The petition circulating campus calling for a referendum to reconsider Carleton’s membership in the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) raises the question: do students know enough about their national student federation to make an informed decision?
CFS represents more than 500,000 students and more than 80 student associations. Carleton was the first school to join the federation in 1981, making the school CFS Local 1 and all students members.
As members, students need to know exactly how they support this organization. There is no easily accessible document letting students know the exact amount they pay to CFS in membership dues each year, which is a troubling transparency issue. Although, CUSA estimates full-time undergraduate students pay at least $7 to CFS annually.
Students should also know exactly where their money is going. On campus, CFS has given students Travel CUTS, the International Student Identity Card (ISIC), the StudentSaver Discount Card and the National Student Health Network.
Nationally, CFS lobbies the federal government to lower tuition and increase grant money. But the federation has also tackled issues less obviously affecting students; for example, CFS helped run a march in Toronto last May that called on the government to intervene in the Sri Lankan civil war.
There are also alternatives to CFS membership to be explored. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is the second largest student federation in Canada, representing over 300,000 students within 23 member student unions. When CASA was founded in 1995, Carleton students held a referendum to rethink their national representation. The decision to stick with CFS narrowly won.
In the event that this referendum repeats itself, students need to head to the polls armed with the knowledge necessary to cast an educated vote.