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EESTI ELU reedel, 21. mail 2021 — Friday, May 21, 2021
Nr. 20
Tartu College’s 2020 recap at the Annual Meeting of Members Vincent Teetsov
English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publications Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca Digital: www.eestielu.ca
Russia: you’re either friend or foe With a few exceptions, coun tries with historic relations with Russia (good or bad), countries situated closer to Russia, are more likely to be regarded by Moscow as a foe than a friend. It’s self-evident why. Russian military is still occupying large sections of Georgia and Moldova, commanding aggres sive military operations in Eastern Ukraine. It’s not diffi cult to understand why Russia’s post-Soviet neighbours do not readily cozy up to Moscow. Thus in April it was reported that a list of countries to be declared unfriendly by Russia’s foreign ministry would consist of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech republic, Georgia, Ukraine, the U.K. and, of course, the U.S.A. Relations between Washing ton and Moscow have rapidly deteriorated since Joe Biden took office, especially after Biden, in an interview, did not disagree with the notion that Vladimir Putin was a killer. On May 14, the Kremlin issued a decree that designated the U.S.A. and the Czech Repubic as “unfriendly coun tries that have committed un friendly steps” against Russia. The Czech Republic was blamed for stating Russian agents were involved in the explosion of an ammunition depot in 2014. Observers note that Germany and France were not part of the original list compiled for eva luation by the Kremlin, despite their frequent criticism of Moscow. A Russian Duma member commented that Mos cow held them to be sufficiently removed from Washington’s policies and that they could be potential negotiators for Russia. Marko Mihkelson, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament offered a more nuanced obser vation of the situation: The list shows “which countries best understand the character of the Kremlin’s aggressive foreign policy. Germany and France should be pretty jealous”. Mihkelson also tweeted that inclusion on Russia’s list was a “quality mark for our foreign and security policy. France and Germany and other allies, it is time to join us”. (This writer recognizes
Mihkelson’s notion that being blacklisted by Moscow can be a badge of honour. In 2008, the ninetieth anniversary year of Estonia’s independence, Putin’s youth organization, Nashi, pro posed that Estonia’s president, prime minister, foreign minister, defence minister, other promi nent government officials and Laas Leivat be officially ostra cized. I was the only Estonian living abroad so designated. The Kremlin certainly knew how to boost my self-esteem.) The actual consequences of a country’s inclusion on a list of states the Russia declares un friendly is limited this time to Russian citizens being banned from working in local diplomatic missions of foreign countries. This restriction may seem trivial, but knowing that thousands of visas are processed by U.S. officials every year for Russians traveling there, the clerical assistance that locally hired Russians provide is crucial to avoid unwieldy bottlenecks. Polling the public for opinions regarding enemies of one’s country is not common place in the West. In Russia it’s conducted regularly by the Levada Centre, an organization whose credibility is trusted in the West. In a November 2020 poll, fully 70% of Russian re spondents said the U.S.A. was Russia’s enemy. Only 5% designated the Baltic states similarly. (One notes that a 2017 U.S.A. opinion poll found that only 22% of respondents deemed Russia to be an enemy.) While these results are not directly inter-related to the original unfriendly countries list – being known as unfriendly or as an enemy are loaded with differing emotional impacts – the wide discrepancy may how ever indicate how Russians in general view the Baltic states, this being in sharp contrast to the Kremlin’s more harsh evaluation. Sentiments of distrust and unease have for centuries been expressed about Soviet/Russian regimes in Finnish, Polish, Georgian, Ukrainian, Chechen, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and other languages. These peoples have seen how the Kremlin can recognize only two types of neighbours – those who are captive and those yet to be. LAAS LEIVAT
On the evening of Thursday May 13th, Tartu College held its Annual Meeting of Members (AMM) on Zoom. The 24 members present, who represent each korporatsioon and selts (Estonian academic fraternities, sororities, and societies) looked in retrospect on 2020, a year that was extremely challenging. The financial impact of COVID-19 has been major. The impact was lessened by the fact that Tartu College was full until April 2020, after which occu pancy rates decreased with university students mostly at tending online classes. Accord ing to Linda Karuks, Tartu College’s General Manager, 45% of the student residence was occupied last September and during the summer. Accordingly, TC’s total occu pancy income at the end of 2020 was $3.1 million. This was a decrease of $1.5 million from 2019. As shown in the presentation of the 2020 financial statements by Peeter Einola, Chair of TC’s Finance