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Student unions turning away from the Canadian Federation of Students

Sixteen student
representative groups Say
they want out of the CFS

 

By Patrick Vaillancourt,
News Editor

Postscconcary student
unions across the country
are taking steps to opt out of the
Canadian Federation of Students
(CFS), the national body that
represents the interests of
students in over 80 Canadian
colleges and universities.

Sixteen unions, spanning
from British Columbia to
Quebec, have announced their
intent to formally dissolve their
relationship with the CFS.

This follows an attempt
from all but one of Quebec’s
post-secondary institutions—

Dawson College—to leave
the federation in 2009 after
referendum results gave these
student unions a mandate to
do so. The results have not
been recognized by the CFS
and the matter is currently

in the courts as Concordia’s
student government seeks the

This latest exodus trom the federation, if successful, would mean that the CFS would

in a number of legal cases,
arguing the validity of

individual referendum results in

some schools.

Student unions across the
country state that the national
organization has become

corrupt, operates in a militaristic

top-down approach, and does

Students,” said Ashleigh Ingle,
a graduate student from the
University of Toronto and the
spokesperson for the movement
to leave the CFS. “We are not
walking away from organizing
at the national and provincial
level; we are creating the space
for that to happen effectively.”

be considerably weakened in British Columbia and Manitoba while being completely

wiped out in Quebec.

recognition of the referendum
results.

The CFS was formed in
1981, tasked with lobbying at
the federal level to increase
accessibility to post-secondary
education. In recent years,
however, it has been embroiled

not effectively advocate on
student issues. They also claim
that CFS’ finances are not
properly kept and that use of
funding has been questionable.
“Students are realizing that
their interests are not served
by the Canadian Federation of

This latest exodus from
the federation, if successful,
would mean that the CFS would
be considerably weakened in
British Columbia and Manitoba
while being completely wiped
out in Quebec.

In British Columbia, the

University of Victoria and its
graduate student society have
successfully left the CFS; Simon
Fraser University (SFU) voted
to decertify the CFS in 2008,
and although the CFS failed
to recognize the results, they
settled out of court and SFU
left the federation in late 2011;
Kwantlen University College
held a referendum in 2008 to
leave the CFS, but students
voted to remain within the
federation.

There has been no public
comment from the Douglas
Students’ Union (DSU) on
what their position may be
regarding the effort to weaken
the Canadian Federation of
Students, but the national
coordination of the campaign
to have schools leave the CFS
makes clear that the DSU is, at
the very least, monitoring the
situation closely.

 

World Recap: September 6-12

 

By Patrick Vaillancourt,
News Editor

North America: (Canada)

The Government of Quebec
introduced a bill in the National
Assembly which would

place some restrictions on the
freedom of religion of its public
employees. The proposed law,
known as Quebec’s Charter of
Values, aims to portray the state
as neutral and secular. Public
sector employees would be
prohibited from wearing any
religious clothing or displaying
any large religious symbols in
the workplace.

(United States) President Barack
Obama addressed the nation

on September 10 in prime time,
stating his position on the Syrian
civil war and making his case
for a “limited” strike in response
to the Syrian regime's reported
use of chemical weapons in the
conflict. The president went on
to suggest that he would attempt
diplomacy, referring to a deal
brokered by the Russians to get
Bashar al-Assad to forfeit his
chemical weapons.

South America: (Argentina)

The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) held meetings
in Buenos Aires this week, which
set the direction for the future

of the Olympics. The week-long
gathering proved fruitful, as

the IOC selected Tokyo as the

host city for the 2020 Summer
Games, re-instated wrestling as
an Olympic sport, and elected
Germany’s Thomas Bach as the
organization’s new president.

Africa: (Libya) The 11th
anniversary of 9/11 last year
ended tragically in Libya as
suicide bombers stormed the

US consulate in Benghazi,
killing four diplomats, including
Chris Stevens, the then-newly
named US ambassador to

Libya. A year later, the new
Libyan government is not
cooperating with US efforts to
bring those responsible for the
attack to justice. In addition to
apprehending those responsible,
the Obama administration has
yet to figure out the logistics

of any potential criminal
proceedings, including where
they would be tried.

Asia: (Philippines) Government
and rebel troops in the country’s
south have exchanged gunfire
after a ceasefire between the two
broke down less than 24 hours
after it went into effect. The
Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF) seeks independence

of, what they refer to as,
Bangasmoro Land, and has
taken a number of hostages in
the villages surrounding the
southern city of Zamboanga.
Government officials say that
more than 50 people have

been killed in recent hostilities.
President Benigno Aquino III is

scheduled to visit Zamboanga
this weekend to meet with
displaced residents.

Europe: (Greece) The Greek
government is making more

tough decisions to bring stability

back to its economy. This week,
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s
reform minister, scrapped a
popular benefit given to its
bureaucrats for working more
than five hours a day ona
computer. Since 1989, public

employees working five or more

hours per day on a computer
have received six extra vacation
days. The move comes as the
Greek government tries to
adhere to the terms of multiple
bailouts from the International
Monetary Fund and the
European Union.

Oceania: (Australia) Proponents

of euthanasia in Australia are
promoting a new drug they
call the “peaceful pill,” which

promises to be the most effective

and painless way for someone
to end their own life. Nembutal,
a drug that kills within an hour
of ingestion, is being easily
imported from China, which
dominates the global market
demand for the drug. Despite
the illegality of importing

or possessing Nembutal in
Australia, euthanasia supporter
Dr. Philip Nitschke claims that
hundreds of Australians have
acquired the drug in the past
two years.

 

Philippine government troops continue their assault on members of tne Muslim
rebel Moro National Liberation Front in Zamboanga City
Photo courtesy of Bullit Marquez/AP

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