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The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

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Progress made; more still needed Nick Kandel News Writer

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panel on women in leadership was held in the Bronfman building on Tuesday, organized by Management students Ralph Jeanbart and StÊphanie Elsliger-Garant. The panel featured many prominent executives from Montreal’s business sector, the majority of them women.

Students gathered to hear the panel optimistically project the future of leadership roles for women.

Panelists agreed that women have gradually become more important players in the business world, and that their roles will only increase in time. Ingrid Langlois, Director of Commercial Banking at Scotia Bank Montreal, stated that she has seen more women in prominent positions at Scotia Bank since she started her career. “Statistically speaking,� Langlois said, “the percentage of women in managerial positions is on an upward trend.�

Yet some panelists stressed that while there certainly has been a noticeable trend of growing female leadership in the workplace, the progress is far from complete. “There still exists an old boys club,� said Langlois.

Kirk Johnson, partner at the law firm Irving, Mitchell, Kalichman –

Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily

Panelists decried the “old boys club� in business on Tuesday. and the only male member on the panel – pointed towards his own experience in seeing many women in his graduate class eventually opt out of the business world. “Business is a tough, competitive place,� said Johnson, “and females are worried that they will be unable to complete.�

Panelists, however, were confident that the barriers toward women in leadership would finally be overcome by the current generation of students. Dana Ades-Landy, Senior Vice President of National Accounts at Banque Laurentienne, predicted that in twenty years talent will rise to the top, regardless of gender. “The younger generation will accelerate the change,� said Ades-

Landy.

Edith Luc, an associate professor in Psychology at HEC MontrĂŠal, agreed with Johnson, pointing toward academic scholarship that illustrates that women can help companies succeed.

Nonetheless, members of the panel stated that the change is not inevitable. They all maintained that action must be taken now by the current generation. “You are the next leaders, it’s on your shoulders,� said Natalie Francisci, Executive Vice President at Mandrake Groupe Conseil, looking directly at the student portion of the audience. “Women are an asset to any organization,� said Johnson.

Architecture students join EUS CafĂŠ closure sparked the move, but no longer an issue for ASA John Lapsley The McGill Daily

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he Architecture Students’ Association (ASA) formally joined the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) following a unanimous vote in favour of the motion at EUS Council Tuesday night.

The ASA became the seventh society to join the existing family of six independent departmental societies (including Chemical, Civil, and Mechanical Engineering) represented by the EUS’s Memorandum of Agreement with the McGill administration.

These departmental associations possess council privileges that include voting rights and representative seats on the EUS but also retain their individual structures and autonomy. “Architecture is already part of the Faculty of Engineering, so this move makes a lot of sense,� EUS President Daniel Keresteci told the council. “We’ve worked a lot with the ASA in the past and we’d like to continue and improve that relationship.�

The motion was the formalization of a referendum passed during last week’s elections period, in which a majority of Architecture students

voted in favour of the ASA joining the EUS. Of 170 Architecture students, 110 participated in the vote.

The motion was passed at EUS Council with no opposition or abstentions, although Keresteci took a moment to briefly clarify that this change would not affect student fees in either faculty. Josh Redel, EUS VP Communications, also reassured those present that ASA would retain the same rights and privileges as any other EUS departmental society, including U0 to U4 representative seats.

Joining the EUS grants the ASA a more formalized standing with the McGill administration via the EUS’s Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), a contract between the society and the University administration. ASA President Kyle Burrows stressed that this formal recognition was the main benefit of allying with the EUS, as MoAs are rarely granted to sub-faculty groups. “[McGill’s administration] doesn’t recognize student groups below the faculty level,â€? Burrows said. “Lacking formal recognition with the school‌ has always limited what we can do.â€?

Meredith Toivanen, the ASA’s VP Communications, agreed that the move would improve the ASA’s standing and leverage with the

McGill administration. “It gives us a sense of legitimacy in the eyes of McGill,� Toivanen said.

Toivanen added that while the administration’s decision to close the Architecture CafĂŠ this past summer pushed this issue forward, the alliance was intended to protect the ASA in the future and not to address past grievances. “Essentially, the Architecture CafĂŠ as an issue for the ASA has passed,â€? Toivanen said. “The EUS won’t be able to provide any assistance for what has happened in the past. However, if anything comes up in the future, as members of the EUS, we’ll be in better standing.â€?

In defending the motion from the EUS side, Keresteci said that bringing like-minded students closer together and representing a wider swath of the student population would benefit the EUS. Keresteci added that although the ASA is a latecomer to the EUS relative to the other six sub-faculty groups, the EUS constitution is designed to allow the inclusion of new departmental societies. “This is definitely something that [the EUS] has sort of planned for,� Keresteci said. “The right pieces just needed to fall into place.�

News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

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Munroe-Blum talks tuition hikes Principal fields questions from student journalists Eric Andrew-Gee The McGill Daily

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rincipal Heather MunroeBlum sat down with journalists from The Daily, the McGill Tribune, and Le Délit yesterday to discuss tuition, student aid, and private sector research at McGill, among other issues.

Asked if she would continue her long-standing support of the Ministry of Education’s stated objective of raising tuition in 2012, even if the provincial government declined to increase its financing of Quebec’s universities, MunroeBlum did not give a definitive answer.

“No, our position is that they’ve got to invest in student aid and they’ve got to invest in the operating grant…it’s a package,” she said.

The principal also said that the administration “would be happy to report on, annually, whether or not the integrated policy of raising fees…along with a commitment to growing student aid, actually is reaching the goal.”

She went on to reiterate that Quebec universities face an $800-million funding gap compared to other Canadian provinces.

She added that “the government needs to play its role at an effective level,” to combat under-financing.

The principal also stuck to her position that Quebec tuition should rise to the national average, which stands at $5,138 for undergraduates and $5,182 for graduates. This would amount to more than a 100 per cent increase – $2,723 – from the current rate for Quebec-resident undergraduates, and a similar leap for graduates.

Munroe-Blum’s most prominent recent exposition of her tuition plans came in early September at the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture and Education in Quebec City.

At the principal’s Town Hall on Tuesday, Adrian Kaats, PhD II Engineering student and a Daily columnist, asked Munroe-Blum if she told the McGill Board of Governors (BoG) this summer that she would “go to the standing committee on culture and education and tell our government that McGill thinks tuition should rise.”

Munroe-Blum’s complete response to Kaats was: “It was presented as ‘For Information’ to the Board [of Governors], and I heard no dissent to it.”

“I didn’t say that,” she said in the interview the next morning, when asked about the exchange. Kaats’ question, she maintained, was simply “on the principle of tuition.”

She went on to say, “I don’t actually remember who said what at the [BoG] meeting.”

When told that, at the Town Hall, she said the BoG had no objection to her planned presentation to the

National Assembly, Munroe-Blum replied, “I think I qualified it,” adding, “I don’t like doing ‘he-said shesaid.’”

She went on to say that the BoG did not vote on the plans she would present the committee.

At the Town Hall, Munroe-Blum said that she has not asked any of McGill’s student societies to “sign on,” to the administration’s tuition plans.

“Students have never been in support of increases in tuition,” she said at the interview. “I wasn’t when I was a student.”

Asked why students continued to feel this way, Munroe-Blum answered, “You think of your own experience, right? You don’t look at the trends across the population of the university or the population of the province.”

When asked by Le Délit if she would consider modulating tuition based on the projected future incomes of graduates, she said in French, “I don’t think it’s black and white.”

Munroe-Blum added, however, “there’s a question whether you might charge an Engineering student more,” than an Arts student based on the cost of the respective programs.

Early in the meeting, the principal said that low tuition alone does not increase accessibility to university. “My view is – and I think the data supports it, in fact – when you have…low tuition fees, and a declining investment per student on the part of government, accessibility is always hurt.

It’s not facilitated.”

“Those who are in financial need don’t need low tuition,” she continued. “They need a grant of some kind…or a combination of grant and loan, to pay for all of the things you need when you’re going to university.”

Munroe-Blum went on to emphasize McGill’s intention of increasing student aid while raising tuition. McGill’s 2010-2011 budget projects a $2.9-million increase in student aid over last year, the product of a policy that earmarks thirty per cent of net new tuition revenue for financial aid. Seventyfive per cent of total student aid will go to graduates this year, with 25 per cent going to undergraduates.

Munroe-Blum conceded that there are still students who cannot afford to go to McGill.

“We know there’s still a big gap between our ability to be confident that every student who’s qualified to come to McGill can come independent of their financial need,” she said.

She added that McGill has been able to provide more student aid in programs that have seen tuition deregulated. The most recent such example is the MBA, which saw its in-province tuition skyrocket over the summer from

under $2,000 to $32,500.

In April, the provincial government threatened to slash McGill’s general funding by up to $30,000 for each of the roughly 150 inprovince students being made to pay the dramatically increased tuition. Responding to a question from the Tribune about the status of these threats, MunroeBlum said, “We’re in discussions on that.”

The principal returned several times during the meeting to her distaste for parts of the Quebec government’s university policy.

She noted that the provincial government stopped tracking the income status of university students, suggesting that Quebec did so deliberately to cover the failure of their university policy.

“There’s only one reason to stop measuring,” she said. “When the policy doesn’t fit the outcome, you stop measuring.”

Munroe-Blum also objected to Bill 38, the province’s attempt in 2009 to mandate how universities compose their governing boards.

She added that the government also meddles too much in what kind of research McGill does.

“Governments would have us do applied research, often, and not do the discovery, bluesky thinking, scholarship and research that we believe is the fundamental role of the university,” she said. “As a publicly-funded university, the government wants to tell us what to do.”

She was more amenable to working with corporations. “There is room for us to have a much more productive relationship with the private sector,” she said.

“Corporations tend to understand our mission. … They often fund basic research, for example.”

Speaking in French to Le Délit, she added, “I’m not afraid of businesses, of corporations…I don’t think there’s a corporatization of universities, not at all.”

She also noted that the administration is not alone in wanting industry to play a bigger role in research, saying, “There’s actually a very strong interest on the part of both the federal and the provincial government to increase the engagement of industry with [research and development].”

Asked if the influx of corporations sponsoring research might present cases of companies with poor records of corporate social responsibility working at McGill, Munroe-Blum said, “These are real fundamental questions.”

“Certainly we work very hard both on the philanthropic side and on the research side to not have partners that are lacking in public integrity as judged by the law.”

The principal ruled out a student-based body tasked with reviewing the corporations sponsoring research at McGill, however.

Max Dannenberg | The McGill Daily

Munroe-Blum in her fifth-floor office in the James Admin building.

Packed house for Town Hall Rana Encol The McGill Daily

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he main grievance at Tuesday’s Town Hall was the lack of student consultation on the hot-button issues of tuition and the allocation of student and research space as Principal Heather Munroe-Blum engaged with students en masse for the first time this school year.

Senators, council members, and core members of the activist group Mobilization McGill, along with other students, filled the Molson Hall common room. Unlike past town halls, few faculty or staff came forward to ask questions.

In response to questions about tuition, Munroe-Blum explained that when she came to McGill in 2003, Quebec universities faced a $350-million gap in average funding between Quebec and the rest of the country, but that government support was the highest in the country.

According to Munroe-Blum, government support is currently fifth

or the sixth in the country. “And then we lack in Quebec the culture of philanthropy,” she added. She argued that tuition increases were a part of filling this funding shortfall.

“Tuition fees have their place if they are accompanied by a commitment to student financial aid, but our first stop is federal and provincial government,” she said.

Robyn Wright-Fraser, U1 Arts, asked how much of the current $800-million dollar gap in university funding would be filled by tuition hikes. According to Munroe-Blum, the majority of the gap will have to be filled by “sustained” government financing: “15 per cent less of our funding comes from tuition than other universites with our mandate,” she said.

Eli Freedman, U1 Management student and Management representative to SSMU council, voiced concerns over the emphasis on graduate programs and how this would impact the undergraduate student experience. Munroe-Blum explained that a Task Force on the TOWN HALL, Page 4

4 News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

New coalition of Quebec labour and student unions Alliance sociale hopes to fight tuition hikes and cuts to social programs Alexia Jablonski The McGill Daily

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ritical of the rising trend of political conservatism in Quebec – exemplified by the Liberal government’s budget cuts and the emergence of right-wing political movements – a new coalition of labour and student unions has formed to speak in favour of strong public services and against tuition hikes.

In an open letter published in Le Devoir on Friday, the newly formed Alliance sociale (Social Alliance) promoted a return to Quebec’s legacy of strong public services and left-of-centre politics. The Alliance will include the Fédération étudiante universitaire de Québec (FEUQ) and the equivalent federation for CEGEP students: the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ).

