Canadian Federation of Students
The Canadian Federation of Students is a student organization in Canada, representing over 530,000 students from across Canada. Formed in 1981, the stated goal of the Federation is to represent the collective voice of Canadian students and work at the federal level for high quality, accessible post-secondary education. The CFS has its roots in Canada's long tradition of having national student organizations, such as formerly the National Union of Students, the Canadian Union of Students, the National Federation of Canadian University Students, the Canadian Student Assembly, and the Student Christian Movement of Canada.
CFS is composed of member local student unions. All members of the Canadian Federation of Students pay membership dues as a part of their membership.
In Canadian student politics, the decision of whether a student union should be a member of the Federation is a contentious issue, and the organization's processes for joining or leaving its membership has been the subject of much debate.
Structure
The name "Canadian Federation of Students" is generally used to designate three legally distinct organizations: the national CFS, one of the provincial components of the Federation, and/or CFS-Services.CFS and CFS-Services share the same bylaws and decision-making structures. These structures include biannual general meetings, where every member students' union receives one vote regardless of the size of their local membership, and an executive, which includes representatives of each provincial affiliate. In provinces where a significant number of students' unions are members of the CFS, the affiliated component has its own general meetings and executive, the latter being formed by representatives of the local students' unions. In October 2009 CFS-Quebec ceased to operate as a recognized provincial affiliate of the CFS.
History
The CFS was officially formed on October 18, 1981, from the merger of two national organizations - the National Union of Students in Canada and the Association of Student Councils - and student federations from five Canadian provinces. The goal of the merger was to create a united student movement in Canada that could provide student-oriented services and political representation at the federal and provincial levels of government. Part of the impetus to organize came from the federal government's announcement of $2 billion of cuts from Established Program Financing. Another impetus was raising tuition fees, which had been a major issue for CFS' precursor organization. the NUS, starting in the late 1970s.Founding conference
The founding conference was held at Carleton University between October 14–19, 1981. Mike McNeil was elected as the organization's first Chairperson, along with Mike Walker, former NUS treasurer Kirk Falconer, Kathie Cram, Brian Robinson, Ben Freedman, and Leslie Neilson. The Federation's bylaws and constitution were finalized and over 50 motions were passed during the plenary. After hearing speeches by Salvadoran and Chilean students, delegates passed motions condemning human rights violations and anti-student policies in those countries.A campaign strategy was also launched to oppose the federal government's planned cut to Established Program Financing. The slogan for the campaign was "Access not axe us" and it called for an establishment of an all-grant system and a public inquiry into the future of post-secondary education. The campaign also called for alliance building with community groups and public sector workers to gain support and fight against cutbacks to social programs. The campaign was named after a research report of the same name, by Bruce Tate. The report focused on effects of the Government of Canada's cutback to education and highlighted issues such as access and tuition fee levels.
The conference ended with a student presence in Question Period in the House of Commons of Canada, a meeting with Secretary of State Gerald Regan, and a one-on-one debate between Chairperson Mike McNeil and Member of Parliament John Evans in the Snake Lounge at Carleton University. Delegates attending Question Period were denied entry by security guards. Mike McNeil and delegates were not satisfied with the outcome of the meeting with Gerald Regan.
Evolution of membership
1992-1995
In 1992, the CFS resolved that it would be a "partner in the International Student Trade, Environment and Development Program." Member locals were urged "to consider hosting international guests from the US.A and Mexico during the fall of 1992 to contribute to the national dialogue of the effects on the education system of the North American Free TradeAgreement.".
The CFS reached a membership of 440,000 students from 65 member students' unions in 1993–1994.
Overall, 20 membership votes were held in 1994–1995, with the net result that 59 member students' unions formed the CFS in September 1996.
