Canadian Federation of Students Lawyers Demand “Public Apology” from Kwantlen Student Association
MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
Monday, February 11, 2008
Surrey, BC — Representatives of the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) were shocked and surprised upon learning that the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) has demanded a “public apology” from the KSA over the KSA’s recent news release.
A demand letter written by CFS lawyers, Gowlings, claims the KSA’s Feb. 4, 2008 news release incorrectly attributed the authorship of a secret “Referendum Campaign Plan” to the Canadian Federation of Students. The letter insists the document was authored by the Canadian Federation of Students – British Columbia (CFS-BC), not the Canadian Federation of Students. The “Referendum Campaign Plan” reveals that the Federation is planning to fly dozens of students’ union executives and staff from over 30 students’ unions to campaign to prevent three students’ unions from British Columbia from leaving the national and provincial student organization in upcoming referenda scheduled for March 18 – 20, 2008.
“The Federation can be rather confusing at times,” admitted KSA Chairperson Laura Anderson. “We figured that since so many of the people listed in this document are not even from British Columbia, and since the document lists CFS national staffer Lucy Watson as a key organiser of the Federation’s campaign, there must have been some sort of coordination with the national office.” Anderson noted that the national and provincial offices of the Federation have collaborated on a number of projects in the past, including the Student Handbook Project, the International Student Identity Card, and the issuance of over $600,000 in rather questionable loans to the Douglas Students’ Union in 2005.
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The Kwantlen University College Student Association represents over 17,000 students enrolled at the four Greater Vancouver campuses of Kwantlen University College.
The legal demand letter and a statement from CFS National Chairperson Amanda Aziz are attached. The original media release can be viewed at www.cfstruth.ca.
For more information, please contact:
Laura Anderson, Chairperson and Director of External Affairs
778-386-7684 (cell) or external@kusa.ca (email)
Titus Gregory, Policy Analyst
778-869-9717 (cell) or titus.gregory@kusa.ca (email)