Highbraü 7 - Virtual Realities, Virtual Sovereignty by Highbrau Magazine

Volume II, Issue III

WINTER 013

HIGHBRAÜ

Highbraü is a limited local publication. Please enjoy and share this copy. Producing it cost us $1.43. Your support is welcomed and appreciated.

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ART SCHOOL & SUPPLY STORE 84 King St.N. Waterloo (519) 725-8585 www.stateoftheartsupplies.com

The Harmonia Centre for Life & Growth (519) 743-3375 info@harmoniacentre.ca Spread Your Wings!

VIRTUAL REALITIES, VIRTUAL SOVEREIGNTY

HIGHBRAÜ MAGAZINE HbMAG.CA Volume II - Issue III - WINTER 013

Words

IMAGES 12-15 4-5 4-5 19 18 8-9 4-5

ZACK BRENNEMAN MARK CIESLUK GRAHAM ENGEL BRONWYN FREY KALI G VINCE STRICKLAND SAMUEL TISI

5 12, 14 16-17 3, 10-11

DOMINIC GOLOB AMANDA HORDYK WM BRIAN MACLEAN DAVID THOMPSON

Cover: Danielle McCrorey Back cover: ANDY Battler INSIDE BACK: DAVID THOMPSON

Mark Ciesluk

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Graham Engel

Poetry & Copy Editor: Ariel Kroon Website EDTIOR: Samuel tisi

HIGHBRAÜ RADIO HBRADIO.CA

ZED DR. MARK INTERSTELLAR SAM

DJ CONAN DJ SAVIOUR BLOODY MARY

THE OFFICIAL SIX MONTH PLAN* *Submission/Publication dates are projected, not confirmed. Please contact us for more information prior to contributing at

Statement of artistic ownership: All words and images submitted to Highbraü may be posted on the website and/or printed within the magazine and sold by us in order to cover the cost of producing the magazine and to fund other projects. All contributors are credited and thanked. You retain all other rights to your own work.

submissions@hbmag.ca

#8 - THE WATERSHED

#9 -DRUGS

Highbraü is situated upon the Grand River watershed, and if you’re reading this you probably are as well. Tell us about your personal, historical, political, environmental, spiritual, or other connections to the water and the land we all love and share.

For better or for worse, no society before ours has ever had our level of 24/7 access to the truly bewildering variety of natural and artificial uppers, downers, and in-betweeners that we make use of every single day. Highbraü wants to know about your relationship to coffee and cigarettes, marijuana and ritalin, bath salts and opium. Talk about the corporations that make your medication, or your latest brush with Johnny Law.

Spin us a tale of a river.

Submissions Due: February 15th

Submissions Due: April 21st

THE WATERSHED WRITING CONTEST Highbraü is ever-so-pleased to announce our first writing contest, on the topic of the happy little fellow pictured to the right of this sentence. To celebrate Highbraü #8, The Watershed, our fantastic staff artist David Thompson has produced the scene you see there. Our questions to you, gentle readers and writers, are simple: Who is this mysterious riverside man? Where has he come from, where is he going, why is he here, what is he smoking? All works should be original fiction (prose, poetry, epic saga - the format is up to you) and should be 750-2000 words in length. We appreciate even longer pieces and can feature them on our website (hbmag.ca), but regrefully warn that due to considerations of space we cannot guarantee that works longer than 2000 words will make it to print. The winner will receive the acolades of literally dozens of HB readers as well as a permanent place in HB history. Which is to say, there is no cash prize. Please send your contest entry to submissions@hbmag.ca no later than February 22, 2013. The editorial staff will select our favourite entry, to be printed within the pages of The Watershed.

WHITHER HIGHBRAÜ? BY MARK CIESLUK & GRAHAM ENGEL, EDITORS IN CHIEF

ello, and thank you for being a part of this strange experiment. Stay a while, and listen... Our names are Graham Engel and Mark Ciesluk, and we are the co-founders, along with Danielle McCrorey (whose immediately identifiable artistic style has graced every one of our covers), of Highbraü magazine. The magazine was established in the Autumn of 2010, during our tenure as graduate students of philosophy at Wilfrid Laurier University, with the original intention of being a quarterly print publication which could offer our community a variety of nuanced and provocative perspectives on life, the universe, and everything else. You are holding in your hands (or viewing on your screen) our seventh issue. Two years in to this project, we are proud to say that we can look back on many successful events and outgrowths of the original intention to self-publish our little magazine. We have had lots of fun running a series of awesome issue release parties at the Brick Brewery in Waterloo, giving us the opportunity to showcase local musical and comedic talents on stage for the enjoyment of our supporters. Thanks to the efforts of Samuel Tisi, whose writing is featured elsewhere in this issue, we have finally established a website, HBmag.ca, as an archive of our issues. Not only that, but in the Autumn of 2011 Highbraü expanded into both FM and Internet radio with the help of Zack Brenneman, Matt Pompeo, Antoinette De Cicco, DJ Conan and, again, Sam Tisi. HBradio.ca now features three weekly shows which are broadcast live on 100.3 SoundFM in Waterloo, a community radio station which has two members of the Highbraü Radio family on its board of directors.

As of late 2012, Highbraü has now expanded once more to include HBFilms with the launch of PotDocs, which is, to our knowledge, the first annual documentary film festival dedicated to marijuana legalization in all of Ontario, and perhaps all of Canada as well. Somewhat in response to this flurry of activity and expansion, the cover of Highbraü #5 (Amusement) featured a sinister octo-creature enveloping the world in its tentacles - what we felt was an apt symbol for our sardonic view of the reach of our expanding media empire. We explain all of this not just to inform, but also to begin to justify the lateness of this latest issue of our beloved magazine. What can we say? We’ve been busy doing the same thing we do every night - trying to take over the world. Volume II, Issue I

SPRING 012

HIGHBRAÜ

Highbraü is a limited local publication. Please enjoy and share this copy. Producing it cost us $1.43. Your support is welcomed and appreciated.

