Hamilton community members and students call for justice and accountability in wake of Erixon Kabera's death
On Nov. 14, 2024, over 400 people gathered outside Hamilton City Hall in the rain to honour the memory of Erixon Kabera. A well-known member of the Rwandan-Canadian community, Kabera was fatally shot by police two weeks ago.
The crowd, which included some McMaster students, marched from City Hall to the Hamilton Central Police Station, demanding transparency and accountability in the investigation of his death.
Kabera, 43, was fatally shot on Nov. 10, 2024, after an encounter with police. According to the Special Investigations Unit, which is responsible for investigating circumstances involving the police, officers responded to a call reporting a man at an apartment building with what appeared to be a handgun.
The Special Investigations Unit initially stated there was an "exchange of gunfire" during the incident but later clarified that Kabera did not fire a weapon. The Special Investigations Unit stated that two police officers discharged their firearms and that a replica gun was found at the scene.
Kabera's family has expressed outrage over the evolving narrative from authorities. "We find that reversal of crucial facts, a full day after telling the entire world otherwise and painting an image of violence for our very own, to be deeply outrageous and unnerving," expressed Kabera's family in a statement to The Public Record.
We find that reversal of crucial facts, a full day after telling the entire world otherwise and painting an image of violence for our very own, to be deeply outrageous and unnerving.
Erixon Kabera's family
The family described Kabera as a compassionate and honourable man who dedicated his life to his three sons, Garry Sean, Terry and Zack, aged 10, 13 and 17.
Hfsa Awan, a McMaster undergraduate student who attended the event, shared a reflection upon attending. “The memorial felt really empowering . . . I expected mourning, but instead, it was a powerful moment of people coming together and calling for justice,” said Awan.
Awan believes students can play a crucial role in raising awareness by fostering open dialogue and educating themselves on issues like police accountability. “Our privilege as students is to educate ourselves—that’s how we can contribute,” said Awan.
She also expressed feeling that the university should take a more active role in addressing the tragedy, noting that its proximity to campus makes it a deeply local issue. “Everyone is affected, and the university should be uplifting students who are mourning his death,” said Awan.
Kabera had lived in Canada for 20 years, building a life for his family as a resource officer with the Canada Revenue Agency and starting a small business. He was an advisor to the Rwandan Canadian Healing Centre for nearly a decade, contributing to community initiatives and supporting others.
During the vigil, speakers remembered Kabera's kindness and called attention to the Hamilton Police Service's disproportionate use of force against Black residents. The Rwandan Canadian Healing Centre issued a statement calling for "a full transparent investigation" into the circumstances of Kabera's death.
Kabera's close friend Andy Ganza, who had been on his way to visit Kabera the night of the incident, has started a GoFundMe campaign to support Kabera's family and cover funeral and legal expenses.
"Erixon dedicated his life to his family, faith and community, building a reputation as a compassionate, gentle and honourable man," said Kabera's family in their public statement. Community members continue to mourn his loss and demand answers about the events that led to his tragic death.
Erixon dedicated his life to his family, faith and community, building a reputation as a compassionate, gentle and honourable man.
Erixon Kabera's family
Black individuals are continuing to face disparities within the healthcare system, regardless of how universal our healthcare coverage may be
I believe the Canadian healthcare system was not designed in a way that allows for patients to be treated equally. Numerous times, it has been discussed that people of colour are not receiving adequate care compared to their European counterparts.
Although we live in a progressive society that sheds light on these topics, a plethora still needs to change. Through patient advocacy, we can make these changes within our healthcare system.
The black population of Canada has had a substantial history with medicine and the healthcare system. Due to this history and the means of patient advocacy, we are seeing improvements to make our healthcare system more inclusive and representative of the needs of black individuals.
Unfortunately, our healthcare system has not always been like this. For example, black individuals faced racial inequality and injustice regarding the care they received.
A mountain of evidence has displayed a lack of health research concerning the black population. This has led to their care being inaccurate since it is based on research conducted on individuals of European descent. Instances like these have created a space for the healthcare system to make inferences on how to treat black individuals best.
For example, there is a racial bias in administering pain medication for the black population compared to their European descent counterparts. This medical practice is rooted in the belief that black individuals had a higher pain tolerance than those of European descent.
As of this, it was reported that black individuals were undertreated for pain symptoms, leading to increased chances of being denied pain medication. In addition, according to a study, black individuals are more likely to be underestimated with experienced pain despite their verbal communication of discomfort.
