Decision Items (a) Special Resolution to adopt revised by- laws of the Cascade Journalism Society (b) Resignation of Directors ( c ) Election of Society Directors I. Four at-large student representatives II. One UFV Faculty/staff representative Ill. One Cascade Journalism Society Alumni representative IV. One community representative

Canwest for Sale

BC Gangs Recruiting Females

JORDAN PITCHER

STAFF WRITER

The newspaper publishing branch of Canada's largest media company, Canwcst Global Communications Corporation, is up for sale. According to The Globe and Mail, Canwest has been taking extensive cost-cutting measures in a bid to keep the company together since Jun 2009, before being forced into creditor protection in Oct 2009.

Lawyer Lyndon Barnes has "outlined a process that will see the newspapers sold over the next 14 to 18 weeks," reported The Globe and Mail. "A floor price of about $1 billion has been set for the newspaper division by its senior-secured lenders ... if no new bidders come in with a bid to beat that number, the banks will become the owners of the newspapers."

The sale will effectively split Canwest in half.

The Globe and Mail reports that the sale of Canwest's publishing arm is being undertaken against the wishes of Canwest CEO Leonard Asper. The Bank of Nova Scotia, one of the principle lenders attempting to recoup its money through the sale of Canwest "(wrote] a scathing letter questioning the CEO's authority."

Scotiabanl<'s Executive VicePresident of Global Risk Management, Jane Rowe, wrote, "[it is] unclear whether you have the corporate authority to make the proposals contained in your letter ... We remind you of the following facts ... (the new/;paper division) is inso1vcnt.1t \s plain and obvious that It cannot support its massive debt, and that a transaction will have to occur that fundamentally alters the balance sheet of the newspaper business."

Asper wrote that the sale will "benefit only the banks" and that he is "simply [asking] for a solution that would result in a better outcome for a wider group of shareholders."

However, with Canwest's debt nearing $1.5 billion, its creditors see no other viable option than to sell, even though there will still be roughly $500 million in outstanding debt. Despite this, The Globe and Mail speculated that the senior creditors (the five largest Canadi• an banks) will recoup 100 cents on the dollar of their loans, leaving the $500 million to spread among the smaller creditors.

The Globe and Mail reports that "the n1;1w1;paper division [of Can• west) owes $1.3 billion to senior creditors and bondholders." In April 2009, the CBC reported on the uncertain future of Canwest. They reported on an internal memo that CEO Leonard Asper sent to employees "hoping to downplay persistent reports that the company was in trouble."

CBC reported that: "Overall, the Winnipeg-based company owes about $3.9 billion. It has been trying to raise some of the money it owes by selling off some of its non-core assets, including the U.S. political magazine The New Republic and a 26 per cent stake in sports broadcaster Tlte Score."

However, Duncan Stewart of DSAM Consulting questioned the impact that the selling of assets would have on Canwest's debt, "The problem is when you have tens of millions in debt payments, hundreds of millions in lines of credit and billions in debt, selling one or two or three or $4 million chunks of small subsidiaries, it's like drowning in the ocean and having somebody on the shore bailing it out with a teaspoon. It doesn't really change the overall level of the water."

The Globe and Mail quoted one of the bankers working for one of Canwcst's lenders, who said that "everyone recognized there wasn't going to be enough cash to go around and that there would be a squabble over who is entitled to what." The article goes on to state "the courts are the best venue for sorting out creditor claims.''

One day after Canwcst's announcement, The Canadian Press reported that Pierre Karl Peladeau, CEO of one of Canada's largest media companies, Quebecor Inc., is "keeping a keen eye on the legal proceedings involving Canwest['s] newspaper division." Peladeau said: "We already have newspapers in a number of their cities • Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa• so it's undeniable there arc issues concerning competition."

According to their website, Can· west's newspaper chains have"4.9 million readers on a weekly basis. Their newspapers include The National Post, The Vancouver Sun and The Province.

KENDRA MCPHEE

CONTRIBUTOR

According to a recent article published in the Vancouver being forced into it with fear and needing protection, or greed." Sun, women of B.C. have taken on greater roles in gang related activities.

Constable Ian MacDonald with the Abbotsford Police Department said gangs are beginning to run out of members they can trust, due to recent arrests of key gang members and foot soldiers. Because of this they arc looking at options closer to home, including girlfriends and sisters. "We have to cut off the feeder streams for these groups and stop recruitment from happening from all angles," he said.

Constable MacDonald went on to say that any animosity towards these women in taking more prominent roles in gangs is quickly shifting towards acceptance, "These gangs have to ensure that feeder stream, and they have to go to people they consider known and loyal to them." "This notion of a male dominated lifestyle is certainly gone," said Sgt. Shlnder Kirk with the RCMP's Gang Task Force. Kirk said: "Women have always been involved in gangs, but they're just not in the public's eye ... Have they taken leadership roles? Certainly behind the scenes as opposed to up front."

