A group of 15 student associations is attempting to leave the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) en masse to form its own national student union.
The list looking to defederate includes student unions from Capilano University, the University of Toronto, York University, and Dawson College.
The group’s spokesperson, Ashleigh Ingle said the unions are preparing the disaffiliation process due to the resistance the CFS has demonstrated toward change.
“This is just the latest surge of realization that the CFS is not a productive organization,” Ingle said.
“We have tried to reform from within. Initially we were shocked by the antagonism and hostility to what we thought were pretty reasonable reforms regarding transparency and the democratic process,” she said. “When we looked back at the history, we saw that what we were trying to do wasn’t new, nor was the response.”
Ingle said the CFS is aware of the reasons student unions are leaving.
“The reasons are not anything new, or anything the CFS hasn’t heard before,” Ingle said. “We have also critiques of lack of effectiveness, lack of financial transparency, and lack of willingness for student participation.”
The CFS, with over 80 member student unions, is the larger of two national student unions in Canada. The other, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) stands with only 24 members.
CASA national director Jonathan Champagne was reluctant to speak about the student unions leaving the CFS, but said its focus is always to create and maintain strong relationships with its member organizations.
“We have a strong set of members—24 student unions,” Champagne said. “We work to advocate on their priorities and accomplish their goals.”
Ingle said the various associations are currently seeking to create a third national student union rather than join CASA, which she said was never a possibility.
“We don’t really see CASA as a viable option,” she said. “Really, we’re looking for an organization that prioritizes student decision-making. We really want as much power as possible put into students, without dependence on student money.”
The new student association would be comprised of a variety of student unions from across Canada, and not limited to the 15 currently leaving the CFS. According to Ingle, it would be composed of “locals trying to leave the CFS and other locals currently not part of a student union, as well as those who are not yet trying to defederate, but who may be looking for another option.”
The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is not part of the new group preparing to leave the CFS, according to Ingle.
In March 2013, some CUSA executives and councillors began preparations to circulate a petition which would determine if students are interested in defederating from the CFS.
”CUSA is here to work on behalf of Carleton University students, for Carleton University students, and if it is the wish of our students to leave the CFS, this will be done as soon as students will show us that this is a priority for them,” CUSA president Alexander Golovko said via email.
He said petition drives are nothing new “in the struggle against the CFS.”
“For instance, CUSA has submitted defederation petitions in 2009,” Golovko said. “However, with no acknowledgement from the CFS, no referendum has taken place to date on our campus. This being said, a country-wide organized petition drive involving multiple campuses is an interesting strategy that with the support of individual students might bear unprecedented results.”