These diagnoses, which govern how transgender and gender non-conforming people interact with mental health providers, reflect stereotypes rather than actual people – and, with perverse irony, often hurt the people they’re supposed to help.

TF is categorized as a paraphilia – or sexual fetish – just like pedophilia. This reinforces stereotypes of cross-dressers as sexual predators. In addition, one of the criteria for a TF diagnosis is “over a period of at least six months, in a heterosexual male, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviours involving cross-dressing.”

This feeds into the stereotype of cross-dressers as people who dress that way for sexual pleasure. However, people cross-dress for much more varied reasons than just sexual thrills. Furthermore, it’s not really clear why, medically, only heterosexual males can be diagnosed with TF.

The rules for diagnosing GID focus even more on these rigid gender stereotypes, especially in children. Criteria for GID in children assigned male at birth include “aversion toward rough-and-tumble play” and “rejection of male stereotypical toys, games and activities.”

This ignores the full range of human possibility. It’s entirely possible to be a woman and feel like a woman while enjoying “rough-and-tumble play” or “male stereotypical toys, games and activities.” In fact, not only would I wager that it’s possible, I’d also wager that you have interacted with such a person today.

Although the APA claims the DSM does not say anything about treatment, only diagnosis, the way the DSM frames these issues in terms of traditional gender stereotypes.

The real irony, though, is that this policy legitimizes stigmas around gender-variant behaviour by linking them to the stigmas around mental illness, which can only hurt those who need mental health services.

When declassifying homosexuality as a mental illness, the APA acknowledged that social factors were often responsible for depression, shame and other issues that led some lesbian, gay, and bisexual people to seek help from mental health sources. Why then does the APA refuse to acknowledge that social factors are often responsible for those same issues of depression and shame in gender non-conforming people?

Perhaps most perversely, these diagnostic criteria allow people who retreat deeply into the closet – which can be very damaging to one’s mental health – to escape a GID diagnosis and the social stigma of mental illness. At the same time, those who decide whether or not to transition, and by how much, are happy with who they are, yet they remain marked with that stigma for the rest of their lives.

Put yourself in the place of someone who’s trying to transition. Many people simply just don’t understand why you would do that. Then add to that the realization that the APA, a socially-recognized mental health authority, considers you to be diseased, simply out of who you are. Ask yourself if you would be willing to trade a bit of your dignity for medical treatment. If not, why should anyone else have to?

The best argument against removing or reclassifying GID is that a GID diagnosis can be necessary for some health insurance claims, which can be essential for one’s transition, especially given the expense and the proportion of trans people facing job discrimination and lack of family support.

However, one injustice does not legitimize another injustice. Such treatment is medically necessary – without it, a significant number of trans people would commit suicide. Some still do, not realizing there is another way. And the need to have a justification for insurance purposes does not force us to accept a need to define non-normative gender as a disease. There are plenty of medical conditions that are not diseases – take pregnancy, for instance. Yet, if anyone denied treatment to pregnant people, or called pregnancy an elective procedure, the public outcry would be immense.

The APA will not release its next revision to the DSM until 2012; however, a draft is due next year. If the APA continues this injustice, it will fall on us to act.

James Albaugh is a U2 Philosophy student. He can be reached at james.albaugh@mail.mcgill.ca.

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MMHS is often crowded because it offers free counselling to non-Quebec residents, said Iris Erdile, a member of a McGill collective, Headspace, which provides peer counselling services and engages in mental health advocacy. Wait-lists grew even longer when the service switched clinical directors from Dr. Norman Hoffman to Dr. Robert Franck last year, said Erdile.

Franck acknowledged the urgency of student mental health issues, given the stress and rapid pace of student life.

“Even two weeks is a long time in university,” Franck said. “Our objective is to have no longer than a two week waiting period.”

Patients can wait up to six months for an appointment at mental health providers outside McGill, according to Franck. He also emphasized that students can drop in to see a psychiatrist during MMHS’s operating hours – Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MMHS usually receives four to five individuals for drop in appointments each day. According to Franck, MMHS currently supports around 530 students with 1,300 visits each month – about 60 visits each day.

Under Franck’s directorship, MMHS tries to avoid medicating patients, opting for a wellness model based on therapy.

