Follow-up to yesterday's wrap-up

11/26/09 3:24 PM

Based on some of the comments on the last blog post, I think a couple things need clarification. The McGill PGSS delegation does include Jose Barrios (PGSS researcher and a University of Victoria student, he was behind the CFS referendum campaign there), Dean Tester (Carleton student and right-wing blogger) and Erin Hale (McGill undergrad and reporter for the McGill Daily). However this wasn’t the issue that nearly prevented McGill from being let in yesterday. Instead it was the so-called “reform” package, and some of the provisions in there that would have affected CFS staffers. PGSS’ lawyer said the contract was illegal because it would have prevented members of a corporation from attending its AGM and the CFS seemed to agree, allowing them in after... 3 comments

CFS AGM: First day wrap up

11/26/09 2:34 AM

Delegates from the Concordia Student Union, McGill Post Graduate Students' Society and the Concordia Graduate Students’ Association were asked to sign an agreement when they arrived, that they would not defame CFS employees or delegates.   While all three unions refused to sign the agreement, the McGill grads were prevented from entering for several hours, only being allowed in when they threatened to take legal action. The agreement stated that proposals in the so-called “reform package,” submitted by the three unions, would violate the Federation’s collective agreement with its employees and its anti-harassment policy. It would have made delegates from those unions liable for costs or damages associated with “grievances or complaints” that... 4 comments

The background: how Jacob came to be a delegate at the CFS annual general meeting

11/25/09 9:44 PM

I’m currently at the Canadian Federation of Students annual general meeting. I’m not here “officially” as a reporter; instead I’m “embedded” with the Concordia Student Union delegation.   When the decision to go to the AGM as a CSU delegate was made in October it was not clear what kind of media access would be allowed. In fact there was reason to believe that there would be no access at all.   Since then, the CFS has given Canadian University Press Ottawa Bureau Chief, Emma Godmere media access. She is the only journalist to receive press accreditation to the conference. In order to get in she was forced to sign an agreement that prevents her from interviewing any delegates until the four-day... 6 comments

Communists and former CFS employees call on left to support Federation.

11/13/09 2:51 PM

Yesterday I received a press release from a group calling itself “Progressive Students 4 CFS” (they now also have a blog and a facebook group). The group is upset with the petition campaigns, currently ongoing or completed at over a dozen Canadian universities, that are calling for referendums on membership in the Canadian Federation of Students. The eventual goal of these campaigns, whether it's stated or not, is for those schools to leave the Federation. In their " open letter " the Progressive Students describe the campaigns as "an attack on students and youth.” Adding that, “at best, the defederation campaigns are an incredible waste of time and distraction; at worst they make all students, well beyond CFS members and including the... 1 comment

Maclean's gets the numbers wrong and dissecting Concordia's ancillary fees

11/9/09 10:58 AM

Maclean’s annual university rankings came out last week. As usual, they unleashed the standard debates about the validity of ranking universities and, undoubtedly, sold a lot of magazines.   But one thing about the rankings stood out. The magazine includes a chart of tuition rates and ancillary fees across the country. On the surface, this seems good, since tuition can vary dramatically from province to province and, in some cases, from institution to institution. But ancillary fees – the extra fees tacked on to pay for everything from copyright, to sports teams, to the Concordian - can vary even more and be difficult to find out before they appear on the bill.   Concordia’s ancillary fees are... 1 comment