The aforementioned belief was so prominent in the healthcare system that it implicated individuals during childbirth. Regardless of an individual's insurance policy, the status of the admitted hospital, and other factors which may influence the presence of epidurals, black individuals are less likely to be administered an epidural before childbirth.
Not only does this policy demonstrate racial bias, but in my opinion, it also displays prominent concerns for care inequality. For example, women should not be denied epidurals during excruciating moments such as childbirth due to higher perceived pain tolerance.
According to a study investigating the relationship between race and usage of Epidural Analgesia during childbirth, "Black patients with private insurance had rates of epidural use similar to those of white/non-Hispanic patients without insurance coverage." Although these are American statistics from 2003, it demonstrates the racial disparities black individuals faced in the past.
On a positive note, the Canadian healthcare system has shown promise for improvement towards racial bias and inequality. Recently, medical textbooks have included medical illustrations of black individuals to demonstrate inclusion.
Modern medicine also recruits larger populations of black students to promote equality of opportunity and representation among healthcare staff and patients. This newfound representation provides our healthcare system with more diverse voices for social issues within this system. In addition, it may provide a better basis for black individuals to receive equal care as their providers could better relate to them.
With advocacy against the lack of research on various racialized groups, there has been an increase in medical research focusing on black individuals in recent years. The uptake of research has provided medical practitioners with a better understanding of how illness presents itself within the black population and how to treat it better.
With advocacy against the lack of research on various racialized groups, there has been an increase in medical research focusing on black individuals in recent years. The uptake of research has provided medical practitioners with a better understanding of how illness presents itself within the black population and how to treat it better.
The Canadian healthcare system has drastically improved concerning the inclusivity, representation, and treatment of the black population in medicine and health. However, I believe much improvement still needs to be done to reconcile past actions and promote equality.
Since there are already practices in place enhancing the representation of black individuals and correcting the quality of care through specified research, patient advocacy is the primary method of improving our healthcare system for black individuals.
I believe this to be true because through raising awareness on issues that impact specific communities, we have the power to implement change. In addition, by exercising patient advocacy, we can ensure that these strategies continue to support the black community within medicine.
Through showcasing prominent issues and demanding change, we can promote inclusivity, more health research conducted on black individuals and representation. With these factors, I believe we can create a further significant shift in healthcare, improving the quality of care we provide to the black community.
A new initiative at 541 Eatery & Exchange creates a safe space for folks who are unhoused to share their stories and become better storytellers
Stories are powerful tools. They can shape, heal or challenge people in unexpected ways and help us better understand ourselves and others. At 541 Eatery & Exchange, a not-for-profit charity café, a new storytelling circle, Concrete Tales, is helping to instill this powerful tool in its community.
The premise of 541 Eatery & Exchange lies in the vision that all people deserve access to food and should be able to choose what they want to eat. Their goal is to provide an opportunity for people to help their community by paying it forward through its button system and making sure everyone has access to good food. They also hope to provide a sense of dignity and respect that is too often stripped away from those who are stigmatized in society, such as those who are unhoused or dealing with addictions.
“541 Eatery & Exchange is a beautiful way for people, who have more resources, to come and see and interact with people who are actually very, very strong and resilient—people who have lived on the streets and have seen and experienced tough, tough things—and see them for who they really are,” said Carmen Cooper, staff at 541 Eatery & Exchange and organizer of Concrete Tales.
Concrete Tales is the latest initiative at 541 Eatery & Exchange funded by Keeping Six, an organization focused on harm reduction in Hamilton. Its first session was held on Nov. 18 at the café and it will continue to occur every Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. with dinner provided. Every week, one of the facilitators or guest speakers will exchange stories — some personal, some folk tales — of resilience and strength.
Cooper came up with the idea of starting a storytelling group and then later recruited facilitators to help run the sessions, including Carl Lambert whom she got to know through 541 Eatery & Exchange. Both their connections to the café and its mission run deep and long.
Cooper started working at the eatery four years ago but has been part of its family for a long time as a volunteer. She was drawn to this space by the sense of integrity, dignity and inclusivity offered by its community and while working here, she was able to learn the stories of folks who have had very difficult experiences and found herself healing and growing through listening to their stories. Concrete Tales came about because she wanted to extend this opportunity to others in the community and provide a dedicated safe space for folks to share stories.
“Because I’ve been [working] here for four years, in some ways, I have earned the privilege and honour of getting to know some people who have had very hard lives and because I myself found healing and growing through storytelling, I wanted to offer that opportunity to other people,” said Cooper.
Because I’ve been [working] here for four years, in some ways, I have earned the privilege and honour of getting to know some people who have had very hard lives and because I myself found healing and growing through storytelling, I wanted to offer that opportunity to other people.
