Canadian Federation of Students Moves for Reform After Pressure from Student Unions

Proposed policy amendments would lower the barrier for leaving the CFS

Following pressure from a coalition of several member associations, the Canadian Federation of Students may soon see major reforms. Most notably, it could lower the barriers for member organisations to leave the Federation.

The motion—which was approved at the CFS national executive meeting on Oct. 6—would lower the petition signature threshold required to trigger a referendum for member organisations to leave the CFS from 20 per cent to 15 per cent of an institution’s students. The motion will be voted on by member association representatives at the CFS general meeting in November.

The move towards reforming the process by which associations can leave the CFS comes less than one month after a letter criticizing the Federation was signed by 10 student associations, among them the Kwantlen Student Association. The criticisms focused on the aforementioned barrier to withdraw from the CFS and the difficulty in accessing CFS bylaws, policies, and financial information, as well as a perceived lack of receptiveness to criticism and dissent on the part of the Federation’s executives.

Kwantlen Student Association President Alex McGowan says he is pleased to see the CFS responding to the feedback of its members, but considers the proposed drop from a 20 to 15 per cent petition barrier to be inadequate to satisfy the KSA’s concerns.

“[The motion] shows some willingness on the CFS’ side to recognize some of the concerns that we and many other students have been voicing for many years,” says McGowan. “However, it’s definitely not good enough.”

McGowan says his concerns with the process of member organisations leaving the CFS go beyond the petition threshold. He says the referendum process, as laid out by the CFS, is unreasonably restrictive.

CFS National Chairperson Bilan Arte argues that the referendum process as it exists now is a necessary part of the Federation’s structure.

“There’s been a lot of discussion and debate around the democratic processes of the Federation, and I think that the current iteration of what that process looks like—including thresholds around petitions—are the result of discussions that have taken place over the last 30 years.”

Arte points out the the motion is not final and still needs to be debated and voted on by members at the upcoming general meeting. The motion is still open to amendment, meaning that specific provisions—such as the 15 per cent figure proposed for the new petition barrier—could still be changed to better address concerns including those raised by the KSA.

“I think it’s incredibly important to emphasise that [the motion] still needs to be discussed and debated at a general meeting,” says Arte. “It’s not necessarily a decision. It’s just a proposal that is reflective of some of the discussions that we’ve heard.”

In 2008, the KSA voted to terminate its membership in the CFS only to find itself embroiled in a lawsuit which it ultimately lost. The Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that the KSA could not leave the Federation without a referendum by KPU students.

McGowan did not say that the KSA would initiate any move to leave the CFS with the lowered barrier to trigger a referendum. He says that the KSA does not take a stance on membership in the CFS beyond “advocating to make sure that the relationship is as fair as it should be.”

“The KSA has had a lot of longstanding issues [with the CFS,]” says McGowan. “I think that, fundamentally, the biggest thing we’d like to see is a change in culture at the CFS that is more open to dialogue and more respecting of different opinions.”

Should the motion pass at next month’s general meeting, there may be a conversation to be had among KPU students on the future of the university’s relationship with the CFS.