Right-wing takeover at SFU

Staff who operate many of the student services at SFU, including Out on Campus, the Women’s Centre, and the SFSS Print Centre, have been locked out, without a contract for 10 weeks.

The lock-out was initiated by a unanimous vote of the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) board of directors, who decided that they had no more money and should blame the union representing 20 employees – five of whom are students.

A quote from SFSS president John McCann in Xtra! demonstrates their ideological commitment to hold out on any concessions to the union

SFSS president Jeff McCann says the society is broke and the cuts need to be made for the sake of all students.

“It’s kind of interesting when people say, ‘End the lockout because those services aren’t being provided,’” says McCann. “Yes, right now and for the last 10 weeks those services aren’t being provided, but every single year the budget cuts are reducing programming by 40 percent, year after year after year.”

He says that unless the union makes concessions, other cuts will have to be made.

“We need to be able to find that balance,” says McCann. “Otherwise we’re not going to have an Out on Campus. We’re not going to be able to afford it. We’re not going to be able to afford anything that we do.”

There’s several articles in The Peak about the lockout, but in each McCann provides quotes that show little compassion or desire to resolve the situation. In his world, the union has been fired without the awkward confrontation.

While I would generally oppose fee increases at university, student union fees are the one place where you can actually see where the money goes. The portion of the SFU undergrad activity fee used for operations has not risen in 15 years, despite the school expansion and inflation. Revenue for the SFSS is therefore dropping with respect to what they’re spending – so it’s little surprise that they’re running a deficit. The Board’s strict refusal to consider this avenue is further evidence of their hardline ideological stance.

Kelly Thoreson gives a decent run down of the numbers involved for The Peak, whose libertarian-leaning editorial board has had few kind words for the locked out workers.

The lockout is also happening against the backdrop of the potential SFPIRG eviction. SFU’s Public Interest Research Group is a student-run centre that supports environmental and social justice research, education, and action. The SFSS Space and Oversight Committee (a committee of the board), has decided that the space currently leased to SFPIRG would be better used by as student space, despite the fact that SFPIRG is student run and funded.

This move isn’t surprising to anyone who followed the debacle last year when conservatives on campus tried to force “democracy” and “accountability” into SFPIRG by hijacking meetings of the SFSS board. It seems their tactics have changed, but the goal remains the same: stamp out progressive voices on campus.

The one positive in the situation is that the Graduate Student Society is still on the side of students and workers, and voted unanimously in support of the union. The frustration for the GSS is that they partially fund these services – to the tune of $45 000 annually – through the SFSS. So while the lock out goes on, they are simply paying for services not rendered.

Further, the union organized an alternative clubs days for clubs that refused to cross the picket lines. I’m proud to say that the SFU Skeptics were among those who participated.

SFU has a history of being among the most radical campuses in Canada. These recent events threaten that spirit of progress and open debate.

While my time at SFU is coming to an end, students need to stand up for a campus that represents the world we want to see.

Lorne Gunter spews hot air

It’s continually depressing to see professional denialist Lorne Gunter continue to sap money that could be going to actual journalists and columnists. Yesterday he had this to say:

Over the past decade, global surface temperatures have flatlined. While 2010 was a warm year in the northern hemisphere and 2011 has been warm in much of the U.S., globally temperatures have failed to surpass 1998. Despite all the histrionics about man-made global warming, the predicted temperature rise has failed to materialize even as CO2 emissions have increased. Pat Michaels, a climatologist who is currently senior fellow for research and economic development at George Mason University in Virginia, wrote in the Wall Street Journal in late July, ”there has been no statistically significant warming trend since November of 1996 in monthly surface temperature records.”

That’s great Lorne that you can open the Wall Street Journal, read an economist from the known corporate-apologist Cato Institute (an association Lorne neglects) and decide work of real scientists is bunk.

Let’s actually look at some data to see if Michaels has a clue what he’s talking about:

Continue reading Lorne Gunter spews hot air

Kai Nagata: Media Crusader

After that last article, I want to point out something positive* on the internet.

You remember Kai Nagata right?