The movement originated as a

response to dissatisfaction with the provincial government’s last budget in March. The new budget cuts spending in a variety of social programs.

“The Quebec government’s budget was very poorly received among our ranks,” Claudette Carbonneau, president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), told The Daily in French. “It was seen as a breach in the social pact between citizens and the Quebec government. It was a violation of values of solidarity, of the capacity to intervene not only in public services, but also in the environment, in economic development, and in support for employment. [Each member of the alliance] reacted strongly from its own side …

So we came to the idea to try to join our efforts to put forward another dialogue,” she said.

Among other issues, the Alliance is opposed to the government’s proposal to increase university tuition rates.

“This will put into question the accessibility of the majority of the population to higher studies, and it will impose a burden that is too heavy on students from lower and middle income families,” said Carbonneau. “It will contribute to a rate of debt that is overwhelming … In Quebec, we are already below the Canadian average in terms of higher education rates. We think that we should not accelerate this.”

The Alliance was also formed to act as a counterweight to the rise of right-wing political movements.

Réseau Liberté-Québec – which echoes the U.S. Tea Party’s rightwing libertarianism – and the conservative movement headed by former PQ ministers Francois Legault and Joseph Facal have recently sprung up to shift the political dialogue in Quebec to the right.

“These are movements tha go a bit in the same direction as Quebec’s last budget,” FEUQ presi-

Richler tribute debated

Town hall

Quebec nationalists opposed to the idea

Continued from page 3

Zach Lewson News Writer

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ith the tenth anniversary of the death of worldrenowned author and journalist Mordecai Richler months away, city councillors Michael Applebaum and Marvin Rotund have released an online petition to publicly commemorate the Montreal writer.

Richler was famous for his Governor General’s and Commonwealth Award winning novels, his columns for the National Post and the Gazette, and his children’s books. His novels Joshua, Then and Now and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz have been made into films, with a film based one of his other bestsellers, Barney’s Version, being released in December.

The petition has received over 600 online signatures since it was released last week, and asks the public for suggestions on how to commemorate the writer.

“Right now we’re at the point where we want to get the public on board in terms of suggestions... we’re interested in what the public has to say and there’s a short comment section on the petition where individuals can put forth ideas for what should be renamed. … So far we’ve received a wide variety of ideas, including nearby parks, streets, and libraries,” said Rotund.

The councillor said that another one of the suggestions was placing a plaque outside the house on St. Urbain that Richler grew up in, which today remains unmarked.

“Richer’s writing signifies Montreal and the experience of its citizens, especially the immi-

grant experience,” said Rotund.

“Thousands of Montrealers can identify with Richler’s themes.”

Despite Richler’s popularity, the petition has a few challenges ahead.

Some of Richler’s writings critical of Quebec sovereignty offended Quebec nationalists. Mario Beaulieu, president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste, has described Richler as an “anti-Quebec racist” because of the author’s criticisms of Quebec nationalism.

In response to the allegations, Rotund said, “The majority of Montrealers would still support the honouring of one of the most famous Canadian writers.”

Although there are no formal restrictions applied to Richler’s writings, his novels are rarely taught at McGill. In an interview with The Daily, English Professor Brian Trehearne said, “Richler’s works have been dropping out of McGill course syllabi. … One possible problem is the wealth of [Canadian] authors from the 1950s.”

When asked about the influence that the release of the film Barney’s Version and the possible street renaming would have, Trehearne said that “popular approval of certain authors doesn’t necessarily lead to their work being taught in an academic setting.”

Trehearne added that “another part of people’s unawareness of Richler is that Canadian authors don’t receive the recognition they deserve. … One goes to London or Boston and one is much more aware of the literary figures who used to be there”.

The petition remains open for everyone to submit their signatures and ideas. When The Daily went to print, the petition had collected 647 signatures.

issue and her appointment of a Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) in 2003 were meant to redress these concerns.

“We’ve increased our total revenues year after year for the better part of the last decade…there’s no question but that the overall investment in those domains [undergraduate life] has gone up,” she said.

Guy Mark Lifshitz, U4 Computer Science student and Mobilization McGill member, asked “why decisions regarding the Architecture Café [were] done in closed session,” referring to the confidential portions of Board of Governor’s meetings.

“Many of the decisions taken by the University develop on a multiyear basis – and the implementation of these decisions also happens on a multi-year basis,” Munroe-Blum replied. “Given the fact that student leadership changes every year, those who are involved are often not here when [decisions] are implemented.”

“One of the major goals of [Mendelson’s] working group is to understand how we can consult [in] ways that will have people who are affected [be] informed and engaged in the decision-making process,” she continued.

She maintained, however, that

“Tuition hikes are not a viable solution to student problems.”

Louis-Phillipe Savoie FEUQ President

dent Louis-Philippe Savoie told The Daily in French. “They put forward propositions that are regressive and that go against what made Quebec strong in the last forty years.”

“It was evident to us that we could not leave the public dialogue open so that people would only hear one point of view, only one way of seeing the future of Quebec society,” said Carbonneau.

The provincial budget reduced spending on social services in order to help remedy Quebec’s budget deficit. The Alliance believes that

cuts to education spending will not solve this problem, and may potentially exacerbate it.

The Alliance is planning to organize several events to promote their message in the following months. In December, it will hold a meeting to bring together different actors from the educational sector, though plans are still being hammered out.

“It’s certain that at that moment there will be a student mobilization to bring forward the message that tuition hikes are not a viable solution for solving the problems of students,” said Savoie.

there would always be closed sessions of the Board, to “to protect confidentiality, to deal with issues of competitiveness on real estate and other things.”

Heather Munroe-Blum repeatedly said that she was hearing of cuts in more localized areas for the first time – mainly grad student research space and employment as well as recent cuts to tier-two and tier-three sports teams.

Emily Essert, PhD 5 in English, said that she works in a department of “have and have-nots.”

“Those who have obtained RA-ships have study space, those who don’t may not...I got an email yesterday – when we go to teach, there may or may not be TA-ships available,” she said.

Munroe-Blum responded by saying, “We have narrowed the gap in support for our graduate students ...but there is still a gap – we are looking to bridge it through philanthropy, and the majority of our campaign has gone to support students with a very special focus on providing financial aid and fellowships for our students.”

Joseph Giardini, U3 Computer Science, expressed his displeasure with a lack of “promised” followup on the bike forum held last month. Munroe-Blum deferred to

Vice-Principal (University Services) Jim Nicell, who said that it wasn’t his understanding that there was a commitment to follow-up, but that there would be more “info sharing.”

“We’re working hard to eliminate those on the margins that don’t comply [with the ban on campus biking]…there’s not an appetite for going back on cars or bikes,” said Munroe-Blum.

In the wake of the Town Hall, SSMU VP University Affairs Josh Abaki, VP External Myriam Zaidi, President Zach Newburgh, and Deputy Provost Morton Mendelson met informally yesterday. They agreed that SSMU and the administration should work together on three issues. The issues, according to Zaidi, including Bill 100, government funding of universities, and government-sponsored financial aid to students.

“Ultimately the message at the meeting today is that we should be bringing the entire community together to lobby the government, rather than doing so in factions,” said Newburgh.

“We are in the process of developing an approach with the principal, and we sowed the seeds for this kind of partnership especially at today’s meeting,” he said.

“I am not a crook.”

—Richard Nixon Didn’t believe him? Write for News. news@mcgilldaily.com

News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

News

5

Israeli soldiers on campus Activists deem it recruitment, others disagree

isn’t an academic space. It’s abusing academic space – using space simply to further an ideological aim, which is inappropriate. They came to talk about their experience as soldiers: I have a right to ask about aspects of their military service that I am curious about,” Shapell said.

“They weren’t propagandists, throwing this staunch Zionist line,” Fusco said. “I don’t think it was recruitment as much as it was positive PR for Birthright.”

Josh Pepin, Director of the Bronfman Israel Experience Centre, said the soldiers were “there for educational reasons, not for political reasons.”

Pepin went on to say that Israeli soldiers are not allowed to discuss politics in public events.

Pepin emphasized that the soldiers are “normal 18 to 20-year -olds with different lives,” referring to Israel’s policy of conscripting all 18-year-old non-Arab citizens into the military.

Shapell disagreed: “There are students here [at McGill] who are from the West Bank,” he said. “I think for Palestinian students the presence of IDF soldiers is a scary thing.”

“I think the administration has responsibility if military personnel are going to be on campus to make it as academic as possible and as open and unintimidating as possible,” Shapell continued. “Administration should be cognizant of when military will be on campus.”

Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson said in an email to The Daily that he was not aware that IDF soldiers were on campus. “I don’t know why they would need approval for what seems to have been a meeting of their group in space in their department,” Mendelson wrote. “McGill does not ban members of the military from campus.”

“The University staunchly upholds freedom of expression on campus within the bounds of the law,” he continued.

Fusco echoed Mendelson’s assessment of free speech on campus, saying, “It’s totally appropriate to have Israeli soldiers on campus to speak. … It’s important to talk to people like that from a different perspective regardless of how worked up people get about the political issue.”

He added, however, that the collaboration with Birthright was problematic.

“I wouldn’t co-sponsor with Birthright or an organization like that again,” he said. “I would want to do it myself, in that it’s a purely academic, objective debate.”

Government was slow to make changes to a flawed piece of legislation should not be reason to penalize veterans who have basically suffered in silence until now.” He also expressed skepticism about the changes being any more than a tweaking of existing benefits, rather than reevaluation of the charter and its effects.

Stogran is also concerned about the existence, unbeknownst to the public, of different classes of veterans. The VAC divides veterans into two separate groups: Traditional and Canadian Forces (CF). Traditional veterans are those who fought in the second World War and the Korean War, while CF veterans are those that have fought in every war since. Stogran pointed out on his blog that certain services and facilities are only accessible to Traditional veterans, while the “eligibility criteria are so restrictive for CF veterans that it makes the numbers of those who receive [long term care] almost negligible.”

This is precisely the case of Ste. Anne’s Hospital. Because access to the hospital is restricted to Traditional veterans, there will

soon no longer be a need for it to be a “veterans” hospital, given the scarcity of surviving Traditional veterans. Meanwhile, there is a fear that injured soldiers returning from Afghanistan and future missions will have to compete for beds with the civilian population, and be treated in facilities where the specificities of military injuries are poorly understood.

Given that Quebec has been struggling to provide effective health services to its general population, there are persistent fears in veteran communities about the transfer of the hospital from federal to provincial jurisdiction.

Corporal Matt Ramsey of Montreal’s Black Watch Regiment – recently returned from his first tour in Kandahar, Afghanistan – said that “the concern…is that the provincial government isn’t going to care as much.”

Ramsey also added, however, that “none of this particularly matters because anybody who is a veteran of any war other than World War II [and the Korean war] isn’t eligible anyways.”

Erin Hudson The McGill Daily

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n November 4, the Jewish Studies Student Association (JSSA), along with the Bronfman Israel Experience Centre, commonly known as Birthright, hosted a pizza lunch and discussion with three IDF soldiers in the Jewish Studies building. During the event, protesters gathered outside to demonstrate against the presence of Israeli military personnel.

Joseph Shapell, a member of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), explained that SPHR had seen the event advertised and individual members of SPHR had decided to protest the event. “[We were protesting] on the principle of having military personnel on campus…I think a campus has to be a safe, secure environment for students,” Shapell said.

JSSA President Peter Fusco was surprised by the event’s high attendance and by the ensuing protest and interest among students. “Our events usually draw seven to eight people, and usually for the free food,” Fusco said. “Way more people showed up than I thought would.”

Fusco explained that the JSSA did not organize the event and that an event with IDF soldiers was “unprecedented” for the JSSA. Fusco said he was contacted through Eric Kaplan, Chair of the Jewish Studies Department, who was himself approached by Birthright.

“In reality it was just me sending

Activists took issue with the presence of the IDF on campus. out an email. I didn’t organize it…

I just promoted it…it wasn’t really our event. We shy away from those kind of…loaded political issues,” Fusco said.

Fusco explained that the JSSA tries to be aware of their role as an academic student association: “[The JSSA is] a student organization that represents an academic department at McGill which is obviously supposed to be neutral, apolitical, objective as best it can, because it’s Jewish studies not a Jewish organization. … It’s not for Jewish students, it’s for people who want to study Jewish culture, history, and religion,” Fusco said.

“I think [protesters] found it inappropriate that a non-academic event involving a Zionist organization, which is what Birthright is… was on campus and that it was sponsored by a student group that was supposed to be academically oriented,” Fusco said about the JSSA’s involvement in the event.

