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.
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11 comments:
Apparently, an SFUO campaign to help the victims of hurricane Katrina would have been a better use of time and money.
The forum in which you sir are commenting was facilitated in part by that SFUO funding, and if one plus one dont add up for you too easy, that means Nick your source of information came along on the trip. So in fact, you knowing or talking about this at all is in part because of that same SFUO money you think you know better how to spend.
I'm just going to say that if you were as concerned as your comments make you seem, why don't you go on down to the Student Federation Office and have a chat with some of the VP's involved in the Summit. You know, all face-to-face and such. See if that resolves some of your issues.
Meanwhile, n-tv i kind of think that too much mainstream media has already focussed on the low demonstration turn out and turned that into some kind of indicator about contentedness.
Wilkins the US ambassador touted the lack of protests as a sign that the US was being more transparent than Canada. Nevermind the kind of lives NOLeanians are living, that if they dont mow their lawns they can have their houses demolished (Common Ground).
Who has time for a demo? They have been demonstrating, they have activism, its just differently centred down there. Up here we have the privilege to take a week off to take a bus down and show up, down there those who would really benefit from change cant necessarily afford to hold picket signs for it.
and the sessions did manage to raise the importance of being consistent in our opposition to the SPP. Not just one day out of the year, but all 365 and sometimes + 1 days of the year. Rethink our choices, rethink our communities, rethink our racism and barriers to better social justice approaches.
one of the more interesting things to think about was when someone from another student union said that their people just didnt care, that they didnt want to vote, that they'd tried everything to get people involved and nothing worked. It was a conversation about gatekeeping. We have that crisis in our own SFUO. Rethinking the ways in which we outreach to folks is essential to everyday praxis.
also, please disable the word verification for commenting, im too dyslexic to keep on having to do it and the images are getting worse and worse. i just tried to enter it 6 times already!
Here's what I read from this story:
SFUO decides to join national protest (of, um, another nation); buses to N.O. with a $3000 tab.
National protest not there.
SFUO looks around awkwardly trying to make their presence relevant; talks about Katrina.
2005 calls. It wants back its late-breaking-news that New Orleans has been devastated by a hurricane.
SFUO slinks back with it's tail between its legs, meanwhile missing the biggest protest in recent history on ITS ACTUAL CAMPUS.
Seamus Wolfe is impeached for gross ineptitude.
I'd just like to clarify that the SPP is an international thing, and Canadian groups other than the SFUO were there.
Also, one of the potential effects of the SPP is privatization of Post-Secondary Education, something the SFUO stands firmly against. I dunno about you, but I feel that tuition is high enough even WITH the small government subsidies that universities get.
Seamus and a few others may have missed the April 25th "Say NO to the Code" protest, but Pam Hrick, the president, and other members of the SFUO were there. I don't think Seamus' absence due to the anti-SPP campaign warrants even a joke about impeachment.
If no one stands up against the SPP, the bull shit will continue, effecting us on many levels, from tuition fees to environment laws, to the level of pesticides on our food.
Ben, a philanthropic campaign to help Katrina victims is just that --under the "Philanthropic" portfolio, not the "Campaigns" portfolio, which is specifically for political and advocacy campaigns (though the two could foreseeably work together on that). You should sit down with Seamus or Pam and pitch the idea if it's something you feel strongly about.
Chelsea, fyi, there's a little symbol on the right of the word verification box that reads you the letters out loud if the letters look too messed up. Hope that helps. :)
It's clear that the issue here, once again, is in evaluating the focus of the SFUO's campaigns. Whether you think they should deal with on-campus issues only, or that anything that concerns general post-secondary education or its paying students should be of an SFUO concern, it comes down to the fact that they're representing all (undergraduate) students on campus, and therefore all of those students' varied points of view. This obviously begs the question - are the feelings and perspectives of all students paid enough attention? Or, like in the case of the Code, should the Federation be more concerned with informing and rallying the student population? This balancing act and the effects of these latest two movements will all be key to watch this upcoming year.
Conserning the 'Code' - I would agree that it is, in fact, the most pressing issue to uOttawa students today. The irony of Maureen's statement is, however, two parted; 1) Until I had to leave to N.O. I was the coordinator of the SFUO responses and actions (including preparations for the protest) and ensured this work would continue in good hands; 2) It is exactly this emphasis on only the shortsighted issues that reinforce the ability of goverments to walk all over it's people (read; privitize post-secondary education) and this specific way this is occuring, the SPP, is far from simply "national" in scope.