Carmen Cooper, staff at 541 Eatery & Exchange
Lambert is a long-time customer at 541 Eatery & Exchange and someone with lived experiences of being unhoused. Coming to the café for the past 6 years has been helpful for him in dealing with his addictions and getting a chance to socialize with the local community.
“[541 Eatery & Exchange] has been a wonderful place for me in terms of dealing with my addictions and re-socializing with people,” said Lambert.
Despite Concrete Tales being a fresh and new initiative, the response from the attendees has been powerful and encouraging. At the first session, the group established rules of engagement, such as respect, trust and how they use a piece of concrete as the talking stick. It was crucial to establish these rules as soon as possible to emphasize the fact it is a safe space where people accept each other and can feel comfortable offloading their experiences and personal struggles.
During the first session, Cooper also shared an African folktale to ease the group into storytelling before delving into too personal stories which can be tragic and triggering for some folks. As the closing remark, she read a poem followed by a moment of silence for reflection which she hopes will be a tradition the group will continue every week. Afterwards, many folks shared they were looking forward to coming back for more and showed enthusiasm for future events.
“Everyone said they are coming back . . . [And] the community at large is supportive of [Concrete Tales] too as well as the [attendees]. It’s wonderful,” said Lambert.
Looking further ahead to where the group would like to take these sorties and conversations. In February 2023, they hope to facilitate an 8-week workshop to teach folks how to develop their own stories, including proper structure, body language and effective delivery. At the end of the workshop, they will host a debut event for all the storytellers to share with the general public.
Teaching people, especially those who are unhoused, how to be strong storytellers is important in Lambert and Cooper’s perspectives because it is an essential skill and can be therapeutic and dignifying.
“Let’s say something happens and you’ve got to talk to a banker, you've got to talk to a cop, you’ve got to talk to a fireman about [how] your kid [fell] into the water — it's a story and the more effective you can do it, especially as a street person who tends to lose those social skills, it’s huge . . . Also, it’s therapeutic,” said Lambert.
“I think that the idea that even though you’ve lived a difficult life, [knowing] that you matter, your story matters — like there is substance there — it dignifies your life which I think is rare,” said Cooper.
Additionally, by sharing these stories, they hope to help the community unlearn harmful stigmas against people who are unhoused, such as that they are on the streets because they are lazy.
“I think the assumption is always like, "Oh, they are just so lazy, not hard working, drug addicts and have loose morals." There are reasons for these things . . . So far from the people that came [on Nov. 18], I think there’s an eagerness to be heard. They just need an audience; they need people to listen,” said Cooper.
I think there’s an eagerness to be heard. They just need an audience; they need people to listen.
Carmen Cooper, staff at 541 Eatery & Exchange
To support Concrete Tales and initiatives alike, they encourage people to support community organizations like Keeping Six. Anyone can also attend future Concrete Tales events by emailing [email protected] to reserve a spot and learn to develop their own stories. Additionally, 541 Eatery & Exchange is currently looking for socks and gloves donations.
Everyone is closer to being unhoused than they think. Currently, extraordinary stories are being shared at Concrete Tales to destigmatize street people and normalize experiences of tragedy and hardship. Even if it is not at Concrete Tales, reflect on your narrative and try listening to someone else’s story to learn the power of storytelling and gain a new perspective.
C/O Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities
After a statement of apology, the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities promises to develop new policies and procedures
cw: Mention of sexual violence
On Feb. 19, the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities released an apology for engaging with Member of Parliament Kevin Vuong.
For those who don’t know, UCRU is a union of different university student groups across Canada who come together to advocate for better undergraduate university education. The McMaster Students Union is one of UCRU’s members.
Every year, UCRU carries out a federal lobby week to meet with a number of MPs and have discussions about student issues. These lobby weeks allow UCRU to present concerns to the federal government and seek support from the MPs.
This year, UCRU’s lobby week took place in the last week of January. On Jan. 25, UCRU met with MP Kevin Vuong.
Vuong serves as the MP for the Spadina—Fort York constituency and originally ran as a Liberal candidate in the 2021 federal election. When news broke that Vuong was charged with a sexual assault in 2019, that had since been withdrawn, the Liberal party disavowed Vuong. As a result, Vuong now sits in the House of Commons without any party affiliation.
Vuong’s election was not well received and many have condemned associations with Vuong.
Following the lobby week, on Feb. 18, UCRU posted an Instagram story containing Vuong.
UCRU has now apologized for engaging with Vuong and said they will cease engagement with Vuong.