“The goal is that the student be on the least medication possible…for the shortest period of time,” Franck said. “Medication is not an answer. It’s, at best, a tool.”

McGill MMHS and the University of Toronto’s Student Psychiatric Services are the only two Canadian university mental health services that provide a full range of mental health services, short of hospitalization.

In contrast with McGill, Concordia does not have a separate mental health department; it provides psychiatrists for students through Concordia Health Services.

They also do not provide long-term care and often refer students to outside treatment – such as to the Argyle Institute for Human Relations, a private non-profit Montreal counselling and psychotherapy provider.

Franck was skeptical about students relying on organizations outside of the University for care.

“I would prefer not to refer to the outside…[though] sometimes a student will need special care.”

However, Erdile expressed concern that MMHS was not making full use of the services available in Montreal.

“They could do a better job working with outside groups,” Erdile said.

Although MMHS collaborates with other student services, MMHS cannot freely share information with those services due to rules of doctor-patient confidentiality.

Franck hopes to introduce a waiver scheme that will permit MMHS to share information with other services at McGill to provide optimal care. Patients could sign a consent waiver allowing McGill’s many student services to share information with each other, although not with outside organizations or the administration.

According to Franck, if someone from Health Services asks whether one of their patients has gone to MMHS, MMHS cannot disclose that information.

“We have to say, ‘I’m sorry, we can’t tell you that, it’s confidential.’”

Franck expects most students will sign the waiver.

“I don’t think students will object to that…and, of course, no one will be denied care because they haven’t signed a paper.”

The post McGill Mental Health cleans up appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Emilia Lenke, President of McGill Democrats Abroad and U2 Political Science and Marketing, was pleased with the turnout.

“I think the turnout is great, but we expected that,” Lenke said.

As CNN called states for Obama, the crowd clapped, and became even more enthusiastic when crucial states like Ohio, Pensylvania, and Virginia were called. Most did not cheer when McCain won a state, and a number booed.

Some of the onlookers were skeptical of the media’s projections, noting that CNN often called states based on exit polls and prior electoral history – well before actual votes had been counted.

“Every time they put up a projection, I get excited. Then I have to step back and realize it’s not real,” said Simone Lindenbaum.

Many students also sang “God Bless the USA” and “America, Fuck Yeah” during lulls in the broadcast.

Peter Fusco, U2 Music, draped himself in an American flag.

“I didn’t vote…half-apathy, half-political statement. While I like McCain, Palin turned me off. While I like Obama, I’m worried about the Democrats having unchecked power,” he said, referring to the predictions that the Democrats would control both houses of Congress. “Everyone in here is a liberal conformist who is voting for Obama despite not knowing anything about the issues.”

Although the audience was overwhelmingly pro-Obama – many toting Obama/Biden campaign stickers handed out by McGill Democrats Abroad – at least one person entered carrying a “Vote for McCain” sign. They were promptly booed.

In addition to passing out stickers, McGill Democrats Abroad helped over 200 Americans obtain absentee ballots, and called registered voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Lenke. McGill Students for Obama helped 40 students travel to New Hampshire during the campaign.

At 11 p.m., when CNN projected Obama’s victory, the crowd raised their glasses, clasped hands, and huged and kissed each other. For two minutes the bar was filled with people chanting Obama’s slogans.

“I just hope he doesn’t let us down. Everyone’s holding him up to this impossible standard – like Jesus,” said Jordan Rowell, U2 International Development Studies.

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Imagine for a moment that you were the same person you are now, but born into a body that does not fit you. Imagine that you have breasts but you don’t want them – or you don’t have them but desperately want them. Imagine that you have body hair but you don’t want it – or don’t have it but feel wrong without it. That alone is more trouble than I’d wish on anyone.

But that’s not all the trouble. Which bathroom do you use?

If you enter the washroom assigned to you, you give away immediately that you’re not who you look like. If you go into the washroom for the “opposite” sex, you have to just cross your fingers and hope no one suspects anything. And if you don’t even fit in either category, you have even less appealing options. Every time you walk into a men’s room or a ladies’ room, you run the tremendous risk of someone telling you that you need to leave immediately or that you don’t belong there.

And worse, every time you walk into a washroom, you see a reminder that you don’t fit. There’s a stylized man with pants and a woman with a skirt on every door.