Shapell attended the event and

listened to the soldiers’ talk. The soldiers spoke at intervals about their lives and then took time to answer questions. Shapell said that “things went downhill very quickly.”

Shapell described the reaction of others at the event, saying that people criticized those who vocally disagreed with the soldiers. According to Shapell, a student in the audience told him to “be respectful and keep quiet” after Shapell questioned a soldier on civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip.

Fusco’s view of events was different: “It seemed to me from my perspective that it was a very honest, open type of dialogue with these guys… They were speaking honestly about their lives, how they grew up, and what position they put themselves into or [had] been presented with. They seemed to me down to earth” Fusco said. “[The soldiers] have to be willing to take questions form all sides.

If there isn’t room for that then it

Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily

Vets protest benefit troubles Hospital management and categorization of care upsets Stefan Hnatiuk News Writer

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his year, as Canadians from all walks of life pay tribute to Canada’s fallen soldiers, some veterans and their families are facing uncertainty about what the future holds in store for them.

On Saturday, roughly eighty veterans and their supporters gathered in front of Bloc Québécois MP Josée Beaudin’s St. Lambert office as part of the Veterans National Day of Protest. They were protesting changes to veteran pensions and disability benefits prescribed by the New Veterans Charter.

The veterans also opposed the transfer of Ste. Anne’s Hospital – a facility operated by the federal government to exclusively treat and rehabilitate veterans – from the federal government to the provincial government. Their fear is that both these measures could lead to a deterioration of veterans’ quality of life.

The New Veterans Charter was adopted in 2006 and changed how

various benefits – like pensions and disability – are paid. Pierre Allard, Director of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Service Bureau, told The Daily that the legion supports the charter, but recognizes certain problems with it.

In June 2009, the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group (NVCAG) – of which Allard is a member – released a report entitled “Honouring our Commitments to Veterans and their Families.”

Allard says that the report should be regarded as the “blueprint” for treatment of veterans.

The report emphasizes the nature of the charter as a “living” document, saying that “the spirit and intent of the New Veterans Charter is right,” but that “there are still gaps in services.”

The report points out that Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC) does not cover the cost of bereavement services for fallen soldiers, and that only four Permanent Impairment Allowances had been awarded as of January 2009, despite 149 veterans being deemed “totally and permanently incapacitated” as of October 2008. The VAC website describes

the benefit as a monthly taxable allowance payable to soldiers suffering from lost job opportunities due to service-related impairments In spite of these flaws, Allard did not waver in his support for the charter, saying that it is an effective rehabilitation support tool, and that it “encourages ability rather than disability.” He remained confident that the recommendations made

by NVCAG to address the problems would be heeded.

Former VAC Ombudsman Pat Stogran, whose five-year term as VAC Ombudsman came to a controversial end yesterday after his appointment was not renewed, has been less forgiving. While accepting the New Veterans Charter as a blueprint for veteran treatment, he pointed out that it was roughly five years ago that the charter was adopted, and stressed that the recommended changes were long overdue.

Stogran wrote in a September 24 blog post that the changes to the charter should be “timely, comprehensive, transparent and retroactive.”

He added that “the fact that the

6

News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

The Gaza flotilla raid, first hand E wa Jasiewicz is a BritishPolish activist, a coordinator with the Free Gaza Movement, and a member of the editorial collective of Le Monde Diplomatique’s Polish edition. She was in the Gaza Strip throughout the conflict there in January of 2009. Last May, she rode on the Challenger 1, one of the six boats that attempted to break the siege of Gaza before they were apprehended in international waters by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Nine Turkish nationals were killed by the IDF soldiers aboard another of the boats, the Mavi Marmara. Gaza has been blockaded by Egyptian and Israeli forces since Hamas took control of the Strip in June 2007. The full transcript of this interview can be found at mcgilldaily.com.

The Mcgill Daily: How did you get involved in Palestine solidarity activism?

Ewa Jasiewicz: I first got involved through the [International Solidarity Movement] in 2003, because of friends of mine who had been out to Palestine. ... I didn’t know that much about Palestine when I went there. This was just about six months after [Operation] Defensive Shield, so there were still a lot of incursions and curfews and, you know, once you see what the Israel army and state is doing to the Palestinian people – you see people’s homes destroyed, blown up, people killed, people injured and just daily violence – you can’t really forget it, can you? You can’t not be active around it because it becomes personal.

MD: What were the objectives of the flotilla that was attacked in May? EJ: The objective primarily was

to break the siege. The carrying of humanitarian goods was for us symbolic. ... It did physically ease the blockade because the Rafah crossing [between Egypt and Palestiniancontrolled Rafah] is now open.

Okay, still not far enough, and Egypt is still a co-oppressor in the siege, but thousands of people were able to cross who wouldn’t have been able to cross before. That’s one measure of success. But it was also the boost it gave to the [Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)] movement because it shifted many people into supporting the BDS tactic who before had maybe been on the fence. So many artists, musical acts cancelled their acts afterwards – [like] the Gorillaz and the Pixies.

And then of course the United Nations fact-finding mission report just shows you again how Israel has violated international law. But it is a success to have brought in effectively another country. The government of Turkey reacted strongly and demanded a NATO emergency meeting and got it and really diplomatically put the spotlight on condemning Israel. And that’s a really positive thing and the whole of Turkey was really behind that. And it has really changed the relationship between those two countries.

MD: Israel has claimed that some of the members of the flotilla are linked to Al-Qaeda and that IHH [The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid, a Turkish NGO] is also linked to Al-Qaeda.

EJ: This is just absolute bullshit.

Because if Israel really believed that there’s no way they would have let everybody go and released everybody. ... They didn’t do that because it’s not true.

MD: Can you describe the flotilla raid?

EJ: The flotilla raid began in the early hours of the morning while it was still dark. That was a political decision by the Israeli navy, because they wanted to use the darkness to terrorize us and also to hide the actions of their soldiers. ... So they continued trailing us and we were outrunning them for a while, maybe half an hour. We did hear shooting [from the Marmara], that was really horrible, but we were carrying on and then our captain decided to stop because he was feeling like they were going to cut us off and ram us and he didn’t want that. So he cut the engine and then they came closer and closer and then they just opened fire on the boat with plastic projectiles, smoke bombs. And they hit my friend in the face and she had blood all over her face and they wouldn’t let me treat her, they wouldn’t let anyone get to her, they were beating [my friend] Huwaida, and smashed the glass door open on the inside of the boat, they tasered the Sydney Morning Herald journalist, they cuffed me, they cuffed Huwaida, they put a hood on Huwaida and [another friend] Anna, they threatened to taser us, they were really brutal, they stomped on my face and then they took us into custody. ... When it came to us being deported we kept saying that we wanted to see our council or our lawyer, that we didn’t want to leave, that we didn’t agree to this deportation, and they were just physically very aggressive with us and forced us out. They were beating people with truncheons and throwing chairs, and it was really horrible.

MD: And that’s when you were

Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily

Jasiewicz was on the flotilla attacked by the IDF. in detention?

EJ: Yes, we were still in detention.

MD: Were any of your fellow activists carrying weapons?

EJ: No, there were no weapons.

Every single boat was searched. there were absolutely no weapons aboard any of the boats. That’s why people on the Marmara had to blowtorch some of the railings to make primitive weapons, to make

crowbars, because they didn’t have normal weapons. They did have the right to defend themselves. You even have the right to defend yourself using firearms if you’re attacked at sea [in international waters].

MD: Do you feel that Hamas needs to be engaged diplomatically?

EJ: Without a doubt.

—Compiled by Niko Block

The cold winter of a war resister Conservative immigration policy complicates army deserters’ refugee claims

M

ichelle Robidoux, an organizer with the War Resistors Support Campaign, advocates for U.S. army deserters who seek asylum in Canada. Their claims to refugee status have been complicated

by Operational Bulletin 202, a federal immigration policy which outlines that those who have committed a serious offense are ineligible for admission: desertion is a serious offense under Canadian and American law and carries a lifetime sentence in Canada.

The McGill Daily: Could you tell me me a little bit about how the group was initially formed?

Michelle Robidoux: The War Resistors Support Campaign began in 2004 when the first U.S. soldier who refused to fight in Iraq came to Canada, seeking asylum. Since then, we have helped about fifty U.S. military personnel who refuse to deploy to Iraq.

MD: Were the conditions different in 2004 than 2008 because of Operational Bulletin 202?

MR: Yes they were, in the sense that it was still very new. In 2004 there were only a handful of war resistors who came here. There was Jeremy Hinzman and a few others. Subsequent to 2005 and 2006, many more came. It was partly the conduct of the war, it was partly more and more people found out that Canada had a history of allowing conscientious objectors to stay here. Since then, of course, the Conservatives were elected, and they are very hostile to allowing war resistors to stay. It wasn’t clear under the Liberal government where they would go with it, because there weren’t so many cases then. We began lobbying the Liberals in 2004 and 2005, and it’s a slow process of course. By the time we were getting anywhere, the Conservatives had won the election.

MD: Are the claims processed

under immigration or refugee status because it’s for humanitarian reasons?

MR: The humanitarian and compassionate consideration is apart from the refugee process.

So it’s a way that the Minister of Immigration can intervene to say that in a given situation – perhaps where someone falls short of being recognized as a refugee – they can still for compassionate reasons be allowed to stay in Canada and to get permanent resident status, because the situation fits other criteria than the refugee criteria.

In the meantime, what they’ve done is apply to be considered on a humanitarian basis, because for many of them they’ve been here four or five years, they have families here, they have children. They’ve married Canadian spouses in some cases. So it’s at the discretion of the Minister of Immigration in many cases where they let people stay.

Because it would be a hardship for their children, and they are sup-

posed to consider the best interest of the child in these cases.

MD: So they’re treated differently than deserters from other countries? What is the normal procedure?

MR: I don’t think there is [a normal procedure]. Every case should be examined on its merits, case by case. There are many other cases of people who have deserted their countries’ militaries who have been accepted as refugees and have been given humanitarian consideration and been allowed to stay. Whether it’s the Russian soldiers who deserted the Afghanistan war in the 1980s who were welcomed as refugees, or in the case of a solider in Kuwait who refused to participate. There have been a number of cases of people who have left their country’s military because they objected to the conduct of a war, of a conflict. There was no question that they should be singled out because they have committed the crime

of desertion. That’s what Jason Kenney has said, that “desertion is a crime in the United States, and these people are criminals.” The irony of this Operational Bulletin at the time when we have 400,000 thousand documents released in the Wikileaks that show very clearly the whole conduct of the war has been in violation of every conceivable international law, the Geneva Conventions, you name it.

The U.S. launched an illegal war of aggression, but the one that Jason Kenney sees as criminals are the soldiers who refuse to participate.

For most fair-minded people, there is a sense that this is wrong. To treat these individuals who have taken a great risk by leaving the military, by leaving the country, their families, everything, and seeking asylum, there’s something wrong here with the Canadian government’s policy.

—compiled by Emma Ailinn Hautecœur

Commentary

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

7

Whose security?

Or, why you should go protest the G20 this Friday All we want, baby, is everything Sam Neylon sam.neylon@mcgilldaily.com

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Edna Chan for The McGill Daily

’m going to start with some theory, so just hold on – concrete examples are coming.

In the spirit of this special War issue, I’m going to start off with Foucault’s notion of security – or rather, the “techniques of security” he talks about in his lecture series Security, Territory, Population.

Unlike Foucault’s disciplinary institutions (the prison, the school, the barracks), apparatuses of security are powers that let things happen.

They create a space for processes of circulation – circulation of goods, ideas, people. “It was a matter of organizing circulation, eliminating its dangerous elements, making a division between good and bad circulation, and maximizing the good circulation by diminishing the bad,” he said.

Foucault isn’t trying to say this way of thinking about the world is wrong. What he’s trying to do, and why this is useful, is to see the logic by which power operates today – for better or worse. So although we could argue with this positioning of circulation above all else, right now I want to look at how this logic plays out... ...and that brings us to the G20 summit going on right now in Seoul, South Korea.

What we have here are twenty or so nation-states coming together over one common goal – the economy, i.e., circulation.

And this is where power comes in – not in the form of orders from on high, but from the management of circulation – flows for some, trickle for others, walls for many.

Financial deregulation and bailouts for some, deep cuts to public programs for others, border controls and repression for many.

Another example from the lectures: Foucault looks at the idea of “risk” as developed around smallpox inoculation in the 18th century.

You identify different risk groups: the young, the healthy, the elderly – and treat them differently.

So security acts differently on these different “risk groups.” When the G20 in Toronto decided that all these twenty states had to halve their deficits by 2013, they weren’t making orders from the throne, but rather creating a “milieu” where certain processes are set in motion, and where the “old armatures of law and discipline” are going to have to be remobilized in certain ways – and toward certain desired economic effects.

