'nother one

Should an assault on an atheist activist be prosecuted as a religious hate crime? After being attacked at Ryerson university last Tuesday, Justin Trottier thinks so.

"They should be prosecuted the same as if a member of a religious minority had been targeted," said the 24-year-old U of T graduate of the two young men he said attacked him. "I just want consistency."

Trottier, a leader of the Freethought Association of Canada and an outspoken atheist, said he was assaulted on Tuesday night as he and a colleague, Peter Aruja, were hanging posters advertising a lecture by Victor Stenger, author of God: The Failed Hypothesis.

Two men approached them and asked for a poster. Trottier said that he and his friend gave them one and continued walking. He alleges that the man who took the poster mumbled under his breath and threw the poster to the ground, at which Trottier yelled back, "You could have recycled that."

Media Credit: MIKE GHENU Justin Trottier inside Ryerson University's Jorgenson Hall, where he was attacked last Tuesday night while he and a colleague put up posters like the one above for an upcoming talk. "It has the most controversial title we've had, that's for sure," Trottier said.

Twenty minutes later, the two men approached Trottier in the tunnels underneath the university. He recalled the men being out of breath, as if they had been running. Trottier claims the two men initiated a fight.

"The first individual smacked me in the face twice and said 'watch your smart mouth.' I said, 'Don't touch me,' at which point he head-butted me hard in the face."

Trottier's nose was cut by the brim of one of their hats.

When the police reached the scene 30 minutes after Trottier called 911, the perpetrators had fled. With no other witnesses to the assault, the two alleged assailants have not been caught.

Though he said he considers it an isolated event, Trottier voiced concerns that the attack would be taken too lightly. He said he believes the assault was motivated by the same hatred and stereotyping as Islamophobic or anti-Semitic attacks.

"I think they thought we were arrogant atheists," Trottier said yesterday. "Are they saying that we can't have our own beliefs?"

Ryerson officials and the Toronto Police Department are treating the incident as an assault, but Trottier calls it a premeditated hate crime.

"This happens all the time to other belief groups. Why should an attack on an atheist not be taken with the same level of seriousness?" he asked.

Trottier compared the attack against him to the attacks on Muslim students at U of T last spring, referring to a report on Islamophobia on Ontario campuses recently released by the Canadian Federation of Students.

"This stuff that's happened to us is that same kind of stuff outlined in that report," he said.

Student leaders have stopped short of using the word "hate."

"There's no doubt he was targeted for his beliefs," said SAC chairperson Jen Hassum. Still, she disagreed with Trottier's calling the assault a hate crime.

"That definition isn't for us to discuss. It's a legal term," Hassum said.

SAC will, however, be issuing a message of solidarity to express concern over the incident.

The Toronto Secular Alliance, a student group started at U of T in 2005, has now grown into the Freethought Association of Canada, which is now the primary representative group for secular humanists in Toronto.

"We think that all belief systems should be treated equally," Trottier said. "That's one of the central tenets of secularism."

According to Trottier, posters advertising his group's talks on the U of T and Ryerson campuses have been torn down in the past. He claimed that the problem has been worse than usual at Ryerson this year, with his posters being torn down down as fast as they could be tacked up.

"The worst thing they could have done would have been to rip down our posters, but now they have given us a story to tell."