Do I regret for a second that I (the SFUO) brought 12 students and 2 journalists to a major Summit of civil society from accros N. America? Do I regret for a second that we were able to play one of the most active roles in resisting the SPP (this time) and learning from others how these agendas are affecting them and how we can help each other resist?
Not for a second.
Celeste, thanks got cluing me in the tuition rates are high. I'll tell you what makes them even higher--ancillary fees like SFUO levies. If the real issue was privatization of education, was the SFUO seriously not able to find an Ontarian or Canadian legislative body in Ottawa--the capital of the nation and the centre of politcal power--to protest privatization of education?
The SFUO seriously couldn't take the OC Transpo bus to Dalton's office and make their point? There, I just saved students $2980. And I put then in a more appropriate venue than the indifferent streets of New Orleans.
Seamus, the irony of your actions are also multifold. You did not run for election or re-election on a basis of wasting student money on your personal interests, and yet here you are with a $3000 tab with nothing to show for it except the rockin' good time you had in New Orleans. Or are you seriously going to sit there and say that the SFUO had some sort of tangible impact down south?
Secondly, you are incoming and outgoing VP university affairs, and where were you in the biggest scandal involving UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS in recent history on this campus? You were protesting an international partnership.
We did not re-elect you to be a part-time activist and part-time VP Univ Affairs--to go galavanting around the world on the student's tab while your role on campus goes unfilled.
If you can't do your SFUO job properly, you need to resign so we can elect someone who will be attentive and PRESENT for actual "university affairs".
Also, I'd like my ($3000/30,000 students) 10 cents back.
I would like to remind everybody commenting to please stay respectful of your peers.
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.
You know what's easier than attacks? Jumping the gun and drawing hasty conclusions, especially in the thinking styles of ben and maureen.
Maureen, I'm not exactly sure what you had in mind when you ask what we have to show for the summit. Already, Cheevers and I are in talks for a fundraiser and awareness campaign.
The materials gathered and the lectures on anti-oppression and anti-racism will most likely make their ways into the SFUO; I know for certain at CSD but probably far beyond. We were exposed to a variety of anti-oppression sessions and even with a bit of social theatre thrown into it. I know that for me it was incredibly helpful and something I definitely want to bring back to our university community. We were involved in a series of conversations that were helpful in understanding ourselves as activists, self-checks, and seminal questions and criticisms that can only help us better understand our tasks and goals.
Among the other issues raised, one of which was the concept of "gatekeeping" as an activist. According to the presenters, there are two types of gatekeepers; good ones and bad ones.
The bad ones typically do not delegate enough power sharing and responsibility to the people around them. They take all the credit and take up all the microphone space whenever possible. And the most indicative of a bad gatekeeper is when they leave and everything falls apart. This style of gatekeeping has kept out a host of identities; women, people of colour, people with disabilities; principally, the people in the background.
A good gatekeeper, on the other hand, makes certain calls and expects to receive criticism from their peers, he/she takes it into account, asks for ways to improve a project, and brings people into the fold, cultivating their strengths and weaknesses. A good gatekeeper, when they leave town, still knows that the projects that the community is working on will be in safe hands. And when the gatekeeper leaves for good, there is still enough momentum and interest to keep a project going.
I'm perfectly happy to say in defense of Seamus that when he left town, all of the momentum he had worked on and cultivated with others meant that the protest went on without him. His golden star, Mireilles, had taken such a great position of leadership on this campaign, and thats exactly what a good gatekeeper enables. All that you are asking of seamus is that he show up to a protest on campus almost as a figurehead-- and there's nothing wrong with thinking figureheads are important and central, but there's much more to say about the empowerment of the next generation of active community members, especially when we already have a crisis of representation in the fed.
If all you want to see is the figurehead [white guy] at the protest, then all you are asking for is more of the same, the same actors, identities, showing up and taking credit. Maybe you should check your own notions of leadership and gatekeeping, it might help clear up your perspective.
and celeste? have you ever listened to the recording version of it? its demonic! and i cant hear the letters anyways.
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