All Posts Tagged With: "Canadian Alliance of Student Associations"
Really bad advice
How guidance is failing our students
Photo by Andrew Tolson
From the 21st Maclean’s University Rankings issue—on newsstands now.
Until mid-July, 25-year-old James Douglas pretty much had his life planned out. A fourth-year political science student at a major Canadian university, he anticipated finishing his degree at the end of the summer semester, in August, and graduating with his B.A. this fall. Douglas was in touch with several prospective employers in Toronto, his hometown, as well as in Ottawa, and had allowed the lease on his apartment to lapse. Then he received the phone call that upended all of that.
The call came from the registrar’s office, and informed Douglas that his application for graduation had been turned down. At issue was a three-credit course taken early in his career that his academic adviser had sworn up and down could be put toward his degree as an elective. Not so, the registrar’s office now said. At his entreaties, university officials dug into “some dusty book with fine print on p. 709” and pronounced the course in question as unfit to count toward his poli-sci B.A.
Why textbooks are so expensive
Bookstores say textbook prices are artificially inflated by unfair importation laws
The price of textbooks is a constant source of frustration for students. When proposed changes to the Copyright Act were announced earlier this month, the education sector followed the crowd and focused its attention on the protection of digital locks that make it illegal to bypass the locks, even when using copyrighted material would be otherwise permitted. But, at least for students, what isn’t on the table to be changed within the Act could be even more important: a relatively obscure set of provisions, in existence for more than a decade, known as the book import regulations that raise the cost of textbooks by as much as 15 per cent.
A form of cultural protection, the regulations grant Canadian publishers—or the Canadian arms of foreign owned multinationals—exclusive rights to import and distribute titles published abroad, fully protected by copyright laws. Publishers on this side of the border, like Pearson Education Canada and the Canadian branch of Oxford University Press, are permitted to charge a 10 per cent premium for American titles and a 15 per cent premium for titles outside North America, usually from Britain.
Unless Canadian-based-distributors charge more than the prescribed 10 or 15 per cent, or take too long to deliver book orders (in some cases they have up to two months) retailers who try to import titles from other sources could find themselves in court. Even if bookstores are able to secure otherwise legitimate contracts with a third-party foreign exporter, they would be in violation of the Copyright Act.
If you have ever wondered why book prices in Canada often don’t align with exchanges rates—something that has become more evident since the dollar has been hovering around parity—this is one reason why.
Although everyone who buys books sees their costs increased due to the regulations, Chris Tabor, director of the Queen’s campus bookstore, says students are disproportionately impacted. Whereas a typical novel will cost less than $30, it is not uncommon for textbooks to cost $100, with some titles going for nearly $300. “So 10 and 15 per cent doesn’t sound like a big deal on a Harry Potter novel, but for students who are spending $800 to $1,000, for their books, it adds up, it’s significant,” he said.
Controversial when enacted in 1999, the regulations have been largely ignored over the past several years. That is starting to change. Last spring, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) met with several Members of Parliament to solicit support for the repeal of the importation rules. Tina Robichaud, CASA’s national director, said while MPs, from all parties, were generally supportive, many were surprised that the provisions even existed.
CASA estimates that protecting exclusive rights for publishers through the Copyright Act costs students as much as $30 million a year. Removing the regulations, because it can be done without amending the Act itself, “is an easy way of putting money back into students’ pockets,” Robichaud said.
In May, representatives of the Canadian Booksellers Association (CBA) met with Heritage Minister James Moore. Initially the group’s intentions were to lobby against allowing Amazon to set up a bricks and mortar warehouse in Canada. But, because Amazon had already been given the go ahead, CBA shifted its focus to the repeal of the import regulations.
And, earlier this month, Campus Stores Canada, a trade association, appears to have been the only education related group to criticize the government for not addressing the regulations as part of other changes to the Copyright Act. “Rather than see the cost of textbooks reduced by as much as 15 per cent overnight, this act will ensure that Canadian students will . . . continue to overpay millions,” executive director Wayne Amundson, said in a release.
