The Carleton University Students’ Association’s (CUSA) involvement with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) was hotly debated during their first council meeting of the fall semester on Sept. 21.
CUSA was one of ten signatories of an open letter to the CFS published on Sept. 19 that criticized the federation’s lack of transparency and “overly burdensome” defederation process.
“It was a unanimous vote between all [CUSA] executives that the critiques are valid and something that we want to stand behind,” said CUSA president Fahd Alhattab. “I think the letter very clearly says that we are in support of a nation-wide students’ federation, and it’s our responsibility to hold them accountable.”
Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) president Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah agreed that CUSA’s critiques were “obviously valid,” but questioned the association’s lack of attendance at CFS meetings.
“We haven’t seen you folks there in a long time, so I just want to know where you’re getting your information from,” Owusu-Akyeeah said.
Alhattab said that the 2015 National General Meeting coincided with CUSA’s referendum on increasing the levy for clubs and societies, though he had spoken with “many schools that attended the conference” for research. He said that he would be attending the meeting this November to “push these motions forward.”
Vice-president (finance) David Andrews said that Carleton undergraduate students pay a levy of $16.24 per person to the CFS each year. The grand total amounts to a sum of $389,760 going from CUSA to the CFS in fees each year.
Public affairs councillor Abrar Rahman questioned whether CUSA would continue to pay the fees “until students put through a referendum to scratch this.”
Alhattab said the money could “absolutely” be better spent, but mentioned that CUSA was in a legally binding contract with the CFS and would be sued if the fees weren’t paid.
In order to hold a referendum to defederate from the CFS, CUSA would be required to have 20 per cent of members—which amounts to around 6,000 undergraduate students—sign a nomination sheet. Alhattab called defederation “not currently a priority of the current executive.”
CUSA is currently planning on participating in one CFS campaign, the Student Day of Action, on Nov. 2.
Charissa Feres, arts and social sciences councillor, put forward a motion for CUSA to begin supplying CFS materials to students.
“Since defederation doesn’t seem to be an option, I’m wondering why, since students are paying, what could possibly hurt about having materials from the CFS available to students,” Feres said. “I mean, we’re paying for the services.”
The motion, however, failed with nine votes in favour, 10 against, and three abstentions.
Alhattab also gave an update on the planned student union building, which would be an expansion to the University Centre.
Alhattab called it “very, very exciting,” and said the addition is projected to cost $40 to $42 million. A motion was passed at the meeting to strike a student union building development ad hoc committee.
“Fifty-three per cent of that would belong to CUSA, so we would pay about $25 million,” Alhattab said, and added that finalization of design and room spaces is underway. “I’d like this to be about what we as students can build for future students.”
