Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) Lansdowne executive Shayli Robinson, who is also Aboriginal Students Liason for the Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia (CFS-BC), claims she was verbally abused and bullied at a recent Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) national meeting.
Robinson says she ran for the national women’s representative position at the meeting (which took place in Ottawa from June 5 to 8) and, after a close vote, won. But when it came time for closing plenary, “that’s when things got ugly,” says Robinson.
During opening plenary, outgoing CFS national chairperson Jessica McCormick said she had taken time off in April for mental health issues, says Robinson. Robinson says she wanted to know why McCormick didn’t attend a national executive meeting in April and why she didn’t provide a mandatory work report.
“So I went up to the mic and said, ‘Jessica, I recognize you told us you took a LOA for mental health issues and I appreciate that. But what I want to know is why in April, when the national executive met, you were not there and you didn’t provide a reason for not being there, and you didn’t provide a work report.’ Totally fair question, just asking for transparency. And people freaked out and used me as a scapegoat.”
Robinson claims that due to recent tensions between the BC locals of the CFS and the national organization relating to allegations of internal corruption, which Nexus previously reported on, she was used as a scapegoat to pick on BC.
“After that, people kept going up to the mic to speak about things, even when we were talking about other things, and they’d start by saying they find it really inappropriate to be probing about mental health issues and totally twisting what I said,” says Robinson. “Incredibly frustrating.”
Then, Robinson says Ontario delegates called an emergency women’s constituency meeting, which is where she claims the abuse took place.
“Basically the person who called it explained that they called this meeting because of what I had said, and as the national women’s representative they did not like that, and they wanted to talk about it,” says Robinson. “I explained in more detail what had happened and what I meant, and apologized again for what happened. It was just awful because they chose not to hear that.”
Canadian Federation of Students national chairperson Bilan Arte says that she is “incredibly concerned” to hear that this was Robinson’s experience at the meeting, which Arte attended. Arte, who answered questions for this story via email, says she hopes that Robinson will discuss these matters with her directly so they can resolve the situation.
“I cannot comment on the specific proceedings of the Women’s Constituency meeting,” says Arte. “Constituency meetings are spaces for delegates who identify with the constituency group to come together to discuss the proceedings of the meeting and reflect on issues the group faces. As those discussions can be very personal, confidentiality of all members needs to be upheld. I can say that conversations were had that were important for many delegates.”
Arte says that she knows a number of delegates were “disturbed and hurt” by what Robinson said to McCormick.
“It’s my understanding that there was also some level of resolution that took place,” says Arte. “I am troubled to hear that the experience was difficult for Shayli.”
Robinson says that although BC delegates kept putting their hands up to get on the speakers list, no one from BC really spoke.
“I’m pretty sure they manipulated the list to put Ontario people on first,” she says.
Arte says that this is definitely not the case.
“This is false and is not the way any part of any federation meetings have ever been facilitated,” says Arte. “As per general meeting practices, new speakers are given priority and those responding directly to questions or statements are also given space to do so. A number of delegates from across the country approached me personally after the conversation, including delegates from British Columbia, stating that it was a well-organized discussion.”
As the speakers went on, according to Robinson, people were twisting her words, saying it was “disgusting” that she would “ask for details about someone’s mental health issues.”
“A lot of really awful things were said about me,” she says. “We all called it verbal abuse; that’s what was happening. It was totally bullying, which is extremely messed up because the women’s constituency is supposed to be a safe space and they made it not a safe space.”
Arte says that the CFS strives to create safe spaces for students and says that at all general meetings an anti-harassment officer is available for delegates.
“This resource was an asset at the most recent meeting, skillfully addressing and correcting any concerns as they arose,” says Arte. “At the emergency women’s constituency meeting, there were additional supports for all delegates who may have been triggered by the conversation. At the opening plenary, delegates received a thorough anti-oppression presentation. The federation takes the responsibility of creating supportive and effective spaces for student representatives very seriously and continues to look for ways to improve that.”
But Robinson says that the abuse she faced in that meeting was so intense that the room was no longer safe.
“I was having anxiety attacks, I felt physically ill, I could not eat afterwards. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever been through, and I’ve been through a lot of trauma in my life,” she says.
Although some were saying they didn’t want Robinson as a representative anymore, no re-vote was called, she says. However, when it came time to ratify the positions, Robinson did not get ratified.
Still, CCSS executive director Michel Turcotte is hopeful that a unified national student movement can press on and says that the resources of student organizations would be put to better use on issues such as tuition-fee spikes or the federal election rather than internal political issues.
“I still have unanswered concerns about some of the recent changes that have been made in the CFS national office and was astonished and ashamed by what happened at the recent national meeting,” says Turcotte, “but I believe that we need to reach out and find a way to work with the national office and the locals in Ontario, as the interests of Canada’s students are not served by having a divided student movement.”
Robinson says that the events at the national meeting are indicative of how the national organization is moving forward in a way that she’s not in line with.
“I am horrified that an organization that is supposed to be about working together and providing safe spaces and letting voices of those who are marginalized be heard would do this to a recently elected delegate who comes from two minority groups,” she says. “It was incredibly messed up that they would do that to anybody. I’m horrified.”
I think there is an important element that does not appear in this story …. The connection between Special Women’s Caucus meeting and BC’s delegates walking out of the final plenary session after dinner. It was completely unpresented to have a surprise formal caucus meeting during the dinner break and while it may have made certain Women Delegates feel better, it was traumatic for most of those from BC. As an interested party I was receiving live updates of what was going on inside the caucus meeting and was surprised at the strength of the attacks against Shayli and against BC in general. When I made my way back to the meeting hall the first thing I saw was a young woman from BC crying outside the building. Other BC women were dazed and shocked and expressed that they felt unable to continue. Plenary reconvened shortly after with about 35 percent of BC delegates in the room and when it became apparent that many of the women felt it was unsafe to return, the remainder of the BC delegates left the meeting in solidarity