Despite what would seem like an easy way to reduce costs for students, a demographic the Conservative government is often accused of ignoring, there are no immediate plans to revisit the book import regulations. In an email, Matthew Deacon, press secretary for the heritage minister, stated: “There is the potential that removing these provisions may result in lower revenues for authors and book publishers.”
Studies find students struggle to fund education
Recession and “racialisation” roadblocks for Canadian post-secondary students
Two student groups have released studies highlighting the difficulties that face post-secondary students in funding their education.
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations study, “Summer Work and Paying for Post Secondary Education,” surveyed more than 18,000 full-time undergraduate students. It found that of the 84 per cent of participants who reported working last summer, one-third only found part-time employment, working less than 20 hours per week.
The overall seasonal earning median was $3,200 and students indicated they were only able to save less than half that amount. Of those surveyed, 62 per cent reported personal savings as a source of funding, which includes the previous year’s summer job as well as other personal savings. The study concludes that the the recession has been difficult on students who are increasingly working to fund their own education, but have fewer opportunities to earn money.
A Canadian Federation of Students study also highlights difficulties in funding post-secondary education. Their survey, “The Racialised Impact of Tuition Fees,” argues that rising tuition fees marginalizes “racialised students.” The study’s findings are based on socio-economic indicators, such as lower average wages, experienced by students who identify themselves as a visible minority.
It cites data on tuition fees that have more than tripled in the past two decades and tuition fees as a higher percentage of average income for racialised students to call upon “increased public investment in higher education.” The CFS’ study focuses mostly on Ontario students, who currently pay the highest average tuition fees, according to Statistics Canada.
Budget 2010: Why don’t you get a job?
Budget puts grads to work. Nothing for current students
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s budget, tabled Thursday afternoon, offered little in the way of new spending announcements, or policy revisions, for students. Instead, the 2010 budget makes modest expansions to existing programs that are largely aimed at putting university and college graduates to work, as well as at encouraging low income students to pursue a post-secondary education. Student groups say not enough is being done to help existing students.
Related: Budget 2010: New post-doctoral grant
The budget commits $108 million over three years “to assist young people looking to gain skills and experience.” This includes a one-year $30 million boost to the Career Focus component of the Youth Employment Strategy, which funds businesses and other organizations to provide internships to recent graduates. “This will allow more young Canadians to get that vital first job in their field of study,” the budget reads.
An additional $30 million increase is provided for the Skills Link portion of the Youth Employment Strategy. According to the government, Skills Link targets young people who are “at risk,” and others in need, including people with disabilities, single parents, Aboriginals, recent immigrants and those who have dropped out of high school. Skills Link is aimed at giving youth “the broad range of skills, knowledge and work experience they need to participate and succeed in the job market.”
The Pathway to Education Canada program will see an extra $20 million aimed at encouraging students from lower income families to pursue post-secondary education. Finally, minister Flaherty’s budget promises $30 million to create “partnerships” with First Nations “to improve the governance framework and clarify accountability for First Nations elementary and secondary education.”
In response to Thursday’s budget, Canada’s two largest student groups expressed disappointment.
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) praised the government’s investment in Pathway to Education Canada, which is targeted at increasing university participation rates. However, CASA says not enough has been done to help students who are already attending Canada’s post-secondary institutions. “Unfortunately the federal government did not recognize the needs of students that are currently facing a cash and credit crunch due to last year’s recession,” said Arati Sharma, CASA’s national director.
Similarly, the Canadian Federation of Students also denounced the budget as inadequate. “With a record number of Canadians enrolled in college or university, this budget does nothing to help students and their families afford an education,” said CFS national chairperson Katherine Giroux-Bougard.
The lack of significant funding announcements is consistent with yesterday’s Speech from the Throne, in which students were barely mentioned. In fact, the only reference to students came when the Conservative government pledged to work with Aboriginal communities and province’s to “reform and strengthen education, and to support student success and provide greater hope and opportunity.”
