Student Federation of the University of Ottawa

Board of Administration

Ad-hoc Committee on Student Advocacy Organizations

Report Concerning the Canadian Federation of Students

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Members
Dean Haldenby, SFUO President & Chairperson
Seamus Wolfe, SFUO VP University Affairs
Becky Wallace, SFUO Faculty Director
Khadijah Kanji, SFUO Faculty Director
Faris Lehn, SFUO Faculty Director

The following is a report prepared at the request of the Board of

Administration (BOA). The report and its research are within the
parameters set out in the mandate of said committee. The report was
prepared by all committee members and approved by the committee on
July 22, 2008. Said report and recommendations are to be made known to
the BOA on July 27, 2008.

____________________________ Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Chairperson Date

SAO - CFS Report 1

Executive Summary
The CFS is a bilingual organization that represents approximately 500,000
students, from over 80 student unions, which seeks to research, lobby and
provide services for its members at both provincial and national levels.

Formed in 1981 by uniting several provincial and federal students’ associations,

the organization has two distinct parts: The Canadian Federation of Students
(CFS) and the Canadian Federation of Students-Services (CFS-S). Also, CFS
members are simultaneously members of a separate—but aligned—provincial
wing, such as: The Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario (CFS-O).

Campaigns, services and policies are decided by members at general meetings

and elected representatives and other staff are charged with facilitating the CFS
strategies of: research, lobbying and action. With respect to individual students’
union independence, no campaign, service or policy is mandatory and there is no
limit to individual students’ union creation of their own.

Since individual students are members of the CFS, they are enfranchised to
make the collective decision on membership in their national-provincial
organization. Therefore, in order to “federate” or “de-federate”, a referendum
asking all students must take place.

The students from the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO)
voted to join the CFS in 1985. Due to perceived ineffectiveness in the mid
1990’s, students from the SFUO voted to leave the CFS in 1995.

Since leaving, SFUO executives have attended several CFS general meetings
and the question of membership has been addressed by the SFUO Board of
Administration (BOA) three separate times. However, the question has never
been re-visited for students by way of referendum.

Several concerns about CFS were raised and addressed by the committee.
Although valid, the committee was not attempting to analyze whether the CFS
was a flawless organization; rather, the committee attempted to decide whether
the question of membership should be brought to the students of the SFUO by
way of a referendum.

Recommendation
This committee recommends that the Student Federation of the University of
Ottawa (SFUO) take prospective membership in the Canadian Federation of
Students (CFS) in order for the University of Ottawa students to experience the
organization and decide themselves whether or not to take full membership
through a referendum.

SAO - CFS Report 2

Methodology

The following report is based on factual information from research attained by

committee members, which is cited throughout the document.

The report is composed of the following nine sections:

• Methodology
• Executive Summary
• What is the Canadian Federation of Students
• SFUO-CFS History
• Benefits and Services of Membership
• Membership
• Recent Federation Referendums
• Recent De-Federation Referendums
• Recent Issues

This report takes into account balanced research of the Canadian Federation of
Students (CFS). As members of the committee in-charge of formulating the
report it was important to fulfill the requirements as mandated by the Board of
Administration (BOA). As such, the committee sent out an email to all members
of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) requesting
feedback and input.

SAO - CFS Report 3

What is the Canadian Federation of Students

The CFS is an organization that represents approximately 500,000 students,

from over 80 student unions, which seeks to research, lobby and provide
services for its members at both provincial and national levels.

Formed in 1981 by uniting several provincial and federal students’ associations,

the organization has two distinct parts: The Canadian Federation of Students
(CFS) and the Canadian Federation of Students-Services (CFS-S). Also, CFS
members are simultaneously members of a separate—but aligned—provincial
wing, such as: The Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario (CFS-O).

History of CFS

Since 1927, upon the founding of the National Federation of Canadian University
Students (NFCUS), students in Canadian post-secondary education have sought
to organize themselves at both provincial and federal levels. The aim has always
been to establish a unified voice and better provide services for students.

In 1981, the following organizations representing students at provincial and

national levels met at Carleton University:

Association of Student Councils (Canada)

National Union of Students
British Columbia Students Federation
Federation of Alberta Students
Ontario Federation of Students
Student Unions of Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan Federation of Students

Along with several other students’ unions, the participants of what was to be
called the “Founding Conference” decided to unify and create the CFS with the
following founding principles:

WHEREAS we, the students of Canada, recognizing the need to speak with one
voice in asserting our legitimate needs and concerns, wish to express our
support for one national student organization whose basic aims will be as follows:

1 To organize students on a democratic, co-operative basis in advancing

our own interests and in advancing the interests of our community;
2 To provide a common framework within which students can communicate,
exchange information, and share experience, skill and ideas;
3 To ensure the effective use and distribution of the resources of the student
movement, while maintaining a balanced growth and development of
student organizations that respond to students' needs and desires;

SAO - CFS Report 4

 4 To bring students together to discuss and to achieve necessary
educational, administrative or legislative change wherever decision-
making affects students;
5 To facilitate co-operation among students in organizing services that
supplement our academic experience, provide for our human needs and
which develop a sense of community with our peers and other members of
society;
6 To articulate the real desire of students to fulfill the duties, and be
accorded the rights of citizens in our society and in the international
community;
7 To achieve our ultimate goal - a system of post-secondary education that
is accessible to all, which is of high quality, which is nationally planned,
which recognizes the legitimacy of student representation, and the validity
of student rights, and whose role in society is clearly recognized and
appreciated.

The participants agreed that in accordance with the principal of a democratic

student movement, student unions would have to ask the students they
represented if they wished to join the CFS through a referendum.1

Since then, 109 student unions have, at some point, asked their students and
joined the CFS. Due to the fact that various referendums to join and
referendums to leave have happened throughout the existence of CFS, currently
approximately 500,000 students from across Canada are members, represented
by 84 student unions.

Principles of CFS

The CFS was formed as a framework for collaboration between students' unions
for student rights advocacy and national service delivery. Throughout its
existence, students' unions have determined that the guiding principles should
be:
1. Bilingual: The CFS employs a translator and has a $25,000 budget for
translation. All plenary sessions of CFS are simultaneously interpreted by
professionals.
2. National and provincial in scope: One of the most important lessons
leading up to the formation of the CFS was that working together without
national and provincial coordination was reducing the effectiveness of
student organizing – especially since post-secondary education funding
comes from both levels of government, while the provision is a provincial
jurisdiction. As a result, CFS members are simultaneously members of a
separate—but aligned—provincial wing.

