The Peak

B.C. Chairperson of the CFS responds to Harder and Paling

By Shara Lee

Shamus Reid, B.C. Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students responded Wednesday to Joe Paling and Derrick Harder’s remarks in last week’s Peak that may have implied the CFS’s $200,000 campaign fund existed solely to keep SFU students in the Federation.

“Derrick hasn’t been to a B.C. General Meeting since August, which was when we set our budget,” said Reid. “In terms of campaigning, we have a $180,000 budget for campaign that has nothing to do with membership,” he said. Reid maintains that money allocated to this particular fund goes toward the CFS transit and grants campaigns, and that it is for use in all of B.C. and not limited to SFU.

Reid claims the fund is worth $180,000 but the SFSS executive put it at $200,000.

According to Paling, however, “they’ve actually increased that particular campaign’s budget by quite a bit this year and they’ve given a lot of discretionary power to the Executive to spend that campaign’s budget.” Paling’s concern is that the fund that can be used for anything that falls under the umbrella term of “campaign funding.” Paling also asserts that there is no budget breakdown within the fund. “It would be fair comment if they were to say that we think that money is being used just to commit us to being members, but what Joe said is that there is a $200,000 fund to convince us to be members, which doesn’t exist, and is completely made-up and fictional,” said Reid.

Although Reid holds that the ‘I am CFS’ campaign is not a tool meant explicitly to keep SFU in the Federation, it is Paling’s belief that it will have “some effect” on the CFS effort.

“A few hundred thousand is so much for the Executive to spend as they want,” said Paling, who would have no problems with this fund if it “was budgeted properly.” According to Paling, there is currently no indication of how much money is going to the Reduce Tuition Fees campaign, to the Millennium Scholarship, or to the transit campaign.

“In 2006-2007, we spent $230,000, and there was no ‘I am CFS’ campaign then,” said Reid. “It was $230,000 dollars on a Day of Action and on the Reduce Tuition Fees campaign, the reduce graduate debt campaign. This year we budgeted for much less because we don’t have a really significant Day of Action,” he said.

“Either at the B.C. level or the national level, there’s unaccountability to the money that’s given, and that’s important,” said Paling.

Reid was unable to give an accurate amount of how much has actually been spent on the ‘I am CFS’ campaign, however, he asserts that it is nowhere near $200,000.