A Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) staffperson and student council member went to the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) annual general meeting in New Brunswick from March 20 to 22. Camosun students are paying members of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), the other national student organization in Canada. The CFS has been at the centre of controversy dating back at least 25 years (see 25 Years Ago in Nexus at nexusnewspaper.com); most recently, the CCSS has been in dispute with the CFS over CFS membership fees the CCSS gave the BCFS, a provincial component of the CFS (see Eye on the National Student Movement, below).
CCSS executive director Michel Turcotte went to the meeting with CCSS external executive Mitchell Auger-Langejan; Turcotte says there are no bylaws stopping the CCSS from joining CASA while it is still a member of the CFS, but he says the CCSS board still needs to be briefed on the meeting and that it is too early to say whether the CCSS will join CASA. (If the CCSS were to join CASA before Camosun students can defederate from CFS, students would be paying into two national student organizations.)
“It is worth exploring some further connections with CASA,” says Turcotte. “At this point, I don’t know where the dispute that the members of the Camosun College Student Society are having with the CFS is going to go, precisely, but I do know that it’s important for students, generally, in Canada to be represented and to advocate in terms of lobbying towards the federal government.” (In the past, says Turcotte, when students have left the federal government to its own devices, it has usually resulted in disadvantages to students in Canada.)
Turcotte says the CASA meeting was similar to a CFS meeting in terms of content discussed and campaigned for, including lower tuition, open textbooks, and different ways to make education affordable. But the structure of membership in the two organizations is different, and CASA membership is cheaper than CFS membership, he says.
“No school pays more than $50,000 [annually] in the CASA system,” says Turcotte. “That’s different than the Canadian Federation of Students. The maximum a school pays to be a member of CASA is about half of what we currently pay to be a member of the Canadian Federation of Students.”
Turcotte says he anticipates that Camosun students would be paying somewhere between $35,000 to $45,000 if the CCSS decided to join CASA. He adds that although it is not required, to ensure transparency he would want students to have a referendum regarding membership in CASA.
CASA executive director Michael McDonald says that CASA relies on its membership to set its direction and that it is up to the CCSS to decide whether CASA is a good fit for Camosun students.
“We feel that something that’s really important for being a national advocacy organization is that the folks around the table want to be around the table,” says McDonald. “Maybe it’s something that may not be for every single association. So giving a chance to come and observe—we obviously want to make sure to keep an open-door policy. At the end of the day, we think it’s really important that elected student leaders be able to make the choice for themselves.”
Auger-Langejan says that he enjoyed the CASA meeting, and that the environment was straightforward, hospitable, and professional; Turcotte agrees. Auger-Langejan says CFS meetings can be “oppressive.”
“The Canadian Federation of Students meetings are a lot more political; they will advocate for the interests of certain political parties, or they’ll take a stance against political figures,” says Auger-Langejan.
One of CASA’s main principles, says Auger-Langejan, is that it is non-partisan.
“All political backgrounds can come and participate in a wholesome debate without feeling the need to be quiet if they have opinions that are different, which can be the case at the Canadian Federation of Students. It can be a very oppressive political environment where only certain political opinions are accepted, and it’s generally expected that people have a very homogeneous view of politics at the CFS,” says Auger-Langejan, adding that that would not be the case at a CASA meeting.
A spokesperson for the CFS was not available to comment for this story.
Turcotte says that, having worked so closely with the CFS and BCFS for a number of years, he found it enriching to go the CASA meeting.
“I had never thought that I would ever have that opportunity,” he says. “I think it only benefits students in Canada if we break down those barriers that exist to try to work together towards a common goal of advocating for students.”
Auger-Langejan says it was an open debate at the CASA meeting, free of political tension.
“It was very comfortable and professional,” he says. “The people that go there sit down and get work done.”