1
All information about establishment of CFS from ‘Founding Conference, Canadian Federation of
Students, October 14-19, 1981, Carleton University Ottawa: Minutes’

SAO - CFS Report 5

 3. Services and advocacy together: In recognition that students need a
break on everyday living costs and that students' unions can get better
bargains by achieving economies of scale, the CFS operates several
member-driven cooperative services (i.e. Studentphones.ca). In addition,
the infiltration of profiteers into many areas of student service provision
means that services are as political as ever, and students need a non-
profit alternative.
4. Referendum-based: Since individual students are members of the CFS,
they are enfranchised to make the collective decision on membership in
their national-provincial organization. Therefore, in order to “federate” or
“de-federate”, a referendum asking all students must take place.
5. One member, one vote: In order to encourage collaboration, regional
empowerment, and democratic decision-making, the CFS was founded on
a one member, one vote basis (akin to the United Nations' structure).
6. Respect organizing in Québec: Québec has a long and distinct history of
student organizing. Founding members of the CFS wanted to respect that
tradition and treat Québec organizations as allies in the student
movement.
7. Proper financing: Most of the CFS' predecessor organizations regularly
struggled with maintaining sufficient finances. CFS founding members
wanted to ensure that membership dues were set at a level that could
ensure stability and effectiveness. The Federation's membership dues
have not been increased since 1993, although they are fixed to meet
inflationary growth and contraction.2

The Approach of the CFS3

Research
The CFS employs full-time researchers in national and provincial offices who
study and prepare analyses of government policies and trends within post-
secondary education, and develop alternatives to government policy. This
research is then transmitted to member student unions and general meetings to
back up their work.

Lobbying
The primary purpose of the CFS is to represent students' issues and concerns to
government. Contact with elected and non-elected officials and bureaucrats take
place by CFS representatives regularly and members of individual student unions
during ‘lobby days’, set up by CFS. CFS also employs a government relations
strategy that addresses both federal and provincial representatives in different
ways, such as making presentations to various government committees.

2
These points are not the official principles (for those see the motion that created CFS in the
section ‘History of CFS’ above); rather, these have been formulated by the authors based on
research and a presentation by CFS National Chairperson, Katherine Giroux-Bougard.
3
From CFS website (http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/html/english/about/approach.php) accessed July 14,
2008

SAO - CFS Report 6

Action
Based on the research and experiences on different campuses, member student
unions create campaigns and campaign strategies and general meetings. The
idea is usually to gain widespread support for these campaigns through public
awareness, mobilizations, and other forms of action.

Structure of CFS

The CFS was founded to be a vehicle by which students' unions could unite for
student issues.

The structure of the CFS has been created to facilitate this idea by having the
national organization with separate provincial wings. Democratically-elected
members and other staff work on a full-time basis to coordinate the provincial
and national services and campaigns work undertaken by more than 80 students'
unions. The official policies, campaigns, and services development are set by
member students' union representatives at national and provincial general
meetings. Any member students’ union has the ability to table a motion for
discussion at the meetings. Inevitably, within this structure there have been
differences of ideas for direction and some of the recent issues are elaborated
upon in the section ‘Recent Issues’ of this report.

Although the CFS is essentially a student co-op (greater member participation

leads to more effective advocacy and better services), the CFS structure
respects local autonomy and independence. No CFS service or campaign is
mandatory; rather, the general meetings decide what services and campaigns
will exist or be undertaken and each individual students’ union decides which
they will partake in. Conversely, there is no limit on individual students’ unions to
engage in their own campaigns, services or policies.4

Although known commonly as – and referred to as throughout this report – the

Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), the organization actually has two
distinct parts: The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) and The Canadian
Federation of Students – Services (CFS-S). The confusion is easily explained
because of the fact that the two parts have concurrent general meetings and are
staffed by essentially the same people. Basically, they are the same
organization, though separately incorporated for financial and legal reasons. CFS
is the political wing of the organization and CFS-S deals with business services
for federation members.

4
This information has been taken from the experiences of two groups of SFUO executives
attending two national general meetings (2007 and 2008) as observers.

SAO - CFS Report 7

Basic Structure5

1. Members
• Every student on a campus that has run a successful referendum
• Contribute $7.156 per semester (half that for part-time students)
• Members delegate their vote at general meetings to the executives of their
students’ union
2. General Meetings (held twice annually)
• Representatives from each member students’ union or ‘member local’
• One member local, one vote
• Sub-committees (no decision making power)7
• Caucuses (develop various perspectives on matters addressed by general
meeting)8
• Constituency Groups (develop different constituency perspectives on
matters addressed by general meeting)9
3. National Executive (elected)
• National Chairperson (full-time)
• National Deputy Chairperson (full-time)
• National Treasurer (full-time)
• Provincial Component Representative (10)
• Aboriginal Students’ Representative
• Graduate Students’ Representative
• Constituency Representatives (3)10
4. Members
• Services Staff (6)
• Advocacy Staff (7)
• Regional Staff (7-8)
• Travel Cuts11

Provincial components: each province has a provincial component with a similar

structure to address provincial issues and mobilize accordingly.

5
From ‘Presentation to the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, September 24, 2006’
by CFS available at the SFUO office
6
These numbers based on 2008-2009 academic year and are adjusted annual to CPI
7
Budget Committee, Organizational and Services Development Committee, Policy Review and
Development Committee, Campaigns and Government Committee
8
Caucus of Colleges and Institutes, Caucus of Large Institutions, Caucus of Small Institutions,
National Aboriginal Caucus, National Graduate Caucus
9
Students of Colour Constituency Group, Student with Disabilities Constituency Group,
Francophone Students’ Constituency Group, International Students’ Constituency Group, Student
Artists’ Constituency Group, Part-time and Mature Students’ Constituency Group, Queer
Students’ Constituency Group, Women’s Constituency Group
10
Francophone Student’s Constituency, Students of Colour Constituency, Women’s Constituency
11
‘Travel Cuts’ is a separately incorporated travel service owned and run by CFS

SAO - CFS Report 8

SFUO-CFS History

Although the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) did not
attend the Founding Conference of CFS, members of SFUO executives did begin
attending general meetings by the 1st Annual General Meeting in 198212.

