Federation of Canadian Secondary Students

History

Prior to October 2015, the FCSS-FESC was formerly known as the Organization of Ontario Secondary Students (OOSS) and carried out the work of advocating for students in the province of Ontario. The organization formally amended its registered name with the Government of Canada and on October 26, 2016 and opened new chapters in the provinces of British Columbia, Quebec, and Alberta to help further student voice and awareness of student issues in new regions across Canada.

The FCSS-FESC and Bill 115

From the outset of the labour dispute between educators and their union, the ministry of education, and boards of education the FCSS-FESC affirmed a fully non-partisan, non-political stance and stated that it would take no sides and give no favour to any party of the dispute, while also hoping to "affect the negotiations between the union and the government in some way or form." While many students orchestrated walkouts at schools across the province, the FCSS-FESC discouraged its members and other students from participating in these protest actions, and instead proposed a vision for a "unified student voice" for the province in labour negotiations.

As a result of the looming employment action and risk of strikes by teachers and educational staff caused by Bill 115, the Organization of Ontario Secondary Students launched a two-fold protest plan that would see secondary students engage in a group petition action that would be sent to the provincial ministry of education and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), the union representing secondary teachers. The second portion of the protest action would have students sign placards asserting the importance of extra-curricular activities which would then be sent to then Minister of Education Laurel Broten and President of the OSSTF, Ken Coran.

As the dispute between the provincial Ministry of Education, secondary school teachers (via their union), and public school board continued into 2013, the Organization of Ontario Secondary Students launched a province-wide initiative called "Sport Your Extra-Curricular Day" which encouraged secondary students from across Ontario to wear their official school spirit attire to support the reinstatement of extra-curricular activities in Ontario schools. The event was organized completely by secondary students from Abbey Park High School but later spread to over 40 schools in the province. Throughout the protests, the FCSS-FESC asserted that its goal was "not to wreak havoc on the union or the government, but to send a distinctive message that advocates the student voice and publicizes the devastating impact this conflict has had on Ontario students." Dennis Xu, then President of the FCSS-FESC also spoke about the importance of extra-curricular activities on the Metro Morning show by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to help raise awareness of the ongoing labour dispute and to publicize the non-disruptive protest action organized by the organization.

In early February 2013, Katie Fettes of the FCSS-FESC engaged in a two-hour meeting with the President of the OSSTF, Ken Coran. The meeting was held in an attempt to reconcile the reasons for why teachers were withholding extra-curricular activities. Fettes further emphasized that "the school culture is missing," before continuing to describe the hostility felt by students against teachers.

As in-school extra-curricular activities were planned to be reintroduced in March 2013, the FCSS-FESC launched Operation Save Our Schools to draw attention to the arbitration model to prevent future labour disputes from affecting the learning environment for students and to help educate the public on the importance of extra-curricular activities in schools as a vital part of secondary education. The operation involved a consultation with students across the province and the drafting of an open letter to the provincial government to outline the importance of extra-curricular activities and the need for an arbitration model.

Advocacy After Bill 115

After the labour dispute in 2012 as a result of Bill 115, the FCSS-FESC later responded to further potential strike action by secondary school educators in 2015 which could disrupt the delivery of marks at year-end, field trips, sports events, and proms for students. The organization sent written correspondence to the Durham District School Board which was one of the seven municipal boards of education at risk of teacher walkouts, as well as the OSSTF. As before, the FCSS-FESC proposed non-disruptive protest action and advocated that the goal was "to get the student voice heard" by writing letters to members of provincial parliament, the minister of education, and other stakeholders in the education system.

In early April, the FCSS-FESC hosted a youth outreach workshop entitled the "Opportunities Fair" which hoped to connect passionate secondary students in search of volunteer experience with worthy and youth-focused nonprofit organizations such as AYJ Global, YMCA, Evergreen, YES Canada, Operation Dentistry School, SHAD, HOSA, YBH, Project 5K, Wirkn, and Plan Canada.

On August 20, 2015, the Organization of Ontario Secondary Students was invited to participate on the CBC Ontario Today show to discuss the changing nature of education and what students believe should be different about school with specific regard to labour unrest, Ontario's new sexual education curriculum, and protests over dress codes.