On Oct. 10, McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum announced the release of Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi’s Report on the Open Forum on Free Expression and Peaceful Assembly. Manfredi’s concluding recommendations include the clarification of several clauses in the Code of Student Conduct, the revision of the provisional protocol, and a review of McGill Security’s training program.

Munroe-Blum mandated the series of open fora following Dean of Law Daniel Jutras’ report on the events of Nov. 10, 2011, when an occupation of the James Administration Building ended with riot police dispersing and pepper-spraying students on campus.

The open fora were intended to provide students, faculty, non-academic staff, and senior administration with an opportunity to engage in dialogue about campus issues, including freedom of assembly on campus, and the limits of this freedom. Four Open Forum sessions took place between March 1 and May 2 of this year.

Manfredi’s report on the Open Forum, which can be accessed online through the Open Forum blog, described the key issues that constituted the focus of the discussions—as well as the different opinions expressed regarding these issues.

Early in his report, Manfredi compared McGill’s policies, protections, and regulations to several Canadian and American universities and institutions. The points of comparison include student codes of conduct, freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and the disruption of meetings.

Manfredi found that several of the institutions possess specific policies regarding freedom of speech and expression, and that the code of student conduct for each institution defines “prohibited behaviour” and establishes “disciplinary procedures for investigating … and sanctioning behaviour contrary to the Code.”

“Universities place limits on the rights to assembly and expression,” Manfredi concluded. “Assemblies and demonstrations must be ‘peaceful’ or ‘lawful’ to enjoy any protection at all.  Beyond this, even assemblies or demonstrations that fall within ordinary definitions of these qualifying terms are usually prohibited if they otherwise disrupt normal institutional activities.”

In his section on free expression, Manfredi stated that there was much debate about “expressive activities” such as protests, demonstrations, and occupations, and that many participants commented on the limited responsiveness of the McGill administration to “dissenting voices.”

With regards to peaceful assembly, Manfredi said that much of the discussion involved “the question of how much, where, and with what consequences disruptive activity can legitimately take place.” Manfredi noted that all participants in the Open Forum agreed that McGill should be a violence-free zone. However, other opinions ranged from the belief that peaceful assembly is a form of disruption—even in the absence of violence—and should not be tolerated, to the view that disruptions on campus should be allowed in all circumstances.

“The Open Forum discussions indicate that the university community accepts the necessity of limits, and that most recognize that the peaceful/non-peaceful line is more complicated than a simple distinction between violent and non-violent,” Manfredi concluded. “McGill’s Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures and its Charter of Student Rights currently inadequately define the limits to acceptable protest.”

Manfredi closed his report with three specific recommendations.

“The Code of Student Conduct should be clarified with regard to section 5, 6 and 10 of the Code, namely ‘disruption,’ ‘unauthorized entry and/or presence’ and ‘unauthorized or fraudulent use of university facilities, equipment or services,’ ” his first recommendation read.

The second recommendation dealt with the James Protocol, a provisional security protocol governing access to the James Administration building issued after students occupied the building’s 6th floor in February for six days. Manfredi recommended that the protocol be “revised or reconsidered with a view towards adopting a less restrictive approach to access and security.”

Manfredi’s final recommendation concerned McGill Security Services, which came under criticism last year for what some students at the forum called the increased “securitization of campus.” Manfredi emphasized the importance of training security personnel for disruptive situations.

“McGill Security should review their training program … in order to ensure accuracy and integrity in the case of incident reports and disciplinary proceedings,” he wrote.

In an email to the McGill community on Oct. 10, Munroe-Blum confirmed that she has accepted Manfredi’s three recommendations, and is ready to undertake the necessary measures needed to fulfill them.

“My colleagues and I are committed to addressing directly the matters identified in the report,” Munroe-Blum wrote. “In some cases work is already under way to deal with [these issues]; in others I’ve asked those responsible for substance and process to consider appropriate next steps and report back to me by November 15, 2012.”