After attending every meeting since 1982, the SFUO brought the question on
whether to join CFS to students in 198513. The referendum passed (“Yes”
74.2%, “No” 21.7%, Null 4.1%) and the SFUO became Local 41 of the CFS14. In
1990, students of the University of Ottawa voted again to continue their
membership with CFS (“Yes” 77.2%, “No” 22.8%)15.

As members, the SFUO took a very active role in the CFS, especially on issues
such as policy development, bilingualism16 and contributed to the leadership of
CFS. In 1995, the year the SFUO held a referendum to leave CFS, the last
president of the SFUO, Guy Caron, had been elected as National Chairperson of
CFS.

The mid 1990’s were turbulent times for the Canadian student movement: the
federal government was cutting social transfers for post-secondary education by
the billions of dollars and Llyod Axworthy was proposing radical reforms for post-
secondary education. At the time, CFS was accused by the SFUO to be both too
slow at reacting and too confrontational to these issues17.

During the 1994-1995 academic year, the SFUO attempted to hold a referendum
to leave the CFS without giving appropriate notice. The CFS sought an
injunction18 and the referendum date was changed in order for the proper time-
line to be followed. A referendum was then held (“Yes” 30%, “No” 70%)19 and
students of the University of Ottawa withdrew their membership in CFS.

12
SFUO Executive, Chantal Payant, attended : ‘First Annual Meeting, Canadian Federation of
Students, Charlottetown, May 25-30, 1982: Minutes’
13
Grand Council minutes, University of Ottawa archives boite # NB-910
14
Référendums depuis 1977, 1977-87, University of Ottawa archives boite # NB-9996
15
Student Assembly minutes, March 22, 1990, University of Ottawa archives
16
For some of the first binding resolutions on bilingualism within CFS, put forward by SFUO see:
‘15th Semi-AGM, Canadian Federation of Students, November 01-06, 1988: Minutes, 88GM182
and 88GM184’
17
See : La Rotonde, mardi 1er mars, 1994, page 3
18
It is important to note that many rumors abound about the CFS “suing” the SFUO. In fact, an
injunction (not a lawsuit) was sought because the SFUO executives simply tried to hold a
illegitimate referendum without giving proper notice and breaking other by-laws. See: Ontario
Court (General Division), Court File No. 88989/95
19
BOA minutes 95-03-05, available in the office of SFUO President

SAO - CFS Report 9

Since withdrawing from CFS, the SFUO has sent several delegations as
observers to CFS general meetings20. They have also participated in some CFS
campaigns, such as: “No means No”, “Access 200021” and the National Day of
Action Against Tuition Fees on February 7, 2007. However, the SFUO has never
contributed to the creation and development of these campaigns; nor has the
SFUO contributed financially, but has willingly used the campaign materials
without charge.

In 2002, a group of students attempted to turn a SFUO Town Hall meeting into a
General Meeting and vote to join CFS as prospective members. Because the
SFUO did not have provisions for General Meetings in its constitution, the matter
was referred to the SFUO Board of Administration (BOA)22. Since then the
SFUO BOA has discussed the matter on three separate times, but has never
brought it to referendum for all students.

20
The SFUO sent a representative to a general meeting the year after leaving CFS (1996) and
has participated in a large amount of CFS general meetings thereafter. For the report from this
delegation: ‘Box CFS-2’ available in the office of SFUO President.
21
“Access 2000” was a national campaign focusing on accessibly to education which took place
1999-2001.
22
See : ‘BOA subcommittee on National and Provincial Representation : Final Report’ (2003)
‘Box CFS-2’ available in the office of SFUO President

SAO - CFS Report 10

Benefits and Services of Membership

Monetary

All the services of the CFS are meant to help ease the cost of being an individual
student and reduce costs for students’ unions’ initiatives. The clearest example
for individual students is the $17 International Student Identity Card (ISIC) which
is included in full membership; however, the money not having to be spent on
tuition fees during the tuition fee freeze fought for by CFS is also an example of
monetary gain from membership.

Non-monetary

The non-monetary value is the importance of students working together on

different issues. This type of value is created through effective coordination of
campaigns across the country or province. Moreover, it is a powerful statement
to claim to be part of the largest union of students in the country.

For the SFUO, having access to the research and lobbying efforts of the CFS
could be a valuable asset. Much of this research is available without
membership; however, the SFUO currently does not have any role in its direction
and context.

Representation/ Research

The CFS employs full time researchers to study and prepare reports for both
members and for government presentations. The stated lobbying strategy of the
CFS is to work at both levels of government (federal and provincial). Both CFS
and CFS-O engage in presentations to various government committees (See
Annex 1).

Another tactic is direct lobbying to MPs and MPPs. Ian Boyko, Government
Relations coordinator for the CFS, in his presentation to the BOA Sub-Committee
explained that the CFS and CFS-O also hold “Lobby Weeks”. During these
weeks, CFS and CFS-O set up a series of meetings with MPs, MPPs and other
government officials and invite executives of member students’ unions to present
their views on different issues. This clearly demonstrates the importance of
lobbying within the CFS.

Along with research and lobbying comes what the CFS calls ‘Mobilization.’ These
are efforts to demonstrate wide-spread support for the issues decided upon at
national and provincial meetings. In past years this has often been seen in the
form of petitions and protests (e.g. Feb 7th Day of Action Against Tuition Fees).

The CFS can claim some victories in terms of their lobbying efforts. The 2000
Ontario tuition fee freeze and the National Grants program are two things that the

SAO - CFS Report 11

CFS had been advocating for, and won. To what extent the CFS can take full
credit is not tangible; however, these positions were adopted by the government
after meetings with CFS representatives and after CFS campaigns were
undertaken.
The CFS does not lobby on behalf on individual student unions, as it considers it
self an organization for the individual members. It lobbies on behalf of all of its
members.

Campaigns

Campaigns of the CFS are voted on at the national and provincial meetings in
which each student union gets a vote. As is the case for the Services, no student
union is required to participate in a campaign of the CFS.

Current official campaigns of the CFS that include full outreach, lobbying and
mobilization efforts are the following:

• Tuition Fees and Funding

• Income-Contingent Loan Repayment
• Canada Student Loan Program
• Millennium Scholarship Foundation
• Access for Part-Time Students
• Research and Graduate Funding
• Registered Education Savings Plans
• Student Loan Bankruptcy
• Private Universities and Colleges
• International Trade in Services
• Aboriginal Education
• Date Rape: No Means No
• Copyright Reform
• Students for Sustainability
• No Racism, Islamphobia, Anti-Semitism23

All information regarding these campaigns is available online to all students in

both official languages. As well all campaign material is available in both
languages.