Denver Della-Vedova, current President of the MSU and chair of UCRU, said that UCRU unfortunately did not have any vetting procedures in place this year.
However, UCRU has now begun developing policies and procedures to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again.
“We are committed to ensuring we have a better vetting process and have some steps that we can take in advance to ensure that we are not supporting any individuals that are unscrupulous,” said Della-Vedova.
C/O Enokson, Flickr
McMaster athletics kirks off their events and awareness campaigns to honour black history month
Every February in Canada, people participate in Black History Month events and festivities to celebrate and honor the legacy of Black Canadians and their communities. McMaster also took the time to partake in these activities, as did the Marauders.
The Marauders organized many different events and initiatives, including a basketball game dedicated to the cause and advocacy posts on social media.
The Marauders posted quotes from Black Canadian leaders, such as Masai Ujiri, the President of Toronto Raptors and Jean Augustine, the first Black woman elected in parliament.
Additionally, the McMaster Black Student Athlete Council organized a special panel that is dedicated to the Black community in which Hamilton legends shared their experiences within sport and the way they navigated throughout their careers.
Given past reports of anti-Black racism in McMaster athletics, it is an important step for the Marauders to honour Black athletes that have inspired and influenced the sporting community.
C/O Don Craig
True advocacy entails more than just empty words
By: Ardena Bašić, Contributor
cw: abuse, neglect
Given the increased attention on human rights issues and the overall mistreatment of the Indigenous population, reconciliation has gained an increase in discussion in many institutions.
Professors and leaders are now acknowledging the ownership of the land they work and live on. The orange shirt has become a symbol of support for victims of the residential school system. Political leaders are making promises to address the issue of water advisories in Indigenous communities and inequities in education and housing.
While these symbolic actions exemplify desires to make positive changes, they are still only symbolic acts. Whether these intentions lead to actual change is contingent on whether leaders and members of society translate their intentions and words into tangible action.
Advocacy may very well begin with words, promises and acknowledging mistakes and atrocities of the past. However, as it pertains to the issues that many marginalized and oppressed groups such as the Indigenous population of so-called Canada experience, words represent only the preliminary step in building a better world.
Both Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau have given formal apologies to the Indigenous community in regards to the residential school system. In 2021, Canadian catholic bishops also communicated their remorse for the role of religious bodies in the residential school system. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church and Pope have not followed suit. Calls for the church to take accountability for its role in the residential school system became widespread this past year given the many bodies of Indigenous children found in unmarked graves across Canada in what used to be residential schools.
Some action has been taken on the part of the Canadian federal government to follow up on their apologies and address the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For example, the government has budgeted for their intent to address the lack of access to clean drinking water, develop better health and social services on and near reserves and contribute to preserving Indigenous languages.
Moreover, Sept. 30, 2021 marked the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day sought to commemorate the victims of the residential school system and entailed memorials and other events held across the nation.
There are also calls for institutions to remove statues and names of people who were involved in the residential school system. For example, Ryerson University will be changing its name, given its eponym, Egerton Ryerson, was an important architecture in designing the residential school system. However, changing an institution’s name is only a symbolic act and must be followed by more tangible action to support reconciliation and contribute to social progress.
When Stephen Harper apologized to Indigenous communities years ago, he failed to fund significant projects like the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Justin Trudeau’s follow up was equally as inadequate, as the campaign promises he made to Indigenous communities during his 2015 election campaign have still not been fulfilled as of publication.
There are still water advisories in place and the presence of inadequate infrastructure and services across Indigenous communities despite promises to address these issues. In fact, government funding for awards that serve to honour leaders in Indigenous communities has decreased. It is clear the government wants to take accountability of its past actions and do its work in laying the foundation for reconciliation, but this is not followed by proper, tangible action.
Only when tangible actions are taken after communicating an intent to do so will greater equity become a possibility. It is time Canadian society and its government follow suit on their promises and intents and invest more towards showing accountability and working towards reconciliation.
In sum, symbolic reconciliation is communication of an intention to right the wrongs of the past. However, this needs to be followed up by real action in order for true societal change to occur.
Student Sustainability Ambassador Program connects sustainability student leaders to provide support and resources during COVID-19
C/O Bram Naus
The 2020-21 academic year was like none other, given the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and online classes at McMaster University. Despite the challenges, one program that helped students stay connected and build community during lockdown was the Student Sustainability Ambassador Program.
The program launched in October 2020 after discussions between McMaster Hospitality Services and the academic sustainability programs office recognized a need for greater collaboration between sustainability-minded student leaders.
