The Panther Prints 6°

March 18, 1997

By CINDY VENEMA

On Sunday evening the Student Union voted to cancel the CFS referendum.

The Canadian Federa- tion of Students (CFS) is cur- rently the Student Union’s national lobbying organization for UPEI.

Last year the Student Union held a referendum to leave CFS. Their reason for this action was because they felt that the organization did not represent the needs of UPEI students, which would be better represented on a pro- vincial level. The referendum was over-turned, however, be- cause of voting irregularities.

Federation flip-flop UPEI SU cancels CFS referendum

Now the Student Union has changed their opinion about CFS.

“They are the best al- ternative for the present mo- ment”, stated Chris Grey, SU President, who saw no reason to get out of CFS.

Chantal Theriault, Sci- ence Rep., voiced her concern about the accountability of the Council for waiting until the last minute to discontinue the referendum, “It seems like a big mess-up, and I think we should bring it up at the upcoming general meeting, because we should be held accountable”.

CFS representatives have already been campaign-

ing for a week to inform stu- dents why they should stay with the organization. Yet, no one was hosting a “no” cam- paign, or a campaign explain- ing other alternatives to CFS. Last year the anti-CFS cam- paign was run by a committee made up of Student Councilors and Executive members.

In a previous meeting, council voted to take a neutral stance regarding the referen- dum, with the intention to run an anti-CFS information cam- paign separate from the Stu- dent Union, much like last year. No such campaign was ad- ministered.

At the meeting one council member asked what

has changed since the last ref- erendum to make council want to stay with CFS. This ques- tion was answered by Amber Allin, CFS National Executive Member and former SU Presi- dent, “CFS has changed, it has evolved”.

It was Allin’s executive that was responsible for the original referendum and anti- CFS campaign.

Allin also explained to council that CFS is working on a provincial component for the university, but “you can’t geta provincial component when you are fighting a referendum”.

Another reason UPEI council is suddenly pro-CFS is because they have a broader

knowledge base about the or- ganization now that a National Executive member, Amber Allin, is sitting on council.

“If the UPEI Student Union is unhappy with CFS, the only way they are going to change things is by bringing motions forward, but they have not brought any motions to CFS”, criticized Allin about Council. oe

"I can't believe the Stu- dent Union is canceling the referendum. Wasn't the point of the referendum for students to let council know if they wanted to stay with CFS or not", were the remarks of one student upon hearing of the councils decision.