MONTREAL (CUP) — In response to petitions from students at 13 schools across Canada to leave the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), the national lobby group’s Quebec branch (CFS-Q) has released a reform package aimed at keeping schools in the wider federation.

The lengthy reform package, composed of three sections, contains a series of motions to be presented at the CFS’ upcoming semi-annual general meeting in November. The package calls for the overhaul of the organization’s financial disclosure system, the sale of the CFS’ service component and the disclosure of the federation’s past and present legal proceedings.

“If the CFS is serious about reform, this package should be enough to convince a lot of unions that leaving isn’t a necessary step,” said CFS-Q treasurer Andrew Haig, who helped draft the reform package.

“But we got how serious [the national CFS] were when two days after announcing the reforms, we got a letter declaring us persona non grata.”

[Subhead] Legal challenge

The initial announcement of a forthcoming reform package, made by CFS-Q president Gregory Johannson, was met by a letter from the CFS’ lawyer.

In the letter, the CFS’ legal counsel declared that the Quebec branch was no longer a member of the CFS due to being “engaged in activities which have caused and continue to cause damages to the CFS.” The letter also stated that CFS-Q could no longer collect student fees and would need to stop using the organization’s name.

“They say they are threatening us because we are harming the federation, but how can you say the rights of the members as spelled out in the constitution are in conflict with the interests of the federation?” asked Johannson.

[Subhead] Mandated to help

The reform package was written after the CFS-Q’s Board of Directors adopted a unanimous resolution on Sept. 11 mandating the Quebec branch’s executive to “aid member locals and/or their individual members in evaluating their continued membership” in the CFS.

Haig confirmed that he, along with the other executives, helped collect signatures for defederation referenda from Concordia and McGill students.

“We’ve been mandated by our members to help individual students exercise their democratic right. At the same time, the CFS-Q along with student unions across the country will be putting forward a package of reforms for adoption at the CFS [semi-annual general meeting] that we hope will push the organization in a positive direction.”

Haig claimed that five to 10 CFS members have already pledged to support the reforms.

[Subhead] The positive direction

One of the sections of the reform package deals with current legal and membership problems with student governments at Simon Fraser University, the University of Prince Edward Island, Dalhousie University, Holland College, Cape Breton University, Mount Saint Vincent University and the University of Saskatchewan.

The reforms call for the end of those student governments’ memberships or prospective memberships.

“The long list of reforms includes selling the CFS-Services branch, which we view as a serious conflict of interests when trying to get corporatized interests out of the education system while also trying to make a profit from selling merchandise to students,” said Haig.

CFS-Services is responsible for printing many day-planners at member schools and for on-campus businesses like Student Phones and Travel CUTS.

The CFS was reached for comment by press time of the original publication in Concordia University’s the Link student newspaper.