They don’t have to say, “Destroy public services, use riot police to put down the inevitable dissent.”

They just say “deficit” – and who can argue with that economic logic?

It seems straightforward, but it puts into motion all those forces that currently manage inequalities in power and income.

So even if the policies encouraged by institutions like the G20 ostensibly act only on economic processes, the economic and social pressures they unleash remobilize and reinforce the sorts of policing mechanisms – homophobia, sexism, racism, ableism, et cetera

– which constantly divide us into manageable “risk groups.”

People in one part of the world may be losing their means of sub-

sistence, having their water privatized, their homes destroyed, their land expropriated, but for us here at McGill, we just get corporate food,

mistreated and exploited artists in order to sell the most albums possible.

But the internet and free music sharing changed all this. Within the past ten years, we’ve seen the incredible proliferation of smaller indie bands and niche music scenes which were silenced in the name of profits in years past.

Today, because of free music sharing, we can follow bands we actually enjoy for their artistic merits, rather than be forced into one of Billboard’s ten preselected moneymaking genres.

Thanks to pioneering programs like LimeWire, we live in a different world: today we can appreci-

ate music directly from its source, without the money-making paws of record company middlemen impoverishing artists and consumers alike, while restricting choice and musical expression. But if these corporations had their way, they would eliminate this possibility altogether and force us back into their moneymaking mould, all the while claiming to do it in the interest of their artists’ livelihood.

Students and lovers of music should be wary of moves like this.

LimeWire may have been easy pickings, but torrents are next on the list of these corporations. They seek to dominate the dissemination of music like they once did. Don’t be

tuition increases, and more and more “competition” to secure dwindling funds and space. The same logic and institutions justify both – increase circulation here, shift it there, cut it off somewhere else But to bring it back – it’s not the logic of security we’re fighting, but the priorities behind it, the desired effects that have been chosen for us.

This system is not some diabolical Illuminati spider web shit – it’s a creaky machine with lots of cogs that work together intermittently, without actually agreeing on much.

This is where you come in.

If you look at the news, students in London yesterday weren’t taking this sitting down – and they’re following the huge protests worldwide against misplaced priorities in Puerto Rico, France, California, Japan, Greece, Ireland, and the truly global convergences that occur at international summits like the WTO and the G20. This latest wave of protests joins those in developing countries that were subject in the past thirty years to the same austerity measures we’re seeing now – but that time, they were called “structural adjustment programs,” and administered by the IMF and the World Bank.

I think as students and citizens and people, we should see our role in this system, and go out and protest the G20 this Friday. There will be a demonstration from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Cabot Square (corner of Atwater and Ste. Catherine) in solidarity with those in South Korea. It should be fun, and will be familyfriendly. !

RIP LimeWire Music sharing software’s demise a blow to freedom Wyatt L. B. N.-Weber Hyde Park

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n October 26, we saw the tragic passing of our beloved LimeWire: a service for the less torrent-savvy among us, LimeWire represented a large portion of the peer-to-peer market.

LimeWire was served a court injunction by the Record Industry Association of America, a trust representing a huge proportion of record labels and distributors in the United States that tries to maintain a monopoly on the North American music scene.

The death of LimeWire repre-

sents yet another attempt by corporate interest to control and stem the flow of free information sharing: the sharing of art in the form of music. This has been going on since the infamous Napster shutdown in the late nineties.

For most of human history, music has been freely disseminated among the population in popular and aristocratic forms with only the listener as judge. But since the invention of recording technology in the early twentieth century, record companies have sought to maintain control over who and what we hear, not to mention how much we pay. This has made them incredibly rich, while they have

!∀##∀∃%&∋()∗!!+,∗!−./0∋

fooled by their sweet-talk about artists’ rights: all these companies want is to force us all back into the bind we’ve managed to break out of.

I call all you lovers of music to arms: download, and download proudly; show these companies that we love l’art pour l’art, and not for profit! The internet should be our great equalizer – a step not unlike that of the printing press.

Do not let this money-worshipping clergy try to block our access to artistic expression and free dissemination of music!

Wyatt N.-Weber is a U0 Arts student. You can reach him at wyatt. negrini@mail.mcgill.ca.

8

Commentary

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

McGill’s new equity policy must be passed SSMU needs a framework for accessibility Emily Clare and Lynsey Grosfield Hyde Park

I

Olivia Messer | The McGill Daily

n 1989, SSMU declared itself an “anti-oppressive organization,” and has from that point on consistently been a student-driven pioneer in the field of equity. This commitment is couched in the belief that educational institutions must be open to every individual, regardless of their history or background. As such, it is imperative that the new equity policy be passed at the next meeting of Council. It will enable SSMU to better fulfill its mandate to cultivate an environment free from harassment and discrimination.

It is vital to locate equity at SSMU in the greater McGill context.

It was only in 1994 that the administration created the Joint SenateBoard Committee on Equity, and only in 2004 that an interim Policy on Harassment was drafted and ultimately passed. SSMU is a leader not only for our students, but for the rest of McGill. This should be reflected in the documents that govern our student life. Redefining “equity” must continue as our social and political context changes.

The last twenty years have been a significant period of reevaluation for our understanding of equity.

Based on these reflections, we have produced a new manifestation of the equity policy. The 1989 policy

was a paragraph-long document that took a stance against discrimination and harassment. Today, this living document has grown into a fully fleshed-out policy outlining clear protocol to address policy violations while understanding

that each case must be examined with individual consideration and respect. Although, this new policy isn’t a radical change from previous years, it signals a new commitment to ensuring continuity between years and an increased accessibil-

If you’re pregnant and don’t want an abortion, there could be help Hyde Park

A

s a young woman in her early twenties, I sometimes find myself thinking about having my own kids in the future.

I talked to my mom about it on the phone the other day, and being the typical parent, she started listing off all the practical considerations that I need to think about before I made a decision like this. Would I be able to financially support the child? Would I have enough time to give them the attention that they need? Do I know people in my social network who would be willing to provide me with resources and care when I needed it? I gave my standard “don’t worry, Mom” answer and hung up.

I did think about it though. I thought about friends and acquaintances who were mothers and complained about how many diapers and baby wipes they had to go through, how little sleep they got, and how mentally draining it could get to be a new parent. It’s highly uncommon to hear a new mother say, “Oh yeah, it’s a piece

of cake.” Yet there are mothers all around us, some young, some old, and some who take on the difficult task of being both mom and student and who are studying on our campus. Then there are those moms who unexpectedly find themselves in a crisis pregnancy.

These women are suddenly faced with all of the questions that my own mother mentioned, and so many more – only they have less than nine months to try and figure it all out.

As most people would probably do in a time of confusion and uncertainty, these women could turn to their families and those around them for support or advice.

It is wonderful if her family and peers are willing to care for her and will do the same for her baby, but unfortunately, this is not always the case. In fact, instead of receiving support, some women are told that there’s one “easy” option to settle her “problem,” and it’s abortion. In some cases, she is told by her family, friends, and even the father of the child that it is her only option.

The most vulnerable and dependent people in this situation are the mother and the child who depends

Emily Clare, U4 Political Science major and Race and Ethnic Studies minor, is SSMU’s equity commissioner. Email her at equity.com@ ssmu.mcgill.ca.

Lynsey Grosfield, U2 Anthropology and Women’s Studies (Joint Honours), is SSMU’s Social Justice Days coordinator. Write to her at sjd@ssmu.mcgill.ca.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Another choice Mary Yang

ity for students. The new policy is well-suited for the moment, but it too should continuously be reevaluated and re-adapted to best suit the future needs of the student body.

The new equity policy is slated to be voted on at the next Council

meeting, after two weeks of postponement due to procedural misconduct. This document is a proactive step toward challenging our understanding of interpersonal and systemic relations. The new equity policy focuses on asserting a clear understanding of what it means to be an equitable organization and, consequently, the responsibilities that SSMU has to its constituents. By creating a framework for SSMU Clubs and Services, it allows for students to maximize club accessibility and inclusiveness. It is the responsibility of councillors to know the structure within which they work and to actively facilitate the passing of policies which enhance students’ access to an inclusive environment.

The policy must be passed. We owe it to ourselves, to our history, and to our future as students at McGill. We encourage all students to come to the upcoming student council meeting on Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 6 p.m. Make sure your voice is heard!

“

on her. Who does she turn to when she is told she has no other option?

Women deserve better than abortion. A pregnant woman deserves to be told that she is loved and the child she carries is deserving of that love also. She has the right to keep her child and nurture them, as a woman and as a mother.

Fortunately, for those who do not have the support and resources that they need, there are crisis pregnancy centres, which work toward providing them with some of these necessities.

Choose Life is holding a diaper drive next week from November 15 to 19. The goal of our diaper drive is to support those women who have chosen to be mothers and need our help. Some crisis pregnancy centres have expressed their need for diapers, baby toys, and cradles for these mothers. We will also be taking donations which will be put specifically toward purchasing these items. We invite you to help us ensure no mom ever feels like abortion is her only option.

Mary Yang, U3 Psychology, is Choose Life’s Pregnancy Support Committee co-chair.

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Health&Education

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

9

Sex, risk, and the soldier Two studies explore the sexual attitudes and decisions of military personnel Erin O'Callaghan The McGill Daily

T

raditionally all-boys clubs, militaries today are open to both men and women. In Canada, women now make up over 15 per cent of the armed forces.

Despite equal access and gender integration into the military, the normalcy of sexually risky behaviour still persists today. Academic studies have found army personnel to engage in unsafe sexual practices, particularly sex without condoms, despite awareness of the possibility of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STI).

Paul Whitehead, a professor of sociology at the University of Western Ontario, helped write “Explaining Unsafe Sexual Behaviour: Cultural Definitions and Health in the Military,” a 1999 study on sexual identity and health in the Canadian military. The study concluded that condom use in the military was very consistent when engaging in sexual relations with a sex worker, but inconsistent with people not seen as sex workers.

“Condoms are, among the military people I spoke with, associated with sex with a prostitute and so whenever they had sex with a prostitute they always used condoms,” explained Whitehead in a phone interview with The Daily. “It was when they had sex with people they didn’t consider to be prostitutes, when there was affect in the relationship, that condom use was inconsistent.”

Whitehead noted in his study that educational programs have sought to increase awareness of the danger of AIDS and the need for safe sex. However, these programs primarily focus on making personnel aware of the high rates of HIV infection among sex workers in certain countries and ports as well as encouraging condom use as a protection against STI infection.

Free condoms, risky choices The military also emphasizes the need for sexual health education. “Safer sex should be discussed and promoted during basic recruit training; pre-deployment health briefings; health briefings for leisure travel…discussion with a member believed to be at a higher risk of STI; and any other collective general health briefings,” wrote a Canadian Forces (CF) Health Services spokesperson in an email.

She added that, “condoms are to be readily available, without

Olivia Messer | The McGill Daily

needing to ask a health care professional,” and that, “the CF Health Services is one of the few health jurisdictions that provides, at public expense, the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) to its female members of applicable age (up to 26 years).” Yet despite the publicized risks and resources offered, military personnel were found to still engage in unsafe sexual behaviour.

Even though condoms are available to members of the Canadian military, Whitehead posited that service members often consciously chose not to use them when engaging in sexual relations with someone who they did not see as a sex worker, for example a partner with whom they have an emotional relationship.

“Condoms make it possible to have casual sexual relationships – then the condoms disappear when [affection] comes in [to the relationship],” Whitehead explained. “But the point is that it happens without

people getting tested. [They] don’t get tested unless they think they’ve contracted something.”

New generation, new risks Although the army has an anecdotal history of being a sexually permissive environment, attitudes have changed gradually through the generations.

“I spoke with older military personnel, not those that I interviewed, and they told me about the practice of buying one’s way out of a condom, i.e. offering more money [to a sex worker] for sex without a condom,” said Whitehead. “When I mentioned this to the young guys [I was interviewing] they couldn’t believe that anyone would think of doing that.” In this instance it is obvious that there has been a generational shift in how men in the army view sex with sex workers. However, practicing safe sex with long-term sexual partners is still something

Whitehead believes needs to be encouraged.

The CF Health Services did not care to speculate on the issue of whether the army is a sexually permissive environment. “We are not aware of any particular scientific evidence that members of the Canadian Forces are more or less likely to engage in and/or accept sexually risky behaviour than a comparison civilian group with similar characteristics, e.g. age, sex, education, income,” the spokesperson continued. “To us the more important issue is to try, through the available modalities, to reduce the risk for transmission of STIs among CF members and their sexual partners.”