Manfredi said he believes his second and third recommendations can be implemented relatively quickly without much additional consultation from the McGill community, however, he admitted that this might not be the case in regards to the Student Code of Conduct.

“Modifications to the Student Code of Conduct are undoubtedly more complicated,” Manfredi said in an email to the Tribune. “However, there is already a Code revision process under way.”

Josh Redel, president of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), said that the SSMU executive team is unable to comment on the report at this time.

In her email, Munroe-Blum stated she will reserve her comments on the report for the Senate meeting scheduled for Oct. 17, as well as the next meeting of the Board of Governors.

As part of Desautels’ Homecoming festivities last Friday, McGill’s Social Economy Initiative (SEI) hosted a presentation by social entrepreneur Mary Gordon in the Bronfman Building. Gordon spoke to the audience about Roots of Empathy, the classroom program she founded 17 years ago to help address aggression and bullying, and to help increase empathy among elementary school children.

Gordon discussed how teaching children to be “emotionally literate” will improve society in future generations. Emotional literacy, she explained, requires an individual to be able to identify his or her own feelings, to identify those feelings in other people, and then to discuss those feelings with others.

“Let me promise you, we are an emotionally illiterate society,” Gordon said. “We have a steady uptake of emotional ineptitude in society.”

Roots of Empathy, as the program name suggests, focuses on building empathy in young children to increase emotional literacy. The program aims to foster the capacity for caring by working with babies. The children learn to identify how the baby feels in given situations—for instance, if a toy is taken away.

“We have the opportunity to say [to the children], ‘when was a time you felt like the baby, when you were crying inside?’ And I promise you there are many broken hearts in every classroom,” Gordon said.

Roots of Empathy began as a small program in Toronto in 1996, serving 150 children. It is now in every province in Canada, and has a reach of over 450,000 students across the country. The program has also expanded into the United States, Europe, and New Zealand.

According to Anita Nowak, SEI integrating director and current instructor of a new McGill course entitled “Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation,” Gordon was chosen as a Homecoming speaker for a number of reasons, but Nowak said that the success of Roots of Empathy probably played a large factor in the final decision.

“I think one of the things that is very important in the non-profit sector, and the social enterprise and entrepreneurial endeavors, is that they actually show impact,” Nowak said. “[It’s important] that it’s not just a promise, but that they actually can deliver on the mission that they are hoping to accomplish.”

Nowak also explained how SEI wanted to take advantage of the Homecoming weekend to inform alumni of what SEI is doing, and how they can help. The SEI is a relatively new initiative at McGill that began this past January, and will publicly launch in the spring of 2013. It hopes to integrate social entrepreneurship and social innovation into the teaching and research that occurs in the Desautels Faculty of Management.

A mixture of students and alumni attended Friday’s talk. Many students said they attended because they are currently in Nowak’s Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation course.

Michael Hibberd, U3 general management, is in Nowak’s class and was impressed by Gordon’s presentation.

“I really did think it was a phenomenal talk,” Hibberd said. “It was incredibly inspiring. I found a lot of things in this talk that I had been thinking about for a long time and looking for, but never found … It was really refreshing.”

Kristen Foster, U2 international management, is also in Nowak’s class and agreed with Hibberd.

“I think [Gordon] does something that our society is starting to do, but [is taking] way too long to do, and that is to get to the root of problems, rather than trying to fix it afterwards,” Foster said. “She is doing it to such [an] extent that it is amazing and inspiring.”

Protesters block construction in Charlottetown, PEI

On Oct. 10, protesters halted construction on the realignment of the Trans-Canada Highway near Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI).  According to PEI’s transportation department, the section of the highway in question is currently unsafe because of its sharp curves and steep hills.

This realignment has sparked an outcry from those who oppose the planned destruction of farmland, recreational areas, and a section of old-growth hemlock forest. Despite fencing put up to deter protesters, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police halted construction because a few protesters came close enough to the heavy machinery for authorities to deem further operation unsafe.

