A group of Carleton students, organized by fourth-year journalism student Dean Tester, is petitioning to remove Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) from membership in the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), according to a statement it released Sept. 9.
The aim of the CFS, formed at Carleton in 1981, is to represent the collective interest of students by joining student unions from various universities and colleges across Canada.
The release accuses the CFS of achieving “almost no gains” in lobbying student interests, though they collect a levy each year that helps fund services and campaigns such as Drop Fees — an ongoing fight to stop the increase of tuition fees.
CFS is also blamed in the release for interfering in student association elections across Canada, citing examples of CFS member-union executives travelling to other campuses to campaign for certain candidates.
Among others, the release cited former CUSA president Brittany Smyth’s documented appearance at York University for the 2009 York Federation of Students election to campaign for the slate that went on to win.
The release also alleges that during last year’s CUSA elections the CFS-Ontario representative for international students, Osmel Maynes, campaigned for current CUSA president Erik Halliwell’s slate.
“[Maynes] was a Carleton student at the time, taking classes here,” Halliwell said, defending Maynes’ right to campaign in the elections.
“All we want is a fair, democratic vote held on our campus. . . I think Carleton students should decide this for themselves,” Tester said.
Halliwell said Tester’s accusations “aren’t based on fact” and the notion of CFS being ineffective is “laughable.”
“Many of our members benefit from participation in CFS,” Halliwell said.
For example, CFS members just recently succeeded in convincing Ottawa city council to abolish the age cap on student bus passes, and “made a tangible difference in lives of thousands of mature students,” Halliwell said.
This was accomplished through “co-ordination of CFS resources,” which allowed them to take measures such as lobbying politicians, Halliwell said.
In order for the bid to leave CFS to be successful, a petition for referendum signed by 10 per cent of the voting members of CUSA — more than 2,000 students — must be delivered to the national CFS executive, according to the CFS bylaws.
Following a properly submitted petition, a referendum must be held within 60 days for members of the association to vote for or against their union’s continued membership, including at least a week-long campaigning period.
Brandon Wallingford, vice president (academic) of the Carleton Academic Student Government (CASG), said he would be helping collect signatures for the petition.
“We want to give students an opportunity to re-evaluate the CFS,” Wallingford said.
Roughly 20 students have volunteered to help with the petition, he said, but he expects to pick up many more as the campaign progresses.
Members of the CFS did not return requests for comment.