The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) has paid over $1 million in withheld fees to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) and their Ontario counterpart, according to CUSA vice-president (finance) Craig Handy.
CUSA has withheld the membership fees owed to the CFS for the 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2014-15 school years. Students pay a $14 levy per year for the federation, totalling to about $300,000 owed to the CFS annually.
“There was a recognition that there were fees outstanding and we’re happy that the fees have been payed by CUSA in full,” said Rajean Hoilett, a representative from the CFS.
A CUSA committee formed last year to review the CFS recommended that the student union holds a defederation referendum. The committee’s report also recommended for CUSA to pay back the money owed to the CFS, according to CUSA president Fahd Alhattab.
Handy said the money has been held in a general account, and said he is not aware of any interest accumulated over time for the withholding of the fees. He added this year’s fee will also be paid to the CFS.
Alhattab said the student union still does not feel they are getting the most value out of their money from the CFS, but after legally looking at CUSA’s agreement with the federation, paying back the dues was the best option.
However, the CFS did not put legal pressure on CUSA to pay back withheld fees, Hoilett said.
Alhattab said CUSA withheld the fees for the past three years because they did not feel the CFS was handling student money properly.
“CUSA did not trust the CFS at the time,” he said.
He added that in recent years, the CFS underwent a huge turnover of staff which led to the uncovering of potential money mismanagement and the hiring of a new auditor to overlook finances.
Hoilett said that at the CFS’s last Annual General Meeting on June 4, it was announced that accounting firm Grant Thornton was hired to investigate the CFS’s finances. He added the investigation should be wrapped up by the end of the summer.
Alhattab said with the CFS’s hiring of a new auditor, CUSA felt morally able to pay back the withheld fees.
“We are at a point that we’ve built a better relationship [with the CFS], and we’re at a point where they’ve improved the work that they have done—so we’ll give them what is owed,” he said.
Handy said there is no benefit to CUSA withholding money from the CFS.
“Realistically, if you want to leave the CFS, you have to pay them. If you want to stay with the CFS, you have to pay them,” Handy said.
“If it’s money that students are paying from their levy, unless you’re giving the money back to the students, there is no point in just holding onto it,” Handy said. “It is not responsible to hold on to the money, especially when we expect money that is ours to be given back and not withheld.”
However, Handy said CUSA will continue using local campaigns and materials rather than the ones provided by the CFS.
“We are encouraging everyone to come up with original local campaigns that are really powerful,” Handy said. “I believe these original local campaigns are far stronger.”
Handy said CUSA plans on addressing their stance on CFS materials in the near future.
“Our policy with CFS materials is something that we will hammer out and release moving forward,” he said.
Alhattab said one of his main goals in the CUSA office is to clean up any mistakes from the past.
“We all recognize that A Better Carleton has made some mistakes and we all recognize that before them other mistakes have happened,” he said. “We’re here to clean up, pay any dues that we have, and really move CUSA forward.”