Looking outwards In other countries, military attitudes toward safe sex differ significantly from those in Canada. In the Caribbean armies sociologist Michael Anastario studies, many

soldiers want to practice safer sex, but are limited by material shortages. “There is huge interest in the field for having condoms, [but developing Caribbean countries] might be experiencing a shortage [of condoms] and that affects the military,” Anastario explained.

“There is a lack of resource and personnel, which are problems in any developing country.”

Anastario is the Director of Research and Evaluation at Cicatelli Associates, a non-profit American educational organization.

His studies of Caribbean armies specifically focus on a correlation between sexually risky behaviour and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). While this correlation is still being developed statistically, Anastario strongly believes there is a distinct connection. “In [my study ‘Correlates of Sexual Risk Behavior in Sexually Active Male Military Personnel Stationed Along BorderCrossing Zones in the Dominican Republic,’ published April 2010] PTSD was prevalent, and related statistically to sexual risk behaviour,” Anastario stated in a phone interview with The Daily. “[We are] starting to find associations where people with PTSD have a different relationship with risk perception [than normal].

The more they perceive themselves at risk, the more likely they are to engage in sexually risky behaviour,” he said. This inverse reaction to risk perception may be the result of PTSD. According to Anastario, “soldiers develop PTSD and don’t see HIV as a risk anymore, [because they] could die from something else tomorrow.”

While Anastario focused solely on men in his study, he did discuss women in the military briefly, and conceded that they too engage in sexual-risk behaviour, but the mechanisms through which they engage are markedly different. “[There is] a lack of communication especially in regard to protection of reproductive rights,” explained Anastario.

“Women are not confident enough to address their partner [about safe sex]. [It is] a male decision to stop using condoms, without consulting the female partner.”

Though the problems facing both these contexts are systemic, research both new and old promises to illuminate potential solutions and suggests positive changes to attitudes toward sex – whatever the situation, sexual risk must continue to take into account the realities of permissive behavior.

See mcgilldaily.com for more content: Alexander Weisler on 48H, a collective zine project Sarah Mortimer’s interview with Dean Oliver, Director of research and exhibition at the Canadian War Museum Henry Gass’s interviews with Colin Parker, U2 Chemical Engineering ROTP student, and Thomas Deer, former Secretary of the Kahnawake Warrior’s Society

10

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

Canadian For

This map, inspired by a similar one which Globe and Mail, gives a brief overview of Cana

Cyprus Kosovo

United States/Bahrain As part of a U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, Operation Foundation maintains a team of about seven Canadian military personnel, spread between United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) headquarters in Tampa, Florida, and Bahrain. The team is responsible for gathering intelligence reports, requests for forces, and apprising USCENTCOM of Canadian activities within USCENTCOM’s area of operations.

Operation Kobold A five-member Canadian Forces team is deployed to Pristina, Kosovo, serving at the headquarters of the NATO-led Kosovo Force. Their primary activity is the management and allocation of funds and equipment donated to the Kosovo Security Force by the international community. Launched in August 2008 with an initial mandate of one year, Kobold has been extended to September 2012.

Operation Snowgoose is Can States Force in Cyprus (UNFIC region in the 1964 to help sto between Greek Cypriot and Tu then, their goal has been to m reached between the two co course of its involvement, Can personnel on the island. It now Operations staff at UNFICYP in

Sierra Leone Operation Sculpture Canada is participating in the International Military Advisory Training Team (IMATT), a multinational effort led by Britain. In Sierra Leone, IMATT is helping the Sierra Leonean government build effective and democratically accountable armed forces.

Dafur (Sudan)

Haiti Operation Hamlet began in April 2004 as part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Given the ambitous task of strengthening Haiti’s democratic institutions, protecting human rights, and reforming the Haitian justice system, Canada’s mission in Haiti has been extended four times past its initial term of six months. Currently, ten authorized Canadian personnel are working in Port-au-Prince, Haiti as part of the MINUSTAH project.

Operation Saturn is Canada’s technical military support of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The task force consists of two logistical experts and one human resources specialist who work closely under UNAMID with the Department of Foreign Affairs in Interational Trade, the International Development Agency, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to bring stability and safety to the region. The team has been at work since 2008 when The African Union Mission in Darfur merged with the UN, and reformed as AMID.

Democratic Republic of Congo Operation Crocodile Canada is contributing to the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Canada’s contingent includes ten staff officers with expertise in fields such as law, information operations, and training, divided between headquarters in Kinshasa and forward headquarters in Goma.

Sudan

Operation Safari is Canada’s military contr States Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). UNMIS wa in protecting and promoting human rights after representatives of the Government of People’s Liberation Movement signed a pea ing 50 years of civil war. In recognition of th in Darfur, the UN extended its mission in 20 Thirty Canadian personnell are currently sta ern Sudan and Khartoum as part of these c

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

11

rces abroad

h appeared recently on the website of the ada’s international military involvement today.

— Compiled by Sarah Mortimer and Henry Gass

Afghanistan

nada’s participation in the United CYP). Canada first sent forces to the op periodic outbreaks of violence urkish Cypriot communities. Since maintain the ceasefire agreement ommunities in 1974. Over the nada maintained a total of 25,000 w contributes one officer to the n Nicosia.

ribution to the United as developed to aid s in Sudan in 2005 f Sudan and the Sudan ace agreement endhe continuing conflict 007 to April 30, 2011. ationed across Southcontinued efforts.

Golan Heights Operation Gladius Canada’s contribution to the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), established in 1974 in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War, in the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria. UNDOF has a mandate to supervise the cease-fire and maintain a buffer zone between the two countries. Canada contributes two senior officers to Gladius: one as Military Assistant to the UN Commander, and another as Senior Staff Officer at UNDOF headquarters.

Operation Acciusm Canada appoints two senior Canadian Forces officers to the Military Advisory Unit (MAU) of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan under Operation Acciusm. With Lietenants from various other nations, MAU works to enhance the security capacity and confidence of forces in the region.

Operation Archer Canada’s contribution to the American-led Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The mission currently consists of about 12 senior personnel who work with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior to train and support the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police.

Operation Athena Canada’s participation in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Canadian Forces have been focused on the Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan since fall 2005. Canadian priorities – as announced in June 2008 – include building the capacity of the Afghan National Army and Police, providing humanitarian assistance, as well as enhancing the management and security of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Middle East Operation Jade Canada’s contribution to the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) – the UN’s oldest peacekeeping mission, formed in 1948 to maintain the cease-fire between the newly-formed state of Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The Canadian contingent includes seven junior officers serving in multinational UN Military Observer (UNMO) teams in the Golan Heights, southern Lebanon, and the Sinai Peninsula. UNMOs travel around their area of responsibility to monitor compliance with ceasefire agreements, and supervise troop movements. Jade has been running for 56 years, Canada’s longest overseas commitment.

Persian Gulf El Gorah, Egypt Operation Calumet Canada has a contingent of 28 Canadian Forces personnel based in El Gorah participating in the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), an independent peacekeeping operation in the Sinai Peninsula. Canadians comprise some of the more significant staff officers, including the Senior Staff Officer in Air Operations, and the Force Sergeant Major. Canada has maintained a contingent in the MFO since September 1, 1985.

Operation Saiph Canada’s participation in the international campaign to enhance maritime security in the North Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the waters around the Horn of Africa. The main objectives for Saiph include: counter-piracy, counter-terrorism, and helping the nations of the region develop their military capabilities.

Israel-Palestine In Jerusalem, 18 Canadian Force members work to promote cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and improve the security infrastructure for Palestinians living in the West Bank.

Operation Proteus has been active in the region since 2005 as part of a larger Canadian peacemaking mission in the Middle East.

Map by Victor Tangermann with Sheehan Moore | The McGill Daily

Illustrations by Olivia Messer | The McGill Daily

12

Health&Education

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010

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A McGill program researches and responds to global sites of conflict Housing Talia Gordon Health&Education Writer

A

lthough post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders since 1981, it has long remained a diagnosis restricted almost exclusively to war veterans and refugees within the North American medical context.

However in recent years, increasing attention has been focused on the mental health of civilian populations in conflict regions around the world and the potential for psychological trauma has emerged as a widespread concern. The McGill Trauma and Global Health (TGH) program was created in response to this growing concern and, since its inception in 2007, has developed a number of research and action programs in Guatemala, Nepal, Peru, and Sri Lanka. Through partnerships between McGill, the Douglas Institute â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a McGill affiliated mental health institute â&#x20AC;&#x201C;, research teams, and other stakeholders in these countries, the TGH program has contributed to the expansion of knowledge regarding trauma and has established a number of successful on-the-ground initiatives in the field of mental health.

The TGH program states as its ultimate objective, â&#x20AC;&#x153;to reduce the mental health burden of civilian populationsâ&#x20AC;? faced with adverse environmental and political conditions and to â&#x20AC;&#x153;foster the process of healing, psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery, and generate

improved mental health policies and services in the participating countries.â&#x20AC;?

Hanna Kienzler, PhD Candidate with the department of Anthropology at McGill and research assistant with the TGH program since 2007, explains that the broad objectives of the program are based on the philosophy and belief that â&#x20AC;&#x153;psychosocial reactions to violence, conflict, and other traumatic experiences are very much embedded in the social, cultural, political, and socioeconomic context and require different action.â&#x20AC;?

While the programs in each of the four countries are based on the same three-pronged model comprised of â&#x20AC;&#x153;research and documentation, capacity building, and knowledge transfer,â&#x20AC;? Kienzler emphasizes that the TGH program does not aim to create â&#x20AC;&#x153;exported guidelines,â&#x20AC;? but rather maintains that the practical application of the programs is culturally specific. This is ensured by the participation of a diverse group of researchers, doctors, nurses, psychologists, and community health workers from each of the countries in the TGH program. Further, the three-pronged program model provides extensive practical training programs, research and training scholarships, publishing opportunities for scholars from low-middle income countries, and access to otherwise restricted academic publications.

While a great deal of research occurs at the Douglas Institute in Montreal, Kienzler stresses that the most important activities happen in the participating countries.

In Peru, research and relief teams have continued to respond to the aftermath of a major earthquake in 2007, as well as to the effects of inter-ethnic conflict. In Guatemala there has been training in diagnosis and distress management for counselors working with victims of violence. Interestingly, midwives play a large role in healthcare provision in Guatemala and have been active participants in the TGH program, receiving training in the identification of and response to distress.

In Nepal, where there are many victims of torture, a pre-existing mental health program has been expanded to include a communitybased psychosocial element that focuses on the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in a wider network. Research in Sri Lanka has focused on tsunami survivors and the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response to traumatic experiences of those living in refugee camps. The research team has already published a book on mental health and well-being based on the experiences of communities affected by the tsunami and conflicts within Sri Lanka.

Through its initiatives and partnerships, the TGH program has re-imagined and expanded definitions of trauma and contributed to increased efficacy of therapeutic intervention and treatment. While PTSD is defined by a particular set of symptoms and a narrow diagnostic criteria which often â&#x20AC;&#x153;decontextualizes human experience,â&#x20AC;? as Kienzler stated, the TGH program has encouraged an integrated, holistic approach to understanding and responding to trauma which stretches beyond the medical imagination.

Defensive teaching position For one student, the pedagogical benefits of active service Lisa Routly Health&Education Writer

F

ollowing 15 years as a mechanic and welder in the Canadian Forces 51st Service Battalion, Corporal Bill Akerly decided to become a high school teacher. His time in the battalion, a non-combat unit whose role is to provide technical and logistical support to combat regiments, has given him the unique opportunity to train fellow military technicians in mechanics. In an interview with The Daily, Akerly explained that his experiences in the Army gave him the chance to see both his enjoyment of and competence in teaching ,â&#x20AC;&#x153;a good combination for a career.â&#x20AC;? In the autumn of 2009, Akerly took a leave from the Army and answered the call

of higher education at McGillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Faculty of Education.

At the end of November, while most students are preparing for finals and planning their winter vacations, Akerly, an undergraduate student, will be deployed to the Kandahar Airfield military base in Afghanistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kandahar province on a nine-month tour of support to the Canadian Forcesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; First Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regement. It is the largest francophone infantry regiment in the Canadian Army, based in Quebec City and better known among military personnel as the Van Doos â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an anglicized butchering of the French vingt-deux.

While not serving on the front lines in a combative role, Akerly will be involved in vehicle recovery missions and close support of patrol vehicles. In addition to vehicle repair and recovery, Akerly

will be mentoring and training members of the Afghan National Army in mechanics and welding as part of a new initiative by the Canadian Armed Forces to â&#x20AC;&#x153;build Afghan institutions,â&#x20AC;? according to the federal government. Akerly was offered the opportunity based on his teaching experience in the military and his current university studies. Regarding his choice to accept the role, he said the offer is â&#x20AC;&#x153;a privilege I feel lucky to have.â&#x20AC;?