He wrote what may have been the best resignation letter ever. It was essentially a manifesto for change in the Canadian media climate.

Well, lucky for us, The Tyee found him and has started letting his unfiltered words hit the internet.

And wow does he have things to say.

He’s already started a series called “Warnings from Quebec”, which begins by painting the bleak picture of media centralization that has become Quebec under Quebecor rule. Nagata notes that Quebecor has been crucial in forcing secret laws through the provinces National Assembly to support the construction of a new arena, to be owned by Quebecor, in Quebec City. He questions the new motto of Quebecor president “What’s good for Quebecor is good for all Quebeckers” and worries about the extreme agendas being pushed by Quebecor.

Part 2 introduces us to the ex-Parti Quebecois members who quit over their party’s sell out to Quebecor. He notes how the PQ’s implosion has basically cost them their next election, which is of little concern to Quebecor who may have found the ideal puppet in Francois Legault – potential leader of an uncreated, but high-polling, new right-wing party. He finishes by asking whether any large corporate media in Canada is free of bias, noting that only the independent Toronto Star and Le Devoir endorsed anyone other than the Conservatives in 2008 and 2011.

Finally, Nagata concludes with a blistering two-page analysis** of Quebecor’s new Sun News Network, which he claims has a steadily rising viewership (his source is a Sun newspaper, so I’m still a bit skeptical). He discusses the prevalence of polling data in Quebecor papers, which seem to have been used to promote the Quebec arena – asking respondents to single out who is to blame for delays. He worries about the lack of critical analysis of Quebecor (save for a few courageous columnists) and concludes by worrying about the isolating effect that such media centralization can result in.

Go read all three pieces, and feel worried. But then feel a bit better knowing that at least someone’s paying attention.

*At least it’s a good thing that’s it’s being written.

**I hate when online articles are split across pages. We have scroll bars for a reason.

Wrong, wrong, so very wrong

Apparently people respect Vito Tanzi. At least, that’s what an article in the Globe and Mail tells me, and their journalists must be impartial right?

Tanzi apparently believes that because government spending has dropped as a fraction of the GDP in Canada and Sweden over the past 20 years that it will continue to drop into the future. I guess two data points does make a linear trend. Neil Reynolds, the author of the article, compares the levels that we’re spending with those of the 1920s and the 1700 and 1800s, and seems to argue that we should go back to such spending.

That’s right.

Continue reading Wrong, wrong, so very wrong

“Not an inch of space”

Never mind that Europe is supposed to be all metric all the time, here’s a quote relating to yesterday’s tragedy:

"That the perpetrator apparently comes from the far-right scene shows once again how dangerous racist and anti-foreigner ideologies are," Germany’s opposition Greens said in a statement. "We must not allow them an inch of space in our societies."

I’m really not clear on whether the Greens here are advocating full-on censorship here. It sure seems like they’re on side with pushing hate groups underground.

We walk a fine line with hate speech laws in Canada. Some (very vocally) argue they’re a farce, while others see the value in them. I think we’ve generally done a decent job of balancing free speech rights with the right not to be persecuted.

But we always have to be careful not to overstep that line, suppressing ideas that make us uncomfortable. Democracy thrives on free inquiry and debate. Multiculturalism is a touchy subject, and one we’re likely going to have to discuss more in our own future. It’s hard to find the right answer when some aren’t heard.

We cannot censor dissent.

But at the same time, violence is also unacceptable. We also have to take precautions not to prevent dissent from fermenting into hate crimes.

It’s a fine line.

On the Oslo blasts

By now you’re probably aware of the explosion and subsequent shooting that happened today (yesterday there?) in Oslo, Norway. If not, go read then come back.

Going off the details that are undisputed as of now, a bomb was set off in downtown Oslo, near the government buildings and later a man dressed as a police officer opened fire on delegates of a Labour Party youth camp. (Real) Police believe the two events are linked and the death toll is still rising and is at least 10.

The New York Times had initially reported that an Islamic fundamentalist group had taken credit for the bombing, but the paper was quick to note that such claims are often false.

