Student unions at U of T owe the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) more than half a million dollars in fees, according to a recent report. The debt, which is part of almost $1.4 million owed to the CFS by member unions in Ontario, has brought up several issues, including students’ ability to de-federate from the CFS, conflict within the CFS, and U of T’s role in the student movement.
The CFS is a national organization that administers the health plan and lobbies the governments on behalf of students. Students vote to join the CFS, and they can also vote to leave-unless they owe money.
With debt into five and six figures, it would be impossible for U of T’s student unions to de-federate from the CFS in the next several years. This keeps the organization’s influence secure on the country’s largest campus at the expense of students’ freedom to choose their student union.
The financial problems started several years ago. Student unions are expected to remit fees, currently $3.12 per student, per semester. When U of T voted to join the CFS, it took the university administration some time to decide whether it would collect a levy to cover those fees.
Eventually, administration began collecting the levy. But U of T’s student unions are still behind in their payments. The Students’ Administrative Council (SAC) owes $433,270; the Scarborough Campus Student Union (SCSU) owes $75,729; and the Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS) is $15,750 in debt.
SCSU claims that the CFS agreed to write off the debt several years ago. Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson for the CFS, says that never happened, however.
“We all need to be playing a part,” he said. “And that means…not starving the organization financially.” But getting that money means either cutting into student union budgets or fighting the administration. SAC is in favour of the latter option.
“It’s on my priority list still for the end of the year,” said Paul Bretscher, SAC President. SCSU sees things differently.
“The CFS can either just forgive in good faith debt or we can continue on and go to the administration, invest plenty of time, [and] possibly need to pay legal fees again,” said Rob Wulkan, VP External at SCSU. “Then we find ourselves spending a lot of money in order to gain back a smaller amount of money.”
But for the CFS, it’s a matter of principle.
“We do not want to allow the administrations to effectively decide whether or not they remit fees that students have legitimately requested,” said Greener, “because that would allow the administration to decide whether or not they fund their opposition.”
The distribution of the debt also calls into question U of T’s role in the federation.
“Look at this from [the perspective of] the Trents, Guelphs, Lakeheads of the world,” said Greener. “They effectively have been subsidizing the largest student unions in the country.”