Right now, McGill isn’t doing the worst job possible on this issue. Just the other day, I was on my way to the Adams Auditorium, and I found a gender-neutral bathroom I didn’t know about – one stall with both a man and a woman on it. Many places, both on-campus and off-campus, still don’t have these facilities anywhere.

However, setting aside special “unisex” bathrooms sets gender non-conforming people apart from everyone else – it’s an improvement over not being able to use a bathroom in peace, but it creates another social distinction – how many of you would want to be asked why you didn’t use the men’s or the women’s washroom?

But there’s another option, if we have the societal guts: desegregating bathrooms.

I realize this may seem troubling, but the issue is rather absurd – and not just for gender non-conforming people. What’s a father supposed to do when his young daughter needs company going to the bathroom? What are personal caregivers supposed to do when they’re taking care of an elderly or disabled person who goes in a different bathroom?

I know there are women who will worry about not having a place to go talk privately with their friends and men who would get worked up because the washroom isn’t paralyzingly silent, but we can always develop new bathroom etiquette.

Some would note that this would force people who could be attracted to each other to be in the same washroom. However, if we have to keep people who are potentially attracted to each other in different restrooms, we’re going to have to work on developing a new system where gay people can’t go in gender-segregated bathrooms.

Others might – understandably – seek to keep gender-segregated bathrooms as a woman’s sanctuary against the predatory stares of men. I can certainly appreciate wanting to have a place where you’re not constantly being checked out. But why don’t gender non-conforming people get a sanctuary?

Of course, there’s no way to get around the expense. Someone will have to pay for refitting the bathrooms. But we can resolve to make changes at McGill that won’t cost much but would make bathrooms less trouble. First, turn any remaining single-stall bathrooms into gender-neutral bathrooms – all it takes is a sign change. Second, pledge to make any new bathrooms gender-neutral.

One day, people might look back at the way we live now and ask why we even had gender-segregated bathrooms in the first place. But, in the meantime, the least we can do is create more options for the people who don’t fit neatly into the current segregated system.

James Albaugh is a U2 Philosophy and Liguistics student.

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While Council overwhelmingly approved the motion – which will offer eight spots to children under 18 months – some councillors criticized the lack of communication between SSMU and MISN leading up to the decision.

“While it’s unfortunate that there couldn’t be more consultation, the unfortunate thing is that we don’t set the time table,” said SSMU VP External Devin Alfaro.

SSMU did not inform MISN of the plan until August 19, despite receiving notification of the provincial government’s approval in a letter dated August 8. When SSMU applied for the nursery, they intended to use the MISN lounge and got the go-ahead because that space fulfills criteria on evacuation and natural light.

According to the proposal submitted to Council, the nursery would open by January 5, 2009.

Amy Vincent, SSMU Daycare Manager, said that seeking a space other than the MISN lounge on campus would be too expensive.

“There’s no other space on the McGill campus that would be affordable,” Vincent said.

SSMU President Kay Turner noted that approving the nursery would fulfill SSMU’s mandate to support student parents.

Currently 12 children under 18-months are on the waiting list for SSMU Daycare, which cannot accommodate babies.

But MISN President Charles Pontvianne argued that SSMU’s mandate makes it equally responsible to student parents as to the 6,250 international students at McGill.

“You say that you need…to fulfill your mandate, but representing the largest minority at McGill is also part of [it].” Pontvianne said during Council.

MISN claimed that moving their service to Shatner room 416 would greatly restrict service due to decreased visibility.

“This isn’t just about physical space, it’s about that particular physical space,” said MISN VP External Sean Cai.

Arts councillor Hanchu Chen proposed a resolution to prioritize MISN in room-booking this year, which was handed off to the SSMU Clubs and Services Committee for deliberation.

“I just want to make sure that they have proper space,” Chen said.

Despite Council’s decision, McGill could reverse the vote based on the University’s designation of the lounge as a space for international students, in concert with a Coca-Cola sponsorship agreement. Seeing this, SSMU VP Internal Julia Webster disagreed with the room-booking proposal.

“I think it sets a dangerous precedent,” she said. “There is a chance that McGill would not allow us to have this nursery…then MISN could stay in the lounge and have preferential booking in Shatner.”