What can we say? We’ve been busy doing the same thing we do every night - trying to take over the world. HBmag.ca

ore on our delays in a moment, but first, to restate the purpose of our endeavours: Highbraü magazine’s mission is to offer a print platform, and its electronic counterpart, which can inspire people to create and contribute visual and written arts related to a quarterly theme, and then showcase this original work for the enrichment of our larger community. We will always advertise the upcoming two themes in the front of each new issue, and are open to receiving and publishing almost anything that springs from the minds of artists from any corner of the globe. Your creative contributions are always welcomed, and moreover, celebrated! As lovers of independent media ourselves, we are truly delighted to come across each and every new submission to our inbox. We publish in black and white because it is timelessly beautiful, authoritative, and dignified. It is also vastly cheaper this way. We distribute 400 copies in locations throughout Kitchener-Waterloo and, to a lesser degree, around Ontario. Our print costs have been mostly covered via advertising within the magazine, and we are doubly proud of our commitment from the very first issue to only seek or accept advertisements from local establishments and institutions which we feel contribute positively to our community. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the following groups, businesses, and people for their material support, without which Highbraü would not exist in physical form: Café Pyrus State of the Art Supplies Out of the Past Wordsworth Books Different Strokes Sustainable Cycles Subtle Solace Photography Alex Machidon Music Tribal Thunder Drum Repair The Spiritual Heritage Education Network Twin Hearts Meditation

The Bizarre Bazaar The KW Poetry Slam The KWCS/R2P Frontier Ghostown Whole Village Farms CSA Kitchener Tattoo The Harmonia Centre for Life and Growth Strange Utopia The Organic Council of Ontario TEDx Laurier SO SCI FI Southern Ontario Science Fiction Festival Our parents (Hi, Mom!) Of course we could also not get by without a little help from our friends. To all those who contribute art, make it out to an issue release party, or just take the time to read our humble magazine or listen to our podcasts, we offer our eternal thanks and a monstrous, palm-stinging high five. Highbraü is entirely volunteer driven, paid-for, and built-on. From website to radio, from cover to cover, anything Highbraü has done has succeeded because a community of people wanted to make it happen, and were willing to invest themselves enough to make sure that it did. If you are looking to establish a radio program, have an idea for an event, or want to be a deputized editor for a particular issue (meaning you’d help coordinate content and theme), we would like to talk with you. If you would like to help us twist and grow our creation into strange and beautiful new forms, we would like to talk to you. What Highbraü has achieved in these two short years is, of course, not yet all that Highbraü could and can be - see our previous statement about always plotting to rule the world.

ur vision was, and is, to offer Highbraü four times a year; one issue to mark the passing of each season. Those of us who came to the project first (and we phrase our toughts thusly in order to express the notion that Highbraü is a thing as much found by us as it has been crafted; it exists as a pale reflection

love, the original Highbraü magazine, lay fallow for too long. As we, the caretakers of this strange and wonderful garden, grow older, move away, begin families, and (fingers crossed) find fulfilling employment, our resources spread further and further, and no one is left to mind the farm and weed the fields. This is why Highbraü is a mess; a twisted, rotting mess; though one situated within fertile, bountiful soil from which new life continues to grow. It is beautiful and wild and calls us, and we, sometimes despite ourselves, find that we are drawn back to help the waves meet the shore once again. Publication is, after all, our hobby.

DANIELLE MCCROREY

of our idealised representation of the aged tradition of printed discourse, and the passion to contribute to that tradition in our small way has been as permanent and ubiquitous within our minds, once we had perceived it, as the constant crashing of the ocean upon the shore), those first to commit to the hobby which we found that we shared, wanted to be honest with what we had to give, and told ourselves and each other not to promise to Highbraü more than the time and resources which we each could reasonably spare. Thus the seeds of the Highbraü media conglomerate were sown, and quickly began to grow - steadily at first, as the warm glow of our attention and commitment kissed the fertile soil of our communal urge to create. But soon enough, different branches of our disparate enterprise flourished and suffered at different times, with some thriving vibrantly while others sheltered themselves, dormant, waiting for the thawing of spring and the return of our labour. Graham compares the state of Highbraü to the old family farm - and worries, with a farmer’s concern, that we have let the fields of our most productive and identity-defining labour of

his previous summer, Mark had the opportunity to share the stage at a city of Kitchener event (on the future of local print media) with the editors of Fuss magazine and Velvet Rope, two local publications which had sprung up in early 2012. By the time we gathered on stage in July, Fuss had already been forced to close (much to our lament) largely because of the same challenges which beset Highbraü - fundamentally, the amount of volunteer labour required to produce any kind of consistent product when no one is getting paid to make sure things happen on time and in order. As a wholly volunteer based enterprise, the production of Highbraü magazine is undeniably laborious, but it remains a labour undertaken gladly because of how it combines our loves of print and of inquiry. At a time when many publications (both commercial and independent) are being forced to fold on all sides, Highbraü can only be all the more committed to continuing to document, in print, the thoughts and images conjured by the people of our community. We find ourselves, at the beginning of our third year, as one of the longer lasting independent publications within recent memory in our local area. We happily reaffirm to ourselves that this is a growth worth nurturing. - Mark & Graham

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VIRTUAL REALITIES VIRTUAL SOVEREIGNTY BY SAMUEL TISI

riginally referred to as the worldwide web, the Internet today takes on a form that may be better described as a wide web-world. Although there are some places you could point and say, “there it is”, that would be just one of many tiny parts of the Internet spread around the world. With all of those tiny parts connected as a whole, it indeed has become a place in reality that we can visit and stay in. The physical space it takes up is relatively small, yet an incredibly vast web exists on the Inside. It contains pieces of the natural world - a common catalogue of our experiences - with our commentary and imagination constantly appending to it. Collectives are built, and experiences shared across large physical boundaries and barriers show us our struggles on a global level. Raw reactions to life on Earth, usually kept secret due to shame or oppression, are now shared. Without regard for social graces or someone else interrupting, we’ve developed thought provoking blogs that help us discuss modern life, as well as the most hateful of trolls. There are communities, marketplaces, economies, guilds of friends, gangs of thieves, lovers, and haters. You can choose to live almost completely within it, where you may find yourself portraying a truer expression of your identity there than on the outside, with only obligations to your stomach tethering back you to this dimension. But while we’re busy with gaining currency and power in an online galactic empire, reading about the struggles of someone so far away yet seemingly as accessible as a neighbor, or testing out new concepts and ideas in private anonymity to see if we’re into them or not, there are groups out there who, for their own reasons, are

threatening this new feature of the world that the global community has created together.

