SINCE 1944
Red, white, and feeling blue
OPINIONS
Rhiannon Day Contributor
As everyone has realized, this school year is quite different from any we have experienced in the past. However, some aspects remained exactly the same. In early August: the same pile of clothes, bedding, jackets and hats, waiting to be packed. My backpack, lying untouched from the semester before. The occasional textbook, littering my living room, as it had the year before. The same back-and-forth trek to the car, now bulging with moving boxes. The same difficult goodbyes, the same hugs, and that same wave out of the driver’s side window as I drove away from my hometown. Then again, with the pandemic, everything is different. Instead of my mother in the passenger seat, there was a folder containing my passport, my quarantine plan, my lease, and the proof of in-person classes I planned to take. Everything I could gather to prove that I, an international student, deserved to cross the border to come back into Canada and to the school that I love. Rather than the swell of excitement that I used to experience when I saw the border, all I could feel this year was anxiety. The speech I had practiced, explaining my situation, ran continuously through my head. Jumbled-up words: dorm, quarantine, apartment, inperson, masks, coronavirus; all of those played in the back of my mind as I pulled up to the border-crossing station. After an hour of explanation on my part, and deliberation on their end, I was through. But that was not the end of it. I still had to quarantine myself, alone in a new apartment located in a foreign country, in the midst of a pandemic. Moreover, there was the burgeoning fear regarding the reaction I would receive as an American in Canada, what with the border closed and a growing reactionism against foreign travel. My point, then, is that this year presents unprecedented challenges for everyone. This virus and its consequences have touched every person’s life across the world. Yet the experiences that international students have faced this year in countries that are not our own are like none other. The support system of our small community has faltered along
with the Canadian Border Agency and the Canadian government. Their lack is keenly felt. As an 18-year-old student coming to a country that is known for its kindness and welcoming arms, I was excited to arrive at the border last fall. This year, that same excitement was not felt. The political, social, and educational challenges that come with being from a currently controversial country during this uncertain time period have caused the warm, welcoming society to keep those of us without a maple leaf on our birth certificates at arm’s length.
Approaching the Canadian border can be an especially nerve-wracking experience in this day and age. Credit: Photo courtesy of Paulo O*
An Indigenous student’s perspective on Kwigw8mna Reconciliation is a term that has been thrown around a lot since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released their report in 2015. Many institutions have taken it upon themselves to heed the call and begin the process of reconciling. Bishop’s University is one of them. However, Bishop’s has recently proved that we still have a long way to go before any kind of reconciliation can actually be reached. The plans for Kwigw8mna were made public last year, with many finding out about the project through the press releases shared by various media sources. Bishop’s boasted about its $5.9 million-dollar governmentfunded project that would turn Divinity House into a new “home” for Indigenous students, thus creating a gathering space and resource centre for both the Bishop’s and Champlain Indigenous population. Sounds great, right? Yet this promise feels hollow and empty when the reality of the situation comes to light. Much of the funding for the building, which was advertised as being for Indigenous students and resources, is instead being used for faculty offices. The actual gathering space for Indigenous students would only accommodate about 40 people, provided all of the furniture is removed. This is very much an issue, seeing as Bishop’s most recent incoming class had around 20 Indigenous students, and the school is actively trying to expand its Indigenous student population. Clearly, the allowed space does not take into account the rising
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numbers of First Nations students. It has felt like a slap in the face to many members of the Indigenous Cultural Alliance – the association serving as a home away from home for BU’s Indigenous population. Members of the ICA who were on the committee were
Divinity House is the planned edifice for Kwigw8mna. Photo courtesy of Theresa Graham
blindsided by the proposed final plans for Kwigw8mna. When speaking up about grievances with the building, it was clear that Indigenous students’ input and demands for more space and resources were not being taken into
Ionhiaroroks Mccomber Contributor
account. We were told that the only changes that we had power over at this point were the indoor design and the outdoor space. It is immensely disheartening to hear that Indigenous voices are not being heard in regards to a building that is supposed to be for Indigenous students. Immediately, it felt like Bishop’s was tokenizing its Indigenous population to further its image of a diverse institution. The Kwigw8mna project cannot be completed in good faith without proper consultation with the Indigenous Cultural Alliance. In fact, the ICA should have more than two seats at the table when it comes to consultations regarding the building that is supposed to be for us. The demands stated by the ICA in regards to Kwigw8mna would ensure that the building serves its purpose: to create a home for Indigenous students while establishing an environment that fosters learning and the sharing of our cultures. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission states: “Without truth, justice, and healing there can be no genuine reconciliation” (TRC Canada Final Report, 2015). It is time for Bishop’s University to listen to the voices of their Indigenous students who are calling for action. It is only when our voices are heard that we can say we are truly on the path to reconciliation.
*Photo by Paulo O, used under CC BY 2.0, flickr.com/photos/brownpau/31516045787/in/photolist-Q1XYpM-7eYjMQ-pxKgZL-pxKgRE-QdvjmH-piipYZ-RFcm92-2czYXrV-5ufUz7-bJsg2aZauUQ4-Z3jxD3-2jgcV4N-aj55wb-9EbQY5-gNj4hJ-ax8e5N-6NeX5f-6NaKJe-5crTQK-6HWeBx-j753kt-Q28nuM-dDhYPL-oJih29-318UHN-27aw5iD-h1xiV-Eci6vy-2h2JDEz-2gn2nDb314jzM-eMt773-DmnNqZ-ehHEiE-zNfGL-4MfiMf-MLoWUG-4s3HFJ-aqojkz-vqjWHK-2cFo3FW-oN9ozk-2aGNK2p-MFHedn-beYUBg-McDbCM-DjdwK2-SULnk7-hjKBQa, US/Canada border crossing, Calais, ME
