Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) executives gathered in the University Centre Atrium to answer students’ questions on potential decertification from the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) on Oct. 19.
Students milled in and out of the Atrium to hear from the executives. According to CUSA president Zameer Masjedee, the town hall was the first of many to be held throughout the academic year, with CUSA planning to hold one per month, each focusing on a different student issue.
The event focused around raising awareness for the CFS decertification process, as well as the advantages and potential drawbacks related to the process. The executive team cited the fees paid to the CFS as being one of the main reasons for considering decertification.
Currently, CUSA pays the federation around $362,000 annually, broken into $198,000 for the CFS’ national body and $164,000 for its provincial body.
For Masjedee, the problem is one of value, as he said CFS membership benefits such as lower tuition fees have not been visible.
“Why are we paying $362,000 to an organization when there are 25,000 undergraduate students, and a large portion of them don’t exactly know what they’re getting out of this organization?” Masjedee said.
Further issues were raised at the event concerning the CFS’ reluctance to adopt motions that would render it more democratic, along with the difficult withdrawal process, which has brought other universities’ decertification campaigns to be challenged in court by the CFS.
“From every angle, this organization looks unorganized and it looks very corrupt,” Masjedee said.
While many decertification campaigns have been held over a one-year period, Masjedee said CUSA will be planning a two-year process to minimize the chances for the CFS to challenge the campaign.
“It will take longer, but if we take two years doing it the right way, then hopefully we won’t be spending a lot of money on lawyers to get it done,” Masjedee said.
CUSA executives cited the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), which currently represents eight student associations across the province, as an alternative to the CFS. If CUSA joined the OUSA, membership fees would drop to $50,000 annually, and the alliance requires only a 90-day notice for withdrawal.
For Daniel Pollak, a second-year political science student and former Rideau River Residence Association vice-president (administration) who attended the event, the key to a successful decertification campaign is a properly informed student base.
“What CUSA’s doing now is really altruistic, because these executives aren’t necessarily going to be here [for decertification]. It’s only through information that students can make an informed decision on this,” Pollak said.
However, the decertification process presents many challenges. Under the CFS’ bylaws, members must submit a petition and hold a vote in order to decertify. Student unions pursuing decertification must also submit petitions to leave both the CFS’ national and provincial bodies. For the petitions to be valid, 15 per cent of the undergraduate student body has to sign to leave the national body, with 20 per cent needed to leave the provincial body.
The CFS is also able to deem certain signatures as ineligible if the student no longer attends the university, or if it is unreadable.
Should the petition pass, a referendum can only be held during either the fall or winter semester, and only two universities nationally can hold a decertification vote within the same voting period. If the vote fails, the university will not be allowed to hold a decertification campaign for another 60 months.
In an interview with The Charlatan, Masjedee added that the CFS decertification talks can continue to be raised in future town halls, to both answer students’ questions and understand their specific concerns for the process.
“Our hope is that we have a mutually beneficial conversation and that both sides walk away more informed,” Masjedee said.
Photo by Amedeo de Pretto
