Issue Spotlight: The CFS
The basics
The Canadian Federation of Students is a Canada-wide student lobbying organization that, according to its own web site, seeks “to provide students with an effective and united voice, provincially and nationally.” About 80 student societies from colleges and universities across Canada are members of the CFS, though a number of them — including the Simon Fraser Student Society, of which every undergraduate student at SFU is a member — have attempted to withdraw from the organization in recent years. The CFS argues that no one student society has the financial or political resources to influence government decision-making, so an organization like the CFS is required. Its critics argue that this strategy has not been successful over the CFS’ 30-year history, and that the organization has become a wasteful and impotent figurehead.
History of the issue
The CFS was first created in 1981 in order to lobby governments for decreased tuition, improved student loan options, and otherwise represent student interests. Since then, the CFS has started to offer services such as discounted International Student Identity Cards and created political campaigns on campuses across Canada. In 2008, the Simon Fraser Student Student Society — which at the time also represented graduate students — began taking steps to withdraw from the CFS, and a ‘defederation referendum’ was set for March. After a long and expensive campaign, SFU students ultimately voted 67 per cent in favor of leaving the national organization, with an uncharacteristically high voter turnout of 17.7 per cent. After the results were announced, the CFS accused the SFSS of violating defederation rules, refused to accept the results of the referendum, and sued the SFSS for its membership fees. The SFSS has continued to collect the money it would normally forward to the CFS from students — over $400,000 per year — and place it in a ‘society development fund.’ The lawsuit is still before the courts; though the SFSS has not participated in the CFS since the referendum, it is possible that the court’s decision on the lawsuit could require that a second referendum be held.
What are the arguments?
The pro-CFS side argues that students need to act in unison in order to lobby effectively, and that the CFS is the best option for doing so. If students withdraw from the CFS, it will be less able to advocate for their interests. CFS activists have also argued that the organization is the victim of a right-wing conspiracy funded by conservative political parties. Pointing to records of seminars held by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Campus Association on how to influence student politics and undermine the CFS, some members have attacked the CFS’ critics as paid Conservative Party agents, although there is no evidence of any such activity since 2009 or outside of Ontario. CFS detractors observe that even at its highest point of unity and resources, tuition fees and student debt levels rose and continued climbing throughout its existence. The CFS has also been criticized in recent years for a left-wing political orientation that critics say alienate a large proportion of the CFS membership, and some have pointed to tight connections between CFS leaders and the NDP in several provinces as a potential conflict of interest.
The CFS has also been attacked for its response to criticism. Many of the student organizations that have attempted to leave in recent years have been faced with lawsuits, but that hasn’t stopped 13 organizations from attempting to leave over the past five years. In response to the string of defederation attempts, the CFS has taken steps to make the process of leaving the organization more restrictive and difficult.