Mass exit of student associations from student lobbying groups

KSA remains a member of the Alliance of B.C. Students

“We’ve had a couple of members leaving over the last couple of months,” says Alex McGowan, vice-president executive of the Kwantlen Student Association and chairperson of the Alliance of BC Students. “So there’s been some internal issues. A lot of the members have pointed out that they haven’t seen the value of remaining as members of the organization. It’s unfortunate they made the decision to leave without trying those internally first.”

Jude Crasta, vice-president external of the University of British Columbia’s Alma Mater Society, told The Ubyssey on Oct. 22 that, “A lot of people came with hopes that the ABCS would provide a unified student voice. However, with so many people fractured from the ABCS [and] refusing to work with the ABCS, it’s not even asserting that mandate anymore.”

In the last few months, the UBC AMS, as well as the student associations of the University of the Fraser Valley and British Columbia Institute of Technology, have chosen to leave the ABCS. The UBC Graduate Student Society is still a member.

“The ABCS voted at the last annual general meeting to institute fees for the organization, so every student union pays fees based on their full-time equivalency count,” says McGowan. “Essentially the size of the institution. The fees for the KSA would amount to $5,000 per year.”

McGowan says that fee collection was a problem for many of the other student unions, and the ABCS decided to stop collecting fees entirely, and for payment to the organization to be on an “as needed” basis.

Despite many unions leaving, McGowan believes that, “Lobbying on the provincial level is extremely important for students to do.” He says that the organization arranges meetings with MLAs and other government officials to discuss better post-secondary education policies.

The KSA is also a member of another student lobbying organization, the Canadian Federation of Students. The KSA pays approximately $250,000 to the CFS, and McGowan was sure to mention something that differentiates the CFS and the ABCS: the fluidity of membership. Whereas the CFS requires a petition and referendum process, that results in students voting on continued membership in the organization, leaving the ABCS is determined by a vote of the association’s governing body (council, in the case of the KSA).

“It gives student associations the right to leave if they don’t value the organization. It means that if you go through a bit of travel like we have recently, students associations leave,” says McGowan.

The ABCS was first founded in May 2011, by the UBC Alma Mater Society, the University of Fraser Valley Students’ Union, the University of Victoria Students’ Society, and the Capilano University Students’ Union. The organization advocates on behalf of students, lobbying for lower-cost education, including a goal of eliminating interest on student loans.