hile laws produced by democratic governments should ideally reflect needs and wishes of the people, lately laws and penalties passed by our governments do more to hurt people than help them. In one example: While reproducing and distributing copyrighted materials may be illegal in Canada, and servers that host internet content must abide the laws of their host state, it’s currently not illegal for one to hoist their Internet sails up and surf to servers hosted outside their jurisdiction, returning home with your booty. By that I mean, with just a few quick clicks, you can virtually travel thousands of miles and download a copy of it without ever leaving your desk. You may be missing out on the beautiful countryside of Ukraine, but at least you didn’t have to pay for the box set of The Wire. As convenient as it may be, this upsets corporate entities such as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). In what they consider their attempt to sculpt as out of marble a legal masterpiece of regulation and rights protection, they consistently propose legislation that inevitably chips away at how we access and use this instantaneous and well connected medium, reducing it to a rubble of inequity and legal threats to grandparents and 9 year olds. While the government is supposed to be a civil service for the people, today it seems to be more willing to let corporate interests shape how we will gain access to, and interact in, the digital world. While most of the provisions pushed by the RIAA and MPAA have passed

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easily in the U.S., the rest of the world didn’t act as immediately, which has resulted with the U.S. issuing threats to trade agreements with countries. For merely questioning Hollywood’s claims about file sharing, Switzerland ended up on a U.S. congressional watch list. Canada’s current attempt to gain membership to the Trans-Pacific Partnership hinges on our subscribing to U.S.-like digital media laws, which include monitoring the communications of ordinary citizens and criminal offences for adding/modifying tools to your own smartphone. The past decade has shown that the recording and movie industries have had considerable influence on legislation in Canada and across Europe. Wikileaks has even exposed U.S. diplomats and recording industry corporations working hand -in-hand in creating full on government surveillance in France. Haute Autorité pour la diffusion des œuvres et la protection des droits sur internet (HADOPI), in English known as ‘The law promoting the distribution and protection of creative works on the Internet’, a newly formed government agency, is tasked with spying on its’ own citizens so people can be punished for sharing copyrighted files. While defending corporate profits seems to be an incredible waste of public money and time, governments also try other ways to gain entry into our online habits, like fear. There’s no argument that children need protection from child predators (whom, I think we can agree, are sick people in need of help), but the recent attempt by our government to have access to our Internet surfing habits was titled the “Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act” and does not mention children nor predators except in the title. This isn’t surprising, as it was a simple rebranding of an act that’s been proposed multiple times since 1999 by both the Liberals and the Conservations: the Lawful Access Act. This act requires your Internet service provider to build an infrastructure that provides a backdoor to

all of your Internet activity. They are system in Britain has resulted in potasked to do this on their own dime, lice making an average of more than but don’t worry, these companies ea- 1,300 queries daily to telecommunigerly pass the not-savings directly cations providers for personal inforon to you. That’s right - you have the mation about citizens. exciting opportunity to pay for the infrastructure used to monitor all your nyone who says, “If you’ve Internet activity! The same kind of got nothing to hide, you have backdoor entry was required of tele- nothing to worry about”, must not phone companies in the U.S. by a law have an imagination. Someone who is passed in 1994, and less than a de- paid to look for a threat will find one. cade later the N.S.A. used that same Do you want that someone evaluataccess when they began warrantless ing who you are through your search wiretapping surveillance. So while habits? What if they make a mistake? this backdoor may require a war- The Threat, much like Beauty, is in rant today, once the framework is up, the eye of the beholder. Not to mengovernments are tion the fact that Someone who is paid known to push the the Internet is not to look for a threat envelope further. used solely by terThe warrantless rorists, but is used will find one.

Dominic Golob

for collaborating and planning very real and legitimate political action, though governments tend to treat the two as equivalent when it comes to surveillance and infiltration. The government of Egypt turned off local access to the Internet during the Arab Spring, as did Assad’s regime in Syria this Fall. It’s not a far stretch to see that happen here; after all, the government of Quebec swept in anti-demonstration laws just this past May. The Internet is free from governments because we can talk outside of their borders. It is free from corporate greed because artists can now cut out the middleman. Those institutions recognize this but do not appreciate the value in it. We go to the Internet for many reasons we could say are worth fighting for, an important one being that it is a useful space for us to collaborate on how we want to work on the rest of our world. The more the Internet grows, the more level the playing field becomes. Non-corporate alternative media like democracynow.org and mediacoop. ca have appeared, providing us excellent journalism from people who, unlike those working in Big Media, don’t soften their approach in fear of losing inside access or insulting a sponsor. As well, there are those wielding technical power and competence on our side; from people in the natural world working together to get back online after governments tried to cut them off the Internet, to new forms of protest emerging online - such as some of the most visited websites going offline for a day to protest SOPA, and the more “diverse” tactics used by sects of Anonymous and other online collectives. While much is at stake, each day we have more on our side. We must still work to defend the legal separations between governments and the physical infrastructure of the Internet, as well as keeping attempts at censorship at bay, lest we find ourselves talking about “The Good Ol’ Days of the Internet”.

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A NET OF INCLUSION BY VINCE STRICKLAND

recently joined a free online dating site. I was informed by some of my queer friends that this particular site is the most inclusive for gay people. This site, and most of the others on the social media web, is not inclusive to queer people. This is an issue of identity on the fringes. Sorry, excuse me a moment, this is an issue of identity on the fringes in the current social media landscape where we are reduced to models in a computer program.

Glossary Sex :

A binary distinction between male and female usually assigned at birth; based on biological divisions such as anatomical, hormonal, and chromosomal differences

Gender Identity :

A person’s sense of self as relates to socially-constructed gender roles; does not necessarily correspond to sex assigned at birth

Cis- :

A person whose gender identity matches their sex; many/most people identify as cis-female/cis-male

Trans- :

A person whose gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth; they may or may not choose to alter their anatomical or hormonal make-up

ueer, as an identity, is a reclamation. The historical origin of queer is one meaning ‘strange’ or ‘unusual’ and for most of the 20th century it was used as a derogatory term for gay men and transgendered peoples. Queer Nation, an organization of activists in New York City, re-appropriated the term in 1990. It has since been used, according to Wikipedia, as, “An umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities…and is often preferred by those who are activists; by those who strongly reject traditional gender identities; by those who reject distinct sexual identities such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and straight; and by those who see themselves as oppressed by the heteronormativity of the larger culture.” I identify as queer because I am all of those; I am a gender activist who refuses to be defined by gender roles. On this particular dating site and most of the others I have encountered, there is no drop down box option that says ‘queer’. Your options of sexuality include, and are limited to, ‘straight,’ ‘bisexual,’ or ‘gay,’ setting up the premise that those are the only orientation options. But that’s not where it begins. Understandably, online dating sites request your sexual orientation, but even before this question is another question, one that is almost always asked up front on all social media sites:

