Truth and Reconciliation: five years later

Jeremy Audet, Features Editor » thecampus.features@gmail.com

Women in Muslim-Arab societies: a lecture by Dr. Osire Glacier

Jeremy Audet Features Editor

Photo of Tahani Madmad. Photo courtesy of Dr. Osire Glacier

This fall, Bishop’s University established its first-ever Social Change Hub: a small group of faculty and students who organized a few significant events during the semester. Its last event of the semester, a talk by Dr. Osire Glacier, gave a comprehensive introduction to women’s rights in Muslim societies. Several progressive ArabMuslim women were introduced by Glacier as she spoke passionately of women’s participation in anti-colonial and anti-misogynist struggles. “Women in Muslim Societies: A Multitude of Voices” presented a case study of Morocco, a country with a rich history of significant female figures going against the misogynistic status quo.

Dr. Glacier, a professor at Bishop’s in the History and Global Studies Department and the Religion Department, has published a thorough body of research on the issues of Arab-Muslim women throughout history. Her many books, published within the past decade, all address the condition of women in Morocco. Glacier’s presentation linked how we construct femininity to how we construct power but pressed that the dominant power structures in many Muslim-Arab countries had been, or still are, heavily misogynistic and masculine.

Negotiating with the history of modern feminism, of the bourgeois class, and of the Islamic tradition, Glacier spoke of the many dreams that women, throughout an oppressive history, had and succeeded in realizing. The women she presented, such as Halima Embark Warzazi, Hakima Chaoui, Khadija Ryadi, Asma Larambert, and Tahani Madmad, are recognized defendants of human rights, environmental issues, economic and social rights, and gender equality. These women had to, in their struggles for equality, go against their societies’ constitutions. Glacier mentioned how the oppression of women is legislated in these constitutions and in the traditions, religion, and cultures of Muslim-Arab countries.

Evidently, the elite of these countries have no interest in straying far from these constitutions, but such traditionalism comes with significant international consequences. Most importantly, according to Glacier, it fabricates an “us vs. them” identity, creating a divide in the Middle East between people and countries.

How do we fare here in Canada, in the so-called Western world? An ocean separates our societies, but Glacier recognizes that many of the systemic issues that women in the Middle East face are present in our country. Although Canada has been improving over the past years on the issue of gender equality, we are not yet in the realm of full equality, far from it. According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, in 2016 women in Canada made, on average, 75 cents to the dollar earned by a male with the same education and position. When you factor in race and ethnicity, the divide widens.

Dr. Glacier claims that to be a woman immigrant in Canada puts one at a major disadvantage. The worst economic situation, according to her, however, is for Indigenous women living in Canada. An Indigenous woman faces three important systemic barriers: racism, sexism, and colonialism. To say that our Western democratic country fares well in the issues of gender equality is wrong. There is still a long way to go, and the changes that need to be implemented must go much further than Trudeau’s famous but performative “Because it’s 2015” quip five years ago. Dr. Glacier calls for the education of the public, recognition of the actors of oppression in our societies, and the prioritization of gender equality in our so-called progressive country.

The Social Change Hub has been organizing similar seminars and presentations all semester and will continue to do so in the winter of 2021. These seminars are free of charge and available to all Bishop’s students.

The Johnson Greenhouse

Virginia Rufina Marquez-Pacheco Science & Technology Contributor

When walking onto campus for the first time, one of the first things I noticed was the greenhouse over Johnson Building. As I observed it, I thought that this building that shone brightly in the night with the characteristic tint of sodium lamps must certainly be the crown jewel of the Biology Department. I was not wrong.

The Johnson Greenhouse, which stands on the roof of the eponymous building, is not the original hothouse. The antecedent of the current greenhouse was built in the ’70s, and it served faithfully until it was time to renovate. Construction of the new greenhouse began in 2017 and had finished by 2019. The new greenhouse was even built with a climate control system. As its name implies, this system controls the climate... and it has opened a new world of possibilities! One can now cultivate in the Johnson Greenhouse all year long, and the greenhouse can mimic more tropical climates. This increases the longevity and diversity of what can be grown, truly expanding the possibilities for students and faculty.

The greenhouse is overseen by Genevieve Levasseur (B.Sc., M.Sc.), the Biology Technician and the Biochemistry & Animal Care Coordinator. Although her background is in molecular biology, she believes she does her job well. “I’m not too bad at gardening,” she jokes, admitting the hardest part of her job is managing disease and pests.

You might be wondering what is growing in there, and that depends on the season. During the spring semester, the Biology Department offers a course titled Organic Gardening (BIO 111), which is open to all students no matter their program. According to Levasseur, the greenhouse is used to give the students some practical experience by having them plant and grow vegetables and herbs from their seeds. It is fully equipped with seedling tables, smart pots and more. In this class, students learn the basics of growing plants in an organic and eco-friendly way.