Later that evening, SSMU Council unanimously approved a motion to postpone The McGill Tribune’s independence from January 2010 to September 2010.

At the end of last semester, Council members drafted a motion to release The Tribune – which passed overwhelmingly – without conferring with the newspaper’s editorial staff beforehand.

Webster was concerned the original deadline did not leave enough time to research an appropriate student fee for the service and develop a new memorandum of agreement with the University under the current plan to release The Tribune from “the mothership SSMU.”

Nadya Wilkinson, SSMU VP University Affairs, also presented a report on McGill’s new guidelines prohibiting student travel to countries under travel advisories at the meeting.

Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson is drafting a policy that would prohibit students participating in “any University-related activities, be they curricular or co-curricular” to travel to countries or regions bearing a Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade travel warning to avoid non-essential travel. The policy will restrict students travelling for research purposes.

Among Wilkinson’s concerns was that the new policy would not treat undergraduates fairly.

“My worry is that this is going to give a lot more freedom to graduate students, since graduate research is much more respected,” said Wilkinson. ”It definitely affects the attractiveness of McGill [to potential students].”

SSMU Council meets bi-monthly on Thursday evenings and is open to undergraduates.

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The First Peoples’ House (FPH) began holding annual pow-wows in 2002 to address the McGill community’s lack of attention to First Peoples’ culture.

“We are able to celebrate our culture and share it with the McGill population,” said Lynn Fletcher, secretary of the FPH. “We take great pride that it’s successful every year.”

Since McGill’s first FPH pow-wow on McGill’s lower field seven years ago, the event has expanded in scope by adding a series of workshops for Grade 11 students from the Kahnawake, Kanesatake, and Akwesasne reservations around Montreal.

“The pow-wow shows [First Nations high school students] that we include them and that we have a culture here at McGill,” Fletcher said.

Seven McGill faculties will be participating in the workshops, which are designed to present opportunities available to First Peoples’ students at McGill.

Courtney Montour, acting-coordinator of the FPH, said the event helped broaden students’ horizons.

“The idea is to open their minds to what possible opportunities are open to them,” said Montour.

In August, the McGill administration helped the FPH introduce a new position that would organize outreach initiatives to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students across the country, including Nunavut. Also acting as a career placement advisor, the new member of the FPH would assist First Nations students in finding jobs.

The FPH could not identify what else the administration is doing to help the First Nations’ community at McGill.

The pow-wow will feature Cree storytelling for the first time this year, in a session with Elma Moses, a PhD student in the Faculty of Education.

The FPH provides social and academic support for students who seek out their services, including study groups and twice-weekly lunches of soup and bannock, a traditional native bread.

According to Montour, the FPH sees an increase in student involvement each year following the pow-wow.

However, Fletcher said the FPH is unsure how many first peoples’ students are at McGill because not all are involved with the house.

“Over the past couple of years, we have seen a larger group coming into the office,” said Fletcher. “But it’s hard to measure the enrolment, because First Nations students have to self-identify on the application, and that’s their choice.”

However, the FPH does not exclusively cater to the first peoples’ community at McGill.

“We invite any student or member of the McGill community to come to the office,” said Montour.

– with files from Shannon Kiely

……………

First Peoples’ House Seventh Annual Pow-wow
Sep. 19, 2008, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Lower field, centre of campus just inside of the Roddick Gates

a.m.: Introduction & Grand Entry
10 a.m. & 2 p.m.: Iroquois & Pow-wow singing and dancing
11:30 a.m. & 1:45 p.m.: Inuit Throat Singers
12 p.m.: Lacrosse Demonstration
12:30 p.m.: Inuit Spoken Word Performance by Taqralik Partridge
1 p.m.: Cree Storytelling with Elma Moses
3 p.m.: Alumni Honouring Ceremony

For more information, call (514) 398-3217, go to mcgill.ca/fph, or visit FPH at 3505 Peel.

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The Villaneuva family rejected the presence of the press and demonstrators at the vigil.

Demonstrators attempted to join the 50 friends and family members gathered by the Villaneuvas at Henri-Bourassa Park in Montreal North where the teenager was killed on August 9.

In their press release, Mères et Grand-mères pour la Vie et la Justice, a collective formed in the wake of Villanueva’s death, claimed “We are all Freddy’s mother.”