“We noticed that student groups seemed to be running similar events, pursuing similar goals and tackling similar problems as other groups. We scanned campus and found more than 30 clubs focused on sustainability efforts . . . We saw an opportunity to support these groups in having an even bigger impact through collaboration,” explained Abbie Little, the community relations coordinator and experiential learning for the academic sustainability programs office.
"We noticed that student groups seemed to be running similar events, pursuing similar goals and tackling similar problems as other groups. We scanned campus and found more than 30 clubs focused on sustainability efforts."
Abbie Little, academic sustainability programs office
The program was implemented and run by hospitality services along with facility services and the McMaster Students Union. It was started with funding support from the McMaster Okanagan Special Charter program.
This funding was awarded in 2020 to SSAP as it focused on improving the health and well-being of the community, specifically by creating new engagement opportunities for students and empowering their leadership.
The SSAP’s mission is to support student leadership experiential learning while promoting personal and professional development in sustainability initiatives. SSAP outlined three objectives to achieve this mission: increase student awareness on academic sustainability, empower students to be leaders in sustainability through active learning and provide support in their projects and plans of action.
Since its launch, SSAP has gained over 115 members in its private Facebook group, which allowed students to learn, collaborate and support each other’s sustainability initiatives.
The SSAP’s mission is to support student leadership experiential learning, while promoting personal and professional development in sustainability initiatives.
“Everyone that runs the program, as well on the faculty side, is very passionate and very supportive of everyone . . . It's been great meeting with them even throughout being online all the time,” explained Callum Hales. Hales is a member of this Facebook group and a sustainability minor student currently in SUSTAIN 3S03 working on a solitary bees project.
Crystal Zhang, another member of the SSAP Facebook group and sustainability minor student echoed Hales’ sentiments.
“I'm part of the Facebook group and I really enjoyed [it] because there are so many different initiatives and so much information . . . they always have a way [for students] to get involved and I really like that about the sustainability department and community,” explained Zhang.
“Everyone that runs the program, as well on the faculty side, is very passionate and very supportive of everyone . . . It's been great meeting with them even throughout being online all the time,” explained Callum Hales.
This year, Zhang was a part of a tree planting project in collaboration with local Hamilton organizations and with support from the sustainability department.
“They really helped us out a lot. [They] showed us the whole tree planting process, even without us actually being there,” explained Zhang, who was able to plant over 100 trees on campus with her team.
“I'm part of the Facebook group and I really enjoyed [it] because there are so many different initiatives and so much information . . . they always have a way [for students] to get involved and I really like that about the sustainability department and community.”
Crystal Zhang
Hales described SSAP and the sustainability courses in general to be insightful in broadening your perspective.
“It’s a very good way of bringing together a bunch of different disciplines [to see sustainability] from a multi-faceted view instead of like through a single lens,” explained Hales.
The SSAP is also open to all students across all disciplines and Hales believed that the SSAP program could be applied anywhere across campus.
Hales also encouraged all students to take part in sustainability groups. The student plans on incorporating sustainability in his future career because of the positive impact the student projects have had on him.
Zhang explained that sustainability projects have allowed her to develop critical thinking and writing skills.
“We are going through the climate crisis and I feel like what I’ve learned is really critically thinking about the decisions being made by people in power and where our world is going in terms of sustainability right now,” explained Zhang.
SSAP also hosted monthly Coffee and Collaboration Chats where students shared their ongoing ideas and connected each other to useful resources.
“Students in clubs share their plans and resources and have a discussion board [where they] can post about local and global sustainability topics and event opportunities which helps to form a sense of community. We also offer special project funding to individuals or groups looking for financial support to launch their sustainable projects in their own community,” said Little.
The Sustainability Student Ambassadors Program (SSAP) is offering up to $300 for in Special Project Funding for McMaster...
Posted by McMaster Academic Sustainability Programs Office on Thursday, February 18, 2021
“We have several goals we aim to achieve with the program and one of them is to provide educational workshops on topics that students want to learn more about . . . We heard from students that during the pandemic, they wanted to learn about ways they could be active members of their community from the safety of their homes,” explained Little.
Alongside these chats, SSAP provided educational workshops to help build students’ leadership skills.
One such event was the advocacy letter writing workshop held in February 2021, which was developed in collaboration with McMaster graduate Jamie Stuckless, who is an expert policy consultant, writer and transportation professional.
McMaster's Student Sustainability Ambassador Program (SSAP), McMaster's Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability...
Posted by McMaster Academic Sustainability Programs Office on Tuesday, January 19, 2021
The workshop included an overview of how students should structure their letters, what specific factors about the audience they should consider, what they should ask for in a letter and the differences between writing on behalf of an individual or a group.
