The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) National General Meeting (NGM) approved a motion that makes it easier for member student associations to leave the organization.
Previously, a petition to trigger a referendum on defederation needed signatures from 20 per cent of members of a students’ union. The motion lowers the threshold to 15 per cent.
The motion was moved by the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), which is known as Local 98 within the CFS. A very similar motion received approval from the CFS National Executive in October.
The CFS is an organization made up of college and university student unions across Canada. The UTSU, along with nine other CFS member associations, sent an open letter to the CFS in September, calling the defederation process “overly burdensome.”
At UTSG, a campaign called You Decide UofT is currently collecting signatures to trigger a referendum.
The Varsity has reached out to the University of Toronto Students’ Union and the CFS for comment.
This story is developing, more to follow.
Editors’ Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that this motion originated from the CFS National Executive. In fact, it was moved by Local 98, although the CFS National Executive approved a nearly identical motion. The Varsity regrets the error.
