I would like to remind everybody commenting to please stay respectful of your peers in the comments section of this blog.
It is very easy to write words on a screen, but this is not a forum for personal attacks.
Free speech is important, of course, and that goes without saying. But please don't hijack this blog.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
SFUO one of largest, most active delegations in New Orleans
SFUO one of largest, most active delegations in New Orleans
by Nick Taylor-Vaisey
photography by Meaghan Walton
When twelve University of Ottawa students boarded buses bound for a conference in New Orleans to criticize the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America, they didn’t expect to be one of the largest delegations—student or otherwise.
The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) destination was the People’s Summit, a conference that provided a critical view of the exclusive North American Leaders’ Summit that brought Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President George W. Bush, and Mexican President Felipe Calderón to New Orleans April 20–22.
The Ottawa students found a smattering of their colleagues from Peterborough, Guelph, and Toronto staying at the same hostel in New Orleans, and together they represented one of the largest critical voices in the city of the North American leaders.
The SFUO planned one of the most vocal demonstrations of the week against the SPP: a march that started in Jackson Square and snaked its way through the French Quarter. As participants banged on drums and carried signs, others handed out leaflets with information critical of the SPP’s agenda.
Ian Brannigan, an SFUO activist and the incoming vice-president social of the Political, International, and Development Studies Student Association, described the SFUO’s role in New Orleans as a contributor to the larger effort.
“I think our role was just to come down, have a good time, hopefully try to mobilize the locals and just make it aware, because the problem is there isn’t enough awareness. [The SPP is] completely under the lid,” he said.
As it turned out, however, the SFUO was the biggest piece of the puzzle. Throughout the week, it became apparent that no large demonstrations were planned by any New-Orleans-based groups. Any local mobilization was organized by concerned individuals only loosely working together.
NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster, B.C.) attended the People’s Summit. After witnessing the absolute devastation that Hurricane Katrina levelled against New Orleans’ Lower Ninth ward, Julian understood why people weren’t protesting.
“You can see what people are struggling against. They don’t have homes; they don’t have places to stay. Hundreds of thousands of them are outside the city and trying to re-establish their lives two and a half years after the catastrophe,” he said.
“The support hasn’t been there for those people at all. I can understand, when they are struggling against those kinds of obstacles, the SPP is probably the last thing that they’re concerned about.”
SFUO VP University Affairs Seamus Wolfe wasn’t entirely surprised that the local effort to protest Bush and the SPP was lacking.
“When I was going through the organizing back in Ottawa, I was phoning down to a lot of the groups that I thought might be involved; just cold calls to groups that I thought might be involved,” he said.
“And the more I started phoning, the more I realized that people here are dealing with some terrible, terrible effects of the SPP, of NAFTA, of neoliberal or neo-colonial agendas. Their needs are so apparent, so deep, so right in front of your eyes, and they need to deal with that first.”
Indeed, local organizers echoed the sentiment. Stan Garczynsai helped put together a small march that wound its way through the streets of New Orleans. He said that the desire to protest was trumped by efforts to rebuild the city.
“People just aren’t very aware, because of confusion. People are trying to rebuild and live their lives here, and not get murdered, so they are more concerned with those things,” he said. “There was not much of a social infrastructure before the storm, so now we’re starting with total grassroots.”
Many New Orleanians were happy that Bush, Harper, and Calderón were meeting in their city. Robert McRaney, a resident of the French Quarter who watched Garczynsai’s march pass by his house, was content with both the summit and its message.
“Having it here is positive. We’re very encouraging about any multilateral cooperation that is extended between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Certainly, we’re pro-Bush and his aggressive work to try and improve the economy of the United States. It has to include Mexico and Canada,” he said.
“The conference is certainly a positive opportunity, and I hope something good comes of it.”
The People’s Summit
The alternate summit invited local community members and other concerned Americans, Mexicans, and Canadians to a number of workshops and seminars that shed light on the effect that the SPP has had on the lives of North Americans.
Seminars looked broadly at the SPP, but also focused on the alleged militarization of the North American Free Trade Agreement, profiteering in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, implications for immigration, food security, and disaster capitalism.
Canadian civil society groups also attended the summit and included the Council of Canadians, the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canadian Autoworkers, United Steelworkers, Common Frontiers, and Réseau Québécois sur l'intégration continentale.
The trip to the People’s Summit was partially subsidized by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa. It set a budget of approximately $3,000, which contributed to travel and accommodation costs, and asked participants to pay an additional $150.
by Nick Taylor-Vaisey
photography by Meaghan Walton
When twelve University of Ottawa students boarded buses bound for a conference in New Orleans to criticize the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America, they didn’t expect to be one of the largest delegations—student or otherwise.
The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) destination was the People’s Summit, a conference that provided a critical view of the exclusive North American Leaders’ Summit that brought Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President George W. Bush, and Mexican President Felipe Calderón to New Orleans April 20–22.
