kwantlen student association

Media coverage

The KSA's campaign to leave the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) has been a hot topic of discussion on Macleans.ca and in student publications all across Canada. And with students at SFU and Cape Breton University and graduate students at UVic all voting in favor of leaving the CFS in March, even more students and journalists will be watching when we finally get our chance to vote in April.

Here you can find the KSA's media releases, our newsletters, news coverage of the KSA referendum, editorials and opinion pieces, videos, and a growing list of news stories about the CFS. We will be updating these links weekly as we count down to April 8, 9 and 10, so check back frequently as we get closer to this very important referendum vote!

Media releases

2008.04.15
MEDIA RELEASE // Kwantlen Students Vote to Remain Members of the Canadian Federation of Students
[download PDF – html]

Surrey, BC — Kwantlen University College students have voted in favour of remaining members of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), Canada's largest national student organisation. Following several weeks of vigorous campaigning by supporters of both sides, 56% of Kwantlen students voted in favour of maintaining membership in the CFS, while 44% of students voted in favour of leaving the CFS. In total, 1665 students cast ballots in the referendum, which was held on April 18 – 20; this represents 13.3% of the total number of students enrolled at the University College.

"It is time for us to move forward," said Nathan Griffiths, Chairperson of the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA). "Students have voted to remain members of the Canadian Federation of Students, and the KSA is fully committed to respecting this democratic decision. We will ensure that Kwantlen students make the most from their membership in the CFS.

"At the same time, we are conscious of the fact that a strong minority of Kwantlen students voted to leave the CFS. I believe that this is a mandate for the KSA to work within the CFS to make the CFS a more democratic, transparent, and accountable organisation. In addition, the KSA will continue to work with non-Federation member student associations, particularly our closest neighbours, the UCFV Student Union Society and the Simon Fraser Student Society."

The Canadian Federation of Students was formed in 1981, and the Kwantlen Student Association was a founding member of the CFS. The CFS currently represents over 500,000 students from over 80 student associations across Canada.

2008.03.18
MEDIA RELEASE // Canadian Federation of Students Fails in Supreme Court
// CFS sought to delay vote until the Fall and to restrict free speech on campus
[download PDF – CFS v. KSA court documents]

Surrey, BC — On March 14, 2008 a BC Supreme Court hearing was held on the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) lawsuit against the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA), seeking to postpone the KSA’s referendum to leave the CFS until the fall of 2008. The CFS also sought a ruling banning posters, leaflets and similar communications on campus prior to the official campaign period.

The Supreme Court Judge openly criticised the CFS representatives on the oversight committee. As an example, two of the CFS’s proposals for the ballot question were:

1. Are you in favour of the Kwantlen student body maintaining formal relations with student bodies at the following institutions: [followed by a two-page list of every school who’s student union is a member of the CFS] through a democratic framework called the Canadian Federation of Students?

2. Are you in favour of stopping the further fragmentation of Canada’s student movement through a democratic framework called the Canadian Federation of Students? [more]

2008.03.11
MEDIA RELEASE // Canadian Federation of Students files BC Supreme Court Petition to halt Student Referendum
[download PDF – CFS v. KSA court documents]

Surrey, BC — Lawyers for the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) have applied to the Supreme Court of British Columbia for an injunction to stop the referendum of the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) to leave the CFS/CFS-BC, scheduled to take place March 18 – 20, 2008. This marks the latest strategy of the Federation to prevent the loss of the $150,000 that Kwantlen students remit to the national and provincial organization every year.

“It’s clear to me that the Canadian Federation of Students is simply afraid of facing the students it purports to represent,” said KSA Chairperson Laura Anderson. A petition signed by well over 2,000 Kwantlen students was submitted to the CFS in September 2007, calling for a referendum to leave the CFS. Despite having six months to prepare for the referendum, the CFS is now insisting that the referendum be postponed to the fall of 2008. [more]

2008.02.11
MEDIA RELEASE // Canadian Federation of Students Lawyers Demand “Public Apology” from Kwantlen Student Association
[download PDF – CFS legal demand letter – statement from CFS National Chairperson]

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. [more]

2008.02.04
MEDIA RELEASE // Canadian Federation of Students Secret War Plans Revealed
[download PDF – backgrounder – CFS ‘Referendum Campaign Plan’]

Surrey, BC — The Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) has obtained a copy of a secret document detailing the plans of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) to wage a massive campaign in the upcoming referenda of the KSA, the Simon Fraser Student Society, and the University of Victoria Graduate Students’ Society to leave the national organisation.

The ‘war plans’ reveal the CFS intends to fly Federation-loyal students’ union executives and staff from over 30 students’ unions across Canada to campaign on behalf of the CFS. It is not clear that the students at these schools approve of their student fees being used to fund a campaign to shore up CFS support at other post-secondary institutions. [more]

2007.11.16
MEDIA RELEASE // Canadian Federation of Students Attempts to Withhold the Truth
[download PDF – Douglas resolution]

Surrey, BC — The Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) has condemned the decision of the National Executive of the Canadian Federation of Students to excise a resolution submitted by the KSA from the agenda of the upcoming National General Meeting of the national student organisation. The resolution detailed the history of the Federation's questionable involvement in the affairs of the Douglas Students' Union over the past three years, and criticized the failure of the Federation's leadership to disclose these activities to its membership. The KSA considers this decision to be only the latest of a series of attempts by the Federation's leadership to systematically cover up their irresponsible and secretive actions in this case, and to avoid accountability to the Federation's membership.

The resolution noted that the national and British Columbia branches of the organisation lent over $600,000 to the Douglas Students' Union in 2005, despite the fact that the Union had not produced financial statements for four years. A forensic audit commissioned by the Union found evidence that the Union was suffering “gross financial mismanagement,” and that substantial responsibility for this mismanagement laid with the Union's then Finance and Services Coordinator, Joey Hansen. The resolution also noted that these loans were not properly authorized (either by the Union or by the Federation), were not secured, and were not disclosed to the membership in a timely or accurate fashion. [more]

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