Provincial components of CFS also take on campaigns that are provincially

focused (e.g. pressuring the Ontario government to enshrine students’ unions
rights in law – something in existence in BC and Québec24).

23
Available at: http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/html/english/campaigns/background.php , last accessed
July 15, 2008.
24
See: ‘Campaigns: Student’s Right to Organize’, available at
http://www.cfsontario.ca/english/campaigns.php?id=10 , last accessed July 15, 2008.

SAO - CFS Report 12

The CFS also will decide at general meetings to lend its support of opposition to
issues or causes by way of a statement letter or by joining coalitions such as:
The Sierra Youth Coalition, National Anti-Poverty Organization, and the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives25.

Services

One clear benefit of the CFS is its services. The simple economic power of
buying with more than 500,000 people is clear. All services are optional and can
be understood to be in one of two categories: benefiting individual students and
benefiting member students’ unions.

Listed below are the services provided to CFS membership. It is important to

note that both prospective members and full members are offered all services
except for the ISIC card which is reserved for Full Members.

Cell Phones
The CFS has a deal with studentphones.ca. It offers student what they claim are
discounted rates. The committee did not have the resources to compare these
rates with other providers to see whether studephones.ca in fact does provide
discounted prices.

Discount Cards
All members (prospective and full) get the Student Saver Discount card. It
contains small discounts (5-30%) at local stores and restaurants.
Full members are given the ISIC card. This card is used for discounts on
traveling (e.g. 35 % off Via Rail tickets26) and other businesses that have student
rates, but require proof (such as museums and hotels). It is also used as ID
overseas for travel. It is a $17 card for non members to purchase.

Homes4students.ca
Owned by the CFS. It is an online listing of rentals.

National Student Health Network

“The CFS-Services created the National Student Health Network. Established in
1985, the Federation's health, dental and vision plan assists students'
associations with the design, negotiation, promotion, and administration of
campus health and dental plans.”27

Students' Union Directory

25
See: ‘Coalition Partners’, available at http://www.cfs-
fcee.ca/html/english/links/coalition/advocacy_organizations.php , last accessed July 15, 2008.
26
See: ‘Student discounts with Via Rail’, available at
http://www.viarail.ca/students/en_etud_econ.html , last accessed July 15, 2008
27
CFS website, Services.

SAO - CFS Report 13

Each Student Union is given a copy of this handbook that lists all the contacts for
students’ unions, student services and media at every campus across the
country.

Student Work Abroad Program (SWAP)

SWAP is a CFS not-for profit program that facilitates student to work abroad.
The full cost of trips and registration is not covered by membership in the CFS;
rather, members are given a 15% discount on their SWAP registration fees.

Handbook & Day-planner

Each Student Union can enter in to the CFS bulk order of handbook/day-
planners. This allows for a much cheaper rate than one student union could
secure. Also, the handbooks/day-planners are printed with vegetable ink on
post-consumer recycled paper.

Website Service
The CFS website service allows for student unions to have professional help in
developing their websites. It is designed for student unions without much
technical experience. With it’s marketing department, this service would not
greatly benefit the SFUO.

Travel CUTS
Owned and operated by the CFS, Travel CUTS is a travel service specializing in
cheap airfares and budget travel. Other than the ISIC card there are no direct
discounts on traveling for being a member.

Orientation Bulk Order

Much like the handbook, 101 week materials can be bulk ordered with the CFS to
achieve what are often higher ethical standards and lower prices. One downside
is this limits the choices on certain products, as opposed to going to a private
company and ordering exactly what the SFUO would like28. However it does cut
down the price and allow the SFUO to purchase much of its material fair trade.

One example is the Water Bottles bought for the SFUO last year:
They cost the SFUO: $4.50 each (polycarbonate, made in China)
With the bulk order they would cost: $1.75 (BPA-free polyethylene, union made)

All information regarding these services is available online and in both

languages29. Another service called myUnlimited.ca can be found at that link.

28
However, the SFUO can always order specific products from any private company.
29
See: http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/html/english/programmes/index.php , last accessed July 15, 2008.

SAO - CFS Report 14

Membership

The most important point to keep in mind regarding membership in the CFS is
the fact that the membership of CFS is entirely individual. This means that the
student union referendum will directly “federate” all members of the student union
into the CFS. This also means that the student would then be a part of three
entities, in the case of the SFUO: three federations, at that point. Those
federations would be the following:
• SFUO
• CFS-O
• CFS (CFS-S)

Principally, this represents a fully federated system for individual students.

Therefore, they would be members of all three federations. A similar comparison
to this would be our levels of government:
• Municipal
• Provincial
• Federal

At National and General Meetings of the CFS and CFS-O the individual members
of CFS and CFS-O are represented by their elected officials of the respective
student population. This is usually a small delegation of the student union
comprised of the President and other elected representatives.

There are two types of memberships in the CFS. These are prospective and full
membership. The differences between the two memberships are essentially cost
and services. These two types of membership are detailed below for in further
explanation.

Prospective Membership30

Prospective Membership is a temporary membership within the CFS and

provides all the same services and rights of full membership with exception to the
International Student Identity Card (ISIC). The prospective membership ends
with a formal evaluation of its relationship through a referendum process
(outlined in full membership) on joining CFS as full members.

The process to become a prospective member is as follows:

• Vote of student association board or executive to apply for prospective
membership
• Letter is sent from the student association to the CFS and CFS-O
requesting prospective membership

30
Canadian Federation of Students: http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/downloads/Bylaws.pdf, accessed on
July 14, 2008

SAO - CFS Report 15

 • The student association is given full access to CFS campaigns and
services
• The member local associations of the CFS vote on application for
prospective membership at the national and provincial general meetings of
the CFS and CFS-O respectively.
• After acceptance of prospective membership full voting rights are
extended to the student association

Fee

The cost to the student association to join as prospective members is at most five
percent of a full membership fee. The fee can be reduced or waived by a vote of
the members of the CFS or by the National Executive. For the SFUO this would
mean at most a projected expense of $20,071 (08-09)31 from the general budget.

Full Membership32

Rights of full members:

• Access to all services, campaigns, materials, resources including the ISIC
card for full-time students
• Voting position on the Ontario Executive Committee for the SFUO
• Full voting rights at national and provincial meetings of SFUO

Referendum Process to Federate

After ratification of prospective membership in the CFS, the student association

is committing to hold a referendum on the question of whether or not to become
full members in the CFS. Normally within a year’s time of the commencement of
prospective membership, the student association holds that referendum. The
authority to join the CFS rests only with the individual members of the student
association.

