Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) council has voted in favour of adopting the student-run Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) review committee’s recommendation to hold a referendum on defederation at a council meeting.
The committee originally presented its findings at an emergency CUSA council meeting Oct. 16.
John Mesman, CUSA science councillor and chair of the review committee, said he was pleased with the turnout at the meeting.
“Carleton students were never given the opportunity to be asked this question,” he said. “I’m excited that at least council is interested in thinking about asking the question.”
Before a referendum takes place, a petition mandated by the CFS will be circulated among the student body asking if students support holding the referendum. If 20 per cent of Carleton students are in favour of the referendum, a campaign will be held, according to Mesman.
He said he would not campaign for a specific side because as chair of the committee, his “primary role is to educate students.”
CUSA president Folarin Odunayo said the next step is to “look into the process.”
“That was the intent behind the council voting,” he said.
Odunayo said CUSA will go through the steps, which include submitting a timeline for the referendum and consulting with CFS bylaws, and providing updates to the student body and council.
“This is definitely not something we’re going to hide,” he said.
Many councillors expressed concern that students would not have an opportunity to fully understand what the CFS could do for them because the federation hasn’t been active on campus for the past two years.
Some councillors, including Graduate Students’ Association president Christina Muehlberger, said the report was positive of the CFS but it still recommended defederation.
Gennesse Walker-Scace, CUSA public affairs and policy management councillor and member of the CFS review committee, did not sign her name to the final recommendation.
She said the report was rushed and did not contain enough cost analysis.
“The committee did not fulfill its terms of reference,” she said.
Mesman said councillors who are concerned about the cost analysis did not contact the committee to get the numbers.
“Not one of them took the initiative to reach out,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but I would say their facts and their baseline is untrue.”
Walker-Scace said students should educate themselves on the benefits and the consequences of being a member of the CFS.
Earlier in the council meeting, Walker-Scace put forward a motion to create a policy that would ensure executives previously elected under a slate name do not use CUSA funds and resources to promote the slate they were elected under.
“The policy would have given CUSA council an additional tool to ensure executives are always governing responsibly and are using CUSA resources transparently,” she said in an email. “As of right now CUSA has no policies to ensure that student funds are always being used in the best interests of members of the association and that executives are always acting in the best interests of the association instead of a slate they may have been elected under.”
The motion was defeated with 14 votes against, 10 votes in favour, and three votes abstained. All members of the CUSA executive in attendance voted against the motion.
Walker-Scace said she was disappointed with the results of the vote.
“No councillor proposed amendments to my motion or really debated on my points,” she said. “They voted it down outright. That is not good governance.”
Dan Crich, CUSA public affairs councillor who voted against the CFS motion and voted for Walker-Scace’s motion, said the vote represented a select group of people.
“At the end of the day, we have to present a thorough analysis to students, and we haven’t done that today,” he said.