During the vigil, the family issued a statement through their press agent Victor Henriquez, denying affiliation with the Mères et Grand-mères pour la Vie et la Justice or any group attempting to politicize their son’s death.

“The family is not supporting any group, they are waiting for the investigation to take further steps,” Henriquez said.

Community groups like Montreal North Republik have organized around Villanueva’s death to push for a public inquiry into his shooting, the resignation of the mayor of the borough, and the end of police brutality in the area. Groups under the banner Defendons Montreal North are planning to stage a demonstration on October 11 denouncing police brutality in their neighborhood.

Culture X Choir, a Montreal North community choir, performed hip-hop song “When Men Will Live from Love” at the vigil.

“We practice in the community centre right here, so when we heard about this [the vigil] we decided to come out and show our support,” said Don Harley, co-director of the choir.

After the performance, friends and family silently lit candles at the base of a tree, a memorial for Villanueva covered with garlands and photos was created by members of the community in the wake of his death.

The intimate vigil contrasts Montreal North riots triggered by the shooting. A prolonged public debate over whether unresolved issues of class and race in the area caused the tragedy has also developed recently.

“When you hear about poverty, and racism, people always point to Montreal North. But it’s a universal problem,” Harley said.

The vigil was held one month to the day after the 18-year old Montreal North resident – known to peers as Pipo – was killed by Montreal police.

Mères et Grand-mères pour la Vie et la Justice was unavailable for comment.

– With files from Josh Chapman

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Morton Mendelson, Deputy Provost (Student Life & Learning), said McGill considers the Athletics Board’s ownership of the house an inappropriate subsidy of a SSMU club. McGill has offered to sell the MOC house to SSMU, and negotiations for the sale are now underway.

“It’s a luxury we can’t afford, given our chronic underfunding,” Mendelson said.

The administration offered to sell the house to SSMU upon realizing the club’s lease on the house will expire May 31.

The MOC has rented the house from McGill since 1954, when the McGill Athletics Board – who had jurisdiction over the MOC at the time – decided to buy it.

Members may stay in the house for $3 to $5 a night, where they can access snowshoes, skis, ice skates, hiking, and ice-climbing equipment. As many as 60 may stay in the house at one time, as is often the case during New Members Weekend trips.

Mendelson said that liability concerns were a factor in the decision.

“We are certainly not in a position to keep the house,” he said. “We are not in a position to bear the risk.”

Despite the instability caused by the transfer, Liz Wanless, President of the Outdoors Club, said that the sale was appropriate.

“It does make sense for SSMU to be landlord instead of McGill,” Wanless said.

Marcelle Kosman, SSMU VP Clubs & Services, said the Students’ Society had hoped McGill would offer SSMU a price below the market value, since MOC has paid the University rent for 54 years.

But concerned with its financial situation, McGill will only offer market price.

“The University made it clear they wouldn’t accept a $1 symbolic gesture,” Kosman said.

To pay for the house, SSMU is considering taking out a mortgage on the property and dipping into SSMU’s Internal Renovations Endowment Fund, which allots $30,000 each year for renovations inside the Shatner building.

Kosman argued that the fund should be available for mortgage payments on the house, because the money would still be going toward student space.

But decisions about allocating money from the fund remain subject to administrative approval, and Mendelson was convinced that SSMU was financially capable of purchasing the MOC without using money intended for Shatner.

“This year SSMU received $1.875-million dollars from the administration in lieu of bookstore profits,” he said, adding that SSMU’s purchase of Haven Books was evidence of SSMU’s financial capabilities.

When asked how long SSMU would be making mortgage payments, Kosman responded, “I have no idea. We don’t even know how much the property is worth yet.”

Even if SSMU does purchase the huse, Kosman indicated that the MOC would retain autonomy over its operation.

“SSMU doesn’t know how to run their house, so MOC should continue to,” Kosman said.

To assess the condition of the house, McGill housing had already sent property surveyors to Shawbridge, and SSMU will hire appraisers to examine the house in the coming weeks.

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Algonquin speakers from the Barrière Lake community criticized the federal and provincial governments for meddling in their traditional governance, dishonouring land-use agreements, and exploiting divisions within their community at a panel discussion Tuesday night.