Those at the protest included some members of PEI’s Green Party were also present, including interim leader Darcie Lanthier, and incoming leader Peter Bevan-Baker. Bevan-Baker and several other protesters were charged with trespassing; Lanthier says she expects to be charged with resisting arrest and mischief.

Although construction on the site has since resumed, protesters say they will continue to stage demonstrations to prevent the highway realignment.

Toyota recalls 240,000 vehicles in Canada

Toyota Motor Company announced the largest recall in the company’s history on Oct. 10. The recall affects over seven million vehicles worldwide—240,000 of which are in Canada—and has been initiated due to a problem involving the master window switch on the driver’s side of vehicles.

A problem in the production of the vehicles resulted in poorly greased switches, causing the switch to feel sticky during use. Should car owners lubricate the switch in hopes of fixing this problem, the switch assembly could melt, leading to a fire.

Customers in the U.S. have reported more than 200 problems due to this issue despite claims by Toyota spokespeople that the risk is minimal.  According to the company, the inspection and repair process for affected vehicles will only take around an hour.

This announcement is the latest in a series of recalls by Toyota in the last few years, including one three years ago that involved up to 12 million vehicles affected by issues with acceleration. Company officials say that the recently increased number of recalls is a result of Toyota’s ambitious growth goals.

Conservative government criticized for spending on advertisements

The Conservative government has recently come under scrutiny by NGOs and NDP critics regarding their spending on advertisements. While government programs across the nation have had their funding cut, the Tories have already approved $64 million worth of advertising for the 2012-2013 year, although the total amount will only be available to the public after all the invoices are processed.

Advertisement campaigns on the government’s “Economic Action Plan” website include those for “better jobs,” and “responsible resource development.” Government departments, such as the Department of Finance, have justified this expenditure by arguing that raising awareness for initiatives is an important step in unifying the nation.

In the meantime, the Conservative government has discontinued programs such as the Experimental Lakes Area, and has made drastic cuts to the budgets of other programs—such as the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy—in order to save money.

BC Health Minister apologizes for delayed surgery time

Last week, British Columbia’s Health Minister Margaret McDiarmid issued an apology to an Okanagan teenage boy, whose delayed surgery was a factor to his paralysis from the waist downward.

Walid Khalfallah was 13 years old when he was diagnosed with kyphosis—a condition that involves an over-curvature of the upper back. Because of the severity of the case, Khalfallah’s doctor insisted that the boy seek immediate attention, but delays pushed the date of surgery 27 months behind schedule.

By the time Khalfallah’s parents sought medical help in Washington, rather than delay the surgery further, his condition had worsened, leaving him paraplegic, following the operation.

In her apology, McDiarmid spoke of the fluctuating waitlist, and the current process of improving B.C.’s health care system. McDiarmid added that the number of spinal surgeries performed at the BC’s Children’s Hospital has doubled since 2009.

Montrealers protest behaviour By Stephanie Trudeau

Last Friday night, over two hundred protestors took to the streets of downtown Montreal, calling for an end to police violence, and the dismissal of Montreal police officer, Constable Stefanie Trudeau.

This past spring, Trudeau—more commonly known by her badge number, “No. 728”— was caught on tape last spring using pepper spray on peaceful protesters. On Oct. 2, Trudeau was also recorded using coarse language and aggressive behaviour after seeing someone in public with an empty beer bottle.

The protest, which was organized through Facebook, began at 9:15 p.m. at Place Émile-Gamelin. Protestors—some of whom were masked—made their way to Ste. Catherine’s street, chanting and calling for passersby to join them. Riot police monitored the situation throughout the night. At 10:00 p.m. the protest was declared illegal, and by 11:00 p.m. the protesters had dispersed.

According to CTV News, Trudeau has been suspended, and is currently under a disciplinary investigation. The police ethics commission has also reprimanded Trudeau for the pepper spray incident.