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By Emma Sandri

The current president of the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) can’t find any records to prove the purchase of nap pods, as previously confirmed by former-president Ram Ganesh.

In January, now-former RSU president Ganesh told The Eyeopener that the union had purchased and shipped nap pods from overseas.

“I am very excited for them. They’ve cleared Canadian customs and shipping, so that’s good,” said Ganesh in a previous interview. “We had to go to the U.K., we had to pay in pounds and stuff. It was hectic.”

According to the current union president, Maklane deWever, the only record he could find of the nap pods was an email correspondence between the union’s executive and a company called Podtime, located in the United Kingdom.

However, deWever said the union’s financial controller was unable to find any financial records showing an actual purchase of the devices.

“We had to go to the U.K., we had to pay in pounds and stuff. It was hectic”

“So unless the company sent us nap pods from the U.K. without us giving them any money, I think it’s fair to say…I’m not expecting them,” said deWever.

According to the Podtime website, a standard sleep pod costs around $5,978 CAD, while a premium one costs $8,622.

Podtime’s director Paul Grindrod said they cannot provide us with information due to client confidentiality.

The nap pods were a part of the campaign platform of 2018-19 RSU executive slate. They promised to create a designated space for students to rest and recharge.

In September, the RSU vice-president education Salman Faruqi said the driving force behind implementing a nap space was to accomodate the majority of commuter students at Ryerson. “A lot of students struggle to get enough sleep, struggle on the commute,” he added.

“Unless the company sent us nap pods from the U.K. without us giving them any money…I’m not expecting them”

At the time, both Ganesh and Faruqi confirmed to The Eye that the RSU was working to bring about this space to students by the end of the fall semester. It was undecided whether this would involve nap pods or just a student nap space.

In January, Ganesh said the union had used a customs broker to bring the nap pods to Canada. “The problem from getting it from the U.S. is that you have to get it in bulk, and we didn’t need that many [so we ordered from the U.K.]…regardless, [they are] going to be here soon, fingers crossed.”

The Eye has since reached out to Ganesh to ask whether the pods were ever purchased but Ganesh declined to comment.

With files from Raneem Alozzi & Tyler Griffin