Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) has paid back its debt to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), according to CUSA vice-president (finance) Michael De Luca.
However De Luca said CUSA will not try to de-federate from the larger national union, as that was not an issue the slate campaigned on.
The CFS claims CUSA owes it $153,000, according to De Luca. This debt was acknowledged by the then-CUSA executive in April 2009.
However, according to CFS documents obtained by De Luca and provided to the Charlatan, this debt was paid back by July 2010.
De Luca said telling student organizations they owe money is “a tactic [the CFS] uses when they hear about defederation talks.”
Similar claims have been made to student organizations like the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University in B.C., but the claims never held up in court, De Luca said.
Last year alone, CUSA paid just under $89,000 for campaign materials from the CFS and since 2005, CUSA has paid the CFS $2.6 million in total, De Luca said.
The CFS materials CUSA recalled from its service centres were part of the $89,000 cost to students last year, although CUSA will not pay for new campaign materials from the CFS this year, De Luca said.
Despite deciding not to try to defederate, the CUSA service centres are still not allowed to use CFS campaign materials, creating dissatisfaction from service centre co-ordinators, and prompting criticism from the Women’s Resource Centre at the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), another CFS member.
The CFS has had a large presence on campus in the past few weeks, and its “Drop Fees” campaign is “ineffective at lobbying, doesn’t mobilize students effectively,” De Luca said.
CUSA can lobby more effectively with politicians to achieve better results, De Luca said.
CUSA will save money by distributing its own materials and creating “grassroots” campaigns, De Luca said.
The Women’s Resource Centre collective of the SFUO addressed an open letter to CUSA Sept. 25.
“We were dismayed, confused and frustrated to hear that the CUSA executive had decided to forcibly (with the threat of disciplinary action for non-compliant employees) remove resources from student service centres, as well as from community groups tabling during the resource fair last week,” the letter said.
The removal of CFS materials is “a huge disservice to [CUSA’s] membership,” SFUO’s vice-president of communications Anne-Marie Roy said.
CFS materials are not recyclable, De Luca said, adding that he would like to see more environmentally-friendly campaigns.
CUSA will build campaigns as they relate to Carleton’s campus, including social justice, anti-homophobia, and awareness about gender-based violence, De Luca said.
“If the CFS and their aims and goals are so virtuous and noble, then why if a member local is dissatisfied or doesn’t believe in them, can’t they leave on their own accord?” De Luca said.
Arun Smith, a Carleton student who was the subject of a number of discriminatory image macros this summer, is now working on the Challenge Homophobia and Transphobia Campaign with the support of the CFS.
Independently of this, CUSA will hold a cyber-bullying campaign that addresses discrimination and oppression as a whole, CUSA vice-president (student issues) Hayley Dobson said.
The CUSA campaign is scheduled for Oct. 15 -19.
“I think it’s despicable that [CUSA], rather than serving their queer/trans constituents… has decided to play politics and take away resources,” Smith said.
“The executive has been making moves, such as attending the [Canadian Alliance of Student Associations] workshop, and the conference at UBC earlier this year, that indicate that their intention is to defederate from the CFS and join CASA,” Smith said.