Part of the appeal of this military mission to Afghanistan is the unique perspective he will gain from it, an asset Akerly believes will make him a better, more effective educator. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m pretty excited about this, as an Education student â&#x20AC;Ś Teaching involves going past your own set of values and interests to reach someone on their set of values and interests, to get them where they want to go â&#x20AC;&#x201C; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

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The motives inspiring Akerlyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continued military involvement have basis in pedagogical training. Kathleen Biggs, a former high school English teacher and expert in the field of teacher training explains: â&#x20AC;&#x153;[Bridging the gap between teacher and students] cannot be done without depth of reflection and self-awareness by the teacher. Once one is comfortable in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own skin and open to multicultural viewpoints, relating to oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s students certainly becomes easier.â&#x20AC;?

Ronald Morris, a professor in the field of values education adds that â&#x20AC;&#x153;an experience like serving in Afghanistan could provide insight and understanding that we could never achieve by seeing through

the eyes of the media or by examining the issues from a distance. I suspect that such a teacher would be a credible â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;witnessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to world events, cultural practices, and values.â&#x20AC;?

Following a difficult period of soul-searching, reflection, and what he calls â&#x20AC;&#x153;accelerated personal growth,â&#x20AC;? Akerlyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s philosophy has somewhat taken a turn toward the Zen, embracing the unknown of the path before him with an open attitude, one he hopes to impart on his future students. When it comes to the risk inherent to military involvement he says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;You prepare for it and you do the best you can when it happens. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not going to stop me â&#x20AC;ŚTo accomplish some things, you have to accept some risks.â&#x20AC;?

Feature

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

13

9%&./)∋−+∃&+.2)+∋()+%5+.2)+>.%, !∀#∃%&∋()∗+,∃−∃.∋/0+/)∀)∋/12∗+∋&3+.2)+4∃/.2+%5+&61−)∋/+)&)/(0+7+∃.+∋−−+.%%8+#−∋1)+∃&+91:∃−−;∀+4∋180∋/3∗+</∃.)∀+=)&/0+:∋∀∀

?

n the night of November 5, 1944, Peter Milner stepped off a train from Boston into the middle of a fierce Montreal snowstorm. Milner was a 25-year-old electrical engineer who had recently arrived in North America from Glasgow. He had been recruited by the British government for the exclusive purpose of building a nuclear reactor, something that had yet to be attempted.

Watching his breath crystallize in front of him and wondering why he must have thought this country would be better than wartime England, Milner headed for the newly-constructed medical school at the Université de Montréal (UdeM).

“After [I graduated] I was visited by a couple of people. One of them…was [John] Cockcroft, director of radar [technology development]. They were looking for students,” recalls Milner.

Milner spent three years bouncing around southern England working with Cockcroft, until Cockcroft was appointed to succeed French physicist Hans von Halban as head of the Montreal Laboratory.

“I was asked whether I wanted to go abroad [with Cockcroft],” remembers Milner. “We thought he was going back and forth talking about radar, but he was going back and forth talking about nuclear energy, a bomb.”

Milner had a month’s notice to decide whether he would go to Canada or not. For what was supposed to be a six-month tour, Milner had to sign confidentiality agreements and – if she wanted to accompany him to Canada – marry his girlfriend. They soon found themselves on the Queen Elizabeth, steaming across the submarine-ridden Atlantic toward America.

“This was the first time I learned about atomic energy,” says Milner. “I was sworn to secrecy.”

Milner is still in Montreal to this day, a professor emeritus of McGill’s Psychology department.

≅

ith the Allies inching their way towards Berlin, Britain’s “Tube Alloys” nuclear research project was, like most of the country, finding itself starved for both space and resources. With

America rapidly developing its own nuclear weapons under the Manhattan Project, Britain decided to ship the entire lab to Montreal, within arm’s reach of not only Canadian uranium deposits, but also American research and the “heavy water” needed to essentially turn a nuclear bomb into a nuclear reactor.

Heavy water is a colloquialism for a naturallyoccurring water molecule with one extra neutron, also known as deuterium oxide.

Heavy water was an effective “moderator” for nuclear reactors in the 1940s, slowing down the chain reaction of fissioning uranium molecules to help generate energy.

“Building an atomic bomb is ten per cent science, and the rest is industrial capacity.

They couldn’t have done it in England,” says McGill Physics professor David Hanna.

Heavy water would slow down the millions of ricocheting neutrons and gradually eke out energy from the explosion of a 15-kiloton bomb. Armed with this natural dilutant, the researchers at UdeM went to work with one extra neutron standing between them and the destruction of the Island of Montreal.

“You want the reactor to cook along, make heat. A reactor is a controlled explosion,” says Hanna.

Milner was not a physicist. Much of his work as an electrical engineer involved calculating what would happen to the reactor itself during a nuclear chain reaction. Without ever seeing a single milligram of uranium, he would calculate things like the elasticity and tensile strength of the structural parts of the reactor. The more glamorous aspects of the Montreal laboratory, he says, were left in the hands of the nucleus of European physicists in Montreal who had escaped Nazi Europe, and started Tube Alloys at the University of Cambridge, in England.

“They had some heavy water they’d carried all the way from Norway. They were the nucleus, they were pushing for…nonAmerican development of nuclear energy,” says Milner.

When these European researchers first arrived in Montreal, it was to McGill University that they turned for space. Since McGill professor Ernest Rutherford split the atom in 1917, McGill seems to have had its name permanently branded to the emerging discipline of nuclear physics.

“McGill, in a sense, became an important

and sensitive centre of military research” during the Second World War, says McGill History professor Carman Miller. “They had a reputation from World War One.” Indeed, while McGill may have developed a reputation for weapons research in its development of biological weapons decades earlier in the First World War, there is little evidence substantiating this popular connection.

It appears that 3470 Simpson is the last remaining edifice of some kind of handshake that must have taken place between the National Research Council of Canada, the British government, and McGill’s principal at the time, Frank Cyril James.

In 1943, when the Montreal lab was first established at the Simpson House, the London-born James was only four years into a 23-year appointment as school Principal.

It appears that in November 1943, with the Tube Alloys clamouring for accommodation in North America, James put his most patriotic foot forward and offered University space to a war-related British-Canadian research project he probably knew very little about.

The Allied war effort needed space, and McGill happened to have some.

“It would have been hard for him not to be at the centre of it. He was a trusted person in Ottawa, in London,” says Miller. “In war time it may have just been sufficient that the British said they needed it.”

Whatever the mansion may have looked like, it was replaced in 1976 with an eleven-story apartment building, in preparation for the Olympic Games. Nowadays, Simpson endures as a small pocket of the old “Golden Square Mile” of decadent anglophone society in downtown Montreal.

Surrounded as it is now by high-end apartments, gated houses, luxury cars, and the Trafalgar School for Girls, an old mansion hardly seems like the practical location to build one of the world’s first nuclear reactors. After three months in the cramped and ill-suited house, the scientists moved to the UdeM space.

“If the Simpson location was that temporary, it may have been more planning there than experimenting,” concludes Miller.

The laboratory was already firmly established and almost a hundred-people strong when Milner arrived from England a year later.

Thoroughly compartmentalized and racing to

stay competitive with American labs like the Metallurgical (Met) Lab at the University of Chicago, and J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico, Milner now found himself in the thick of the latest innovation in energy production.

“I could see…uranium rods around UdeM. That part of it really wasn’t my business. My was contact just incidental…if I happened to be passing by one of the labs,” says Milner.

“They made the whole of that wing radioactive in one way or another. Everything got quite hot.”

≅

hen the Allies discussed “cooperation” on the nuclear front, they meant it in the most reluctant sense of the word. The Montreal lab relied heavily on American research to guide its experimentation, but as both nuclear research and espionage activity developed in both countries, access to information became increasingly tight.

“As the bomb became more real, the Americans became cagier in who got access to the information,” explains Alex Wellerstein, a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. “America very much wanted control.”

Part of the tightening of the information flow across the border had to do with the diverging goals of the Montreal lab and its American partners. While the United States was now focusing on bomb design, the Montreal lab was researching the production of bomb materials. As 1944 turned to 1945, and the end of war loomed larger and larger, the British started to think ahead to a potential post-war monopoly on the production of nuclear energy.

“A lot of things happened as Americans saw the bomb as real; secrecy goes way up, security goes way up, people start worrying a lot about the post-war situation,” says Wellerstein.

While European economic motives may have factored into the lack of collaboration between Allied nuclear research labs, European political motives may have been a more severe problem. General Leslie Groves, Director of the American Nuclear program, certainly seemed to think so.

“Groves was notoriously paranoid about all things security related,” says Wellerstein. “He

14

Feature

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

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Clockwise from top left: Alan Nunn May, the Soviet spy exposed by the Gouzenko Affair; John Cockcroft, director of the UdeM lab; Klaus Fuchs, probably the most notorious Soviet spy to infiltrate Los Alamos; the staff of the Montreal lab, May at top-right; Ernest Rutherford, the McGill professor who was the first to split the atom in 1917; J. Robert Oppenheimer, led the nuke’s development at Los Alamos.

didn’t trust labs he didn’t have control over.”

Groves’ suspicions centred around the fact that many academics in the forties had socialist sympathies. Combined with the Soviet Union’s alliance with the U.S. and Britain and the juxtaposition of communism to German fascism, there were very few physicists working on nuclear research who thought sharing information with the Soviets was a bad idea.

“It was pretty common for academic physicists to be pretty left-leaning – far more leftleaning than security people would like,” says Wellerstein. “Many scientists in the early atomic effort had dubious backgrounds.”

Regardless of the anticipated security risks, most men like Cockcroft and Groves begrudgingly turned a blind eye to the popular political sentiments among their staff, hoping that most scientists wouldn’t actually go to the lengths of international espionage.

For the most part, they didn’t.

∆

n English nuclear physicist named Alan Nunn May had started working at the Montreal laboratory in 1943.

Two years later, he was caught leaking details of the lab’s work to the Soviet Union and in 1946 was sentenced to ten years of hard labour after being found guilty of breaking the Official Secrets Act. May quickly became the treasonous figurehead of what became known as the “Montreal spy ring.”

Desmond Morton, a professor emeritus in History at McGill, sympathizes with the infamous scientist.

“Growing up in the thirties…you’re going to be far right…or you’re going to be a communist. If you have an ounce of human sympathy, you’re going to be [a communist],” says Morton.

In what he personally described as a “contribution…to the safety of mankind,” May spent most of his two years in Montreal – Januray 1943 to September 1945 – supplying the Soviet Union with information on

Allied nuclear research. Besides smuggling out microscopic samples of uranium through his Soviet contact in Ottawa – a cipher clerk at the Russian embassy named Igor Gouzenko – May also procured documents relating to American research gleaned from his visits to the Met Lab in Chicago.

“A lot of Cambridge intellectuals in the thirties would have been open members of the Communist Party, it was very much the fashion,” says Andrew Brown, another Research Fellow in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. “[But others] never indulged in espionage.”

Brown has written extensively on May, to the point where he ends up walking me through May’s subconscious, pointing out various character traits that seem to have given May the predisposition to be a spy.

“Even though he was arrested, tried, and went to prison, he tried to throw people off the scent of what he’d done,” says Brown.

“Even his [deathbed] confession wasn’t completely accurate. He never owned up to passing on all the Montreal documents before he died.”

But how important could May have been, really, in the grand scheme of things? Klaus Fuchs, for example, was a German physicist who was standing a few feet away from Oppenheimer when America’s “organic necessity” was realized, and the atomic bomb was detonated for the very first time. At that point, Fuchs had been providing the Soviet Union with valuable information regarding the American nuclear program, and would continue to do so until he was finally discovered and tried in 1950. Thus began the Cold War. And May was just a junior physicist in a foreign research project the Americans had long since decided could not contribute to the immediate war effort, after all.

“The most difficult thing to make in an atomic weapon is to make the fissile material.

Once you have enriched uranium, it’s pretty

easy to make a bomb,” says Brown. “[Montreal] was building and operating a nuclear reactor. It was unglamorous but tremendously important [in making this fissile material]. … These were the sort of problems that May helped the Soviets get around.”

The Soviet Union tested their first atomic bomb three years after May was sentenced, in 1949. He was caught when Gouzenko defected from the Soviet Union, turning himself in to the RCMP with dozens of papers on Montreal lab research implicating May literally stuffed down his shirt – a highly-televized affair that catalyzed the Red Scare in Canada.