The Ottawa students found a smattering of their colleagues from Peterborough, Guelph, and Toronto staying at the same hostel in New Orleans, and together they represented one of the largest critical voices in the city of the North American leaders.
The SFUO planned one of the most vocal demonstrations of the week against the SPP: a march that started in Jackson Square and snaked its way through the French Quarter. As participants banged on drums and carried signs, others handed out leaflets with information critical of the SPP’s agenda.
Ian Brannigan, an SFUO activist and the incoming vice-president social of the Political, International, and Development Studies Student Association, described the SFUO’s role in New Orleans as a contributor to the larger effort.
“I think our role was just to come down, have a good time, hopefully try to mobilize the locals and just make it aware, because the problem is there isn’t enough awareness. [The SPP is] completely under the lid,” he said.
As it turned out, however, the SFUO was the biggest piece of the puzzle. Throughout the week, it became apparent that no large demonstrations were planned by any New-Orleans-based groups. Any local mobilization was organized by concerned individuals only loosely working together.
NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster, B.C.) attended the People’s Summit. After witnessing the absolute devastation that Hurricane Katrina levelled against New Orleans’ Lower Ninth ward, Julian understood why people weren’t protesting.
“You can see what people are struggling against. They don’t have homes; they don’t have places to stay. Hundreds of thousands of them are outside the city and trying to re-establish their lives two and a half years after the catastrophe,” he said.
“The support hasn’t been there for those people at all. I can understand, when they are struggling against those kinds of obstacles, the SPP is probably the last thing that they’re concerned about.”
SFUO VP University Affairs Seamus Wolfe wasn’t entirely surprised that the local effort to protest Bush and the SPP was lacking.
“When I was going through the organizing back in Ottawa, I was phoning down to a lot of the groups that I thought might be involved; just cold calls to groups that I thought might be involved,” he said.
“And the more I started phoning, the more I realized that people here are dealing with some terrible, terrible effects of the SPP, of NAFTA, of neoliberal or neo-colonial agendas. Their needs are so apparent, so deep, so right in front of your eyes, and they need to deal with that first.”
Indeed, local organizers echoed the sentiment. Stan Garczynsai helped put together a small march that wound its way through the streets of New Orleans. He said that the desire to protest was trumped by efforts to rebuild the city.
“People just aren’t very aware, because of confusion. People are trying to rebuild and live their lives here, and not get murdered, so they are more concerned with those things,” he said. “There was not much of a social infrastructure before the storm, so now we’re starting with total grassroots.”
Many New Orleanians were happy that Bush, Harper, and Calderón were meeting in their city. Robert McRaney, a resident of the French Quarter who watched Garczynsai’s march pass by his house, was content with both the summit and its message.
“Having it here is positive. We’re very encouraging about any multilateral cooperation that is extended between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Certainly, we’re pro-Bush and his aggressive work to try and improve the economy of the United States. It has to include Mexico and Canada,” he said.
“The conference is certainly a positive opportunity, and I hope something good comes of it.”
The People’s Summit
The alternate summit invited local community members and other concerned Americans, Mexicans, and Canadians to a number of workshops and seminars that shed light on the effect that the SPP has had on the lives of North Americans.
Seminars looked broadly at the SPP, but also focused on the alleged militarization of the North American Free Trade Agreement, profiteering in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, implications for immigration, food security, and disaster capitalism.
Canadian civil society groups also attended the summit and included the Council of Canadians, the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canadian Autoworkers, United Steelworkers, Common Frontiers, and Réseau Québécois sur l'intégration continentale.
The trip to the People’s Summit was partially subsidized by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa. It set a budget of approximately $3,000, which contributed to travel and accommodation costs, and asked participants to pay an additional $150.
Friday, April 25, 2008
The Star guesses wrong
The Toronto Star reports that at the SPP Summit there were "a dozen or so" protesters. I wonder how they found that number. There weren't many, but there were 12 SFUO demonstrators alone.
The quick and dirty on how the SPP affects post-secondary education
Some thoughts about the SPP and post-secondary education, the whole point this blog was created. It turns out no American PSE stakeholder had any real inkling about this, but a couple of Canadians shared their thoughts with Meaghan and me.
More to come, of course, in article form. These are straight transcripts.
Peter Julian, NDP MP (Burnaby-New Westminster, B.C):
Ian Brannigan, SFUO activist:
More to come, of course, in article form. These are straight transcripts.
Peter Julian, NDP MP (Burnaby-New Westminster, B.C):
Seamus Wolfe, SFUO VP University Affairs:It’s generally a privatization agenda. The essential aim is to, as the proponents of the SPP have been clear from the start, the essential component of the SPP is to maximize profits. How do you maximize profits in education? Well, you shift to private-sector, rather than public-sector funding. You increase tuition levels, you put students more and more in debt, you dig them deeper and deeper into a hole—then you make money off students.