1.What is your gender? Female

Male

Heteronormativity :

Commonly held beliefs that people fall into distinct genders - female and male and that normal sexuality is between a man and a woman

Most people quickly choose one of the two given options without even a thought, but this seemingly inconspicuous question makes me pause every single time. The drop down

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menu glares at me with the underlying tone of “you are not included here”. I have to make a choice. If I want to utilize the services on this website I need to limit my self-identity to either ‘M’ or ‘F’. Since this question is inferred in nearly every social interaction of our lives, both online and off, I have become adept at fitting into the M box. This has me thinking, in what ways do we limit our identity by the options we are given based on computer algorithms? In what ways are those limited options shaping our choices? Social media has changed the way we interact and view the world. Would a more varied list of choices lead to greater awareness and eventual acceptance of the multitude of personal identities currently residing on the fringes? Or could we do away with lists all together and give room for people to self-identify in the ways they choose? Dating sites in particular utilize algorithms to search and match people based on personal identity. Theoretically it’s a simple matter. If you’re a straight female you will see straight males on your searches. Great! If you’re a gay male, other gay men will be on your searches. Awesome! But what about the rest of us, the ones whose identities don’t fit into neat little dropdown boxes? The queers The trannies The genderfukt …and those who love us. As per usual, the message is clear. Just pick a side, fit in a box and you will be included.

queer identity does not constrain oneself to traditional gender definitions. Whereas gay/lesbian defines a wo/man loving a wo/man, identifying as queer is recognition of the limitations of gender roles and gives room for more than traditional concepts of woman and man. Queer is a rejection of the gender boxes that constrain us into gender roles, which only work to marginalize cis-women and trans-peoples.

and flirtation”. They describe a profile as a mood ring with many identities. Reading D. Travers Scott’s description of a more fabulously glittered internet made me smile and dream of a day when the whole of society could be free to explore our gender and sexual subtleties and desires. On the road to that end I want to start with an internet profile with no dropdown menus, where we have the freedom to identify how we choose. On forums that do not use dating algorithms to match people, I want write-in space to tell the world how I see myself. For those forums that do use algorithms, could we have another choice, such as ‘Other’? While not terribly descriptive, it’s at least an acknowledgement that other identities exist and gives space for them. Or, with all the advances in computer programing, is it possible to create algorithms that don’t need drop down boxes? Perhaps ones that

learn and grow as more identities are expressed, and shift in a fluid movement to match people, instead of the current rigid system of A + B = C.

ife doesn’t come packaged into dropdown boxes that are meant for computer algorithms instead of living, breathing flesh. Online dating with the currently limited options of self-expression reduces the combining of life energies and flesh into compatibility based on labels that are not a reflection of the intricacies of our lives. I want to see a web that’s inclusive to our own powers of selfidentity, so we can stand up against the heteronormativity that constrains us into defined, ‘acceptable’ identities. I don’t want to fit into either category of Male or Female and I am ‘acceptable’ just the way I am.

Do social media sites perpetuate the dynamics of the gender binary by refusing to allow room for alternative gender categories? D. Travers Scott, in their essay “Fierce.net: Imagining a Faggotty Web”, featured in the book “Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?”, discusses the dropdown box issue and re-envisions a queerer web. Highlighting the limitations of the options for true self-expression online, they go into a fabulously queer fantasy of a web filled with fewer ties to a desk and more movement around screens projected and manipulated onto giant walls. With “big pictures, large text…to zoom, rotate, slide around, and manipulate the screen image with pinchy-strokey-snappy finger-motions on a touchscreen.” With integrated audio and video chatting to bring forth communication with more “intensified nuance, subtlety, inflection, irony, sarcasm,

PotDocs #1 HIGHBRAÜ RADIO IS annual ON THE AIR ! film festival! The premiere of KW’s newest documentary PotDocs is dedicated to shining a spotlight on issues related to the decriminalisation and legalisation of marijuana.

3 LOCAL SHOWS EVERY WEEK! 3 EASY WAYS TO LISTEN! In years to come we hope to exclusively showcase local

Nightmare Radio 10-Midnight but Fri for 1) Tune live in the KW area at 100.3 FM independent filmmakers, ourinfirst exhibition we Broadcasting the soundtrack to your nightmares! More will be hosting a discussion 2)of The Prince of Pot metal than a foundry. Stream live from anywhere at soundfm.ca

(the Marc Emery story) as well as viewing several short films.

HighbraüFM 10-11PM Sat A weekly showcase of the latest and greatest new local music from around Southwestern Ontario.

3) Visit our archives anytime at hbradio.ca

October 20 2012 Dr. Mark’s Psychedelic Solution 11-Midnight Sat Location TBD Just one dose guaranteed to dispel your cares, and cure hbmag.ca/potdocs your asthma too. The first one’s always free. HBmag.ca 9

THE SILICON SOUL BY ZACK BRENNEMAN

“

Don’t patronize me Doc, I’m not a child anymore. Give it to me straight. How long does he have to live?” demanded Stephen Sinclair, who held frustration in his voice as he kept the Sinclair family’s private doctor in his focused glare. The room was deathly quiet except for the sound of the medical devices hooked up to the infamous Samuel Sinclair who was lying in what they had just learned was to be his death bed. Chirping and beeping away, the med devices were the only sound in the room other than the all-too-loud volume of the holonews feed that Samuel himself was so enthralled in. Moments passed that seemed like hours, as Stephen Sinclair held the doctor in his gaze, awaiting an answer. Doc was the Sinclairs’ private family doctor of many years. He had a long and hard to pronounce name so the Sinclairs just called him “Doc”, to save time. Poor Doc, he always seemed to be the bearer of bad news lately. He had been the private doctor to Samuel and Stephen Sinclair for many years now and one thing he had learned about the Sinclairs is that they respected strength and confidence of conviction over patronizing yes-men who told them what they wanted to hear. Doc put on his best poker face; although he knew what Stephen wanted to hear, he also knew that he wasn’t being paid what he was being paid (Which was high, even by his standards) just to tell them they had no hope of saving Samuel’s life. It was inevitable; after a lifetime of building SinSoft, the largest software empire in the world, time had finally run out for the mortal coil once known as the programming genius Samuel Sinclair. Doc knew it was the cold hard truth; he just didn’t want to say it. Doc cleared his throat and spoke as calmly and softly as he could. He

didn’t want to agitate Stephen any further. “Could be any day, could be a few months,” he said solemnly. “It’s hard to tell... best case scenario... six months.” He held his breath in worry as he waited for Stephen’s response, but it never came. Stephen merely fell silent while a distant stare filled his eyes, and dropped his head slightly as he stared into space. Stephen repeated, “Six months...” Another awkward silence filled the room for what seemed like eternity.

