Post-Secondary Students being used as political pawns by their Student Unions

If you attend a school that has a student union that is affiliated with the Canadian Federation of Students ( CFS ), you already, by default, whether you like it or not, are being forced into a political affiliation with groups whose actions are often questionable and possibly even dangerous, and your student union is putting you into that danger. CFS affiliated student unions are usually highly radical and far too often, have a significant anarchist component to them. This anarchist affiliation may be by extension through student groups and / or events run by the student union with invited groups being participants.


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The inside story of the demise of CKLN Radio

An anonymous blogger calling him or herself "Your CKLN Insider" created a blog called The Real CKLN Exposed, which presents a story of waste, corruption and malfeasance with a rogues' gallery of characters. The blog purports to give the details of what led to the Canadian Radio Television Commission revoking the license for Ryerson University's student radio station.

I don't know how accurate it is, but it makes for very interesting reading.


UPDATE: An anonymous commenter suggested this link to a story from the Ryerson U paper The Eyeopener, which provides some more info on the fall of CKLN.  Thank you and reader tips are always welcome!

Incompetence and lack of accountability characterizes University of Toronto's Student Union

From The Varsity:

At times during the meeting, UTSU President Danielle Sandhu and chair of the meeting Ashkon Hashemi appeared to grow irritated, repeatedly calling for order and ruling many speakers out of order in mid-speech.“It was disappointing to see at a time where students need to be united that a few members disingenuously disrupted the meeting,” said Sandhu in a statement issued to The Varsity after the meeting. “It was clear that these members were unfortunately aiming to create controversy at the meeting.”

Hashemi didn’t permit any questions on specifics of the union’s finances. Member inquiries concerning a $200,000 increase in staffing costs and an $80,000 expenditure on office inventory were not allowed. Also unaddressed was the union’s operating deficit from last year.

Asked for the specific cost of union-led advocacy during the provincial election, Sandhu declined to provide any specific figures and referred the student to another committee. Pressed for an answer outside the meeting, Sandhu responded that “if members have questions about the finances of the Union, they can come to the Union office at any time and learn more.”

By-law amendments
A handful of union by-law amendments also proved to be a source of contention. In an apparent mix-up, union executives and the public appeared to be working from two different versions of the by-laws. The version online were referred to repeatedly by members in attendance but seemed to differ from the hard-copy version used by the executive.

U of T's situation reiterates the case against mandatory student unions

Saying 'no" to mandatory student unions

A new report challenges the deprivation of human rights in Canada whereby student are forced to join unions against their will:

Article 20 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association,” and “no one may be compelled to belong to an association.” 

Similarly, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms recognizes that every Canadian has the freedom to associate, which also implies the freedom not to associate.    

While there are millions of people in the world who are denied this freedom, it may come as a surprise to many that among them remain post-secondary students in Canada. That is right: By law, post-secondary students must join a student union. In all 10 provinces, membership in a student union is mandatory and paying fees is compulsory.

When it is understood from the perspective of violating a fundamental human right, the case for voluntary student unionism (VSU) amounts to pointing out that provincial governments have a responsibility to restore what is guaranteed to all, namely, the right to associate.

An interview with Jonathan Wensveen, the author of the report, is at The Prince Arthur Herald

Simon Fraser University strikes a blow against fanatical, undemocratic national student union

What do university students get for being in the Canadian Federation of Students?

From the sounds of things, not much, other than the opportunity to have part of their tuition fees used to subsidize a few radical causes and the activists who want to use other people's money to push their own political agenda (and enjoy a few expense-paid trips and make a few buck on the side at the same time).

The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) uses money they take away from students, which amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars per university, to support radical, divisive issues along with the Public Interest Research Groups at Universities, which has a fetish for some of history's most prolific mass-murderers.  These issues or affiliations include the anti-Semitic Israeli Apartheid Week, anti-Semitism directed at Jewish student organizations, a violent activist group called The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), and the radical leadership of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, to name but a few.

The radical student organizations benefit from knowing that most students are too busy going through university  trying to get an education (and get laid) to scrutinize their tuition fees line by line.

But at a few universities, the student bodies have caught on and are fighting back and have held referendum to de-certify the CFS. Concordia,  Guelph and the University of Victoria have all voted, overwhelmingly, against continuing their membership in CFS.In each case, the CFS has not respected the democratic outcome and have tried to fight these decisions in court. They have lost, but those court battles to impose themselves where they aren't wanted are being paid for with student fees they take from other universities.

Simon Fraser University is the latest institute to have fought back against the CFS. They voted to get out of the CFS and are facing an ongoing lawsuit by the national student union to bleed money from the school. In fighting the democratic decision of Simon Fraser's student body, the CFS has demonstrated that their only concern is self-interest, which is of little surprise, given where their support is based. In Simon Fraser's case, they've also had the foresight to evict their Public Interest Research Group from the premises.

Students across the country need to become more aware of how their student funds are being used. Like any other union, the CFS, whose leadership works in self-serving partnerships with public service unions, isn't fighting for students as much as the right of a select few to choose how to blow some student money.

(and make dumb videos)