frrrrront pager

Published March 22nd:
Last month, two Muslim Students in an introductory art class at Western asked for an alternative project after having been assigned to draw a nude model. The professor refused, and told the students that if they did not complete it, they would fail that section of the course. Instead of continuing to deal directly with the professor, the UWO Senate intervened and gave the students the choice of either drawing the nudes, or failing the course and in doing so would not be able to continue on in the Fine Arts program. Although student groups continue to contest the decision, the ultimatum still stands.
This is one among many stories released in a report Wednesday by the Canadian Federation of Students. The Final Report of the Task Force on Needs of Muslim Students examines Islamophobia in colleges and universities across Ontario. Over 1,000 Muslim students participated in hearings held over the last seven months.
The report addresses the concerns brought forth by members of the Muslim community on university and college campuses. Student testimony is summarized, and outlines solutions to the issues are addressed. CFS hopes that this report will be taken seriously by each of the schools whose students participated in the hearings.
Terry Downey, Executive Vice-President of the Ontario Federation of Labour was present during some of the hearings and said she was “shocked” by what she heard. Downey, who is also African-American, said “it reminded [her] of stories her mother used to tell [her] of things said during the civil rights movement in the 1960s”.
One of the many goals of the report was to “develop a better understanding of the needs of Muslim students and to determine how well Ontario universities and colleges are addressing those needs,” said Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson for the CFS. The report also aims to encourage students who have experienced Islamophobia to act immediately and register with the appropriate campus office and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Concerns about prayer space were addressed in the report, saying that “lack of access to adequate prayer space was widely reported”. Some Muslims pray five times a day, sometimes interfering with class schedules.
Cramped and overcrowded facilities lead to further delays. The report states the “space is a human rights issue” and “should be made available by the institution”. Ideally,the report states, multiple prayer spaces should be available across campuses for easy access, should be segregated by gender, and should include ablution facilities. Some concerns were voiced as to the cost of these changes, but contributing members of the Task Force insist that the . changes are not drastic, and therefore will not be costly.
But St. George campus already offers four prayer spaces around campus available for daily prayers for Muslim students, according to Student Affairs director Susan Addario.
“Although they will continue to use these spaces, many of them are looking forward to having a dedicated Centre, where they can engage in dialogue around issues related to faith and religion,” Addario said.
With the formal opening of the Multi-Faith Centre on the U of T campus on Sunday, the issue of prayer space has expanded into an even larger issue. The Centre will become an area available for any faith-based student group to use. U of T has over 30 groups that self-identify as a faith or religious community.
The Jewish Students Association in partnership with the Muslim Students Association and Compass Catholic Fellowship have already hosted an event at the Multi-faith Centre to promote conversation between members of the different religions.
Tilly Shames, associate director of Hillel of Greater Toronto, is enthusiastic about the new space, adding that it will “create a more inclusive space on campus.”
Residence life is also talked about extensively in the report. Alcohol consumption, lack of Halal food options, and co-ed residences are among the issues addressed, and although these may not reflect concerns expressed specifically addressed by Muslim students at U of T, these are problems being faced at other Ontario schools. All U of T residence are alcohol-free in public areas, and all offer meal plans with Halal food options. The Muslim Students Association website also has a list of places on campus from which Halal food can be purchased.
Athletic facilities pose another problem when it comes to Muslim women who wear hijab, as they are forbidden to display their bodies to men. Therefore they are cannot use the facilities, but are still required to pay the student fees for use of campus facilities. The report suggests establishing women-only gym hours, which Wahid Chisti Valiante of the Canadian Islamic Congress says will benefit more than just Muslim women, but also women who are also uncomfortable with the co-ed environment.
Those involved in the release of the report hope that it will reach far beyond students, into the hands of University and College administrators, governmental officials, and even to the international community. Valiante voiced her opinions about the need for the schools to cater to the needs of Muslim women.
“We hope this will become a model for the international arena,” she said.

and the next one, albeit on organic food...

