February 5, 2024
THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
Vol. CXLIV, No. 17
“Enough is enough”: Canadian Federation of Students charts new direction
Student union execs across Canada set CFS’ priorities for the coming year at 2023 General Meeting
Jessie Schwalb News Editor
“Shameful,” “posturing,” and “trying to find unity” — attendees of the Canadian Federation of Students’ (CFS) 2023 National General Meeting (NGM) used many phrases to describe the federation’s current and future course. The meeting, which included representatives from more than 30 student unions across the country, saw heated debates over the federation’s claims to represent the more than 530,000 postsecondary students numbered among its membership. Over six days in 2023 and 2024, student union representatives — including representatives from U of T’s three campuses — tasked the federation with undertaking a decolonization audit, creating a strategic plan, and electing new national executives. The federation also committed to new advocacy priorities relevant to U of T students, including opposing deferred exam fees, supporting a ceasefire in Gaza, and criticizing the Blue-Ribbon Panel’s report — which called for increasing domestic tuition rates in Ontario. What is the CFS? The Canadian Federation of Students was formed in 1981 with the aim of uniting students across Canada. Its initial goals included advocating against funding cuts and organizing for government funding for “free and accessible post-secondary education.” Today, the CFS includes 63 student unions, or ‘locals,’ across nine provinces. The CFS advertises that these unions collectively represent more than 530,000 students — including almost every student at U of T. All five of U of T’s major student unions — the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU), the Scarborough Campus Students’
Union (SCSU), the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU), and the Association of Part-time University Students (APUS) — belong to the CFS. If you look at your invoice, you likely can find a budget line corresponding to your CFS fee: full-time graduate students pay the most this academic year, at $19.33, and APUS members pay the least, at $9.40. The CFS lobbies the provincial and federal governments and offers services such as the International Student Identity Card — which full-time students belonging to CFS locals can receive for free, and which qualifies students for discounts — and the Ethical Purchasing Network, through which students unions can order sustainably-sourced supplies. In a statement to The Varsity, SCSU VicePresident (VP) Khadidja Roble noted that she sees value in the CFS uniting students. APUS President Jaime Kearns wrote to The Varsity that the association does try to involve students in CFS campaigns, noting the many CFS services that benefit part-time students at U of T. On the other hand, UTSU VP Public and University Affairs Aidan Thompson told The Varsity that the UTSU will continue to avoid involving itself in CFS campaigns. The union has historically criticized the CFS for a lack of transparency, accountability, and effectiveness. Along with other student unions, the UTSU has floated the idea of leaving the federation, although CFS bylaws — criticized by the UTSU as “overly burdensome” — have hindered this process. Multiple student unions have attempted to leave the CFS but failed to meet the CFS bylaws’ requirements for secession. In multiple cases, the CFS has sued these unions for not paying fees after their attempted secessions. Four days in Toronto November 24, 2023 marked the first day of the
NGM. Executives from all five of U of T’s student unions attended, excluding the UTGSU, which proxied its vote to the UTSU. The four-day-long meeting included workshops; meetings geared toward specific constituencies such as women members, or Two-Spirit and trans students; and subcommittee meetings to amend and recommend motions for the entire membership to vote on during plenary sessions. Preparing and carrying out annual elections for CFS executives is one of the NGM’s primary functions, which became all the more important given that former UTMSU President Maëlis Barre resigned in September from her role as CFS national chairperson — the federation’s chief spokesperson and representative. In her absence, interim Lakehead University Student Union Vice-President Brandon Rhéal Amyot has taken on the role. During the opening plenary — a decisionmaking session that includes all attendees — the gathered student union execs elected CFS staff member Alice Wu as the federation’s Chief Returning Officer (CRO) for its upcoming elections, which were scheduled to take place during the closing plenary session on November 27.
The agenda for the closing plenary scheduled for November 27 included discussion and voting on motions recommended by various CFS committees — including motions related to the federation’s budget, policies, and services. These motions included accepting the federation’s financial audit and appointing a new auditor, a process required under the federation’s bylaws. The closing plenary, which the federation scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm, remained on hold while the Circle of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Students and the Black Students’ Caucus — two decision-making bodies within the federation — held an unscheduled meeting for upward of four hours. They emerged with two motions: tasking the federation with calling for solidarity with Palestine and undertaking a “decolonization audit.” Continued on page 2.
In Science this week: Dr. Anthony Feinstein discusses journalists’ moral courage during conflicts Page 7