Composition des délégations à la FCÉÉ

CFS Delegation Composition

Présentée au Conseil d’administration

March 2009

Presented to the Board of administration

March 2009

1
COMPOSITION OF DELEGATIONS

1. Introduction

2. Democratic structure of the CFS

3. Delegations at other campuses

4. Composition of delegations

5. Action plan and recommendations

2
1. Introduction
Since the recent addition of the SFUO to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), the council is
undertaking future operations regarding our participation. This document is a proposal for the composition
of delegations that will represent the University of Ottawa at the annual and semi-annual CFS and CFS-
Ontario General Assemblies.

In this document, you will find an outline of the democratic structure of the CFS, examples taken from
delegations from other student associations across the country, the proposed composition and lastly, the
action plan.

We believe that the proposed structure suggests an equal and suitable approach for the delegations.
Ideally, we would like to send as many delegates as possible, but financial and equity issues prevent us
from doing so. We look forward to applying this approach during our involvement at the CFS Assemblies.

2. Democratic Structure of the CFS

2.1. Plenary

Definition
The formal decision-making at the general meeting occurs in the plenary – an assembly of all general
meeting participants. The plenary is the highest democratic decision-making authority of the Canadian
Federation of students.

Opening Plenary
Most of the activity in the opening plenary are procedural. The opening plenary:
• accepts new full member local associations;
• accepts new prospective member local associations;
• adopts agendas for the meeting;
• confirms proxies;
• receives the report of the National Executive;
• strikes general meeting committees; and
• opens nominations for elections.

As well, motions that have been submitted in advance of the meeting will be considered. In most cases,
these motions are referred to one of the three sub-committees of the plenary or the Campaigns and
Government Relations Forum.

Closing Plenary
The closing plenary:

3
 • considers all plenary sub-committee reports and the report of the Campaigns and Government
Relations Forum and the motions contained within those reports;
• ratifies election results; and
• deals with any business tabled by the opening plenary.

2.2. Sub-committees

Budget Committee
- reviews and recommends budget adjustments for the current fiscal year to the closing plenary.

Campaigns and Government Relations Forum

• assess the recent and ongoing national campaigns of the Federation;
• reviews the campaigns and government relations plan and recommends to the closing plenary
possible changes to the plan for the current academic year;
• make general recommendations concerning the implementation of the campaigns and government
relations plan, including:
o government relations strategy;
o research and information compilation;
o communications strategy;
o media strategy;
o membership mobilization; and coalition work.

Organisational and Services Development Committee

• reviews the internal structures of the Federation to ensure that they facilitate the work of the
Federation;
• examines all proposals to amend the bylaws, operational policy and standing resolutions of the
Federation;
• reviews and makes recommendations to improve Federation services and may propose the
development of new services; and
• discusses strategies for strengthening and expanding membership in the Federation.

Policy Review and Development Committee

• refines and expands the Federation’s vision of an accessible, high quality, public post-secondary
education system;
• develops the Federation’s stance on current issues; and
• examines all proposals to amend the issues policy of the Federation.

2.3 Caucuses
Definition
A grouping of member local associations with common characteristics, such as:
• Caucus of College and Institute Associations
• Caucus of Large Institute Associations
• Caucus of Small University Associations
• National Aboriginal Caucus

4
 • National Graduate Caucus

2.4 CONSTITUENCY GROUPS

Definition
A constituency group is composed of individual delegates who share a common characteristic, as
recognized by the Federation.

Purpose
The primary purpose of constituency group meetings is to:
• select representatives to serve on the plenary sub-committees; and
• develop constituency group perspectives on matters being addressed by the general meeting.

Constituency Groups
Student Artists’ Constituency Group
Students of Colour Constituency Group
Students with Disabilities Constituency Group
Francophone Students’ Constituency Group
International Students’ Constituency Group
Part-time and Mature Students’ Constituency Group
Queer Students’ Constituency Group
Women’s Constituency Group

3. Delegations at other campuses

Local 76 Broadway Campus Students' Union

Executive chooses, and one member of the board is elected by the board

Local 103 University of Manitoba Students' Union

Executive, 2 spots open to their council, and a standing invitation to the aboriginal student association

Local 8 University of Winnipeg Students' Association

Aim at sending a delegation that is diverse, that has gender parity, an aboriginal rep

The delegates discuss the motions before the meetings. Their board recommends how they should vote on
motions.