Any time a terrorist attack (and I define this as a terrorist attack since it was an attack that inspired terror) occurs, it’s almost instinct now to blame Muslims. Hopefully most people take a second and realize it’s not any or even a sizable number of Muslims who could commit such atrocities (can anyone picture Mayor Nenshi doing anything so atrocious?). Finally, we actually realize that in situations like this, we need to wait until some facts come out before posting our favourite violent sections of the Koran in relation to this attack.

Almost ironically, some reports are starting to come out now, and they’re worthy of the same skepticism as the initial reports, that the gunmen was a blonde Norwegian and has no links to any Islamic group. The irony comes from the fact that this man may prove to have ties to ultra-right organizations that strongly oppose the left-leaning governing Labour party and Muslim immigration.

Rather than Islamo-Fascists it may prove to be just old fashioned Western Fascists.

Of course if a xenophobic right-wing group had escaped without being caught, they could have pinned the blame on Muslims and immigrants, potentially swinging popular opinion over to some of their more extremist policies.

But now I’m into idle speculation.

I wish the best for the investigators and Norwegian people. Norway holds a soft-spot in my heart as the place Alberta (and Canada) could be if we actually worked together.

More strikes against Harper

Because 2 in 5 Canadians still think Harper is the least offensive option, here’s a bit more ammunition:

Apparently student’s votes don’t count:

No votes cast Wednesday in a special ballot at the University of Guelph should stand, according to the Conservative Party of Canada.

The party wrote Elections Canada on Thursday to request that none of the votes collected during the U of G session be included in the final tally of votes in the Guelph riding. The letter was sent by lawyer Arthur Hamilton, of Toronto-based law firm, Cassels Brock.

In his letter, Hamilton alleges the polling station was illegal and also that partisan election material was present at it, which is a violation of the Canada Elections Act.

The polling station in question was located on the main floor of University Centre, where approximately 700 students cast sealed ballots.
Those Afghan Detainee Documents will not be released until Parliament resumes, rules the remaining 2 judges overseeing the details. Note that despite Con Laurie “Red Dawn” Hawn’s assertion that the report should be released, in this case it’s the Conservatives that possess the originals, and they never needed to go through this committee to make any of it public. At least Layton had the sense to boycott this sham from the start.
If you’re “ethnic” the Conservatives want you to dress up for them. Not sure if “very ethnic” need apply.

Finally, my only comment with respect to the Auditor General’s G20 report, is that while I would love it to be released, I think that the rules of our Parliament have been disregarded enough under Harper, and that no matter how many petitions or half-sincere calls from Harper are made, it shouldn’t be released for purely partisan motives (of course the RCMP shouldn’t bust in to party headquarters during an election either). Perhaps the rules need changed, but we should follow them for now.

Wait… seriously?

Not sure what I can say about this:

NDP candidate in Mississauga bows out to support Tories

A former New Democratic Party candidate in Mississauga has vaulted across the political spectrum and decided to back the Conservative Party.

Wait… what?

Apparently Mustafa Rizvi, nicknamed Darth Rizvi in the comments, was an NDP candidate in 2008 and was nominated again in the riding this time, but decided he didn’t fit with the party.

…he decided to defect because he wasn’t getting enough support from his party, he thought there were no problems with the Tories’ budget and he feared the NDP and Liberals would form a coalition. He said a coalition would be a bad idea, citing the example of Great Britain, where a joint government of Tories and Liberal Democrats has seen some friction.

"I was feeling there was a lack of leadership with this whole coalition factor they were trying to come through with," he told The Globe and Mail.

Seriously?

Mr. Rizvi acknowledged that jumping from the left-wing NDP to its ideological opposite was a "drastic shift of allegiance," but repeated another Tory campaign slogan in saying he couldn’t back the Liberals because he thought Mr. Ignatieff might return to a teaching post at Harvard University if he lost the election.

I think someone’s had enough kool-aid. I think there’s Conservatives who don’t even believe all the rhetoric they spew, but this is absurd.