Held at the Native Friendship Center of Montreal, the event hosted representatives from Barrière Lake, a community of about 500 people 350 kilometres northwest of Montreal, who explained that the government had yet to follow through on a resource-sharing agreement signed in 1991.

The Trilateral Agreement, signed between the Barrière Lake Algonquins and the federal and provincial government, was initially established to balance traditional Algonquin land use with logging practices. However, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), a branch of the federal government, stopped funding most of the arrangements by summer 2001.

Event organizer and former Daily editor Martin Lukacs explained that the Trilateral Agreement would set a precedent for native communities by awarding the Barrière Lake Algonquins control of over 10,000 square kilometres of Crown land without compromising other rights.

“The agreement would give them decisive say in the management of their land and a share in the resource revenue, which amounts to $100-million in hydro and logging, from which the Algonquin have derived not a single cent,” Lukacs said after the event.

“From the government’s perspective, Barrière Lake is a bad apple that might rot their entire barrel.”

The panel focused on the preservation of the Algonquin culture, explaining that the preservation of its traditions was more important to them than securing more governmental services in compensation for the use of their land, in contrast with the goals of the INAC-recognized government.

“They’re just fighting over the services, not the real issues,” Marylynn Poucachiche, the public spokesperson for the Barrière Lake Algonquins, said of the interim council.

Panel members explained that INAC and Quebec’s provincial police force, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), are currently propping up a minority faction that many Algonquins do not consider the legitimate rulers of the community. On March 10 the INAC shifted its recognition from Chief Benjamin Nottaway – who held the support of the panel and the Barrière Lake community – to Chief Casey Ratt.

“The federal and provincial governments orchestrated what amounts to a coup d’état – illegally deposing the customary chief and council which have been struggling to implement the agreement and are supported by the majority of the community,” Lukacs said.

Poucachiche and others called for educational reform, calling for more Algonquin teachers and the incorporation of their language and culture into the curriculum, which they said the community implemented until the SQ closed the school on Tuesday.

Rose Matchewan, a community member, claimed the SQ sent a locksmith to Barrière Lake in order to keep them out of the school, and said that the SQ threatened to arrest any member of the community attempting to enter the building.

They also accused the SQ of brutality, claiming the provincial police force resorted to beating and pepper-spraying protesters.

“My daughter was pregnant, she was pushed. My son was 14 years old, he was pepper-sprayed,” she said.

Madeline, an audience member at the forum, compared the government’s tactics in dealing with the Barrière Lake Algonquins to those of Apartheid-era South Africa.

Others asked what they could do to help. Rose suggested writing letters to Parliament.

“Our main issue is just to keep the Trilateral Agreement alive,” Matchewan said.

Midnight Kitchen, a vegan food collective at McGill, provided a free dinner to each attendee.

– with files from Max Halparin

This article originally misquoted Luckas as saying that “The federal and provincial governments orchestrated what amounts to a coup d’état – illegally deposing to the customary chief and council which has been struggling to implement the agreement and is supported by the entire community.” In fact he said “The federal and provincial governments orchestrated what amounts to a coup d’état – illegally deposing the customary chief and council which have been struggling to implement the agreement and are supported by the majority of the community.” The Daily regrets the error.

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Under Elections McGill regulations, each presidential candidate cannot spend more than $150 on campaign materials, which the electoral body says Kelford did – a violation that could have resulted in the end of his run for president.

Elections McGill’s Chief Returning Officer (CRO) Corey Shefman started his investigation last Thursday after receiving a formal complaint from a source Shefman refused to disclose. He consulted four different web designers to determine his valuation of the web site, which was created by Johnson Fung, a current candidate for SSMU VP Clubs & Services.

“They all agreed it couldn’t have been done in under an hour and it couldn’t have been worth less than $100,” he said.

Since Kelford had already spent $70 on paper campaign materials, pushing his spending over the limit, Shefman ruled that the web site had to be taken down and that Kelford’s campaign was prohibited from spending more money.

Kelford’s campaign manager, Andrea Merlano, re-created the web site using a free version of Adobe Dreamweaver, a web design program. Shefman initially agreed to allow the new web site – but just a few hours later Kay Turner, current SSMU VP Internal and opposing SSMU Presidential candidate, lodged a formal appeal with Elections McGill.