1995-2007
Between 1995 and 2007, over twenty students' unions joined the CFS, including many graduate students' associations and part-time students' associations.Several large undergraduate students' associations voted to join CFS during the same period. In 2002, the University of Toronto Students' Administrative Council, which had never been part of a national students' union before, voted to join the CFS. At the November 2005 Annual General Meeting of the Federation, the positive result of the votes at both University of Manitoba Students' Union and the University of Saskatchewan Students' Union were ratified. The latter vote result was challenged by former USSU director, and in 2007, the courts ruled the vote to be of no force or effect. The CFS website continues to list the USSU as Local 17. In October 2007, USSU voted to keep prospective membership in the CFS and hold a referendum in the next two years; however, in September 2009 the USSU voted to rescind that motion and claims that its affiliation with CFS is void.
2008
In March 2008, students at four campuses held votes to leave the CFS. The negative media coverage of the CFS was one of the reasons listed by the Kwantlen Student Association representatives for calling the votes. Members at CBU, the SFU and the UVic voted to leave. CFS representatives did not participate in the Cape Breton referendum, noting that the CBUSU failed to give proper notice. Fellow CFS members from other campuses participated in the Simon Fraser vote to leave CFS, but then national chairperson Amanda Aziz stated that problems with the voting process could result in the outcome not being recognized by the CFS. The SFU referendum, overseen by J.J. McCullough, saw a successful turnout with 67% of students voting to leave the CFS; though contested, it was finalized in 2012. The UVGSS result was not contested by the CFS. The Canadian Federation of Students petitioned the BC Supreme Court to postpone the Kwantlen referendum after Kwantlen Students Association representatives hired Schiffner Consultants to run the vote. Then-KSA chairperson Laura Anderson claimed that the Federation was attempting to stall the vote, but the court granted the CFS the injunction and the vote to leave CFS was rescheduled for April 2008. Three weeks after the referendums at SFU and UVic, Kwantlen students voted to remain members of the CFS.In the fall of 2008, the largest bilingual student association in Canada, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, re-joined the CFS. However, in December 2018 the SFUO will no longer be recognized as a student union by the Universities governing bodies, following a termination of their agreement.
2009
In October 2009, students at Carleton, Guelph, and Concordia organized a drive to leave CFS, resulting in petitions meeting the threshold necessary to initiate decertification votes. Students at the University of Victoria Students' Society, and the Graduate Student Association at the University of Calgary collected enough signatures to initiate a decertification vote.2010
In the spring of 2010, undergraduate students at the University of Guelph and the Alberta College of Art and Design and graduate students at the University of Calgary and McGill University attempted to hold decertification votes. Only the Alberta College of Art and Design vote followed the applicable CFS bylaws. Several irregularities in the conduct of the students' unions at McGill and Calgary were cited by the CFS as reasons for invalidating the decertification votes.2011
In March 2011, undergraduate students at the University of Victoria voted to leave the CFS.2012
In January 2012, students of Laurentian University at Georgian College in Barrie joined the CFS as the Laurentian Students' Union. In a February 7, 2012 article that appeared in The Concordian, it was reported that the CFS was alleging that the Concordia Students' Union owed $1.8 million in unpaid membership dues going back as far as the 1990s. Lex Gill, then-president of the CSU firmly denied the CFS' claim, while congratulating the SFSS for "setting the tone" with regards to legal proceedings. After challenging the legitimacy of SFU's 2008 referendum, the CFS ultimately settled out of court, leading Simon Fraser University's student union to officially leave in 2012.2018
In June 2018, after a lengthy conflict between the CFS and the British Columbia Federation of Students over unpaid membership dues, the CFS voted to expel all member unions belonging to the CFS and the BCFS.Current campaigns
Fight the Fees
The CFS actively lobbies on tuition-related issues, including meeting with MPs and organizing "days of action" to address such issues as eliminating tuition fees and reductions in interest rates on student loans. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the only province where all public college and university students' are members of the CFS, students pay the lowest average undergraduate tuition fees in Canada. There, tuition fees were reduced by 25% in the 1990s and have remained frozen. The current Progressive Conservative government has pledged to keep the freeze in place until the end of their mandate, and recently eliminated the interest on the provincial portion of student loans. In 2015, the provincial government in Alberta froze tuition fees.In British Columbia, the CFS successfully lobbied the former New Democratic Party government to introduce tuition fee freezes and reductions.