On June 16, Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) vice-president (finance) Craig Handy announced to council that all debts to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) have been paid off.
The announcement comes after CUSA withheld CFS fees from the 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2014-15 school years. Approximately $14 is collected from students for the CFS, totalling to about $300,000 in fees per year.
According to Handy, CUSA paid back above $1 million in fees to the CFS. However, both Handy and CUSA president Fahd Alhattab said the union will continue to use their own campaign material in service centres, as opposed to the CFS’s.
Alhattab also said defederation is not on the agenda for this year’s CUSA council, despite the fact they don’t use CFS material in service centres while still collecting a CFS levy from students.
The 2015-16 executive council should make their stance on this issue clear. If this year’s council is pro-referendum, then they should follow up with a referendum procedure as soon as possible. Student money is important, and students should feel they are getting a bang for their buck.
If CUSA does not want to use CFS campaign materials, then they owe it to the students who cash out $14 a year for the federation to seriously consider a defederating referendum. On the other hand, if CUSA wants to continue paying fees to the CFS, they should use all the resources the CFS provides to get the most value out of students’ money.
