![](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DSC_0195.jpg\")
<\/a>CFS national chairperson Bilan Arte says it is a \u201cmissed opportunity\u201d for the CCSS to not participate in the rally; she also denies that there is anything unlawful in regard to the CFS\u2019 financial statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that\u2019s not true,\u201d says Arte about Grant\u2019s claims of a lack of financial transparency at the CFS. \u201cOur federation provides updates at every general meeting around our finances, and around budget committee. And, in particular, there is a further study of the federation\u2019s financial status.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant says that students at Camosun College\u2014as well as students at other institutions throughout the country\u2014have begun a petition to initiate a referendum regarding continued Camosun student membership in the CFS. (The exact wording on the petition is \u201cWe, the undersigned, petition the National Executive of the Canadian Federation of Students to conduct a referendum on the issue of continued membership in the Canadian Federation of Students.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the change in [CFS] leadership, and the shift in priorities and practices that does not benefit students has happened, it is no longer of value to belong to the CFS,\u201d says Grant, \u201cand the board of directors of the student society here at Camosun is actively working to advocate best for the rights of students when it comes to this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant says the petition is available at the CCSS office (Nexus<\/i> confirmed it is at the Lansdowne office), and students can send her an email if they want to be filled in on the extensive background that has led to the petition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the petition available in our offices if students want to sign it or ask questions,\u201d says Grant. \u201cAlso, they can send an email to myself. Our contact information is on camosunstudent.org; we\u2019re definitely open to having conversations and explaining background on this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arte says that students are allowed to petition to begin the process of having a referendum talking about Camosun student membership in the CFS.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s every member\u2019s democratic right,\u201d says Arte, \u201cso I think if folks are exercising the democratic right to initiate a referendum on the question of continued membership, then that\u2019s their right to do so. There isn\u2019t really much more to say about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Grant has lots more to say regarding the CCSS leaving the CFS.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be a benefit to leave the CFS with the way it is currently being run,\u201d says Grant. \u201cRight now a lot of energy goes into dealing with the situation, which is incredibly unfortunate. And it\u2019s very sad to see an organization that has done a lot of good for students lose its way in such a tangible way that hurts students so much. To leave would mean being able to spend time and resources on things that directly benefit students every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arte says that there is always room to talk about change \u201cto be more reflective of the needs and the wants of our members\u201d and admits <\/b>that the democratic practices of the CFS aren\u2019t always flawless.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever the iteration of the federation that exists today, it is the result\u2014whatever proximities, bylaws, organizational structures that we have\u2014it is the result of over 30 years of debates and discussion at general meetings, at forums where students across the\u00a0 country have come together,\u201d says Arte. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s always perfect, but what it means is that there\u2019s a democratic process in it. It also means that it can change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant says that the signatures on the petition to initiate a referendum have to represent 20 percent of the student population.<\/p>\n
\u201c20 percent of students have to say \u2018this is worth voting on,\u2019 then there is a yes-no vote,\u201d says Grant. \u201cIt would trigger a referendum; that\u2019s the process we had to navigate to join\u2014and it\u2019s mirrored to leave as well\u2014and that\u2019s practice throughout Canada for this organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant says the student society\u2019s decision to not participate in Fight the Fees on November 2 is not because they don\u2019t support access to education but because of the direction the Canadian Federation of Students has taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who has been involved in the student movement prior to the shift in leadership that has been so damaging to the work done nationally for students,\u201d she says, \u201cit\u2019s been really disheartening to see an organization that is capable of so much good go in such a negative direction. I\u2019m encouraged by how this kind of negative situation is often channelled by people into good energy to continue the work to advocate for students, but it\u2019s sad to see an organization lose its way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every Camosun College student pays, through their student fees, membership dues to the Canadian Federation Of Students (CFS), Canada\u2019s largest national student group. Despite this, the Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) has chosen to not participate in the CFS\u2019 Fight the Fees rally, which is happening on November 2 as part of the CFS\u2019 national […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-november-2-2016"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12701"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12704,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12701\/revisions\/12704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}