A woman recently released from a penitentiary on gang related offences, who wishes to remain anonymous, said "There were rules • you didn't touch the girls, they weren't really involved and we were just kind of there. Now it's women shooting too, rules change, gender doesn't matter."

Kirk agreed with this idea, "When you get involved now whether male or female, the prospect of becoming victims to vloJenee is quite high ... Violence will always be a part of it, but we do it because either it's all we know, MacDonald said that the lure of money and status is no different with women then it is for men. "If women were looking at their futures or what they wanted their life to look like, they wouldn't be choosing a life with organized crime and drugs." The former gang member added that many of the women she recalls joined because of the status it afforded them. "Sometimes they didn't have a choice, it was either do it or not have protection. Sometimes it was a family thing or being forced into it by a boyfriend, but a lot of the time it was money and power, and the fear. People feared you, they would do anything you told them if they weren't in the gang, and you were somebody." Professor Darryl Plecas, criminology professor at UFV, confirmed to The Vancouver Sun that women were taking on prominent roles in gangs, "Absolutely true ... The increase of criminals who arc women has increased fairly steadily for the last 20 years. It's probably one in five [arrests] .. .In one sense it's a good sign because [gangs] are running out of people. This [problem of male recruits] is just going to grow exponentially. lf you look at the pool of people who they have the closest and most trusting associations with, it would of course be women, girlfriends and that kind of thing," Plecas said. Research by Joan Moore and John Hagedorn on female gangs In the U.S. has shown that females find the act of creating or joining gangs liberating. However, the question of women in gangs seen as sexual objects prevails, though the validity of this claim was disputed by the female gang members polled.

Conservatives Lose Support as Parliament Prorogued

KYLEE SWADDEN

CONTRIBUiOR

For the second time in 13 months, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has prorogued Parliament. Prorogation began on Dec 30, 2009 and will last until Mar 3, 2010, one day before the new federal budget comes out. As a result, 36 current Tory bills will die. Two of these bills have already been debated and approved by Parliament, and were only waiting for royal consent. In Canada's history, Parliament has been prorogued 105 times.

The Vancouver Stw critici~ed Harper's move to prorogue Parliament, as it "bolsters an already prevalent view that Harper has autocratic and anti-democratic proclivities." Public Policy Forum president David Mitchell said of the move, "It raises the question: Why do we have a Parliament?"

The article claims that proroguing Parliament "enables ... the PM and his ministers in a minority government to see and be seen at the Olympic Games throughout February, taking credit for federal funding that made ... the event possible."

According to EKOS Research, the Conservatives are down 2.8 points since December.

Tile Georgia Straight criticized Harper, "When Harper doesn't want to answer embarrassing questions, in this case regarding the torture of Afghan detainees, he shuts down the valid forum for those questions-Parliament. Ironically, this is the same prime minister whose election promise was to improve accountability."

The Winnipeg Free Press reports that another EKOS study "shows [that] half of Canadians - 52 per cent - are 'clearly aware' of Harper's proroguing of Parliament, and 15 per cent are vaguely aware. Nearly two-thirds of those said it was an undemocratic move."

According to Tile Winnipeg Free Press, l-Iarper's government's average length of parliamentary sessions and the number of sitting days are significantly less than any other government since Pierre Trudeau. The same article states that 31 per cent of voters that support the Conservatives do not back Harper's decision to prorogue.

Proroguing Parliament also brings the Conservatives one step closer to controlling the Senate. There are five seats left open in the Senate that Harper hopes to fill with Conservatives. Harper has said that he has needed control of the Senate for a long while as the Liberal party has been holding up his schedule.

The Liberal party is taking full advantage of the move as they have released one French and two Bnglish advertisements describing Harper's decision to prorogue as his "holiday gift to himself." The groups who most oppose the prorogation are Liberal and NDP supporters, as well as people with a university education. Liberal MPs and senators arc planning to return to work on Jan 25, the day that Parliament was supposed to resume before being prorogued.

James McAllister, a political professor at Brandon University said, "He scuttled his own agenda. What does that say about his own agenda?"

Over 100 university professors have signed a letter written by Professor Daniel Weinstock from the University of Montreal that blames Harper for breaching 11lhc trust of lhe Canadian people [and] · thus acting anti-democratically."

The Prime Minister's spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, said that prorogation was a necessary move for the government, "This is quite routine but it is also important to give Canadians an ov •rvicw of where we will be taking the country over the next little while."

Soudas also hit back at claims that prorogation was being used to deflect criticism on Afghanistan. "Jf the opposition wants to spend 2010 talking about Taliban terrorists, we'll let them do that. We're going to be focusing on the economy."