted to impeach them at the Board meeting held on April 29.

The Board also found that both Mr. Saiyid and Mr. Mirja had abandoned their positions, and were effectively deemed to have resigned from the Board under TMSU By-laws.

Mr. Saiyid did not attend the Board meetings on March 7th, March 23rd, or April 25th, 2026, nor did he attend the AGM on April 9th, 2026.

Mr. Mirja did not attend the Board meetings on March 23rd, April 18th or April 25th, 2026, nor did he attend the AGM on April 9th, 2026.

TMSU By-law 4.15 addresses abandonment, stating that Board Members may be deemed to have delivered their resignation if they fail to attend three (3) consecutive meetings or any four (4) meetings of the Board, including General Meetings.

– TMSU, April 30, 2026