Brown contended that, had he been caught earlier, the Soviet nuclear program would have been set back by two or three more years.

For Milner, security was not something he could recollect with any conviction. Beyond an identification card with his picture and thumbprint on it, he couldn’t remember much heavy security around the UdeM facility.

“There was a great deal of spying going on at that time. … There were locks of a fairly serious nature,” says Milner. “I don’t think it was very stringent. They certainly didn’t manage to catch me taking photographs.”

I ask him whether he had ever met May, his compatriot who could have been leaking Milner’s research to the Soviet Union right as they stood there chatting in a UdeM hallway.

“Oh, the spy. I don’t think so. I might have,” says Milner.

∆

t 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, the American B-29 bomber the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb codenamed “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan.

Three days later, at 11:02 a.m., a second bomb codenamed “Fat Man,” after British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was dropped on Nagasaki.

“I was very surprised, very shocked. I

thought it was a terrible way of introducing this…sort of power,” says Milner.

The Montreal laboratory played little to no role in the design, production, and execution of the bomb attacks in the Second World War. Nevertheless, Milner “didn’t feel good,” and a few years after finishing up at the Montreal lab in 1946, he spent a few years at the new nuclear research site in Chalk River – the site of the first nuclear reactor ever to be built outside of America – before finally arriving at McGill. Milner also helped develop McGill’s cyclotron, a particle accelerator machine used in nuclear physics experiments, at McGill in the late forties before departing from the field of electrical engineering and atomic physics and pursuing a PhD in psychology.

“This was an American deal entirely. …

We couldn’t have made bombs…the way we were going about it, from a [nuclear] power reactor,” says Milner.

Despite McGill’s perceived affinity with this particular kind of research, history has effectively absolved both the University and the Montreal laboratory of any lingering guilt regarding the atomic bomb and its infamous debut. While the Montreal laboratory did make significant discoveries regarding the production of atomic bomb material, the lab was left behind as the Americans began producing their own material. The broader philosophical debate regarding its use, however, only seems to become more complicate with time.

“It does help to take time,” says Morton, although the professor admitted a few minutes later that “history drags you through things, and leaves you not as certain about things.”

Milner, for his part, 66 years after being offered a top-secret job at a new nuclear research laboratory in Canada, still seems torn about the violent birth of the atomic age.

“It may have been right. At the time I certainly didn’t think so.”

Culture

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

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CULTURE ESSAY

Architecture at war How the destruction of buildings during conflict threatens cultural identity Fabien Maltais-Bayda Culture Writer

I

n July 1937, Pablo Picasso’s mural Gu ernica was unveiled at the Spanish Pavillion during the Paris international exhibition.

He was moved to create the painting in response to the unjustifiably violent bombing of the Basque city of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War by the German air force.

The painting’s melancholic hues, thrashing lines, and pained expressions impact the viewer today as deeply as when it was first displayed, over seven decades ago.

While Picasso used the painting to address the unjust suffering inflicted by war on civilians, this passionate portrayal extended beyond the atrocious massacre of people, to also encompass the destruction of their homes, cultures, and national identities.

Guernica represents a reaction that has been felt countless times by innumerable people around the world: war is truly an unfair tragedy. The loss of life that accompanies war is calamitous in itself, however there are many other repercussions of war that do not garner the attention they deserve.

Alongside the death of people, war often inflicts a parallel death in their cultural legacies, through the destruction of the cultural capital that is expressed in architecture.

Architecture is what makes up the physical landscape of a city, and is therefore a vital component of its identity. Buildings define the skyline that citizens wake up to every morning and say goodnight to every evening – the face

Stacey Wilson | The McGill Daily

Though buildings were often accidentally damaged in past wars, today they are targeted as symbols of the enemy’s culture. toll, however, the bombing physically obliterated a city renowned for its beauty. Since the 17th century, Dresden had developed into a cultural capital of Europe. With this artistic flourishing came a blossoming of significant archi-

Architecture is what makes up the physical landscape of a city, and is therefore a vital component of its identity. of the city they live in. Paris would hardly be Paris without the Eiffel Tower standing loftily over the rest of the city. As a result, when architecture is destroyed in war, so too is the spirit of the city in which it once stood.

One of the most infamous examples of architectural devastation is the bombing of Dresden from February 13 to 15, 1945 by the British and American air forces during the Second World War. Because of the civilian casualties it involved, the justifiability of this event has been heavily debated.

Aside from the high civilian death

tecture, with buildings such as the Lutheran Dresdner Frauenkirche and the Catholic Hofkirche churches, and the Semperoper Opera House. All these buildings became synonymous with the aesthetic culture of Dresden, and all were severely damaged or destroyed during the fire bombings of World War II. As Frederick F. Clairmonte explains in his article “Dresden: From Death to Resurrection” the city has “with infinite pain...been largely reconstructed spanning a period of two generations.” An appeal made in 1990, known as the

“Call from Dresden,” was implemented by prominent citizens of the city in order to bring attention to the cultural crisis brought about by the destruction of architecture, in particular the obliteration of the emblematic Frauenkirche.

Numerous charitable projects were established in order to help raise funds for the long and arduous task of restoring Dresden’s iconic architecture. Despite substantial success in the efforts to re-build, it is difficult to say whether the traumatic effects of architectural destruction due to war can ever be fully overcome. As Clairmonte writes, “After more than forty years, the final word has not been said on freeing Dresden from the clutches of destruction.”

One needs not look back as far as the second World War, though, to witness the effects of architectural destruction. The war in Kosovo in the late nineties is a startlingly recent example of extensive cultural destruction in war. What makes this example even more tragic is that the art and architecture destroyed in the conflict was not mere collateral damage, but was a tangible component of the ethnic and cultural confrontation between Kosovo’s Albanian and Serbian factions. According to scholars Andrew

Herscher and András Riedlmayer who wrote on the subject in their article “Monument and Crime: The Destruction of Historic Architecture in Kosovo”, “[t]he situation in Kosovo...can be distinguished by the degree to which culture, and specifically, architecture, was – and remains – the symbolic centerpiece of Serb Nationalist claims to the province.” Similar cultural destruction has been characteristic of past ethnic and cultural conflicts in Croatia, including the devastating siege of Dubrovnik in 1991.

Many efforts have been directed at reducing the effects of war on architecture, and at salvaging what damage has been inflicted in past conflicts. The American Institute of Architects, for example, hosted an exhibition titled “The Destruction of Art and Architecture in Croatia” in order to draw attention to and memorialize the cultural losses suffered by the nation in conflict.

Certain guidelines and conventions have also been incorporated into international treaties, which are meant to prohibit combatants from specifically targeting culturally significant buildings and sites.

Organizations like the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) have also played an important part

in the protection and maintenance of architectural cultural capital.

Even in light of these initiatives, the threat of architectural devastation lingers today. In fact it may be even greater than in the past. As Kosovo and Croatia illustrate, the increasing frequency of ethnic conflict has lead to the view of cultural emblems, such as architecture, as targets in themselves. Other poignant examples of cultural targeting can be seen outside of conventional warfare, such as in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre towers in New York City.

In these confrontations, destruction of cultural legacies is a primary goal and therefore architecture is destroyed with calculated purpose, rather than as a component of collateral damage. This is a dangerous development in international relations and warfare which threatens the survival of cultural monuments globally.

For this reason it is crucial, more so today than ever, that the protection of architecture and cultural capital be made a priority in the face of violence. The loss of a nation’s citizens in war is devastating in itself, and is only compounded by the disappearance of its national identity brought on by architectural destruction.

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Culture

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

Retracing the steps of conflict War and secrets link cities in Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies Tim Gentles The McGill Daily

I

went into Incendies expecting it to be dark – it is, after all, a war film. Nothing prepared me, however, for the harrowing but masterful experience of the film, based on the acclaimed play by Lebanese-Canadian Wajdi Mouawad. The events of this Oedipal film begin with two twins, Jeanne and Simon, dealing with the aftermath of their mother’s death in Montreal. Upon reading her last will and testament they learn that their father, who they thought had been killed in the civil war in Lebanon, is still alive, and that they also have a half brother, whose existence was previously unknown to them.

While Simon reacts angrily and refuses to confront the revelation, his sister Jeanne takes off to Lebanon to explore her mother’s mysterious past. From this point, the film spirals off into the parallel narratives of Jeanne’s journey of discovery and her mother’s own past. This duality is master-

fully played upon, with a remarkable visual resemblance between Jeanne and her younger mother, and it is striking to see Jeanne trace her mother’s footsteps through the same beautiful Lebanese landscapes as she discovers shocking revelation after shocking revelation about her involvement in the Civil War. Ironically, the film was actually filmed in Jordan, and the setting is never explicitly referred to as Lebanon, but the events are very clearly based on those of the Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s and 80s.

Incendies opens in a visually striking manner that sets the tone for the rest of the film. A group of boys, who we can infer are child soldiers, are having their heads shaved in a dark building, isolated in the midst of a desolate mountainous region in Lebanon. Playing a pivotal role in the film, the landscape is depicted as craggy and hostile, scarred by burnt-out and bullet-riddled buildings, desolate and inhospitable as if it were metaphor for the war-ravaged country itself. The hate and sectarian violence that fuelled the conflict

seem irrevocably inscribed onto the landscape.

This first scene is telling in another regard. The shock the viewer feels at being confronted with children being prepared for war, and the anger in their eyes, demonstrates the futility of the situation as it was in Lebanon, where hatred was instilled in the young and the cycle of violence that this created was seemingly unbreakable. It is this relentless logic of vengeance that the film sets out to critique, while also providing an agonizing portrait of how inescapable this chain of violence can be.

Rich symbolism and recurring motifs pop up repeatedly during the film, in the most unexpected places. Even Jeanne retracing her mother’s journey through Lebanon in the mid-seventies can be seen as a symbol of the inescapable nature of the past.

The film ends with the mother’s posthumous letter finally being opened and read, where she notes that the cycle of violence has only been broken now that her children know the truth about their and her violent past. It was, of course,

Olivia Messer | The McGill Daily

her fleeing to Canada that allowed her children to escape this cycle, yet the film treats this escape with ambivalence. The picture painted of Montreal is not a particularly flattering one – grey, cold, and bureaucratic – and for the mother at least, the city never allows her to fully escape her past. For her and her children, particularly in the light of the shocking revelation that concludes Incendies, Montreal too

holds the traces of their unspeakably violent heritage.

Through these interactions between one family’s roots in Lebanon and their present lives in Montreal, the film raises questions about memory and coming to terms with the past – questions that are pertinent to Quebec as it continues to forge a renewed, multicultural identity in constant dialogue with its history.

mellon colloquium

The CCA in an expanding curatorial field 11 – 13 November 2010 Program Within the field of architecture, a renewed interest is emerging around curatorial practice, both in the schools of architecture and within architectural institutions. Curatorial activities are extending beyond the traditional realms of collections and exhibitions, into areas such as the web. With a view to establishing a new series of curatorial internships and residencies, the CCA wishes to evaluate this emerging trend and its potential role within an expanding curatorial field.

All lectures open to the public.

Admission is free but seating is limited.

For more information: www.cca.qc.ca/melloncolloquium Also streaming live at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/evenements-cca

THURSDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2010, 2:00 – 5:30 PM Welcome by Mirko Zardini, CCA Director Pedagogical orientations Eva Díaz, Pratt Institute, New York Mark Jarzombek, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge Felicity Scott, Columbia University, New York Philip Ursprung, Universität Zürich, Zurich FRIDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2010, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM Curatorial programs and practices 1 Jean-Louis Cohen, New York University, New York Kurt W. Forster, Yale University, New Haven Sylvia Lavin, University of California, Los Angeles Anthony Vidler, The Cooper Union, New York FRIDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2010, 2:00 – 5:30 PM Curatorial programs and practices 2 François Chaslin, France Culture Radio, Paris Cynthia Davidson, Anyone Corporation, New York Fabrizio Gallanti, Abitare website, Milan Pieter Martin, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis SATURDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2010, 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM Institutional perspectives Barry Bergdoll, The Museum of Modern Art, New York Ole Bouman, Nederlands Architectuurinstituut, Rotterdam Pippo Ciorra, Museo Nazionale delle arti del XXI Secolo, Rome Mirko Zardini, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal

Centre Canadien d’Architecture Canadian Centre for Architecture 1920, rue Baile, Montréal 514 939 7026

The CCA gratefully acknowledges the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Culture

The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

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Children in harm’s way Romeo Dallaire’s new book challenges the world to respond to the plight of child soldiers John Watson The McGill Daily

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here are few people in this world to whom we should really open our ears when they have something to say. Romeo Dallaire is among those few. Having been to hell and back, having faced human chaos and brutality at its purest, and having spent the last fifteen years of his life struggling to learn to bear the horror he witnessed, Dallaire has picked himself up and stands today as a humanitarian whose experiences serve as a reminder for our collective responsibility as a global community to help those in need.