The only other hint the government offered about today’s spending, echoed in the budget, was that there were no major cuts planned. “Balancing the nation’s books will not come […] by cutting transfer payments for health care and education,” governor general Michaelle Jean read, going on to explain later in the speech that restraining program spending overall would protect growth in transfers to pensions, education and health.
With files from Erin Millar
UBC votes to leave CASA—in six months
Student execs say they are excited about the prospects of a larger lobbying budget
After lengthy debate about the wording of the motion but relatively little debate about its actual merits, UBC’s Alma Mater Society, the largest student union in Canada, has declared its intent to leave the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA).
Originally, the motion in front of council read, “Therefore, be it resolved that the Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia – Vancouver cease its affiliation to the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.” However, after a letter was urgently sent from CASA to councillors reminding them that a) UBC could not legally leave CASA until April 1, and b) UBC legally needed to give 30 days of notice before taking formal steps to leave the organization, there was a debate about whether to delay the debate until the AMS had gotten a legal opinion on the matter. That vote was defeated narrowly, and the end compromise was to word the motion more vaguely, so that it simply stated the AMS’ intent to leave CASA after April 1, 2010.
As one councillor put it, “We should let the people whose job it is to write legal policy write this policy, to make sure we take the proper formal steps for this to happen legally.”
Debate on the actual motion was fairly short. The current AMS President, Blake Frederick, told council that CASA didn’t make sense for UBC. The 2008/2009 AMS President, Mike Duncan, told council essentially the same thing. And the 2007/2008 AMS VP External, Matt Naylor, told council…well, you get the picture.
While there were a decent number of vocal dissidents to the motion—once councillor said “I am ashamed to be part of a organization that is so unprofessional with the groups we deal with”—most were in favour of the motion, given that is non-binding.
So what does the motion actually mean? Well, barring a fairly big ideological change in the makeup of the AMS executive, or drastic change in how CASA conducts its business, UBC will become independent on April 1, 2010, and remain so for a while. Current and past executives are excited about the prospects of having a much larger budget for lobbying (In the past, the AMS spent $70,000 on CASA), to spend more time working on provincial issues, and being in full control of external relations.
Meanwhile, most councillors (and by proxy, the student body) don’t really care about lobbying so long as it doesn’t take up a ton of money and doesn’t cause any public embarrassments to UBC. Frankly, there’s just too much bad blood and pettiness between the two groups right now for good-faith bargaining to happen.
UBC to decide on CASA membership tonight
But will the motion pass? This time, for a variety of reasons, the result isn’t certain
If one thing has been made clear over the past few weeks on this website, it’s that’s the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is definite water-cooler talk. That is, if the Internet had some sort of equivalent of a water cooler. But regardless, through a combination of its size and its penchant for creating controversy, the CFS can definitely be considered sexy within the realm of Canadian post-secondary student government/lobbying. Which isn’t saying much. But still.
However, the CFS’ counterpart, the smaller and federally-focused Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, keeps trundling along, working exclusively on issues of federal jurisdiction. Its largest member, UBC, may be fully pulling out of the group tonight. A motion has been put forward to the student council that would see the Alma Mater Society (AMS) fully remove itself from CASA. One of the things CASA trumpets as a selling point is that members can easily join and leave whenever they see fit without a full-scale referendum—and UBC students may just take full advantage of that.
Curiously, the end of the motion reads: (click for the entire motion)
“Be it further resolved that the AMS remain unaffiliated to any federal lobbying organization, for no less than two years; and
Be it further resolved that if the AMS considers affiliation with an external lobbying organization, it negotiate with CASA first.”
It’s a clear compromise on those who drafted the motion to find common ground with councillors who are neutral on the relative merits of CASA, but are strongly against joining the CFS. On the other hand, if federal fixed-election laws have taught us anything, it’s that these sorts of “we pwomise” motions/laws can easily be circumvented. A new executive and council could come in and override all of this.