If you can make a private-sector education profitable by increasing tuition fees, then you’ve made money off the student there. Secondly, when the student is carrying that debt load—the student loan—banks make money off the student there. It’s carried right along the cycle. It’s essentially a way of maximizing profits at the expense of the youngest, most vulnerable members of our society. There is no doubt that when you have an overall agenda that covers 300-400 areas—if we believe the words of the bureaucrats who actually are there to implement the SPP agenda—that they are areas that will profoundly touch the lives of students and encourage a kind of privatization of education that makes education inaccessible to middle-class students and poor students—unless they are willing to go heavily into debt.
Fundamentally, it poses a threat to education on several fronts, the first being the SPP agenda is hell bent on privatizing anything it can. So public education as a right, as a system, is a target of the SPP. It’s written in there. It’s not the first target, but if we don’t join arms for our brothers and sisters who are the first targets, then nobody will be there when the target is turned to us. So that is fundamental.There are also all the larger economic issues that are driving these agendas; the same issues that Our Campus back home is dealing with: the corporatization of our campus, of our public spaces, of our intellectual landscape. It’s being defined by these agendas that are being led by the largest corporations in the world. So yes, of course education [is threatened].
Ian Brannigan, SFUO activist:
The SPP, basically, is just a way for the U.S. to gain even more control over a lot of things. Post-secondary education in Canada, compared to the U.S., is not as high. We went to Loyola today, and without a scholarship or anything, you’re looking at paying $27,000 a year. And that’s just ridiculous. That’s worse than law school in Canada. I think if we bring more American values towards post-secondary education, we could be in a lot of trouble.Our education is somewhat subsidized. But I think the government would decide to cut its funding towards education, and then we’d be fending for ourselves.
Aftermath: local thoughts about the SPP summit
Thoughts from an assortment of residents interviewed by the blog...
Robert McRaney, resident of the French Quarter:
Robert McRaney, resident of the French Quarter:
Having it here is positive; we’re very encouraging about any multilateral cooperation that is extended between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Certainly, we’re pro-Bush and his aggressive work to try and improve the economy of the United States. It has to include Mexico and Canada.Steve Manning, bartender at the Golden Lantern in the French Quarter:The conference is certainly a positive opportunity, and I hope something good comes of it. I have no idea what they are discussing. [The SPP] has got a lot of positive play, as far as I’m concerned; what little bit I read.
Stan Garczynsai, organizer of an anti-SPP demonstration:I know they are meeting in the city, yes. New Orleans needs money, so I am glad they are here. Everything has lasting effects; sure, it will have lasting effects. I’m not familiar with the politics.
I knew Bush was coming to town, and I just had enough. He’s coming to our town; he’s already a complete failure to New Orleans, so just trying to get the people out. People have every right not to be happy with this current president. SPP ... is going to screw up the North American continent for many, many years, not just the next election. It’s going to carry over, and we need to get the word out—the people out.Martin Katz, sociology professor at New Orleans'-based Delgado Community College, on whether or not President Bush listens to student concerns:People just aren’t very aware, because of confusion. People are trying to rebuild and live their lives here, and not get murdered, so they are more concerned with those things. There was not much of a social infrastructure before the storm, so now we’re starting with total grassroots. You’re witnessing it, my friend.
No. I highly doubt it. He’s pretty much just concerned with his war, you know, and trying to get more money allotted to it. And his military bases that he’s trying to set up. At least there are people who aren’t happy. His 20-per-cent approval rating isn’t for nothing. It doesn’t get publicized here a lot, because our media [are] owned by eight corporations, and they decide what we do and don’t see. It really isn’t out there in the forefront. We talk about stuff like this.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Hometown activists call for peaceful assembly
There was a group of N.O.-based demonstrators that insisted that peaceful protests were a must -- no violence. When those from other cities (and countries) protested the SPP loudly, these N.O.-based people politely asked them to calm down.
Needless to say, some of the non-SFUO Canadians were a bit perturbed. But they all respected the wishes of the hometown crowd.
Needless to say, some of the non-SFUO Canadians were a bit perturbed. But they all respected the wishes of the hometown crowd.
Lack of American presence not surprising
There have been some comments on the blog that are critical of Americans for not mobilizing more in light of President Bush's visit to, of all places, New Orleans to talk about "security" and "prosperity".
Fair enough. But keep this in mind. New Orleans is still a city in tatters, save for the most "important" commercial areas and those that were spared major flooding (French Quarter, in particular).
People in New Orleans just aren't thinking about protests. They are rebuilding their lives and are not getting much help. They likely couldn't care less about where Bush is at any particular moment, even if he is in their own town.
Fair enough. But keep this in mind. New Orleans is still a city in tatters, save for the most "important" commercial areas and those that were spared major flooding (French Quarter, in particular).
People in New Orleans just aren't thinking about protests. They are rebuilding their lives and are not getting much help. They likely couldn't care less about where Bush is at any particular moment, even if he is in their own town.
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