Committee, reduced occupancy income was the pri mary reason for TC’s recorded loss of $64 thousand for 2020. Due to the continued un certainties brought about by the pandemic, TC suspended its suite renovation program, but used the lower occupancy situation to undertake signifi cant cosmetic upgrading and maintenance of existing suites and the building, including the new, accessible washroom on the G floor. TC continued to support the Estonian Studies Centre and the Chair of Estonian Studies Foundation with reduced fund ing. In 2020, this was in excess of $260 thousand, contrasting with 2019, when it was around $430 thousand. TC was able to offset some of the loss in occupancy income through the government’s pan demic emergency support pro grams, which amounted to $636 thousand. Eesti Elu is in the process of redesigning its website, so that it may better serve Estonians in Canada as a central hub of news, information, culture, and educational resources. To this end, the newspaper was able to tap into government support of $50 thousand for local news publications, and if pandemic wage support were to also be considered, the newspaper essentially broke even in 2020. Significantly, as explained by Linda Karuks at the AMM, Tartu College is in an ongoing legal dispute regarding the property assessment classifica tion of its building. TC is trying to get more favourable treat ment from the Municipal Pro perty Assessment Corporation (MPAC). The outcome of this dispute will substantially affect
Photo: ajapaik.ee
the amount of realty taxes paid by Tartu College. However, despite the chal lenges of operating through the pandemic, the basis for TC’s continued operations remains strong. Tõnu Tõsine, who is Chair of the Audit Committee, reported that in the audit of TC’s financial statements by MNP LLP, Tartu College essentially had a clean audit, that no instances of short-com ings with Tartu’s overall finan cial manage ment nor conduct were found. MNP LLP has con ducted TC’s financial statement audits since 2015, and the AMM voted to continue with the firm for 2021. As Tartu College is looking forward to more normal operating conditions, it expects that by September 2021, its student occupancy levels will increase to at least 65% as COVID-19 vaccination rates continue to rise and universities welcome students back for in-class learning. That percent age may increase, of course, if students register at the same rate as before pandemic times. Linda Karuks pointed out how it’s been a challenge to manage the student residence in the last 14 months. However, there has been only one known case of COVID-19 at TC since the pandemic started, among student residents and employees, which is significant as residents are allowed to self-isolate at TC as required by Government regulations. That single case was immediately contained by staff, who proactively follow health guidelines and clean and maintain the building. As students return in greater numbers, Karuks has voiced a desire to reflect TC’s educational purpose more actively. By adding an Educational Program section to the website, TC can promote VEMU’s wide range of programs and activities that are in English to the students and broader public, increasing awareness of VEMU in the community. TC plans to also promote and partner with the other educational programs that take place on the G-floor, including the Academy for Lifelong Learning, who have
generously donated $5,000 as a bursary for our TC student residents. Karuks and staff will work with the Student Resi dence Council to establish criteria for the bursary funds. Infrastructural improvements are ongoing. Jaan Meri, President of Tartu College, says, “we’re constantly investing in our infrastructure because it’s a 50 year old building.” Given the extra demands observed during the pandemic, TC is making improvements to things like internet connectivity. By switch ing its internet service provider to Beanfield Metroconnect, TC will be increasing internet speed from the current 1 Gbps to 5 Gbps, which will also benefit the G-floor. Reet Oolup of the Executive Committee expressed that this upgrade will also save money in the long-term. The meestetuba that is used by Korp! Fraternitas Estica, Korp! Sakala, Korp! Ugala, and Korp! Vironia is in the process of being renovated, with com pletion projected for the fall semester. This is hand-in-hand with the eventual relaxation of COVID protocols and the hope of resuming activities on the G floor of TC. While Tartu Management and staff looks after the day to day operations and development of TC, the Board of Directors of Tartu College provides over sight, approvals, and guidance. During the AMM, it was an nounced that Souit Olvet will be retiring from his position on the Board. Tartu College is grateful to Olvet for his long standing work and help on the Board, as a representative of ÜS Raimla, within Akadee miline Kodu, and for his work with the Bibliograafia Klubi. With this in mind, TC is looking for the next generation of individuals who will start to govern in these positions in the coming years. These new candi dates must be a member of a korporatsioon or selts, and possess a certain skill set to oversee the student residence and take on “oversight responsi bility of everything that goes on at Tartu College at a higher (Continued on page 10)