So will the motion pass? Last year at this time, the AMS voted to step down to associate member status within CASA (the motion passed unanimously). This time however, the vote is not so certain. Much of the conflict has come due to the clumsy way the AMS executive has tried to distance itself from the organization. Most memorably, an email to students sent by VP External Tim Chu, the AMS claimed that “CASA is an organization that has quite a bit of problems. These problems include… Spending more money on cell phones than member relations.” Which would be ridiculous. If it were true.
However, in a meeting with UBC, National Director Arati Sharma said that CASA talked more about the cell phone budget than the member relations budget at their last AGM. Oops. Furthermore, the external office of the AMS, which is in charge of carrying out lobbying, hasn’t exactly been controversy-free in the last few months. It’ll be up to councillors to determine if Canada’s largest student union can competently handle external lobbying without any outside help or affiliation. I’ll have a report up on the decision once it breaks tonight (or, for those out on the east coast, more likely tomorrow morning).
UPDATE: Earlier today, Arati Sharma sent a letter to AMS Councillors and campus media which contained this interesting tidbit:
“In the current contract between the Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia – Vancouver, and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (point 7 on page 3 of the attached Full Member Agreement), the AMS agreed to the exit provisions of Article 4 of the constitution (page 2 of attached Constitution 2007), which states in 4.10:
“A Full member reverting to Associate Membership or an Associate Member withdrawing from the organization must notify the Board of Directors in writing no less than thirty (30) calendar days in advance of employing the necessary legislative steps in the Member’s constitution or Bylaws.”
Two CASA representatives met with AMS representatives on October 8, 2009 but no notice of tonight’s motion was given. CASA was informed by the UBC Insiders (a campus blog) Twitter feed instead.
Student alliance asks Ottawa to ease debt in downturn
Graduates with limited job prospects need help dealing with debt, says CASA
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations is calling on Ottawa to ease the debt burden for people who are graduating in tough economic times with limited job prospects.
National director Zach Churchill says the government can do some simple things to help recent grads who will, on average, complete a four-year undergraduate degree more than $24,000 in debt.
The alliance argues the student financial-aid system should be more accessible and that tariffs on imported books need to be eliminated.
The comments come after meetings this week with government officials.
The Canadian Federation of Students recently called on Ottawa to increase transfer payments to the provinces in an effort to reduce skyrocketing tuition fees.
- The Canadian Press
The CASA media playbook vs. the CFS media playbook
Last week, I noted a critical editorial in the University of Alberta Gateway. The editorial questioned the value of Canadian Alliance of Student Associations membership for University of Alberta students. (It also questioned the value of membership in the Canadian Federation of Students.) I’ve been critical of CASA in the past and will likely be [...]
Last week, I noted a critical editorial in the University of Alberta Gateway. The editorial questioned the value of Canadian Alliance of Student Associations membership for University of Alberta students. (It also questioned the value of membership in the Canadian Federation of Students.)
I’ve been critical of CASA in the past and will likely be critical in the future. Same goes with the CFS. How the two organizations respond to critical coverage is night and day. The CFS sends legal letters and throws a tantrum whenever it is unhappy with anything in the student press. CASA will send a letter to the editor to explain their viewpoint.
When a story unfavourable to CASA is being written, I can call them and get answers. When any article that is not favourable, even neutral, about the CFS is being written, repeated phone calls will not be returned. It is not unusual for legal letters or warning to arrive prior to the publication of an article.
The result this week; CASA national director Zach Churchill is interviewed in The Gateway this week.
Gateway editorial: Recession, unions screw universities
The federal budget has something for everyone but students, are students getting anything from their lobbying dollars?
An excellent editorial in the University of Alberta campus paper The Gateway this week questions if students are getting value for their federal lobbying dollars:
But what’s perhaps more disappointing than the lack of results from Mr Flaherty for Canadian students is how small of an impact their pleas have actually made. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) exist for this sole purpose. So when the U of A Students’ Union rushed through a motion in council over the summer in order to budget $50 000 towards rejoining CASA, Vice President (External) Beverly Eastham was confident that it would produce results.