AMANDA HORDYK

oc and Stephen were standing around the bed of Samuel Sinclair, which was in the west wing of the living quarter’s section of the most technologically advanced building in the world, Sinclair Estates. Sinclair Estates had been designed with the future in mind, to say the least. Sinclair Estates was built high in the mountains of west Alberta inwhat used to be the national park of Banff, just outside of Calgary. The compound took trillions of SinSoft’s profits and twenty years to build. Samuel Sinclair insisted that the new nerve center of all research and development for his worldwide software empire be secluded from the public and

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the drastic climate shift which had affected the Northern hemisphere so terribly. Given those criteria, the logical location choice for Sinclair Estates was therefore either deep underwater, or underground; both choices completely fit Samuel Sinclair’s criteria. However, upon conclusive research, it turned out it was cheaper to buy the land from the province and dig into a vast mountain range to build the world’s most technologically advanced building than it was to build and operate underwater. Sinclair Estates was completed in the winter of 2073 and fully staffed and operational by the end of 2074. Aside from the Sinclairs and their private doctor, Sinclair Estates was also home to some of the brightest minds in the world. There were people from all different fields; from programming, engineering, networking, and digital communications, to highly respected medical, psychiatric and service staff, and even a couple of the world’s best chefs taking residence at Sinclair Estates. Samuel had wanted nothing but the best for the Sinclairs and the employees of SinSoft. In fact, it was considered an honour to be extended an offer of employment from SinSoft. It meant that you were at the top of your field and you’d made the grade. It also meant you would have everything taken care for you while you worked, secluded, inside the most technologically advanced compound in the world. Sinclair Estates was outfitted with all the best that SinSoft’s software research and hardware contracts could offer. It housed the world’s largest super computer array, with the world’s fastest fiber-optic network. It was where all the latest SinSoft programmed software was written and distributed worldwide. From operating systems to networking protocols to communication programs, any program you could possibly think of and its newest updates were all developed inside this building. The latest reports showed that ninety-five percent of all computing hardware

worldwide ran on SinSoft software and that SinSoft had cornered the majority of the commercial, business, industrial, and military markets all across the board.

“Sinclair Estates had been designed with the future in mind, to say the least.”

inclair Estates was also where SinSoft and its subsidiaries sent their prototypes to undergo alpha testing. Because of this fact, Sinclair Estates was the original test site for the Fully Automated Home System which will automatically do anything that is necessary in order to meet its occupants’ needs. This revolutionary automated home system does everything all at once! It will self-clean while doing the dishes, while doing the laundry, while it cooks your family diner. Everything from electrical to water and heating systems are self-regulating. Your home can fulfill all your family needs, all at once! It’s like having the house do all your work for you! The Automated Home System was an ambitious joint venture between SinSoft and the world’s leading hardware designer/supplier, Nakamura Industries. Nakamura Industries would first convert the home to be automatically capable by installing smart appliances and cleaning droids in your home and equipping all the smart-ware needed in every room of your home. Then SinSoft would install the computer banks necessary for the Home AI Companion software which was designed to control and co-ordinate all of the many functions of the newly automated home. Voice commands would be given by the occupants and carried out by the Home AI Companion. Occupants could customize their Home AI Companion in any number of ways, from downloading new personalities and voice palettes to uploading new command lists and routines for carrying out its functions. It was an ingenius home design that removed the need

for primitive androids and automated home servants from the market. The Automated Home System and Home AI Companion proved to be very profitable for both Nakamura Industries and SinSoft who had forever changed how modern families lived their home lives. Sinclair Estates’ AI companion was the first version of Sinsoft’s AI companion software and was special that way. The core programming was done by Samuel Sinclair and his long-time friend and lead SinSoft AI research supervisor, Roger Watts. The Sinclair Estates’ AI was nicknamed C.E.S.A.R. He looked after all automated internal operations of Sinclair Estates and also managed the SinSoft worldwide internal communications network. C.E.S.A.R. originally needed an obscene amount of testing and many programming updates, but eventually he began to learn quickly from his SinSoft testers and handled his functions perfectly. Sometimes though, he seemed to have a sense of sarcasm in his voice that wasn’t so user friendly. C.E.S.A.R. was designed to be the template for all SinSoft Home AI Companions, and therefore this bug had to be fixed. Everyone at Sinclair Estates got used to his behavioural quirks easily enough but the behaviour programmers and psychologists never found the root cause of the problem. Instead, when the time came for the mass replication of C.E.S.A.R.’s programming, they simply programmed the copies with less “personality” and more “obedience” protocols. There was less than 1 percent customer dissatisfaction with their SinSoft Home AI Companion, and many issues were later fixed during the update process.

inclair Estates was the digital nerve center for all SinSoft operations worldwide and where Samuel Sinclair chose to raise his son, Stephen, who was still standing on Samuel’s right bedside silently looking into empty space. He was Samuel’s only son and heir to his fathers’ global

software empire. At 24 Stephen was tall, with a slender build. He had a full head of black hair, trimmed short; broad shoulders, and defined facial lines. He’d spent most of his life at Sinclair Estates with his father, learning the family business, and he hated it. Despite Samuel’s insistence on his son becoming a programmer like he was, Stephen chose to go into business management and this had always angered Samuel deeply. Stephen found it hard to communicate with people and never really had friends his own age. He was schooled at Sinclair Estates by private tutors hired by his father. The older Stephen got, the more he disliked the seclusion that his home provided and tried to venture into the nearest city of Calgary whenever he could in order to find people his own age. Doc wasn’t surprised at Stephen’s emotional instability at a time like this, and sort of felt sorry for him. Stephen was on the verge of losing the only father figure he’d ever had, albeit one who had constrained him, pressured him, and put the weight of the world on his shoulders, but one who loved him and taught him everything he could, all the same. Doc decided to take control of the awkward situation by ignoring the spaced-out Stephen and addressing Samuel directly in order to gauge how he felt about the grim news. Doc cleared his throat loudly to get his attention. “Did you hear me Sam? ...Sam?” he asked. No response from Samuel Sinclair; he was still enthralled in his holo-news program. “Are you listening Samuel? You’ve got six months to live.” He felt bad for putting it bluntly but he was looking for a response from his longtime patient. Something, anything that would show him that Samuel was acknowledging the news he’d just received. Doc believed that his patient had been ignoring his condition for far too long. Samuel Sinclair couldn’t ignore the fact any longer; he was going to die soon, and the sooner he accepted that fact, the better.