The vote to join the CFS is administered by the Referendum Oversight

Committee, which is made up of two members appointed by the CFS and two
members appointed by the student association. It is the committee’s mandate to:
• Establish and post the notice of referendum
• Establish the rules of the referendum
• To set-out the campaign period and rules
• Ensure that the rules are being adhered to
• Administer the logistics of the vote (e.g. establish polling stations, voting
hours)
• Establish any other rules and regulations for the vote

31
UO Enrollment numbers 2007-2008 x CFS rates x 5 percent
32
Canadian Federation of Students: http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/downloads/Bylaws.pdf, accessed on
July 14, 2008

SAO - CFS Report 16

The committee composition ensures that both the student association and the
other members of the CFS are involved in conducting the vote. The referendum
vote will not take place until such time as all committee members agree to the
entirety of the referendum.
The following are particular referendum prerequisites outlined in the CFS
constitution33 in order to federate:
• Only individual members and representatives of the prospective member
association, representatives of the CFS and representatives of the CFS
member local associations shall be permitted to participate in the
campaign.
• Campaign materials shall include all materials developed specifically for
the referendum campaign.
• Materials produced by CFS that promote campaigns and services of the
CFS shall not be considered as campaign materials unless they include
specific content about the referendum.
• The CFS website shall not be considered a campaign material unless it
includes specific content about the referendum.
• The CFS's annual report, financial statements, research and submissions
to government shall not be considered a campaign material.
• Campaign materials shall not be misleading, potentially libelous or false.

The result of the vote is then sent to the CFS. If the vote is successful then
following will take place:
• Full prospective membership rights and services continue
• The membership fee will not begin to be collected until the next available
collection period
• The member local associations of the CFS vote on application for full
membership at the national and provincial general meetings of the CFS
and CFS-O respectively.

Fee

The membership fees for the CFS are the following (based on 08-09):
Full-time students
CFS National Fee: $3.90 per semester per full-time student
CFS Ontario Fee: $3.25 per semester per full-time student

Part-time students
CFS National Fee: $1.95 per semester per part-time student
CFS Ontario Fee: $1.63 per semester per part-time student

33
Canadian Federation of Students: http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/downloads/Bylaws.pdf, accessed on
July 14, 2008

SAO - CFS Report 17

Withdrawal Process34

The authority to leave the CFS rests only with the individual members of the
student association. The only manner to initiate a referendum to de-federate is
through petition,35 which requires ten percent of student association’s signatures.

The following are stipulations for withdrawal.

GENERAL
• A vote on de-federating may not be held between:
April 15 and September 15; and
December 15 and January 15.
• Notice of a vote on de-federating must be delivered CFS not less than six
months prior to the vote
• Notice of the vote must include the exact dates and times of voting
• In the case of a withdrawal referendum incorporating a mail-out
component, the exact date of the referendum shall be the date the ballots
are mailed to the individual members

CAMPAIGNING
• Only individual members and representatives of the member local
association, representatives of the CFS and representatives of other CFS
member local associations shall be permitted to participate in the
campaign

QUORUM
• Quorum for the vote shall be that of the member local association’s or five
percent (5%) of the individual members of the local association, whichever
is higher

The vote to leave the CFS is administered by the Referendum Oversight

Committee, which is made up of two members appointed by the CFS and two
members appointed by the student association. It is the committee’s mandate to:
• Establish and post the notice of referendum
• Establish the rules of the referendum
• To set-out the campaign period and rules
• Ensure that the rules are being adhered to
• Administer the logistics of the vote (e.g. establish polling stations, voting
hours)
• Establish any other rules and regulations for the vote
• Adjudicate all appeals

34
Canadian Federation of Students: http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/downloads/Bylaws.pdf, accessed on
July 14, 2008
35
Canadian Federation of Students: http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/downloads/Bylaws.pdf, accessed on
July 14, 2008

SAO - CFS Report 18

The committee composition ensures that both the student association and the
other members of the CFS are involved in conducting the vote.

OUSTANDING FEES
• The member local association must remit all outstanding CFS fees not
less than six weeks prior to the date of referendum

PERIODS BETWEEN VOTES

• In order for a de-federation referendum to take place, a member local
association may not have held a de-federation referendum within the
previous twenty-four months

SAO - CFS Report 19

Recent Federation Referendums

The following is information about the experiences of various student unions that
recently joined the CFS – the referendum process, and the experiences thus far.

1) University of Toronto (UTSU) – (Mississauga, Scarborough & St. George

campuses)36

During a tri-campus referendum, on Nov 5-7, 2002, 5400 full time and 800 part
time students voted. This was the largest voter turnout in recent history, and
twice the number who voted in the last student administrative council election.

At the time, it was expected that student fees would have to increase to about
$12.54/year/person and $6.28/year/person for full-time and part-time students
respectively.

The results: St. George 55 per cent in favour, U of T at Mississauga 77 per cent
and U of T at Scarborough 87.8 per cent. Overall, 63.9 per cent of ballots cast
were in favour of membership in CFS

2) University of Toronto Mississauga Student Union (UTMSU)37

UTMSU joined CFS as a separate local in May 2008 (ratified in June 2008).
University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) students were represented by CFS
prior to this date through the University of Toronto’s UTSU Local 98.

Over the past few years, the UTM campus dynamics had changed significantly
and UTM had become extremely progressive. Due to UTM's different campus
dynamics, it became important for UTM students to have their own local for a
stronger voice and a stronger representation. Since UTM students were
represented by Local 98 in the past, it required UTMSU to provide justification as
to why UTM students need their own local at CFS.

According to Wasah(current President), there was no debate on campus in this

regards as UTM students were already represented through Local 98 and were
happy to have a stronger representation through their own local instead (since
they felt they were not represented to their highest potential through Local 98 due
to different campus dynamics).

UTMSU's experience with CFS has always been positive, as CFS provides a
platform for a stronger student voice and representation. The CFS

36
University of Toronto Magazine article written Nov 14, 2002 (by Steven de Sousa)

37 Wasah Malik, current President of University of Toronto Mississauga Student Union (UTMSU).

SAO - CFS Report 20

representatives are always willing to help as well. It is too early to comment on
the difference in the experience in a span of one month, but due to UTM having
its own local, CFS representatives visited UTM to give a presentation on the
services and campaigns they will be providing the UTM students.

