Newfoundland students may ditch CFS

Three student unions in Newfoundland are going to their constituents in an effort to pull their schools out of Canada's largest student group.

The student unions at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook and the Marine Institute, a technical college in St. John's, issued writs of referendum this fall, and as a result, on Feb. 3 to 4, students at these schools will vote on whether or not they want to remain members of the Canadian Federation of Students.

Student leaders say they want their schools to leave the federation because of non-existent lobbying efforts by the CFS and a general sense of isolation in the provincial component.

"CFS was too quiet during the federal election [last June], and it was nowhere to be found when the recent bankruptcy legislation was being introduced," Glenn Beck, president of Memorial's student union, said.

"This is a vital part of what the CFS does for students in this province, which is represent them in Ottawa. If they're not responding to things like the bankruptcy legislation, then it's very evident they're not fulfilling their lobbying responsibilities," he said.

But Brad Lavigne, national chair of the Canadian Federation of Students, rebukes Beck's criticism of the federation's lobbying efforts. He says the CFS has had a consistent presence in the national media and adds that the organization is currently enjoying the highest profile in its history.

According to the CFS lobby roster, the federation has had, since late June, 15 meetings with federal government officials and members of parliament and it also made several presentations to standing committees of the House of Commons. The federation also says that it does a lot of lobbying work provincially.

Key among the Newfoundland schools is Memorial University. MUN is the largest university east of Quebec, with almost 13,000 undergraduate students, and the only big school in Atlantic Canada which is currently a member of the CFS. Memorial provides the bulk of the funding for the federation's provincial component and is the unofficial leader in provincial student politics.

Memorial's student union tried to pull the school out of the CFS in 1995, but 70 per cent of MUN students voted to stay in the federation. The idea of leaving the federation gained new impetus, however, after MUN hosted the federation's national conference last May.

Many Newfoundland delegates complained that the federation lacked focus, worrying too much about social justice issues rather than education. There were also concerns that the federation concentrated on what was different about students from across the country, rather than what united them.

"There's a lot of division," Dale Kirby, chair of the federation's Newfoundland component, said. "[The CFS] message has been somewhat watered down by identity politics. Some people [in this province] are hesitant to go to [CFS conferences] because there is such a confrontational attitude between the individual interest groups that are facilitated by the CFS general meeting structure."

Kirby adds that some of the province's schools feel that, because of structural matters, the Newfoundland component doesn't have as much say in the federation as some other provinces do.

But Lavigne says there is room for the Newfoundland schools to work within the federation. He adds that a lot of problems in the province stem from a lack of knowledge about the organization's structure and the fact that the federation hasn't adjusted to the rapid increase in Newfoundland membership, which jumped to eight from three schools in 1995.

"The organization will adapt," Lavigne said. "Not only does the organization adapt to meet the growth needs of its membership, it also changes with the times.

"If demands are articulated and there is a willingness to ensure a place for everybody in this organization then I think we can put away any discussion of structure and deal with issues of student debt and student unemployment," he added.

Lavigne says he doesn't consider the Newfoundland referenda a problem and is confident students will vote to stay with the CFS, adding that the

organization is strong in the province and Atlantic Canada.

The CFS currently represents 14 of the 40 post-secondary institutions in Atlantic Canada but has seen a steady decline in membership since the 1980s while discontent has grown. In 1989, Dalhousie University and St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia pulled out, as did the University of New Brunswick and a bloc of smaller New Brunswick schools. The student council at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax is currently facing pressure from students to hold a pull-out referendum, while MUN students will decide that matter for the second time in three years.

At the same time, a number of schools in the region have either joined the federation or re-affirmed their membership in it in the past couple of years.

Student politics in Atlantic Canada has adopted a decidedly regional and provincial flavour of late. That shift has resulted in the establishment of Atlantica, a twice-yearly informal meeting of schools in the region where educational issues are discussed.

Though the informal regional structure is particularly popular in Newfoundland, Lavigne says the national presence offered by the CFS is still a better option.

"You cannot lobby the federal government on a regional or provincial level," he said. "At the end of the day the decision makers, the politicians, will only listen to you when you are strong, articulate and have something to say."

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