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amuel’s face was still fixed on the holo-news, trying hard to ignore the doctor; he was using a remote control to flip through the channels. Samuel’s finger seemed glued to the channel button; one after another the holographic images changed shape, only to change to another a second later. The images changed at such a frantic pace that the holo-vision couldn’t project quick enough. Doc could tell Samuel was making an effort to ignore him. He looked across the bed at Stephen, who was just now coming out of his trance. Doc gave Stephen a defeated look as he nodded his head in Samuel’s direction. “A little help here?” Nodding in response, Stephen leaned over the bed slightly “Dad, could you turn that off? At least turn it down, you don’t need it that loud. C.E.S.A.R., could you turn off the news please?” C.E.S.A.R. replied in his usual snide way: “I’d be happy to comply Master Stephen, but Master Samuel has locked out control of the holo-vision. You’ll have to use the manual remote control.” Stephen Sinclair reached for the remote to the holo-vision held in his fathers’ hand only to grab nothing. To Stephens surprise his father had retracted the remote from his grasp with a quickness that betrayed his age and his bed ridden manner. “Come on Dad, this is serious, you shouldn’t be watching the news at a time like this,” retorted Stephen. The holo-vision volume quickly decreased as Samuel Sinclair began to speak, “Just because I’m dying doesn’t mean I can’t follow the news, I can still keep up with the world you know.

You kids today don’t know how easy you have it. You’ve never been without the net and you take it for granted every day. You have access to all kinds of information from all over the globe, at anytime, and what do you do with it? You play games, and chat with each other about the most mundane of trivial matters when you could be learning and expanding your mind, working towards a better future.” He continued “Why if I knew half of what I do today...” He finally turned off the holo-news, and turned his head to acknowledge the conversation that was taking place not but two feet above

oc only nodded in response. He was glad to be relieved as he left Samuel’s bedside for the door. He and Samuel had just now started to warm up to each other. Doc had to keep reminding himself lately that the first rule is to not get personally attached to your sickly senior patients. Still, he wished he could do more for this patient whom he felt had become more than that over the past few years. C.E.S.A.R. automatically opened the door for him and Doc saw Roger Watts pacing outside in the hallway. Roger looked up at the doctor with an anxious, worried look and hesitantly began walking across the room towards Samuel’s bedside. AMANDA HORDYK The sound of C.E.S.A.R. closhis bed. He put down the remote and ing the door signalled that Doc had now looked squarely at Doc. “I want left the room. Roger looked nervous a second opinion. What am I paying being next to Samuel and addressed you for anyway? “ both he and Stephen with a nod. “I’m sorry Samuel, there’s nothRoger Watts wasted no time and ing anyone could do to give you more blurted out the source of his worry. time. Your body is simply shutting “We need to talk, Sam. There’re issues down...it’s your time to go.” Doc’s face we need to solve before A.T.L.A.S. betrayed sympathy as he watched the goes online. You’re the only one to infamous Samuel Sinclair turn from whom I can defer on these specific ishis usual calculated, hard-assed self to sues. Sorry, where are my manners... the same defeated, tired old man that what’s the news?” Doc had seen a thousand other times Samuel replied, “Not good my in a thousand other patients. There’s friend, our competitors are still gainnever any easy way to tell somebody ing market share, and I don’t see an there’s no hope. It was Doc’s most hat- end to the war in Africa any time

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ed part of the job. Samuel relaxed a little and deflated further into his bed, he replied “I know... this bag of bones is burnt out. I trust your opinion Doc... thanks. I think that will be all for today. Could you send in Roger on your way out?”

soon.” Roger retorted, “No Sam, the news from Doc.” He realized Samuel was avoiding the question when he didn’t immediately reply to his question. He looked to Stephen for an answer and Stephen slowly shook his head. Samuel began again. “Look Roger, here’s what needs to be done. I want you to bring Stephen up to speed on the A.T.L.A.S. project. He’ll need to know what we’re planning if he’s going to take my place on the board after I die.” Stephen opened his mouth to protest but Samuel cut him off before he could get a word out. “Now, I know you don’t want this son, but you’ll do fine. I’ve confidence in you and I know you’ll make your old man proud. A.T.L.A.S. is big for SinSoft son, very big. We need this launch to work smoothly. I know I can trust you to see that it does, and to carry the SinSoft legacy into the next century. You’ll do fine my boy” “Samuel repeated. “Now go wait outside while Roger and I talk technical. He’ll fill you in shortly.” Stephen submissively followed his father’s orders without a word. He was still a little shocked at the whole situation. His father was dying and leaving him in charge of SinSoft? Was he crazy? Stephen knew he had the business training, but to be head of the board of directors and run a global software empire? Stephen’s thoughts raced through his mind at incalculable speeds. He was so distracted he didn’t notice C.E.S.A.R. open and close the door behind him.

ith Stephen out of the room, Samuel addressed Roger. “What are the issues?” Roger began, “Despite all our research and debugging, we still can’t pinpoint the core ego quirks that we saw with C.E.S.A.R. Technically, A.T.L.A.S. has been able to take everything we’ve thrown his way with amazing speed and accuracy but something’s amiss in the core ego programming. It’s workable, but we won’t know how A.T.L.A.S. will re-

spond to certain digital stimuli when bombarded with the vastness of the net. We need to push back the launch in order to fix these issues; otherwise there may be too many variables in A.T.L.A.S.’ behaviour when prompted by...” Roger was suddenly cut-off by Samuel, who was clearly angry at the news. “No, we can’t risk any delays in the A.T.L.A.S. launch. SinSoft needs this, Roger, the whole world needs this. Imagine, a world completely linked by an AI. No more communications blackouts or dropped mail. No more traffic accidents, or plane crashes. No more patients lost to a surgeons’ shaky hand or workers lost in on-the-job accidents. Imagine A.T.L.A.S. co-ordinating the global weather control systems that they’re proposing. Imagine what we could learn when we send A.T.L.A.S. into deep space on a probe! A.T.L.A.S. is perfection Roger, he’ll free us from the errors of human judgement; he’ll remove human error from the equation so that humanity can use its tools more effectively and finally build a future off of this forsaken planet.”