The department does not only teach organic growing practices, but it also follows them in the green house. Again, according to Genevieve Levasseur, no chemicals are used if they do not have to be used. Instead, the plants are grown using natural fertilizers, and if an outbreak or disease occurs, natural remedies and predator insects are utilized. In one anecdote, Levasseur tells of an instance where they had a pest problem. It was resolved by purchasing ladybug eggs and allowing them to hatch. These ladybugs, which are predators to the pests, soon ate the problematic insects, thus saving the plants and adding beauty to the ecosystem.

Aside from organic gardening, the greenhouse hosts a collection of diverse living plants used as specimens to teach students. Plus, the hops used in the brewing of Bishop’s very own beer at the Bishop’s Arches Brewery are being grown in Johnson Greenhouse. A study is being done to determine whether hops could be grown all yearround in the Greenhouse to supply the brewery a few floors down.

In these times of COVID-19, Genevieve Levasseur says that activity at the greenhouse has slowed down. Less plants are growing, research is stagnant, and student exposure to the greenhouse with its ecosystem has been reduced to online demonstrations. However, the hopes are to get the greenhouse up and running to its full potential once it becomes safe to increase in-person contact. A line of interesting research is being planned regarding hops cultivation, aquatic plants, and more.

Inside the Johnson Greenhouse. Photo courtesy of Virginia Rufina Marquez-Pacheco

Truth and Reconciliation: five years later

Jeremy Audet Features Editor

On November 10, this year’s Donald Lecture series kicked off with a talk by Marie Wilson, one of the three commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) from 2009-2015. Warranted by her long and wide-spanning career as a journalist, Wilson has become a highly distinguished and recognized figure in Canada, but she called her role on the TRC “the great pride” of her life. Tuning in from her home in Yellowknife, NT, Wilson spoke earnestly and profoundly of the thousands of cases of which she had heard during her time as commissioner and of which she continues to hear.

Introduced by principal Michael Goldbloom and following an acknowledgement of the traditional Abenaki land on which Bishop’s is built, Wilson stated an acknowledgement of her own. She recognized not only the traditional land she lives and works on in the Northwest Territories, but the chiefs of these Nations and the many residential school survivors “to whom we owe this moment in Canadian history.”

At its conclusion in 2015, the TRC, the first such commission in the world to specifically address child victims, presented 94 calls to action to the Federal and Provincial governments. These calls, written to incite remedy and change,

consist of wide-spread and elaborate directives on how to begin addressing We must find survivors in our communities, hear their stories, believe them, and love reconciliation. Five years later, Wilson recognizes some successes, such as the them, as “they have a lifetime of withheld love to catch up to,” Wilson earnestly said subsequent Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women launched in 2016, between tears. We must turn to the elders while we can, learn how to approach them and some failures, most notably how the current Trudeau administration has still not and learn how to learn from them. We must read and reread the 94 calls to action, know implemented a National Council for Reconciliation. Wilson also pressed the fact that them, own them, and make sure they are not ignored by our officials. We must know the Trudeau administration has not, since the TRC’s conclusion, presented a single who these officials are and hold them accountable, and we must expect our institutions yearly report as to whether the situation is improving or not. “There is no way to see if and universities, such as Bishop’s, to teach everyone. All students should be learning of we’re getting better,” Wilson says, “as we keep flying blind.” our shamefully repressed history of systemic racism and genocide.

Nonetheless, Wilson’s lecture was extremely heartfelt, informative, and hopeful. Answering questions from the public vectored through Dr. David Webster and two She remembered her experience, many decades ago, whilst studying in France and Indigenous students, Nikki Baribeau and Shawna Chetterton-Jerome, Wilson pressed stumbling randomly upon the house where Victor Hugo the issue of nationwide inconsistency in responding to the was born. The famed author had come alive at that moment TRC’s calls. Since the nation is made up of many provinces for a young Marie Wilson, and she related the experience (and several more Indigenous nations), the responses have to what Indigenous people are undergoing today. We are, been various in effect. In Quebec, particularly, Wilson according to Wilson, in the early stages of realizing that brought up that following the last national survey inquiring Indigenous people in Canada are trying to be recognized on awareness of residential schools and their effect as human; to be seen, to be heard, and to be loved. They are (which alarmingly came before the TRC), the province – and in most cases ‘they’ refers to survivors of residential ranked dead last. Catching up in Quebec is a fundamental schools and intergenerational survivors – looking for their necessity, as the province seems too preoccupied with the lost homes, identities, and language. protection of the francophone culture to recognize the