Instead, it looks as though that $50 grand is bound to be yet another addition to the SU’s budget line of “wasted expenses,” even higher than the cost of all those red scarves that made such a huge difference during the Restricted Access campaign.
Canada’s largest student union votes to downgrade CASA membership
I am told by a very reliable source attending the UBC Alma Mater Society meeting that the AMS has unanimously voted to withdrawal from downgrade their membership with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. The AMS will become associate members of CASA instead of the full members they presently are. With it, the AMS takes [...]
I am told by a very reliable source attending the UBC Alma Mater Society meeting that the AMS has unanimously voted to withdrawal from downgrade their membership with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.
The AMS will become associate members of CASA instead of the full members they presently are.
With it, the AMS takes 44,000 members out of CASA.
Interestingly, this also means that over 50% of university students in British Columbia are without external provincial or federal lobbying representation.
Both grads and undergrads at UBC-Vancouver and Simon Fraser University have recently decided to leave lobbying organization and pursue lobbying with their own resources.
More on the story as details emerged. (as of 2am EDT, I’m going to sleep)
UPDATES: I misinterpreted the text message I received to be full withdrawal. Another source quickly corrected me. Thanks to all.
Canada’s largest student union reviewing CASA membership
Canada’s largest students’ union, the Alma Mater Society – University of British Columbia, will be discussing its membership in the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations during a meeting tonight. I don’t know which way the discussion will go tonight and my sources are unable to predict an outcome either. Looks like we will have to [...]
Canada’s largest students’ union, the Alma Mater Society – University of British Columbia, will be discussing its membership in the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations during a meeting tonight.
I don’t know which way the discussion will go tonight and my sources are unable to predict an outcome either. Looks like we will have to wait until late into the night for more details.
(This is the second UBC-related post, the third will be when I find out what occurs tonight)
CASA and SSMU in court
Maclean’s has learned that the lawsuit filed by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations(CASA) against the Student Society of McGill University(SSMU) is currently being argued before the courts. CASA is suing for $28,000 plus interest. CASA claims that the SSMU failed to fully pay their required membership dues in 2005. The SSMU disputes this stating [...]
Maclean’s has learned that the lawsuit filed by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations(CASA) against the Student Society of McGill University(SSMU) is currently being argued before the courts.
CASA is suing for $28,000 plus interest. CASA claims that the SSMU failed to fully pay their required membership dues in 2005. The SSMU disputes this stating they paid what they owed.
The SSMU voted to leave CASA in 2005 and pursued membership in a rival lobbying organization the Canadian Federation of Students.
CASA also sued the University of Manitoba Students’ Union(UMSU) for dues they owed when left the organization in 2005.
CASA and UMSU reached an out-of-court settlement in the fall with UMSU paying $28,808 in back dues to CASA.
Talks between the SSMU and CASA were unsuccessful in reaching a out-of-court settlement.
The two sides have submitted arguments before the courts. A decision date is not yet known.
Mud-slinging makes student politicians April’s fools
There’s nothing like a public argument via press release to point out how silly student politicians can be
Amy Cox, deputy chairperson-elect of the National Graduate Caucus (CFS) and president of the Post-Graduate Student Society of McGill University, is the listed contact on a news release entitled “Graduate students not laughing *with* CASA” that went out Tuesday. The release, which accused CFS’ rival federal student group Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) of making light of graduate student activism, only showed how childish student politics can be.
Earlier that morning, CASA had sent out a news release welcoming two new member students’ unions, including the University of Waterloo Graduate Student Association, the first graduate students’ union to join the organization. In what may have been an attempt to slight the CFS or only a careless slip, CASA’s release included this phrase, “With the joining of CASA’s first graduate student association, the GSA, CASA is working to fill the current void that exists in graduate student representation at the federal level.”
CASA has been representing graduate students at UBC and prior to that, represented graduate students at the University of Manitoba. So, to say their is a void is to say they were not properly representing those members.