“SinSoft needs this, Roger, the whole world needs this. Imagine, a world completely linked by an AI.” Samuel continued: “As far as the ego issues are concerned; go ahead with the I.M.M.R.T.L. program. A host ego should stabilize the rest of the core ego; anything after he goes online, A.T.L.A.S. will learn and self-correct on his own. That’s what we designed him to do.” “But the I.M.M.R.T.L. program isn’t ready yet, we’ve got the hardware, but we need more testing. There’s no telling how the host’s ego will interact with A.T.L.A.S.’ programming, there’s too many variables! It’s still in the experimental phases!” Roger warned. “Are you sure you want to go through with this, Sam? It could mean the loss

of everything you’ve gained over a lifetime of work and study.” “I’m aware of the consequences, Roger, I helped design it, remember? I have faith in you and in the I.M.M.R.T.L. program. Besides, if it works it’ll be a huge step forward in melding man and machine. This program could be the basis for all digitized human consciousness to come. Just imagine, Roger...”

rowing tired of being convinced of things he already knew, Roger replied “Alright, but before we go ahead with this, you remember our agreement, don’t you? I’m done after this. I’m out, retired, finished.” As if brushing the topic aside Samuel said, “Yes, yes. I remember. Though, I will miss you old friend. You’ve been a great help to me and a huge part of building SinSoft into what it is today. You’re the brightest intellect I’ve ever had the honour of working with.” “Thanks Sam, that means a lot to me. I’ll miss you too my friend.” Roger Watts turned and began walking out of the room. He stopped short of the opened door. “Thanks, C.E.S.A.R.” “My pleasure, Master Roger. Thank you for the acknowledgement” Responded C.E.S.A.R. Roger turned to put Samuel in his sight and said “I’ll begin the arrangements and make sure A.T.L.A.S. is ready for the scheduled launch. Enjoy the remaining time you have Sam, you will be missed.” He turned back around and exited the room. With Roger Watts out of the room Samuel remarked to himself, “My remaining time may be longer than you think old friend. We rulers of empires always have an ace up our sleeve for just such an occasion. Isn’t that right, C.E.S.A.R.?” “I do not know what you are referring to, Master Samuel,” replied C.E.S.A.R. “I know you don’t C.E.S.A.R., and let’s keep it that way.” Finally alone, Samuel Sinclair closed his eyes and turned in his bed, awaiting the inevitable.

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BY BRIAN MACLEAN

OPINIONATION BY WM BRIAN MCLEAN

Send your comics, drawings, and other visual art to submissions@hbmag.ca

View more OpinioNation by Wm Brian MacLean at roostertree.com

CHRISTINA MACLELLAN

TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM BY KALI G

have a morning routine. I wake up, check my cell for missed messages, turn on my Mac, open Gmail, and scroll through my Facebook newsfeed to see what my friends are reading, watching and thinking. This season, the trend has been the iPhone 5; people want it, people have it, people aren’t sure if they need it or if a software update will suffice. This is the discourse of my life - one that permeates our 21st Century North American culture. Our lives are so immersed in technology it’s easy to believe that they are also propelled by technology; we are consumed with this idea that technology will make our lives easier, the future more full of possibility and knowledge even more accessible for all.

Good teachers ask themselves: what am I going to do when the Internet is down? It’s no wonder then that technology in the classroom was a recurring topic in my teacher education program last year. Technology provides exciting new ways to present information, engage student learning and connect to a new generation of students who have never lived in a world without the Internet. In my class in secondary social studies, social media was a natural topic around which to design a unit; after all, the average morning routine of a typical high school student probably doesn’t stray far from the one I described above (except that I haven’t yet figured out the appeal of Twitter.) In designing this unit, we recognized the imperative to address and explore the way that this media creates and is created by culture, the ways it can be used to create social change and

foster connections, and the way it can create new social problems and foster disconnection. To accomplish this, we used social media to format our instructional strategies by creating a blog with daily posts from the instructor and interaction required from students, and designed activities and assessments that asked students to create a social media campaign. It was good work and I’m proud of it. We received a great mark and clearly impressed our classmates with our ability to understand, use, and seamlessly integrate technology into our instruction and assessment - the true hallmark of a teacher - with an ‘edge’ in this terrifyingly tight job market. This fear-driven quest to upgrade teacher skills in order to remain viable as a teacher is likely what prompted one half of the professional development day in my first practicum to be devoted to using the iPad in the classroom. I’ll be honest - I didn’t attend. Despite the success I would later find with my social media unit, I don’t really find the thought of learning tech just to keep up with Steve Jobs and company an appealing thought. This rush to educate teachers on the classroom applications of the iPad is absurd when the reality is that most classrooms in Ontario are lucky to have a decade-old Dell in the back with Internet connection. Truly implementing technology like the iPad in every classroom or even every school is simply not possible. It’s too damn expensive.

f course, you don’t need an iPad to incorporate technology in the way of my social media unit. Social media is pervasive and cheap enough, if you have easy access to an Internet-enabled device. Despite my characterization of the Internet generation as completely technology

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dependent, many students will not have an iPhone, or a cell phone, or even a computer at home. Some students may not even have the skills to navigate these technologies with ease. Teachers, however, should be able to learn the new technologies and use them conveniently, inexpensively and without alienating any student. The classrooms I used in my practicums had access to computers with projectors, and I loved to include videos from YouTube in my lessons. They broke up the monotony of me talking, them reading, me talking, them writing (and were super fun); or, in teacher speak, they provided differentiated instruction that engaged student learning through their relevance to students’ lives. When successfully and seamlessly incorporated, technology in the classroom can foster a richer and ultimately more successful learning environment. But anyone who’s ever struggled with a projector minutes before a presentation or watched their last five hours of work disappear in a computer crash knows that technology isn’t reliable. The one true lesson that every teacher must learn is not how to run an iPad and use wikispaces - although these can be useful tools! Like the Girl Guides, a good teacher’s motto is Always Be Prepared. Good teachers ask themselves: what am I going to do when the Internet is down? What’s the goal of my lesson? What strategies can I use to gain their attention? Keep their attention? Make it stick? New technologies can facilitate wonderfully interactive, accessible and engaging ways to learning; but, like any tool, technology holds value only as great as the person who wields it. A class blog, an iPad and a YouTube video are as useful as the chalkboard, construction paper and any other instructional strategy a teacher can use to get to learning. And hey, my cell is a handme down-flip phone with a shattered front screen and I still talk to people. Do we really need the latest gadgets to get things done?