Romeo Dallaire led the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. With virtually no support from the UN or any armies of the world’s developed nations, Dallaire was reduced to a bystander while more than 800,000 Hutus and Tutsis were killed. Since his return to Canada, he has suffered from depression and alcoholism as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder. In order to partially come to terms with the horrifying events that have shaped his life, Dallaire published the award-winning memoir Shake Hands with the Devil in 2003, adapted into a 2004 documentary as well as a 2007 dramatic feature of the same name.

Now, Dallaire is back and brings us a haunting truth: that child soldiers were not only prominent throughout the genocide in Rwanda, but con-

tinue to operate in great numbers in conflict-torn countries today. In his latest book, They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children, Dallaire addresses the shocking reality of the issue by drawing on personal experience as well as years of research on the issue of child soldiers. Having confronted the devil both in the form of hate-driven individuals as well as in the form of his personal psychoses, Dallaire’s mission is to spare the youth of the world from experiences like his own. Dallaire’s goals are clear: “The ultimate focus of the rest of my life is to eradicate the use of child soldiers and to eliminate even the thought of the use of children as instruments of war.”

They Fight Like Soldiers serves as both a disturbing account of how child soldiers are made, trained and used, and an action plan for not only disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating child “veterans” back into their communities, but also for preventing the further use of children as soldiers. Dallaire splits the book into two narrative forms: an objective, non-fictional documentation of his experiences and his research findings, and a fictional first-person account of a child who is kidnapped, trained as a soldier, and eventually killed in combat. Although the fictional narrative is a strong attempt to relive the experiences of a young child forced into the brutality of warfare, the most striking stories come from Dallaire’s personal experiences.

One of the most interesting elements of the book is found in an

early chapter in which Dallaire recounts his childhood growing up in Montreal and his summers spent in Quebec’s Laurentian mountains.

Here, Dallaire draws on his adventures in the woods, inhabiting a world of freedom and innocence that he argues exists in every child.

He recounts his experiences growing up in a culturally and linguistically-divided Montreal in a similar way, tracing the root from which hateful speech emerges: “[his neighbourhood] became confrontational terrain upon which hatred, anger, fear and even at times blood was spilt in the name of something we absolutely could not understand: they were the Anglos (les tetes carrées) and we were the French (frogs) and we had to be antagonists without question.”

The content of They Fight Like Soldiers is neither subtle nor restrained. Dallaire is clear throughout about his understanding of child soldiers: a weapon system that is easy to attain, easy to train, and ultimately expendable. In conflict zones and countries where civil war and violence are common, Dallaire describes in

detail the process by which both boys and girls are kidnapped and forced to live in camps where they are often abused or raped, and trained to kill mercilessly. This “weapon system” is effective for many reasons, not least of which is the hesitation most soldiers experience when confronted with a child in battle.

with the earlier, more narrative chapters that may be friendlier to the general reader. Nonetheless, the policy-centred closing sections provide concrete steps toward helping the 250,000 children being used as soldiers in the world today, and preventing more from being used in the future. With the military trial

“The ultimate focus of the rest of my life is to eradicate the use of child soldiers and to eliminate even the thought of the use of children as instruments of war.”

They Fight Like Soldiers adopts a drier tone in its second half, focusing mainly on the national and international courses of action that should be followed in order to rid the world of the use of child soldiers.

Though these chapters are important, they give the book a somewhat fragmented feel when contrasted

Romeo Dallaire of Omar Khadr having recently concluded, the question of how to deal with and solve the issue of child soldiering is one that Canada as a nation – but also the international community – must face up to. After all, as Dallaire says so clearly, we cannot “use humanity’s future in order to destroy humanity’s present.”

Dallaire speaks to students Canada is failing in its commitments to the international community, ex-general says Victor Tangermanm | The McGill Daily

Emma Quail The McGill Daily

A

t his talk last Thursday at Concordia, Romeo Dallaire told the audience that Canada finds itself in a new international situation, with new powers to contest with. “We are one of the eleven most powerful nations in the world. That catches us by surprise because we kind of stumbled into that,” he said. “It wasn’t an ambition, as such, of this nation. But we are in such a situation and the question is, as a nation state, are we living up to that?” Considering how little attention Dallaire believes federal politicians pay to foreign policy, his opinion would indicate otherwise.

“It is said in the Ottawa bubble that foreign policy is not an element of any federal election in Canada.

It’s not of significance – it’s not a

vote-getter,” he continued. “Foreign policy, by the eleventh most powerful nation in the world, is not an element worthy of debate in a fundamental election of the federal system. That’s incredible.”

Much of the talk centred around Dallaire’s experiences with child soldiers in Rwanda. The practice of drugging and indoctrinating children for use as soldiers and human shields has become a widespread practice in war-torn regions, he emphasized. Female child soldiers, he continued, are not only used to provide food and logistics, but also as sex slaves. “There are now close to thirty conflicts in the world where child soldiers are the primary weapon system in the war,” he said. “We don’t like nuclear weapons so we don’t have nuclear war.

But, we’re quite prepared to see wars go on where children are the primary weapon. The proliferation of small arms, the availability of the

children, the failing state – and so these children are up front, killing, maiming under duress, and under drugs.”

Dallaire went on to argue that there is no longer such thing as a peacekeeper. It is no use throwing money at countries, he said.

Instead, Canada must go into countries and “get their boots dirty.”

A multidisciplinary approach to intervention, he argued, is vital.

“Military, humanitarians, diplomats, and nation builders have to work all together. It’s essential to have diplomats and humanitarians and development people with the police and the military in the field together, functioning, not because of personalities, not just cooperating, coordinating and collaborating, but integrating.”

Frank Chalk, history professor at Concordia and director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, spoke about

his feelings as a Canadian after the talk. “This talk made me wish that the government of Canada would adopt the recommendations in the book [Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities] that we did with General Dallaire, to move Canada back into the human security or peacekeeping sphere and also to enrich our foreign assistance program so that it’s larger than just feeding people,” he said. “It makes me feel sad in that sense, that we’re not doing enough even though we have the skills and the wealth.”

The September 11 terrorist attacks in America dented Canada’s feeling of invincibility, argued Dallaire – the country has become a different, more volatile place today than it was a decade ago. “We’ve built our whole concept of who we are under the premise that nobody would really attack us. This naivety has given us the sense of secu-

rity that has been altered,” he said.

“9/11 created panic, and a response to 9/11 has been fiddling with our civil liberties…fiddling with our human rights. We have let people torture each other.”

All the more reason that Canada must be more involved in humanitarian causes around the world.

“We know that eighty per cent of humanity is suffering from abject poverty,” Dallaire said. “We have seen ethnic cleansing and genocide; the concept ‘never again’ has failed.

We’ve seen [genocide], watched it, and let it happen.”

In a post-9/11 world, it is clear that international intervention in human rights abuses has become the norm – yet there remains disparity between those abuses which are targeted, and those which are ignored.

Nuclear weapons and demands for oil may be cause for conflict: where do child soldiers fit in to this international scale of justice?

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The McGill Daily | Thursday, November 11, 2010 | mcgilldaily.com

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Lies, half-truths, and poopy poop poop

Students for a horse-free campus Photo by Bikuta Tangaman

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—Télésphore Sansouci

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Tell us what’s affecting your quality of life: compendium@mcgilldaily.com.

I weep for thee, Arch Café

I Hipster luv

R

iding through the empty streets of Mile End, gliding on the new tars of Clark, our two bikes race ahead of each other, noses turning bright red in the crispy temperatures as we make our way up to Il Motore – a small neighbourhood bar – to see one of my favourite indie-folk bands, Horse Feathers. A group of people in their late twenties, wrapped in flannel, bushy beards, and testicle-constricting skinny jeans are already settling down, sitting cross-legged in huddled groups in front of a small stage, bathed in a moody, red-tinted light. An icy bottle of St-Ambroise in my hand, we make our way toward the stage. The sound of tambourines, feedback rushing, and tuning violins and cellos fills the air. A sense of anticipation sweeps the crowd, and we clap as the singer takes up his place front stage, less than ten feet from where we sit. The hobbit-like facial features of the singer shift from apprehensive to manic-depressive as he breaks into song. On our way out, we spot the singer, hunched over a cigarette. We tell him how much we appreciate his music and he thanks us, shuddering in the freezing temperature; Toronto was a lot warmer. He asks us if it is going to snow tonight. I feel myself dozing off over a steaming cup of cocoa back in my kitchen. As we settle down in bed, I thank her for such an amazing night.

Canine good vibes

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oday was absofuckinglutely beautiful. There were no rainboots, no umbrellas, and no mud! BUT what’s even better is that because of this beautiful weather, every single dog owner in the city was out on a stroll with their cute little companion. This morning, I saw a miniature dachshund, a beagle, a fluffy terrier, a bouncy (and kind of strange looking) bichon frisé, and possibly the cutest little golden retriever puppies I’ve ever seen. I don’t even care that I have three papers due this week, because today I saw some fucking adorable puppies.

miss getting cheap fresh coffee anytime I want. I miss the ground floor filled with students from all faculties. I miss complaining about all these students crowding the ground floor. Then I miss running into people I know. I miss employment. I miss tips. I miss people complaining when we ran out of brownies. I miss zaatars, eggplant pitas, hummus wraps, and the studio favourite Cajun chiken sandwiches.

I miss complaining about the heat.

I miss piano tunes. I miss the old black stereo on the counter with an iPod connector. I miss sharing the dirty old couch with a stranger.

I miss chatting about studio work over the counter. I miss chilling at the window sills. Most of all, I miss that these were all just downstairs.

Fuck this! and Fuck yeah! are occasional anonymous rant and rave columns, respectively. Send 300-wordor-less, hateless loves and peeves to: fuckthis@mcgilldaily.com.

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volume 100 number 19

EDITORIAL

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Michael Lee-Murphy

Tories’ treatment of vets hypocritical, shameful From Stephen Harper’s constituency office in Calgary to Parliament Hill, Canadian veterans have been in the streets protesting against the federal government’s changes to veterans’ disability benefits. The central bone of contention in these rallies is the way those disability benefits are distributed to former soldiers. Under the “New Veterans Charter” introduced in 2006, soldiers who joined the army after that date will no longer be eligible for the monthly, life-long, small payments – pain-and-suffering pensions – that veterans previously received, and instead will receive a lump-sum payment.

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The pensions, pegged to increase with inflation or civil servants’ salaries, whichever was greater, would help defray health care costs for the lifetime mental and physical injuries sustained in the military. The new lump-sum payments – a one-off that has averaged $40,000 over the past five years – will increase with inflation, but only for new veterans: those who have already received their payment won’t see an extra dollar. This shift from a regular pension to the lump sum seems to signal the Harper government’s desire to wash its hands of veterans’ affairs once soldiers have retired. Basing their assertion on leaked documents, opposition leaders say that the changes are a cash-cutting measure: up to $40 million a year.

Not only are the lump sums far too small to provide for injured veterans’ well-being, but the process of acquiring benefits has become harder. Former veterans ombudsperson Pat Strogan has pointed to overly high burdens of proof placed on veterans, what he describes as an “insurance company mentality” in the department of Veterans Affairs. Following his public critiques of the benefits system, it was announced this summer that Strogan would not be renewed in his post. He has talked about filing a class action lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of former soldiers hurt by the new system.

Whatever your opinions on the military, those affected by these changes are, first and foremost, individuals who are being ignored by the government for whose policies they risked their lives. This editorial is not about the role of the military in Canadian society or about the justness of war in general or Canada’s current military engagements. The fact is that Canada has an army, and its soldiers face incredibly arduous conditions, real danger, and often leave the military physically, mentally, or otherwise injured. As long as this country has a military, the people whose lives are most marked by it deserve to have their voices heard. From dropping $16 billion on jets without any open bidding, to boosting defence spending, to extending the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, the Harper government has been exceptionally hawkish. It’s all the more shameful, then, for the Tories to shortchange veterans, and hypocritical to boot.

In a show of solidarity with these recent veterans, many soldiers from wars of decades past – who will not be affected by the changes to veteran’s benefits – are leading the protests against this new system. Follow their example and demand better treatment for all veterans. Send a message to retired Chief Warrant Officer Guy Parent, the new veterans ombudsperson, by e-mailing communication@ombudsman-veterans.gc.ca. You should also write your MP to let them know how you feel. To look up your MP, go to bit.ly/humyMP.

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