Letters, Feb. 11
Recent upgrade to ‘freedom of expression’ walls
DEAR MR. ROCK,
Immediately following the Chalking Day festivities of last Wednesday, Feb. 3, the Student Chalkers of the University of Ottawa (SCUO) invited you to read the messages left by students on the freedom of expression walls at Morisset Library. We also invited you to contribute your own message, in the spirit of freedom of expression.
We did not ask you to take over the entire area with posters portraying your own self-serving messages and in the process cover up and negate all of the ideas put forward by the student community.
The morning following Chalking Day, we and other participants were shocked to discover that you had unilaterally decided to bolt high-tech anti-graffiti posters over all of the freedom of expression walls. These aluminum-backed, laminated posters are held up by about 160 screws drilled into and thereby degrading the concrete. You will notice, as you walk past the posters, that you will want to keep yourself well away from the surface of the walls to prevent injury from the screw heads that protrude. Be especially careful at times when the passageway becomes crowded, such as during class changeovers.
These facts considered, we understand from conversations with the external company hired to install the posters, Bungee Banner, that the new anti-graffiti coating allows paint and paste to be easily cleaned off without damaging the poster surface. This fortunate upgrade to the freedom of expression walls will now allow student message sharing to be much more dynamic and up-to-date. Like whiteboards or blackboards in the classroom, students will now have access to an effective communication forum on the walls of the library. This will surely enrich the mental landscape of our campus.
Thank you for this new investment in student freedom of expression. We look forward to communicating with you on the library walls, but in the future please do not bolt or fasten coverings over top of our expression in any way, and consider consulting us before spending our tuition money on control technology.
Student Chalkers of the University of Ottawa (SCUO)
Joseph Hickey, physics master’s student
Liam Kennedy-Slaney, second-year biology student
Mireille Gervais, law master’s student
Erika Yerly, first-year psychology student
Robyn Dalgleish, University of Guelph student
Anne-Marie Dubois, third-year environmental science student
Dialogue, not dominance
WHEN I FIRST saw posters for a “Great Debate Series” on campus, my heart almost stopped.
On an ominous black background, a white Christian cross stands in opposition to a white Islamic crescent. Just the image reminded me of the religious discrimination that followed 9/11. I remember fearing for my friends who were Muslims and I feared that my country would not be able to heal the wounds of religious pluralism in the minds of the greater population that a few extremists had created in a single moment.
I worry that framing the interfaith discourse in an antagonistic way, such as in a debate, will perpetuate religion being seen as a source of division and not of great love. I worry that using the debate forum will send the message to people that these two great religions, Christianity and Islam, cannot coexist and must always strive to dominate one another. I fear that this sort of discourse lends itself to the notion that religion is only capable of contributing to conflict and controversy, not inclusion or acceptance. I have been to many debates in my life, thousands probably; as a member of my high school debate teams, I have debated in more than half of the provinces in this country. Yet never in a debate has either party worked to find common ground. It has always been about dominance and control. Never is the purpose to actually listen to what motivates the other to do what they do and believe what they believe.
Faith is probably the strongest of all motivators. It strikes at a core within one’s identity and ties them to narratives of old. Religion places one in the line of many, giving purpose and meaning to one’s life. It can be a great source of strength and inspiration to act for good things in the world and it is on this that I choose to focus my energy. I want the University of Ottawa to be one of the first universities in the world to take interfaith dialogue and interfaith actions seriously. We have differences—this is what makes the dialogue most enriching and most rewarding. Being open to dialogue means we are open to see the other as a true human being, rather than a person to be controlled, changed or manipulated. We must create an option for peace. The Student Christian Movement Ottawa (www.scmottawa.tk) is offering a space for more meaningful dialogue and face-to-face interaction to break down misconceptions and debunk stereotypes to enrich each of our personal faiths, the public discourse of religion, and move forward in united community action.
Sean Barron, Second-year conflict studies student
To U of O President Allan Rock
YOUR ADMINISTRATION HAS declared war on students. Repeatedly, politically active members of the student community have been subjected to illegitimate sanctions on their academic and political freedom. The Ottawa Police Service has been regularly abused in an effort to intimidate students in to silence. The violence of your administration’s attacks has reached a new intensity.
On Feb. 2, 2010, Protection was called to the office of the Student Appeal Centre (SAC) to verify the presence of politically active student, Marc Kelly. Upon arrival, Protection Services notified SAC Officer Mireille Gervais of their intent to remove Kelly from the room and campus. They proceeded to call the Ottawa Police to the campus to arrest the student. Upon arrival, the police officers were notified of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) lease of the SAC offices.
The offices of the SFUO are spaces legally occupied by the SFUO. The Student Appeal Centre is a service offered by the Student Federation and thus the office is leased by the SFUO. Students have the right of passage to the properties of their Student Federation. No permission was given to the Police Officers to enter the office and they did not produce a twarrant for entry. Their entry in to the SAC was an illegal action committed in violation of the rights of students and the Student Federation.
Members of the SFUO present at the office of the SAC informed the officers of their intent to procure the lease documents proving the space was under the jurisdiction of the SFUO and not the University of Ottawa. Under the false instruction of Legal Counsel to the University of Ottawa, the Police then violated the Trespass Property Act by entering the office and arresting Kelly. The police also prevented Gervais from entering the office she legally occupied while the arrest was taking place. Too late, Seamus Wolfe, President of the SFUO, arrived with the lease documents and proceeded to ask the remaining Police Sergeant why he had not waited for the documents before committing the arrest.
The President of the Student Federation was arrested after procuring the SFUO’s lease documents that verified their legal occupancy of the space. Wolfe was then charged with “disturbing the peace by swearing.” This charge immediately brings to mind one question: what the fuck?
This is a clear abuse of the law to punish students for exercising their democratic right to question the police forces of Canada. Seamus Wolfe was defending the rights of students to access the facilities of their very own unions. His arrest is at once a sign of disrespect to the rights of students to meet their representatives and the rights of citizens to free speech.
The nature of Wolfe’s arrest was also disturbing. He expressed disbelief in the arrest and placed his hands behind his back to allow the officer to place cuffs around his wrists. The officer ignored Wolfe’s compliance and bent him over in to a painful position. This display of unnecessary physical abuse, no less toward the President of the Student Federation, is absolutely intolerable.
A student who witnessed the incident was also threatened by the police officer with arrest when he began to inform other students of the situation. This leads me to believe that no student on this campus can feel safe when speaking freely.
I call upon you, Allan Rock, to put a stop to this unacceptable affront to the fundamental rights and freedoms of students and citizens and to the principles of democracy. You must publicly declare that students will no longer be terrorized by the thuggish actions of the Ottawa Police and Protection Services. Specifically, you must instruct Protection Services never to use the Trespass Property Act to suppress political action on campus. You must formally recognize that SFUO offices belong to and are managed by students. You must respect the fact that the university cannot decide who can or cannot access these spaces. Refusal to do so will be taking an anti-student position.
The University of Ottawa campus is no place for police; this aggression will not be tolerated. Your office has acknowledged receipt of a physical copy of this letter and you have verbally informed me of your intent to respond. Please do so with the urgency this situation demands.
Liam Kennedy-Slaney, Second-year biology student