“We looked through a few examples of advocacy letters and then put attendees in a few breakout rooms to practice writing their own advocacy letter on a given topic . . . The workshop was well attended and participants reported in a survey that they found it to be informative, fun and engaging,” emphasized Little.
Throughout the year, SSAP has been a place of community and collaboration for students, despite the pandemic.
“We hope that the impact of providing students with resources and tools will empower them to create positive change in their communities that will reach far and wide. The program itself is an example of what can be accomplished through collaboration, even when collaborating remotely,” said Little.
“We hope that the impact of providing students with resources and tools will empower them to create positive change in their communities that will reach far and wide. The program itself is an example of what can be accomplished through collaboration, even when collaborating remotely.”
ABBIE LITTLE, ACADEMIC SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMS OFFICE
The plight of the Uyghurs must be recognized as genocide by the international community and students have a responsibility to advocate for their human rights
cw: genocide
What is happening to the Uyghurs? Depending on who you ask, you will receive helpfully pedantic descriptions such as: “education,” “vocational training,” “repression,” “violent suppression,” “cultural genocide,” “postmodern genocide” and “demographic genocide.” The first two, offered as explanations by the Chinese state are fictitious to the point of absurdity. Similarly, the finger-wagging condemnations of “repression” and even “violent suppression,” while ostensibly denouncing the treatment of Uyghurs evade more significant criticisms.
Rather incomprehensibly, most accusations of genocide invariably insert a qualifier — “demographic,” “cultural” and “postmodern” — perhaps to make the charges more palatable, less alarming and less meaningful. The fundamental question remains: is this a genocide, in the true sense of the word?
Unfortunately, previous experiences with the matter furnish us with the answer. The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was signed by China in 1948, lists the actions that qualify as genocidal when they are inflicted with the intent to destroy, entirely or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. One such condition is the infliction of severe physical or mental harm on members of the group.
Since 2014, the Chinese government has routinely and arbitrarily imprisoned Uyghurs in “re-education camps” — essentially concentration camps where detainees are tortured, starved and beaten, subjected to waterboarding and electric shocks and psychologically tortured. Testimony from escaped detainees and their families can hardly fail to convince even the most dispassionate judge that such actions constitute serious physical and mental harm. This is genocide.
Under said UN convention, that should be enough to constitute genocide. However, we are fortunate enough to be supplied with enough evidence so as to be excessive in our exposition. Another condition for genocide is the undertaking of activities to prevent births within the group.
An investigation by the Associated Press revealed that Uyghur women were: forcibly implanted with an intrauterine device; underwent unwanted sterilization, abortions and pregnancy checks; were force-fed birth control pills and injected with unknown fluids; had their children removed and placed in orphanages; and were sent to camps for giving birth to multiple children.
Between 2015 and 2018, the birth rate in some ethnically Uyghur areas had plummeted more than 60 per cent. To all appearances, these actions can only be aimed at dramatically decreasing the Uyghur birth rate and ultimately reducing the size of the group until it is easily assimilable. This is genocide.
This is not to say that the charges of, say, cultural genocide are any less morally repugnant; they are simply not enough. An article first published in the Financial Times argues that our society has “fetishized” genocide as the ultimate, virtually uncommittable horror — historical memory has set the bar too high. Such a view of genocide makes possible only retrospective acknowledgment, thereby obstructing efforts at prevention.
Shall we then settle for milder, qualified accusations and hope for an equally mild response? Certainly not. What is needed now is the civic and political courage to stand behind that coda to one of humanity’s greatest failings, “Never Again,” and ensure that the genocide of the Uyghurs is recognized, terminated and prosecuted.
University students have a long and venerable tradition as progressive champions of human rights. From the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley campus to climate change advocacy, university students have a unique cohesion and shared experience that makes organization and protest against injustices a successful weapon of change.
As the Canadian government moves towards recognizing the Chinese government’s policy as genocide, the McMaster University student body, along with other groups in Canada, have the responsibility to advocate for oppressed peoples around the globe. Letter writing campaigns, opinion pieces, protests, raising social awareness — these are all actions we can and must undertake to stop the Uyghur genocide and ensure that the “Never Again” does not happen again.
Universities across Canada advocate for greater financial aid
In 2020-2021, the average tuition for full-time undergraduate programs across Canada is $6,580 per year. 52 per cent of students graduate with student debt and an average student has a total of $28,000 in debt when they graduate.
52 per cent of students graduate with student debt and an average student has a total of $28,000 in debt when they graduate.