3) Ryerson University

“Two years ago the Continuing Education Students Association of Ryerson

(CESAR) joined the CFS. The board of CESAR voted unanimously to join the
CFS for two reasons. The first was to ensure that we had a voice in Canada's
largest student organization and the second was to gain access to the many
cost-saving services that the CFS provides both to our members and our
students’ association. The process of joining the CFS was easy and
[accommodating]. The Rules Committee helped to establish open communication
between CESAR and the CFS to establish and implement fair rules but also to
facilitate all the logistical aspects of the vote. Another positive aspect of the
referendum process was having individuals from other Toronto-area unions
helping during the referendum. These individuals had first hand knowledge and
experience with the current campaigns and services (reading about it and
hearing directly from other students). CESAR is the largest part-time student
association in the country with 16,000 members, so we were definitely pleased to
have the extra help to get the word out to all of our members. The end result was
a 94 percent Yes mandate and a voter turnout 300 times larger than in any
referendum previously conducted by CESAR.

Since joining the CFS, CESAR has been better [equipped] to represent our
members, both on and off campus. Services such as the day planner/handbook
and the website service have saved us thousands of dollars. The structures of
the Federation allow us to participate fully in all aspects of the organization at
both the national and provincial level and overall our experience since joining has
been nothing but positive.” 38

4) Dawson College

“The Dawson Student Union became prospective members of the CFS at the
May national general meeting in 2007. We had already taken part in the CFS day
of action in February and had been working with CFS member schools for most
of that school year.

Once we were prospective members, we started using the CFS services like the
orientation materials, the handbook, and some of the 07-08 exec went to the
Skills weekend. By the time the new year started, we were already giving out
CFS material and even decided to sign up with Studentphones.

38
Letter from Gail Olivia, CESAR

SAO - CFS Report 21

The referendum process was pretty easy to get started. I was a member of the
Oversight Committee and worked with the representatives of the CFS to make
sure that the DSU procedures were respected by the rules of the referendum.
We scheduled the dates and then worked together to make sure that everything
ran smoothly. We had an official “Yes” and a “No” campaign and the oversight
committee did a really good job of making sure that both sides were treated fairly.

We also had a lot of help getting the word out to Dawson students from CFS
representatives and some students from other students' unions in Montreal and
even Ontario who came to share their opinion about working within the
Federation. To be honest, the whole process went pretty well. Most of the
students actually thought that we were already members of the CFS and were
excited to be able to keep the services and campaigns going and especially to be
able to get the ISIC for free.

We ended up get a solid voter turn-out, with 77% voting in favour. It was great to
know that after all that, the Dawson Student Union now has a voice in deciding
the services and campaigns that we'll take on in the future.”39

5) University of Manitoba Students’ Union

“Thanks for the email, and I hope I can be of assistance to you (Mitch forwarded
me your email). Although I wasn't around when UMSU first joined the Federation,
our Executive Director Cathy was the Vice-President at the time, and thus has
intimate knowledge of the events that led up to the referendum and our union
joining.

Like your union, the UMSU Council set up a committee to review external
representation and advocacy in the 2004-2005 academic year. To that year, the
students' union had been pretty inactive on many issues, and a review was
undertaken to determine if we had the right kind of representation, and to
investigate membership in the CFS. We spent a lot of time throughout the
summer of 2004 investigating what the CFS does (both in Manitoba and across
Canada), including formal and informal discussions with the other students'
unions in Manitoba.

In November of that year (2004), we decided to join as a prospective member to

further investigate the organization. We attended both the following November
2004 and May 2005 national general meetings, sending different people to the
meetings to fully get a feel for what the organization was about. We then
processed to hold a referendum in October of 2005 on full membership in the
CFS. Because our experience had been positive and the reports back from

39
Information Source: letter from Charles Brenchley, Dawson Student Union

SAO - CFS Report 22

delegates who attended meetings were positive, the Council at the time voted to
endorse the yes side of the referendum in support of membership.

Despite what you read on some agenda driven blogs, the referendum was
actually incident free and had one of the highest turnouts of any election or
referendum UMSU had seen in recent history. Quorum for the referendum was
set at 5%, and the turnout ended up being about 18%, with over 86% of students
voting in favour of joining. There was both a yes and no side registered, and
quite a healthy debate took place on campus.

But I think what was the most positive was that the Council had participated in
the meetings, utilized the services and participated in some CFS events prior to
holding the referendum so that people could fully understand what the
organization was and thus the debate could be about actual issues rather than
rumours and misinformation.

In terms of our experience thus far, I have only been the President since May of
this year, however, I sat on UMSU Council last year. It is important for us at
UMSU to be working with other student unions within the CFS given the
government in Manitoba is constantly trying to divide students' unions based on
size and play us against each other. So, it's been extremely important to be
(almost) totally united in the province.

Also, we have had a number of excellent experiences in with the services the
CFS offers, one example being with our health plan. We switched over to the
National Student Health Network after joining, and our students' union ended up
saving hundreds of thousands of dollars. We have also saved money on the
handbooks. So, I guess you would say that our experience has been extremely
positive! We have definitely seen a shift in the province in terms of student
influence since UMSU (the largest union in the province) joined the CFS. UMSU
was actually named one of the top ten lobby organizations in the province (with
the backing of the national student organization) by the largest newspaper, the
Winnipeg Free Press.

[…]

Let me know what else I can provide you with. It would be great to have students
at the U of Ottawa join. We truly believe that being united under one banner is
the best way to organize, and we have certainly seen that in Manitoba. It's just a
shame to see that there are lots of students' unions out there that who don't see
the benefit of working together, no matter how hard it can sometimes be to agree
on things.”40

40
Jonny Sopotiuk, President, University of Manitoba Students' Union (UMSU)

SAO - CFS Report 23

Other new CFS locals

The following is list of some of the other unions the committee tried to contact
because they have recently joined the CFS. Unfortunately, the following could
not be contacted:

• The Grad Students’ Union of Memorial University of Newfoundland

• Laurentian Association of Mature and Part-Time Undergraduate Students
• University of Windsor Organization of Part-Time Students
• Assocation Etudiante de la Cite Collegiale
• Laurentian University of Graduate Students’ Association
• University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union
• University of New Brunswick Graduate Students’ Association

SAO - CFS Report 24

Recent De-federation Referendums

University of Victoria Graduate Students’ Society (UV-GSA)