But Cox decided this was an attack against the CFS and she needed to respond.
In her public mud-slinging, Cox said the CASA release “was presumably an attempt at an April Fools joke” and that it denied the existence of “three decades of work undertaken by graduate students at the federal level.”
“We appreciate the CASA’s attempt at humour, but it isn’t appropriate to make light of the hard work of graduate students that has been ongoing for decades,” said Cox.
I’m not defending either side here. It is silly battles like this that make it hard to take student politicians seriously.
UAlberta SU joins CASA
4th SU to join in the last year
Steven Dollansky, VP External of the University of Alberta Students’ Union, posts that the UASU is joining the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.
I predicted this back in the fall and predict that the McMaster Students Union will be joining sometime this year.
CASA responses to CFS quotes in article about end of CMSF
The Concordian ran an article about the end of the CMSF foundation Tuesday which focused on the reality that Quebec students will likely be excluded from the new grant program due to Ottawa’s love of appeasing side-deals for Quebec. (The Quebec government will get the money that would go directly to students instead. What happen’s [...]
The Concordian ran an article about the end of the CMSF foundation Tuesday which focused on the reality that Quebec students will likely be excluded from the new grant program due to Ottawa’s love of appeasing side-deals for Quebec.
(The Quebec government will get the money that would go directly to students instead. What happen’s then is anyone’s guess.)
included quotes from the CFS which CASA does not believe to be wholly accurate.
Zach Churchill, National Director of CASA responded to the quotes and article by submitting a comment to the newspaper which is now on the paper’s website.
Victory!
Is giving more students less money really a success?
Many groups in the know are applauding (some more cautiously than others) yesterday’s announcement to replace the Millennium Scholarship Foundation with a government-run grant program. But many questions remain and the changes will lead to some casualties that have been overlooked so far.
As previously reported, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty confirmed the death sentence that has been hanging over the head of the Millennium Scholarship Foundation (MSF) when unveiling plans for a new grant system in the 2008 budget. The MSF’s $350 million annual budget along with the $138 million currently distributed through Canada Access and Study Grants will be rolled together into one big national grant program to be administered by the Canada Student Loan Program.
Although the Liberals are painting the move as a simple rebranding, the end of MSF will certainly change the landscape of student financial aid in Canada—if not only for the seemingly positive changes (the transparency of being a government program) but also for the smaller functions of the Foundation that have been quietly left out.
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (the Canadian Federation of Students’ rival) was quick to point out that the Foundation was not only about delivering grants, but also about research. “The Foundation was the only group that was doing research on access issues. Looking at Aboriginal students, low income students, and first generation students,” said Zack Churchill, CASA national director. “We haven’t seen any indication from the government that the federal research will be picked up.”
And while Churchill’s critics might argue that we have, say, StatsCan for post-secondary research, the Foundation’s unique approach to research will surely be missed.
Alex Usher, vice president and director (Canada) of the Educational Policy Institute, said that the government program will likely focus only on financial aid research. “There will nobody speaking for access anymore in terms of research,” he said.
Another Foundation program that was not mentioned in the budget was its merit-based scholarships. MSF awarded $12.6 million in scholarships annually. The scholarships were unique in that they took community involvement into account as well as marks.
Franca Gucciardi, executive director of the Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation, said that this program was very important in terms of supporting talent and leadership. “As Canadians, we’re good at need, but not as good at merit,” she said.
Although the budget included a new and prestigious merit-based scholarship program for doctoral students, it doesn’t replace merit-based support for undergraduate students. “You don’t get to do your PhD unless someone supports you to do your bachelors,” Gucciardi said.
Although the Educational Policy Institute said the changes were largely a good news story, it found a couple of major holes in the proposed program. The potentially costliest problem is whether independent students are eligible for the grants. As it stands, it appears that independent students (those out of high school for long enough that they are not required to include their parent’s income when applying for grants and loans) will be able to apply.