EXTENDED CONSCIOUSNESS BY BRONWYN FREY arshall McLuhan has been credited with predicting the Internet. In the 1960s, he described an impending “extension of consciousness” that would create a collective global society with computers. An extension of consciousness locates our awareness outside of our physical brain and/or extends the body’s physical limits of expression in time and space. Any form of writing, for example, is an extension of consciousness - it moves our thoughts outside our bodies and makes our words more durable than the physical body that conceived them. McLuhan foresaw consciousness extended to create a “global village” in which we cannot act without feeling the effects, and therefore should create a heightened sense of responsibility. While he may have hoped that this new world wide medium would have facilitated a greater sense of interdependence and responsibility, he also described the potential paranoia of a society suddenly reorganised into a interconnected, “tribal” structure. In interdependent societies where “everything affects everything all the time”, terror (of unintended consequences, presumably) is a salient response. While McLuhan may have hoped that this new globalising technology would lead to greater social awareness, dayto-day Internet use does not demonstrate a greater sense of ownership for the welfare of our so-called village.

This wealth of data tempts exploitation. The Internet is not the first extension of consciousness. By carving symbols of expression into rock or metal, humans transcended our physical voice’s time limit. Books, radio, photography and television are all extensions of consciousness.

By using Skype, we overcome the spatial restrictions of our sight, hearing and voice. The Internet departs from these interactions in that it inextricably binds its users in a net of highly detailed data with a memory of near-infinite capacity and duration.

An extended consciousness is not necessarily a more socially aware consciousness.

side from being our latest and most popular way of extending our consciousness, the Internet is a significant medium in that it is semiomniscient and possesses a potentially permanent memory. Services like Google AdSense keep track of queries entered and sites visited in order to ensure that their clients advertise to the most likely users. Facebook forever stores any information its users enter, even if they delete it from their profile. Online advertising programs, hundreds of thousands of terabytes of warehoused personal information, cookies and other informationgathering technologies mean that the Internet has a singularly vast, permanent knowledge of our online actions. As McLuhan expected, computers have created a human network claustrophobic with personal data. This wealth of data tempts exploitation. Threats from phishers and hackers necessitate a high degree of protection. We use various programs to protect our information and, lately, our privacy. Even though we have set up a considerable amount of security against hackers, we are still highly sensitive to potential intrusions into our online lives. Our online self-awareness does not usually bring about a greater sense of responsibility, but a greater need to cover our tracks. Firewalls, anti-virus

programs and script blockers reflect a sense of self-protection, even terror. We are reluctant to give Gmail our phone numbers, even though the company claims that this information will help restore your email account in case it is hacked. Savvy internet users have employed script-blocking browser add-ons, such as NoScript, and other measures to prevent webbased attacks and other exploitations of the data generated by their online movements. We are half paranoid and half legitimately concerned about being exploited. We have extended our consciousness to an absolutely trippy extent wherein the smallest of our online actions has value, but the resulting agency is not as socially beneficial as McLuhan might have hoped. Of course, the Internet has helped inspire revolutionary movements around the world. Many activists make good use of the Internet to spread their message and gain support. The Occupy movement organises through websites such as occupytogether.org and with the hashtag #Occupy. Internet-based social media also played a central role in the political debates and spreading of protest stories that inspired the Arab Spring. But revolutionary uses of the Internet are, by definition, hardly quotidian.

n a day-to-day basis, the majority of Internet users don’t contemplate the effects of each click, typed word or website visited. When we do, we are usually concerned with webbased attacks that threaten our computer or the security of our personal data. As a result, our online actions are haunted by a sense of fearful selfprotection. While activist phenomena like the Arab Spring demonstrate the Internet’s potential to facilitate collective action on a massive scale, the internet of today has not, as Marshall McLuhan hoped, brought about a stable sense of responsibility for one’s actions and their effects on the rest of the world online. An extended consciousness is not necessarily a more socially aware consciousness.

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#IDLE NO MORE

he Idle No More movement (#IdleNoMore) began on December 10th in Saskatoon as a teach-in run by four women (Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam, Jessica Gordon & Sheelah McLean) who are concerned about the Harper government’s recently passed omnibus budget bill (C45) and other pieces of legislation which make changes to the relationship between First Nations communities and the federal government. One major worry expressed by these four women is that updates to the Navigable Waters Protection Act have stripped environmental protection from thousands of kilometres of rivers across Canada, mostly in First Nations territories. Under the new act, companies will no longer be required to submit to a consultation and approval process before starting construction on many watershed areas. A second area of concern is a change to the Indian Act which lowers the threshold of community consent required in order for Indian Reserve Lands to be sold to individuals or corporations, thus surrendering First Nations title to those lands forever.

lthough #IdleNoMore began as a teach-in with relatively specific complaints, the movement exploded in popularity and diversified rapidly as groups across the country roused popular attention through flashmob round dances in public places, solidarity marches, and road and rail blockades. Locally, these include a nearly two week blockade of a CN rail line in Sarnia in late December, as well as the January 5th shutting down of the International Bridge to the USA in Cornwall, Ontario. Perhaps most dramatically, coverage of the #IdleNoMore movement has grown to include a focus on the liquids-only fasting protest (incorrectly identified by some media as a hunger strike) of Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat, a First Nations community on the shores of James Bay in northern Ontario. Chief Spence has been fasting since December 11th. She is demanding a meeting with Stephen Harper and the Governor General to discuss Harper’s broken promise to consult First Nations before making changes to the Indian Act, as well as the responsibility of the government

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of Canada (and of the British Crown, since many of the treaties under discussion predate the founding of Canada) to preserve the viability of Aboriginal ways of life by preserving the health of Canada’s waters and lands. As Highbraü goes to print, Harper has just announced that he will meet with Chief Spence on January 11th, the one-month anniversary of her fast. The Governor General has refused to join this meeting, considering it “a working meeting” between First Nations and government representatives on “public policy issues” rather than than the meeting of heads of state that the First Nations chiefs envision and Chief Spence demands. Chief Spence has in turn announced that she will not attend the meeting unless the GG shows up. At this point it is impossible to say what will happen next, but it seems certain that the broader #IdleNoMore movement will continue forward no matter what the outcome is.

IdleNoMore has quickly grown to become a nationwide phenomenon in the vein of the Occupy movement, a new wave of solidarity-focused social activism driven through social media. We urge you to do your own research in order to make up your own mind as to the importance of this moment in Canadian, and global, history. (Idlenomore.ca is a good place to start)