Contact: Nicole O’Byne, Chair, UV-GSA

Issues that led to the referendum being called: 41 The Committee referred to
CanLii42 (free legal research database), de-federation and federation policies and
an issue published in the March 27, 2008 edition of the University of Guelph
student newspaper, The Ontarion.43

Recent results involving CFS on CanLii:

April 14, 2008 – CFS vs. National Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada – follow-up on research misconduct complaint filed
against the University of Toronto on behalf of a student 44
August 27, 2007 – CFS & University of Saskatchewan Student Union vs.
Robin Mowat – A majority of students voted to join CFS in a referendum in
2005; Mowat applied to have the results of this referendum nulled; CFS
appealed that decision 45
April 18, 2007 – CFS-BC vs. Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority –
CFS and BC Teachers’ Federation BCTF) filed a complaint against
Translink because the buses allow commercial advertising but not
political advertising 46

Main points from The Ontarion:

Most of the points treated by The Ontarion are disagreements between Kwantlen
Students Association (KSA) and CFS-BC where the KSA argues that CFS-BC’s
members involved in the de-federation process were too slow and stalling the
process. The Ontarion summarizes the complaints of these student unions as “a
pre-occupation with control of local student government, poor financial oversight
and the use of litigation to keep members and the press from expressing
criticism” however they did not provide any specific examples or supporting
documentation.

41
From email correspondence
42
CanLII is a non-profit organization managed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.
CanLII's goal is to make Canadian law accessible for free on the Internet (canlii.org).
43
Beneteau, G. CFS: The Fractured Federation Lawsuit, mystery campaigners and leaked
documents mar referendums. The Ontarion. 2008/03/27.
44
Canadian Federation of Students and National Sciences and Engineering Research Council.
Federal Court. 2008/04/14.
45
Canadian Federation of Students and Robin Mowat and University of Saskatchewan Student
Union. The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan. 2007/08/27
46
Canadian Federation of Students v. Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority. Court of
Appeal for British Columbia. 2007/04/18.

SAO - CFS Report 25

CFS-BC feedback on University of Victoria Graduate Students' Society47:
Unlike in Ontario, there are very few institutions in BC that have significant
numbers of graduate students. Outside the University of Victoria, UBC, and SFU,
grad students number in the dozens at those institutions that offer graduate
studies. The leadership over the last couple years at the UVic Grad Students'
Society has been pre-occupied with internal challenges (such as pub losses) and
pet projects, and has not shown much interest in working together with other
members on core issues, such as tuition fees, grants, etc.

In the past, when this has been the case, the undergraduate University of
Victoria Students Society (Local 44, CFS) has been able to fill the void and
ensure that graduate members have been engaged in the campaigns work and
able to access services. However, the undergraduate society has also been pre-
occupied with challenges, such as a fairly bitter and drawn out battle over military
recruitment in the Student Union Building and other issues. As a result, graduate
members have not been very engaged with the broader student movement for
some time, and ultimately this disassociation was too profound to repair during a
short referendum campaign, while also engaged in a campaign at SFU.

Date of Referendum: March 18 to 20, 2008

Question: Are you in favour of maintaining your membership in the CFS?
Results: 254 NO; 192 Yes (Discontinued membership)

Simon Fraser Student Society

Issues that led to the referendum being called: 48 According to a current board
representative, most of the motives for the anti-CFS organizers are personal and
stem from having their motions rejected by other CFS member student societies
at general meetings. It was noted that the key organizers pushing to disaffiliate
from other CFS members didn’t agree with the broader goals of the CFS, like
reducing tuition fees, while the anti-CFS people that did claim to support those
goals argued that it wasn’t necessary to unite with other student societies to
accomplish lower fees etc.
Since the motives of the organizers were not shared by the majority of SFSS
members, the anti-CFS campaign is accused of providing misinformation about
CFS and CFS membership. For example, the campaign claimed they could re-
direct CFS membership fees to other areas, such as parties and clubs funding.

CFS-BC Feedback on Simon Fraser (SFU):49

SFU remains a member institution, though the Simon Fraser Student Society
(SFSS) held a vote in March 2008 under a process unilaterally developed by the
SFSS Executive, and has now taken the CFS and CFS–BC to court to try and
have that vote recognized as a legitimate vote to discontinue membership.

47
Email correspondence with Shamus Reid, BC-CFS Chairperson
48
Natalie Bocking: External Relations Officer, Simon Fraser Student Society
49
Email correspondence with Shamus Reid, BC-CFS Chairperson

SAO - CFS Report 26

The campaign that has been waged by the leadership of the Simon Fraser
Student Society to convince members to disaffiliate is characterized by a very
anti-union ideology and a belief amongst many involved in the campaign that
BC's high tuition fees are not a problem. Much of the campaign rhetoric has
revolved around SFU being different from the college members, who make up a
large portion of the membership of CFS–BC, though without providing any insight
into the perceived differences.

Paradoxically, another complaint was the CFS-BC being Ontario-centric, and

weighted toward large universities in Ontario. That being said, much of the
campaign in the fall focused on trying to paint the CFS–BC (and to a much lesser
extent, the national CFS) as corrupt through misrepresenting certain events.
Some of this is clarified when addressing the case at Kwantlen (see below).

Kwantlen Student Association (contacted but never replied)

Since the KSA did not reply the following claims used by the KSA campaign to
discontinue membership were obtained from their website, including but not
limited to “The CFS is ineffective at lobbying for students” and “The CFS is not
accountable to Kwantlen students”. 50

CFS-BC feedback on Kwantlen:

The roots of the referendum at Kwantlen are very similar ideologically to Simon
Fraser, and in fact the leadership of the two student associations collaborated on
campaign strategy and tactics. The Kwantlen Student Association also
unilaterally established a parallel process to conduct a vote, but did so early
enough that the Federation was able to have the courts intervene and re-
establish a process consistent with the Federation's bylaws on membership
referenda.
Like SFU, the KSA Board used campaign posters throughout the fall semester to
insinuate that the Federation and its leadership are corrupt, without providing any
evidence. By the time of the actual referendum campaign in the spring, the
campaign devolved to trying to convince members that each Kwantlen student
was wasting $7.50 each semester by being a member.