Because the grants will be based on family income rather than need (costs minus resources), almost every independent student who applies will be eligible because their income will fall below the line. There may be as many as 500,000 independent students currently enrolled in Canada. But the budget for the new grant program only aims to provide funding to 240,000 students. Whoops! This could make the program cost well over $1 billion.
Usher also pointed out that at least two Canada Study Grants seem to be missing from the mix: funding for students with dependents, and female doctoral students. From the Educational Policy Institute’s discussions with Canada Student Loan officials so far, it appears that the $70 million in grants for students with dependents has been rolled into the new grant money. Officials did confirm that grants for students with disabilities will continue to be awarded.
One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that basing the grants on income instead of need is a positive step. The Foundation’s grants were awarded according to the amount of money needed for the student’s educational program minus the student’s resources. Basically, if two students had exactly the same family income, but one chose to go to an expensive university and move away from home and the other chose to attend their community college and live with their parents, the first student would receive more grant money. It meant that students were being rewarded for making more expensive choices.
The new system will not take into consideration the costs of education, but only the family income of the student. The indirect result will be that more money will flow to college students in comparison to university students.
So although student groups can breathe a sigh of relief that the existing money going into grants in Canada won’t be axed along with the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation, they should probably crunch the numbers before declaring victory (as the CFS did oh so quickly). MSF distributed an average of $2000 to 120,000 students each year. The new program plans to hand out grants to 245,000 students next year, but with no new money. So the individual student recipients will be getting less cash. Victory?
University College of Fraser Valley joins CASA
Third students union to join CASA in a year
Students at the University College of Fraser Valley in British Columbia have decided to join the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.
Students voted for membership in CASA during a week long referendum with 74 per cent of students voting in favour of membership. CASA is the second largest national student lobby group in Canada, a rival to the Canadian Federation of Students.
The union is the third new member for CASA in the last year. The Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union became full members in April 2007 and the University of Prince Edward Island joined in November.
“This is an important step for students who hope to participate in national change for post-secondary education,” said Churchill. “We look forward to working with the SUSUCFV; their perspective and insight will be a welcome addition to the CASA table.”
SUSUCFV joins Canada’s largest students’ union, the University of British Columbia Alma Mater Society, as CASA’s two members in British Columbia.
Student lobby group sues students’ unions
CASA could lose credibility over suits: student leader
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations(CASA)has filed lawsuits against two students’ unions, a move that some student leaders are calling hypocritical. The suits claim that the unions owe membership fees from 2005, the year the unions terminated membership in CASA.
CASA—which is the second largest student lobby group in Canada after the Canadian Federation of Students(CFS)—is suing the University of Manitoba Students’ Union(UMSU)and the Student Society of McGill University(SSMU)for the outstanding fees. Both unions left CASA in 2005 to pursue membership in a rival lobby organization, the CFS. The suit is asking for approximately $28,000 plus late charges per student union.
The suit has at least one student leader calling the group hypocritical. "We think that it is rather ludicrous that CASA, who spends a lot of time criticizing CFS for suing students is doing so themselves," said Max Silverman, SSMU vice-president external.
Silverman believes that CASA will lose credibility over the lawsuits. "They regularly, and I think rightfully, criticize the fact that the CFS, while claiming to represent students, sue students associations. I think that’s absolutely a legitimate criticism of CFS. However, now that CASA is engaging in it, they lose all creditability in terms of the ability to have moral high ground."
However, CASA maintains that there was no choice other than to go ahead with the lawsuits. "Our hand was forced," said Zach Churchill, national director of CASA. "We have an obligation to our members to get the owed funds."
Both UMSU and SSMU are disputing the claims of CASA that they owe money to the organization.
Eric van Eyken, a former vice president of SSMU noted in an email that La Federation etudiante universitaire du Quebec—Canada’s third largest lobby group—has also considered a lawsuit over unpaid fees. "If all three major student societies in the country have at least one lawsuit against members, it stops being an issue [...] and simply establishes a norm that contractual obligations should be respected."
Churchill stated that CASA is currently negotiating with both organizations in the hopes of settling the case.