Student debt in Canada has been deemed a crisis by many. In 2018, Canadian students collectively owed over $28 billion in student debt.
The McMaster Students Union is one of the student unions that have joined in to work on the Debt Free Degree campaign, advocating for more accessible and affordable post-secondary education in Canada.
This campaign is led by the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities and the University Students’ Council at Western University.
Other student unions that are also taking part in the campaign include the University of Toronto Students’ Union, Students’ Society of McGill University, Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association and more.
These nine student unions represent students of the U15 group of Canadian research intensive universities. Collectively, the student unions represent over 250,000 students.
The campaign is calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough to take action.
Mackenzy Metcalfe, vice president of external affairs at Western’s University Students Council and chair of UCRU, said that this would put grants at a total increase of $1200 per student for the 2020-2021 federal budget.
Policy recommendations from the campaign include doubling of investments in Canada Student Grants from what was provided in 2019. Mackenzy Metcalfe, vice president of external affairs at Western’s University Students Council and chair of UCRU, said that this would put grants at a total increase of $1200 per student for the 2020-2021 federal budget.
This amounts to roughly $1 billion from the government. Metcalfe also noted that this was one of the promises made by the Liberal party during the 2019 election. This increase in grants would apply to all students eligible for financial aid.
“Investments in students are investments in the future. Students are really going to make up the workforce of tomorrow and increasing funding for student financial aid will undoubtedly see exponential return in the next couple of years,” said Metcalfe.
“Investments in students are investments in the future. Students are really going to make up the workforce of tomorrow and increasing funding for student financial aid will undoubtedly see exponential return in the next couple of years,” said Metcalfe.
MSU Vice President (Education) Ryan Tse declined an interview but wrote in an email statement that the MSU is excited to work on this campaign.
“The Debt Free Campaign [gives] students the opportunity to share their stories and call on the government to help make postsecondary education more accessible and affordable,” wrote Tse.
In previous years, UCRU had advocated for the transfer of federal tuition tax credits to student grants. Currently, the recommendation for the federal government to transfer tuition tax credit funds to upfront grants is also an MSU policy.
However, the Debt Free Degree campaign had decided not to specify federal tuition tax credits as a source of funding for student grants, but simply advocate for an increase in grants.
“UCRU still believes that tax credits from tuition should be relocated to upfront grants for students, however, during our past few lobby weeks, UCRU received feedback from the government about the proposal. We heard from multiple sources in government that they were not interested in making this change to the tax credit system. However, we did hear that they were interested in supporting students through student financial aid,” Metcalfe explained.
Although recommendations from the campaign ultimately do not eliminate student debt, Metcalfe said that having a larger proportion of financial aid as grants rather than loans will help decrease the amount of accumulated debt.
Aside from an increase in student grants, the campaign also recommends a two-year grace period on all federal student loans. Currently, federal student loans have a grace period of six months.
In other words, students have six months following their study period with no accumulation of interest on their federal student loans. Aside from finishing their final school term, students are also required to repay loans six months after they leave school, take time off school, or transfer from full-time to part-time studies. After those six months, students are expected to begin payment and interests will accumulate.
In Ontario, financial aid for students is regulated by the Ontario Student Assistance Program. OSAP incorporates both federal and provincial student loans and grants.
On a provincial level, student loan requirements differ depending on the province. Students in Ontario are not expected to start repaying their provincial student loans until after the first six months, but their loans do accumulate interest during that period of time.
Across social media, the campaign shares various infographics comparing the average amount of student debt to other various items of the same monetary value such as 112 pairs of AirPods, a Honda Civic, 233 years worth of Netflix subscriptions and 9 million cups of coffee.
$28,000. That's the amount of debt an average student has when they graduate. You can buy a lot with $28,000. Paying off student debt shouldn't be one of those things. It's time for a change - alongside @UCRU_Can, we're pushing @JustinTrudeau & @CQualtro to take action. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/FbeJu13B5J
— McMaster Students Union (MSU) (@MSU_McMaster) November 6, 2020
Students were encouraged to join the movement by writing a postcard to their local member of parliament. A Google form at www.debtfreedegree.ca was available for students to fill out and UCRU will send the postcard on the student’s behalf.
Students were also asked to spread the word by sharing posts with the hashtag #DebtFreeDegree on their social media and provide UCRU with feedback by emailing [email protected].