Date of Referendum: April 18 – 20, 2008

Results: 56% YES; 44% NO (Continued CFS membership)
Percentage of student population that voted: 13.3%

50
KSA Referendum April 18 – 20. [Website] Defederation campaigners. Address: www.kusa.ca

SAO - CFS Report 27

Recent Issues

This Committee has also studied some specific cases that were brought to its
attention by students in response to a general email asking for input in this
committee’s work and through its research.
Douglas (College) Students Union
One issue that was raised was the involvement of the CFS with one of the
member student unions, Douglas (College) Students Union. The Douglas
Students’ Union (DSU) is a member of the CFS’ National Student Health Network
(NSHN) student health and dental insurance buying group.
During the winter 2005 semester, the DSU did not transfer the premium it had
collected for health and dental insurance to the NSHN’s broker. By the time the
problem was brought to the attention of the NSHN in late May 2005, the
insurance provider had paid out more than $300,000 in claims for which it had
not received premium.
One of the ways the NSHN consistently has the lowest rates is because it has
negotiated much lower risk premiums on health and dental plans. However,
when a member of the NSHN does not fulfill its responsibilities the ability to
maintain these reduced rates are threatened. In such a situation the NSHN buys
the debt, and carries it, opposed the provider. The NSHN buys the debt, not for
a percentage of its value, but for goodwill, on behalf of the 30 plus other
members of the buying group51. As such, the CFS agreed to the request by the
NSHN broker to “buy” the debt from it/the provider until the funds could be
recovered from DSU. Contrary to several media reports, at no time was any
money loaned, transferred, or promised to DSU. At the time of this report, the
entirety of the outstanding premium has been paid by DSU.
This Committee has established that the CFS acted in the best interest of its
members by acting swiftly to protect the integrity of the health plan consortium.
Moreover, the situation was distorted by several individuals with the intent of
discrediting CFS.
Referendum Issues
Several University of Ottawa students raised concerns over the rules for
referendums to federate or de-federate. The most common concerns
surrounded perceived difficulties in holding referendums to de-federate or “unfair”
referendums to federate.
In analyzing the concerns of referendums to de-federate, it was found that by far

51
This information has been taken from SFUO executives attending CFS Organizational and
Services Development Committee as observers during CFS AGMs (2007 and 2008).

SAO - CFS Report 28

the biggest problems arose when students’ unions executives or boards
unilaterally decided to pull out of CFS or set referendum time-lines52. Basically,
the most serious issues happened when students’ unions refused to follow the
rules/by-laws created by the CFS membership at general meetings. Also,
arguments based on the idea that CFS resources over-power student’s ability to
analyze information critically during referendums are proven false when looking
at the recent referendum of the University of Victoria Students Society (UV-GSS).
The UV-GSS is a very small students’ union, with limited resources. Yet, when
the UV-GSS followed the referendum rules and allowed a legitimate debate and
referendum, its members decided to discontinue membership with the CFS – a
decision respected by the CFS.
The concerns raised about referendums to federate surrounded the provision
that members of the CFS have the ability to engage in the referendum on
campus and what materials were allowed during the referendum. On the topic of
CFS members having the ability to be on campus during the referendum, the
committee found this to be a fair practice – how can students be informed if they
are not able to talk to, ask questions to or debate with members of the
organization they must decided whether they would like to join or not? Also,
since the CFS holds a stake in the outcome of the referendum, it is only logical
they participate in it. Moreover, practically speaking, since all graduate students
at the University of Ottawa are members of CFS, it would actually be impossible
not to have members of CFS on campus during any referendum taking place on
campus.
On the topic of what materials are allowed during any referendum: both “yes” and
“no” committees are given the same spending limits, set by the referendum
committee. The concerns were that during referendums materials for CFS
services and campaigns are often already on campus or given out during the
referendum.
Although the committee did acknowledge the merits of these concerns, it was
noted that since students on a campus holding a referendum would have to be
members of CFS (prospective or full), they would have to have access to
information about the services and campaigns they were part of. Also, it would
be logistically impossible to somehow remove all materials produced by CFS
(such a “Reduce Tuition Fees” buttons or “No means No” drink coasters) from
campus during a referendum. Importantly, current CFS referendum by-laws are
very detailed for material that directly attempts to sway students, one way or the
other, on the specific question of CFS membership must be deemed referendum
material and counted as referendum costs.
The committee also noted a discrepancy in the quorum rules for referendums to
federate (no set quorum) and referendums to de-federate (five percent quorum).
However, it was also noted that the referendum committee would be free to set

52
The SFUO attempted to do this in 1994. When the SFUO followed the rules, students were
able to make their own decision to leave – a decision respected by the CFS.

SAO - CFS Report 29

quorum and that SFUO referendums and general elections rarely drop below ten
percent. Also, a motion had been submitted to CFS at the last general meeting
to fix this discrepancy, by creating the same quorum for referendums, at the next
general meeting in December 2008.
Other
Other situations were raised where CFS was involved in legal proceedings with
other student organizations. Considering the size of the organization and its
multiple contractual agreements, the occurrences of such legal procedures are
not particularly frequent. Moreover, in many cases, the actions taken by the CFS
were aimed at remedying a breach of a contractual obligation from the other
party. It appears to this committee that, not unlike at the SFUO, ensuring the
respect of the contractual obligations is standard practice for non-profit
organizations.

SAO - CFS Report 30

Annex 1

Recent Reports By CFS*

Statement on Copyright Reform (Apr. 2008)
Submission to House of Commons Committee on Science and Technology (Apr. 2008)
Public Risk: Private Gain (Jan. 2008)
Strategy for Change: Money does matter (Oct. 2007)
Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (Aug. 2007)
Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (2006)
Submission to the House of Commons Legislative Committee on Bill C-2 (the Federal
Accountability Act) (2006)
Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (2005)
Income Contingent Loans: Inequality and Injustice on the Installment Plan (May 2005)
Testimony to the Standing Committee on Human Resources (Bill C-5) (2004)
Lower Tuition Fees for Lower Student Debt: Submission to Ontario Review of
Postsecondary Education (Oct. 2004)
Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (2004)
Joint Submission to the Prime Minister on Education (Dec 2003)
Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (2003)
Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (2002)
Increasing the Burden: Loan Repayment Schemes to Privatize Higher Education Costs
(Jan. 2002)
Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (Aug. 2001)
Submission to the Advisory Committee for Online Learning (Sep. 2000)
Analysis of federal mini-budget (Oct. 2000)
Brief on General Agreement on Trade in Services (Oct. 2000)
*All available in French and English: http://www.cfs-
fcee.ca/html/english/research/index.php

SAO - CFS Report 31