The residential school system in Canada had, for over other cultures its constituents have attempted to eradicate. a century (from 1880 to 1996), engaged and facilitated On the question of imposing a mandatory national the systemic abuse and torture of Indigenous children curriculum on Indigenous studies, Wilson supports the who were ripped from their families, shamed for their mandatory aspect but opposes its national aspect: “it heritage, and physically and mentally assaulted all for would disregard the rich diversity” of Indigenous cultures the colonialist purpose of assimilation. To repeat, the last present in the country. Teachings need to be adapted residential school in Canada closed in 1996, only twenty- The signage (made by Alicia Moore-Iseroff) on the door of the to local history, but these teachings do indeed need to four years ago. For most students, that means that if their current ICA meeting space. be compulsory. Some Canadian universities have a parents were born an Indigenous person in Canada, there Photo courtesy of Theresa Graham comprehensive program for reconciliation, policies on is a significant chance that they were taken away from Indigenous affairs, and include a required-for-graduation their families forcibly, and stripped of their cultural and individual identities. course on Indigenous culture. These are simple features that are “a fair expectation”

In COVID times, Wilson finds similarities between those who feel isolated, who say from the universities and institutions. As of Wilson’s lecture, Bishop’s does not have a that they feel alone, not being able to see their families, their parents, complaining that comprehensive program towards reconciliation, nor policies on Indigenous affairs, nor the care facilities are too old, unsanitary and that their elderly parents are mistreated by a required course. those who should be helping them, and the experience of residential school survivors. On a closing note, Dr. Webster asked Wilson whether she is hopeful for the future of Replacing the word “parent” with “child,” Wilson says, begins to accurately depict the Indigenous peoples in Canada. Wilson, who has lived through many dramatic changes experience of residential school survivors. But it only begins to do so. in her lifetime, says she does see hope, even if only in the presence of an increasing

As part of the TRC’s mandate, Wilson and her colleagues chose to focus on the amount of Indigenous voices. We have, today, more Indigenous university students, seven sacred teachings found in many North-American Indigenous traditions: respect, lawyers, legislators, doctors, and teachers than ever. The number is still increasing – too courage, love, truth, humility, honesty, and wisdom. The TRC organized seven national slowly, according to Wilson, but still rising. The issue is gaining momentum, whether events modelled around these seven teachings, from which, Wilson says, she heard that be in the support provided (if not by governments, by the public) to the Wet’suwet’en thousands of stories and perspectives. Speaking of these stories today, Wilson is and Mi’kmaw communities in recent times or the backlash heard here at Bishop’s over still moved to tears. She was also surprised at how little blaming was included in the the controversial management of the Kwigw8mna renovation project. testimonies. Rather, Wilson pointed out that she heard much more of reclamation, There is hope in the future, and Wilson, who promised to visit Bishop’s in the near resilience, and courage in the heartbreaking stories of survival. future to help out with any policies or issues on campus, turned to Hugo once more to

“We are only beginning to scratch the surface of the obvious,” she states before asking vocalize that hope. From Les Misérables: “There is nothing like a dream to create the the inevitable question: what can we do once we recognize our place and time in history? future.”

Reminder to remember: the changing face of remembrance Holly Benison Contributor

Despite the changes that have befallen the Bishop’s community this year, university Canadian servicemen and women rather than solely their graves. The purpose of both staff, students, and Reverend Jesse Dymond offered a humbling Remembrance Day of these databases is to bring human experience to the forefront of Remembrance Day. ceremony. Created to mark the end of the First World War, November 11 now serves as Databases and online resources such as these start to do away with a shared act of a recurring reminder to remember all the Canadians who have served. mourning and grief. Instead, they offer a story to remember.

The ceremony, which has been a Bishop’s tradition for the past century, featured the Remembrance Day is less about the battles and more about the people. In humanizing recognition of Indigenous veterans, a reading of the celebrated poem “In Flanders Field,” these events by focusing on individuals, the realities of war and the maintenance of and a reading of the names of the Bishop’s men who enlisted and died in active service peace become much more impactful during the First and Second World Wars. The ceremony was accompanied by a soloist singing the national anthem and performing “The Last Post” on the bugle.

Remembrance Day is not just about Canadian history: it allows Canadians to pause and reflect on our military heritage, but, more importantly, it is a day that allows us to have an impactful dialogue about some of the uncomfortable truths in the Canadian past. As a history student here at Bishop’s, one of the things I have learned is that some of that history is not as distant as we think, and historical legacies still have an immeasurable impact on society today. Tim Cook, one of Canada’s foremost military historians, offers a few suggestions in a recent article published in the National Post. He suggests that now, more than at any other time, Canadians collectively understand sacrifice better and can make stronger personal connections to the messages presented in Remembrance Day ceremonies.

In recent years, online remembrance initiatives have started popping up as a way for people to be reminded of why we remember. Yad Vashem’s Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names pairs you at random with a name and photograph, so your act of remembrance can be directed at one specific story. Similarly, the app Faces of Remembrance Day ceremony in front of St. Mark’s Chapel on Nov. 11, 2020. Valour is a Canadian-based initiative that aims to show users the human stories of Photo courtesy of Casey Hebert