March 9, 2010 News

‘We don’t owe them anything’

Student union finds proof against CFS’s $1 million claim

by Justin Giovanetti

The Concordia Student Union is fighting back after receiving a legal memorandum on Feb. 10 from the Canadian Federation of Students—a national student lobby group—that claimed the CSU owes them over $1 million in unpaid membership fees.

In the memorandum sent to the CSU, the CFS claimed students in the John Molson School of Business and the Engineering and Computer Science faculties had not paid dues since joining in 1998.

Not so, said CSU VP External Auob Muntasar.

“We haven’t been able to get a solid answer out of them about why we owe them a million dollars,” continued Muntasar, noting the JMSB and ENCS faculties only joined the CFS in 2007.
“We have proof that we don’t owe them anything,” echoed CSU President Amine Dabchy.
In a fax the CSU sent to the lobby group in 1998, only 595 students from the arts and science and fine arts faculties voted in favour of joining the CFS—492 opposed. Business and engineering students did not vote to join.

The CSU also produced a report from 2005 written by the CFS’s national executive representative in Quebec at the time, Brent Farrington, who confirmed that only arts and science, and fine arts students were members. Farrington was deputy chairperson of the CFS in 2009.

“I don’t know how this adds up to a million dollars,” Muntasar said, perplexed. “I don’t know why [former CSU president] Keyana [Kashfi] signed [a legal memorandum acknowledging the unpaid fees]. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Intimidation,” whispered CSU VP Services and Loyola Prince Ralph Osei, who alluded to an upcoming referendum question for students to leave the CFS.

Since The Link’s Feb. 16 interview with the CFS, the organization still has not stated explicitly what the outstanding money is for and, furthermore, why it was acknowledged near the end of Kashfi’s 2008-09 mandate.

“The matter is pretty simple as far as the federation is concerned: the Concordia Student Union has the responsibility to remit fees from all dues-paying members of the union,” said CFS Treasurer Dave Molenhuis. “That’s all I can offer you for comment.”

According to Muntasar, the CSU had yet to have a productive discussion with the national lobby group.

“They don’t care, they don’t care at all. There isn’t anything that we can tell them that is going to get them to change their opinion of the matter. Right now they think they have the upper hand because they think that they can legally bind us.

“The hardest thing to explain to people is that they are not logical. It’s nonsense after nonsense.”

On March 3, the CSU Council voted unanimously to approve a Feb. 25 presidential decree that will place a CFS referendum question on the ballots of the student union’s upcoming election. Before the council meeting, the CFS sent a letter by bailiff to Council Chair Sohrab Mossaded, expressing its opposition to the decree.

“Had we gone to court and gotten referendum dates, they would have sued us for how we ran the referendum,” Muntasar said, adding that it would be better to present the CFS and a judge with a fait accompli after the election.

According to the CFS, presidential decrees are not covered by its referendum rules.
“I’m not familiar with decrees or edicts,” said Molenhuis. “They aren’t covered at all in the bylaws of the federation. The bylaws are clear on referendum process; there isn’t a section on presidential decrees.”

According to Osei and Muntasar, the student union is preparing to bring their case to court.
“I’m going to the gym to get ready,” Osei joked.

Molenhuis could not comment on whether the CFS was ready to bring the matter to court.