"He’s quite an ambitious young guy," [riding association president] Mr. Khawaja said. "He just wanted a stepping-stone."

…

The following day, Mr. Rizvi will be meeting with Tory officials.

Well he definitely got his stepping stone.

A part of me thinks he did this just for the media attention, really, why else do a Globe and Mail interview? Nevertheless, I shake my head.

A death by 1000 cuts

Despite his power being somewhat shackled by a minority parliament, Stephen Harper has still had plenty of opportunity to enact his social agenda on the country.

Dennis Gruending presents the list of agencies that have seen funding cut or shrunk since the Conservatives gained power. Some definite anti-woman and anti-choice trends start to emerge, and taken in context with increased funding to evangelical organizations like Trinity Western University and Winnipeg’s Youth for Christ, start to paint a picture of what a Harper majority would enact.

Highlights (really, see the entire list):

(resignations)

·       Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (Linda Keen, chair)

·       Parliamentary Budget Officer (Kevin Page) (funding cut)

·       Rights & Democracy (International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development – Rémy Beauregard, President)

·       Statistics Canada (Munir Sheikh, Deputy Minister)

Community organizations, NGOs and research bodies reported to have
been cut or defunded [see note 1 below]

·       Association féminine d’éducation et d’action sociale (AFEAS)

·       Canadian International Development Agency, Office of Democratic Governance

·       Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women

·       Centre de documentation sur l’éducation des adultes et la condition feminine

·       Climate Action Network

·       Court Challenges Program (except language rights cases and legacy cases)

·       Department of Foreign Affairs, Democracy Unit

·       Feminists for Just and Equitable Public Policy (FemJEPP) in Nova Scotia

·       First Nations Child and Family Caring Society

·       International Planned Parenthood Federation

·       Marie Stopes International, a maternal health agency – has received only a promise of “conditional funding IF it avoids any and all connection with abortion.”

·       Native Women’s Association of Canada

·       Pride Toronto

·       Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

·       Status of Women (mandate also changed to exclude “gender equality and political justice” and to ban all advocacy, policy research and lobbying

·       Womanspace Resource Centre (Lethbridge, Alberta)

·       Workplace Equity/Employment Equity Program

Harper’s lost PostMedia

Since at least 2006, and potentially earlier, every Postmedia newspaper (then CanWest) has flat-out endorsed Stephen Harper and the Conservatives in each election.

While it looks like his arrogance is catching up with him and the cracks are forming.

From the Vancouver Sun:

For any government to be found in contempt of Parliament would be an affront to all Canadians. For one led by a prime minister who ran on a platform of openness and accountability, as Harper did, doubly so.

…

There can be no justification for denying MPs, or the public they represent, estimates for the costs that will flow from legislation they are being asked to approve. What little has come out indicates that sending more people to prison and keeping them in longer will cost billions of dollars in additional costs not only for the federal government but also for the provinces.

The Harper government’s reticence to release its cost calculations raises the even scarier prospect that they have been bringing forward these reforms without considering the cost.

His only option (and I’ll admit that it may be up his sleeve, although I don’t believe he’s the master strategist everyone seems to think)?

Harper can still have an impact on what happens next by showing his government is committed to the openness and accountability on which he once campaigned. He must release all of the cost estimates behind the prison reform package and commit to allowing MPs to do the job voters send them to Ottawa to do.

But even more scathing, from the ultra-Conservative (note the capital) Calgary Herald:

One of the Harper government’s favourite catchphrases is "truth in sentencing." We can support them on that, as long as the Conservatives also observe truth in budgeting.
…

Without question, the Chretien Liberals were parliamentary bullies extraordinaire. But Harper’s Conservatives promised to be better.

This really makes me think that we may be in for the exact reverse of the 2006 election:

Where as Adscam broke, the Martin Liberals dropped almost 10 points in the polls, and despite the public’s cool reception for Stephen Harper (and his sweater-vests), he still managed to win.

In this case, we have a perfect storm of Conservative scandals accumulating, in conjunction with past missteps, mixed with a lacklustre Liberal leader, whose only secret agenda would be fleeing to the USA if he loses.