Make the right move
illustration by Alex Martin
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, YOU two.
The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) has officially been a member of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) for a full year. In that time, we’ve seen... well, we haven’t seen much. Local 41 made an appearance at the CFS Annual General Meetings last November and this past May—where the delegation was divided on the issue of membership referendum reforms and ultimately abstained from their own motion on campaign spending caps. We’ve witnessed yet another Drop Fees rally, and seen traces of other CFS campaigns in the form of two-inch buttons placed in a stand outside the SFUO office. Oh, and if you’re a full-time student who has remembered to get your act together, you may have an ISIC card in your possession.
All in all, there have been little to no indications of the incredible change that was talked about this time last year. Granted, nobody was expecting the SFUO to sweep in and spark massive change once CFS membership became official; but at the same time, what happened to those goals of improving, from the inside, the structure of a seemingly imperfect organization?
This issue has been brought up on these pages previously. After several motions failed at an Oct. 18 SFUO Board of Administration (BOA) meeting, the SFUO delegation was left with zero motions to bring to the CFS AGM, Nov. 25–28. While it would have been great to see our representatives suggest some reforms, which could have included opening the AGM to all paying CFS members and publishing all meeting minutes online, SFUO delegates still have the chance to make a difference.
Leadership can be demonstrated without actually having to draft and present a motion. A perfect opportunity for the SFUO to step up to the plate arrived in the form of a highly contentious motion to be presented at the AGM by the Carleton University Graduate Students’ Association (GSA).
The Carleton GSA is proposing several changes to the current CFS membership referendum methods, including increasing the current two-year period between referendums to five years; requiring 20 per cent of the student body’s signatures on a referendum petition, up from 10 per cent; and allowing a maximum of two referendums every three months across the organization.
Their reasons, according to the whereas clauses that form the introduction of their motion, stem from several beliefs: among them, that students “are best suited by having a strong and stable national association.”
Sure, there’s something to be said for stability; however, there’s undoubtedly something to be said for democracy. In the last five years, our country has seen three federal elections and three minority governments, reached the precipice of a constitutional crisis where a potential coalition government could have unseated a Conservative minority, and constantly faced the possibility of another election for the better part of the last 12 months. Our Parliament of late has succeeded at being almost as unstable as one can get, but ask any Canadian if they would give up the right to have frequent elections and endure a more restrictive government in order to keep things “stable,” and the answer would likely be a resounding no.
One of the comforts in ending up as CFS members, continually pointed out during the membership referendum campaign on campus last November, is that the student body—which refreshes significantly over the period of even just a few years—could raise the question of discontinuing membership within just two years. Attempts were even made at the BOA level last fall to shorten that to six months. But five years? A good portion of students are in and out of this institution in that time span. The idea that they won’t be able to ask whether or not paying their full-time, CFS/CFS-Ontario levy of more than $7 a semester is worthwhile is simply unfair.
To top it all off, Carleton’s GSA proposed their undemocratic motion in an undemocratic manner; the motion was never presented to the GSA council for deliberation. Students at the U of O should be thankful, at this point, for the hours-long debates at the BOA, where undergraduate directors and executives argue endlessly over what motions to bring forward to the CFS AGM.
The SFUO has yet another golden opportunity to make a difference and prove that they are listening to the 48.2 per cent of voters who were against joining the national lobby group last fall. But no matter on which side of the CFS fence one sits, it’s hard to believe that there would be anyone on this campus in vocal support of such widespread referendum restrictions. In the end, it simply ties everyone’s hands and leaves anti-CFSers—such as the “small group of individuals” that, the GSA points out in their motion, has a “coordinated plan to destabilize [the] Federation”—with more ammunition to attack the organization.
So, at this point, it’s up to the SFUO delegation: now is the time to stand up for your students. Vote against a motion that would limit the ability to assess our membership in the CFS regularly and restrict the actions of future undergraduate students and SFUO executives.
It would be a great anniversary gift.
editor@thefulcrum.ca
