An open letter to the Capilano Students Union “Why I did not vote in the CFS referendum”: This week at Capilano University there was a referendum to decide whether or not students at the university wanted to continue being members of the Canadian Federation of Students. The following is my take and opinion on this issue. I would like to start by saying that I do not know all of the facts surrounding this issue of the CSU wanting to leave the CFS. That being said, I have had a really difficult time figuring out what all of those facts are. All week there were members from an anti-CFS group and members from the CFS on campus bombarding students with pleas to get them to vote yes (in the CFS’s favour) or no (against the CFS). Yet when I asked either side to go into further detail I often felt like people were withholding information. The narrative for anti-CFS folks seemed to be that Capilano University has outgrown the need for the CFS. Our CSU now has the capability to provide many of the services that the CFS once helped us with, such as printing agendas and providing health services. The narrative coming from members of the CFS seemed to be that they are trying to unite the student body across Canada in efforts to build momentum for movements that reduce student costs and fight for key political concerns (environmental, social, etc). However, I believe that there are a few important pieces of information that each side was leaving out. When talking to anti-CFS folks they always seemed to leave out the fact that the CFS runs campaigns in efforts to build movements. Recently there was a campaign put together by LeadNow, Council of Canadians and the CFS to oppose Harpers so called “Fair Elections Act”. This campaign lead to a creative petition delivery at Andrew Saxton’s office in North Vancouver as well as other actions across Canada. In the fall when the RCMP was repressing the Elsipogtog Nation and Mi’kmaq warriors I saw the CFS out at marches in Vancouver to stand in solidarity with these land defenders. A couple of years ago when the CFS was in favour of coming out in opposition to pipelines and they put this issue to a vote, the CSU voted against it. So my question is where was the CSU in all of these situations and how come they didn’t bring these campaigns to our student body? All of that being said, this does not mean that I am pro-CFS. There are issues I have with the CFS as well, mainly the authoritarian nature of the group. After reading a number of articles about difficulties other universities are having with leaving the CFS and lawsuits that they are being faced with, I had a sour taste left in my mouth. Last night I read on Facebook that the votes for this referendum had come in – Capilano students voted 77% in favour of leaving the CFS. This leaves me with one main concern moving forward – the political leaning of the CSU. The CFS is a left leaning group, something that I support. As it stands now, the CSU is a left leaning group as well. However I have fears that this leaning could change over time. As most students know our university has been cutting programs, mostly arts programs. Our business school at Cap (which I am in) is the biggest profit generator out of all of the programs. This gives the university motivation to grow the business program. At the same time, our provincial government is pushing for huge fracked-gas (LNG) development in Northern British Columbia. So our school has an interest in growing the business program and our government has an interest in pushing the LNG industry on these students. I see the potential of this leading to a right leaning take over of the CSU in years to come. So, as a Capilano University student, this is what I would like to see from our student union moving forward. I would like to see strong efforts of movement building on key issues facing BC, such as industrial development in the north and here in our own backyards, the cost of education for students and putting an end to Harpers destructive party. I would like to see the CSU build ties with other universities and with frontline communities whose livelihoods are being threatened by industrial projects. I would like to see continued opposition to program cuts at Cap and I would like to see efforts to build movements and create a strong student voice in BC much like what we have seen in Montreal. I know that these are hard tasks to take on; I also know that they are tasks that the CFS tries to take on. So without the CFS I hope that our CSU can be a body for movement building. I would also like to recognize that the CSU does do a lot of great work already and that many of the CSU members are my good friends. I hope to see a strong united front between all committees in the CSU and I hope that the victory you have all just won motivates you to fight even harder for our student body. In solidarity and hopes of real movements being built by students Scott Knowles
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:26:47 +0000
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