As previously reported in this column, the Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) collects fees from Camosun students every month for membership in the British Columbia Federation of Students (BCFS) and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). The CCSS collects $2.25 per student per semester, which is split in half between the two organizations.
However, between 2014 and 2017, the CCSS remitted $202,305.11 of CFS fees to the BCFS. The BCFS is holding the money from the CFS because the BCFS claims that the CFS owes the BCFS an estimated $1 million.
The BCFS is a separate legal entity from the CFS.
CFS treasurer Peyton Veitch has told Nexus that the BCFS has “no authority to withhold those fees,” as students were told it was going to the CFS.
Although Camosun students have put forth a petition to have a referendum to defederate from the CFS, they cannot defederate with fees outstanding, so until the BCFS remits the fees, students are paying to be in both organizations.
Both Veitch and BCFS chairperson Simka Marshall were not available to comment on whether anything has changed on this situation before press time.