Local 44 University of Victoria Students' Society

1 native student spot, 1 staff member, 1 for the CFS rep, 3 spots for students at large or council members

Local 15 Thompson Rivers University Students' Union

5
Executive decides, open to council members

Local 9 University of Regina Students' Union

Executive decides

Local 98 University of Toronto Students' Union

Executive decides, could be anyone

Local 4 Selkirk College Students' Union

Used to post motions outside their office

Local 24 Ryerson Students' Union

Executive decides, bring involved students

4. Composition of delegations
We propose the following composition of delegations at the CFS AGM:

• Minimum of three executive members, at least the provincial executive member

• Minimum of two constituency group representatives
• One SFUO employee
• One member elected by the board of administration

4.1 Minimum of three executive members

The SFUO representative at the provincial executive is an executive member of the SFUO; by constitution,
it is the vice-president of university affairs (but this may vary). It is the person who regularly follows the CFS’
activities as much as possible and is responsible for relations between our campus and the CFS. We
believe that this is someone who should be present at the AGMs. Two other executive members can also
help the other delegation members in knowing the reality on campus.

4.2 Minimum of two constituency group representatives

Even though a representational structure of the constituency groups is not yet official on our campus (see
Action plan), we believe it is important to provide a representation of these constituency groups that allow
for discussion and action for various communities. As a complement to the representation of other
delegation members, these representatives can bring issues encountered by their community on our
campus to the CFS table.

4.3 One SFUO employee

As indicated in the last section, there are many student unions who include staff members in their
delegations. Given the high turnover within student unions, just as with the SFUO, sending an employee

6
helps the incoming executive to understand recent developments, current issues and the global context of
the CFS.

4.4 One member elected by the board of administration

This election will give any member of the SFUO the chance to participate at the CFS General Assemblies.
As mentioned in the Action plan, guidelines will have to be established in order to open this position and
promote it to the student population. Candidates will be given the opportunity to present a short speech at
the next BOA meeting preceding the registration deadline for the General Assembly. Elections will take
place at this same meeting. It should be noted that it is an election by the general assembly, and this
represents a total of four elections per year (two for CFS and two for CFS-Ontario).

4.5 Exceptional cases

The executive committee is responsible for the selection of delegations. In a case where one of the
delegation members cannot attend the AGM or one of the spots becomes vacant, the SFUO executive
committee is responsible for deciding whether the spot should remain vacant, or if need be, who should fill
the position. The executive also reserves the ultimate right to decide which constituency groups will be
represented at each assembly, to ensure fairness among each community.

5. Action plan and recommendations

5.1 Schedule for the next assemblies
Because a member must be selected by process of election, the process must be announced in advance.
Furthermore, registration for the CFS assemblies are usually done two months in advance, so we need to
set up an election schedule to determine at which Board of Administration meetings we can hold elections
for each CFS and CFS-Ontario general assembly.

5.2 Publication of dates

Once the schedule is confirmed, the dates must be announced on the SFUO website, in the Board of
Administration section. The vice-president of communications will be responsible for developing promotions
to keep students up-to-date on the open positions. Among the possible tools: an email to students, the
publication of dates on the website and the announcement of the open position, emails to various clubs and
target student groups.

5.3 Constituency group representatives

Although some communities coinciding with the CFS constituency groups have resources within the SFUO,
they do not have official mechanisms of representation. For example, the following resources are at the
disposal of their respective communities, here on campus: Women’s Resource Centre, Centre for Students
with Disabilities, Bilingualism Centre, Pride Centre and International House.

We believe that this is a good opportunity to bring these various resources to another level in allowing them
to become representative bodies of their communities. Therefore, the selection of representatives per
community can be based on a more concrete and official process.

We think that it is a step that must be explored next year since it is an important modification in the structure
of the SFUO as well as the tasks of certain services.