Members of the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) have recently made actions to leave the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). The newly-elected Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) executive has promised to do the same.
Both schools will need to hold a referendum if they want to leave the CFS. At Carleton CUSA needs to ensure students are aware of the what the CFS is, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of the federation, if students are to make a fair and informed decision in such a referendum.
This is currently a problem, as the 2012-13 CUSA executive removed all CFS material from CUSA service centres, meaning the majority of students might not even be familiar with the various campaigns the CFS runs, or what the organization represents. Students need to be aware of this organization especially since all Carleton students continue to pay around $16 to the CFS each year—despite their lack of presence on campus.
The UTSU has cited a number of concerns with the CFS. At the CFS annual general meeting in November, several student unions, including UTSU, suggested several ways to reform the CFS. These reforms were not debated on during the meeting and were pushed to the next meeting later this summer.
In order to even hold a referendum on leaving the CFS, CUSA needs to get 15 per cent of the student population to sign a letter expressing interest in the referendum. But the first step is to honestly inform students about what the CFS actually does—or is perhaps failing to do.