The MSU is working alongside @UCRU_Can and Student Unions across the country to advocate for accessible, affordable post-secondary education in Canada, and a #DebtFreeDegree. Learn more about our fight for Debt Free Degrees at https://t.co/t0I4CFpbCP. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/5o9GvsngPy
— McMaster Students Union (MSU) (@MSU_McMaster) November 3, 2020
The campaign ended on Nov. 16 and Metcalfe stated that over 200 students had shared their feedback. These student concerns will be presented to federal policy makers during UCRU’s annual Federal Lobby Week. This year, the federal lobby week is scheduled from Nov. 23-27.
Historically, McMaster Students Union presidential candidates often have big dreams to tackle issues concerning marginalized communities. Topics that reappear every year include accessibility, reducing financial barriers and sexual violence support. While these platform points can be well-intentioned, they can often be examples of poor allyship instead. Using people of colour, the 2SLGBTQ+ community, disabled people and survivors as talking points for campaigning can be insensitive if candidates are unable to follow through with their platform points.
There are clear examples of platforms that have done this. In 2018, past MSU president Ikram Farah campaigned on reducing financial barriers by re-evaluating the Ontario Student Assistance Program’s structure and reworking it to accurately reflect tuition cost discrepancies between different programs. This would mean that two students who paid different tuition amounts, and who previously qualified for the same amount of financial aid, would instead receive aid that was proportional to their costs. Although Farah completed her presidential term in April 2019, any advocacy done surrounding OSAP hasn’t had a huge impact on OSAP’s structure.
In 2019, current MSU president Josh Marando promised to hire an additional sexual violence response coordinator to address the lack of support for survivors of sexual violence. Marando still has three months left in his term, but the efforts into hiring a new sexual violence response coordinator seem to be lacking. So far, an additional sexual violence response coordinator has yet to be hired.
In addition to an absence of follow-through, candidates also often fail to consult adequately. This year, MSU presidential candidate Krystina Koc aimed to address student safety due to the Westdale and Thorndale break-ins that occurred last year, and to increase support to Maccess. However, Koc’s consultations about student safety were limited and she failed to consult Maccess regarding how to best improve support.
Incoming MSU President Giancarlo Da-Ré’s plans to improve accessibility by making the MSU website compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and increasing the number of courses that use Echo360 to record lectures. He also wants to implement consent culture modules that would be mandatory for welcome week representatives. Although Da-Ré states he has done 100 consultations and has platform points surrounding accessibility and consent, he did not consult Maccess or the Women and Gender Equity Network prior to campaigning.
Evidently, solidarity with low-income students, people of colour, survivors and disabled people have been a large topic of discussion within presidential platforms. However, these campaign points are rarely acted upon or are executed poorly. This leaves me and many others with questions: if these points don’t result in any visible change, why have them in your platform at all?
During campaign season, presidential candidates are trying to win students’ votes. Therefore, it’s usually important to maintain a good public image. Nothing looks better than advocating for a marginalized population. Regardless of whether these candidates actually care for the marginalized populations they’re advocating for, if they’re coming from a place of privilege and put us into their platforms, it can seem like they’re trying to win brownie points for being good people.
Additionally, this allyship quickly becomes performative if the candidates don’t follow through when it comes to supporting marginalized communities — which they often don’t. Even if you have the best intentions to help others, it is hard to change systemic oppression in a one-year term because these structures have been in place for centuries.
Typically, advocacy movements are initiated by marginalized communities themselves, not presidents. This can be seen with the WGEN, which was created to provide a safe space for women and trans people, as well as students that face sexual violence. WGEN was approved by the Student Representative Assembly because of a community survey that provided statistics of students who faced assaults, misogyny and sexism on campus. Although the SRA did come into play with the creation of this service, consultations and surveys were important in its creation, which is what the presidential candidates have been failing to do. In addition, WGEN was spearheaded by women, trans people and survivors advocating for its existence, proving that marginalized communities have always been at the forefront of these movements — not the MSU president. If the MSU president is serious about advocating for marginalized communities, then they need to consult with the groups who represent the needs of these students.
Despite Koc and Da-Ré’s well-intentioned platforms for improving peer support services and consent education respectively, they failed to consult the communities that are directly affected: Maccess and WGEN. How will you help improve support and remove systemic barriers if you do not talk to those that are directly affected?
Becoming the MSU president doesn’t mean that you suddenly have the ability to support marginalized people. Anyone and everyone can support movements to dismantle oppressive barriers — instead of campaigning on the idea that you will support marginalized people during your presidential term, start by supporting them in your everyday lives. Talk to the people you know and ask them how you can support them. Actually consult the marginalized communities you hope to support, not the institutions that oppress us. Even if you can’t make a huge change during your one-year term, you can still make meaningful change through your individual actions as a person. But if you’re not willing to commit to your platform and actually support marginalized students, please leave us out of it.
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