Published March 19th:
Students from the Environmental Studies program organized a daylong conference held at Hart House on Saturday about local, sustainable and organic food sources. Students, environmental activists, health conscious consumers, and professors from U of T all gathered together to listen, and exchange thoughts on the current state of consumer foods.
The day began with a keynote speaker and in the afternoon two lectures ran simultaneously every hour and a half, each with a speaker from a different organization or company involved in promoting healthy eating and living. The vegan lunch, served in the Great Hall, boasted flavourful organic and local food. Vendors and student organizations had tables in the room as well, so as to educate those standing around. Nora Saks and Maciej Jamrozik, two U of T students, informed those around them about getting involved in the campus run by Food for All Equally. “The things that you only read about, you can actually touch and taste,” said Saks.
The well-designed conference featured keynote speaker Lori Stahlbrand of Local Flavour Plus in the morning. Posters stating “Go the distance so your food doesn’t have to,” are placed all around campus. This is campaign by LFP who in September 2006 gained a contract U of T. Stahlbrand spoke of the need to increase the sale of locally grown and organic food in public institutions throughout Canada. Providing examples from the University of Edinburgh, and Portland State University, she spoke of student initiatives to bring agriculture directly into the lives of students such as organic food programs, and constructing community gardens. Currently, there are over 200 farm-to-campus programs in North America.
Dr. Rachel Schwartzman, Naturopathic doctor at Continuum Wellness, gave a detailed talk on the necessary components for a healthy body. Discussions about the benefits of flax seeds, garlic, beans, and water dominated the conversation. U of T’s own professor and Global Aware founder Dr. Leslie Jermyn was very eloquent in her one-hour history of the globalization of food throughout the last 5000 years. Students were surprised to learn of the links between agriculture and things such as the steam engine, the industrial revolution, and urbanization. Tanmayo Krupanszky of the Canadian Organic Grower’s Association thoroughly explained the nature, and future of organics. “Only 1½% of Canadian Farmers are certified organic,” she said, also highlighting that “local does not necessarily mean organic”. The benefits of eating organic are both “dramatic and immediate”, she stated. Ideas arose such as approaching supermarkets to sponsor local farmers markets, and carrying local food within the store itself.
The conference united several fields of study. Joanna Jack, one of the students who organized the conference, said the idea came to her group after having been assigned a project in her Environmental Studies 320 course. We wanted to make this accessible to as many students as possible, and create a community orientated experience,” she said, “We wanted to do something that made a difference. We wanted to bring people together, and this has been an amazing success”.

exciting

first article published in the varsity, published March 12th, 2007:
Students gathered in sub-zero weather outside the offices of the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities to mark the one-year anniversary of the McGuinty government’s end to the tuition-freeze. Students from the U of T, Ryerson, York and George Brown College delivered more than 5,000 “pink slips” to Minister Chris Bentley.
Each Pink Slip was a signed promise from individual students to vote in the next Ontario general election for “a candidate who promises to reduce tuition fees and student debt, and increase government funding for colleges and universities”. The angry and frustrated students called for Bentley to be fired from his position for not standing up for the students and parents of Ontario.
“We want a minister who reflects the desires of the students,” Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, said Thursday at the rally. Greener emphasized the need for students to vote in the next Ontario general election on October 10th, and called for a “movement in the ballot box”.
The CFS stated that for every dollar invested in financial aid, $1.30 will be “clawed back” through increases in tuition fees.
Olivia Chow, Member of Parliament in the Trinity-Spadina riding, came to the rally in support of the students. Chow recalled McGunity’s speech made in 2003 promising the students and parents of Ontario that tuition fees would be frozen if he were elected. Chow stated that a “promise given needs to be delivered”.
McGuinty ‘s government delivered a tuition freeze in 2004 but with only a two-year limit. The Ontario Government’s Reaching Higher Plan intends to provide support for post-secondary education in a five-year investment plan. Bentley announced in 2006 that the plan is a $6.2 billion investment in post-secondary education, and will include an increase in tuition fees of 20 to 36% over a four-year period. Students in Ontario already pay some of the highest tuition fees in Canada.
The McGuinty government stated in 2005 that within the Reaching Higher Plan, “ the people of Ontario will see improved access and higher quality in postsecondary education, and colleges and universities will be held accountable for accomplishing these objectives”.
“Bentley has failed our students,” said part-time student, and rally participator Shane Milne, “he’s supposed to be a public servant. We want the fees reduced and frozen”.