Elections McGill then quickly reversed its decision to allow the new web site in a second ruling, barring Kelford from any web campaigning outside of Facebook.

“It is quite clear that the expected sanction to be applied when a candidate violates campaign funding rules…is disqualification,” stated the Elections McGill ruling that Turner posted in a “note” on her Facebook profile accessed by The Daily. The ruling was not posted on Election McGill’s web site or sent to students through the SSMU listserv, as it was private, according to the CRO.

“The nature of a decision like this is not a public one,” said Shefman in an email to The Daily. “It was issued to the person who lodged the appeal (Kay) and to the candidate (RJ). They were free to do with it as they see fit.”

The ruling obtained by The Daily will be available at mcgilldaily.com.

Even though Elections McGill stated that campaign funding violations usually result in disqualification, Kelford did not suffer such a fate.

“Elections McGill agreed unanimously that it would not be in the best interests of the democratic process for RJ to be disqualified,” the ruling continued.

Kelford disagreed with the ruling, saying it was ill-informed.

“Most of the people discussing this have little to no experience with web design at all,” he said.

Furthermore, he claimed that Shefman had not shown the actual code to any of the web designers he consulted, only relying on the appearance of the web site.

“Anyone can make a site that looks like that,” he argued.

Kelford said he believed the removal of his web site would not affect the results of the campaign.

“I think I can win regardless,” he said.

Turner was ill this week and not available for comment.

Text of the ruling of the CRO

Background

On the afternoon of 7 March 2008, Kay Turner, candidate for SSMU
President, lodged an official appeal with Elections McGill of our
previously issued sanction against RJ Kelford, also a candidate for
SSMU President who had been found to have violated Article 17.1 of
SSMU By-Law 1-1 which limits candidates to $150. This was based on the
testimony of four student web designers, all of whom agreed
unequivocally that RJ’s website (www.notanotherstudentpolitician.com)
could not have been made for the $80 which would have been the maximum
cost he could have incurred based on the already spent $70 on paper
campaign materials. The web designers consulted differed in their
assessment of the site, but estimated that the site would cost between
$100 – $800. As web design is a value-added industry, Elections McGill
acknowledged that it would be difficult to assign a specific value,
though we agreed that the value was in excess of that which would have
been permitted. For the sake of clarity, we assigned to it a value of
$150.

Article 18.3 of the Constitution reads; “18.3 In the case of an
election, any violation of the campaign funding rules may result in
the invalidation of the successful candidate” (while 18.3 explicitly
refers to a scenario occurring after an election, that is not because
the infraction cannot be enforced during the election, it is because
expenses are not normally analyzed till afterwards). It is quite clear
that the expected sanction to be applied when a candidate violates
campaign funding rules (as in this case) is disqualification. However,
due to the fact that this infraction was caught before voting began,
Elections McGill decided to apply Article 18.4.1 of By-Law 1-1 which
allows the Chief Electoral Officer (and by extension, Elections
McGill) to “provide for other sanctions”. Elections McGill agreed
unanimously that it would not be in the best interests of the
democratic process for RJ to be disqualified. We proceeded to issue a
sanction which required the website in question be taken down and his
spending be capped.

The Appeal

Shortly thereafter, the opposing candidate, Kay Turner, appealed
Elections McGill decision on the grounds that the new (and freely
created) website was, by the standard of an average student (the
standard test used by Elections McGill in all decisions) was for all
intents and purposes, the same as the one that had been taken down –
regardless of the fact that it was written in a different programming
language. If this were taken to be true, it would mean that there had
been essentially no sanction (in real terms) for what is generally
accepted to be one of the most serious infractions which can be
committed.

Upon further examination of the facts, including the claim made by the
appellant that the infraction had caused irreparable damage to her
campaign, Elections McGill agreed that in this case, the original
sanction had not been properly applied. In agreement with Student
Advocacy, it was decided, again, that it was not in the best interests
of the democratic process for RJ to be disqualified from the election.

However, he had previously indicated in conversations with the CEO
that it in his opinion, his campaign required the use of the website.

Thus, Elections McGill offered him a choice.

The Decision

The first option was for RJ to continue to run in the election, but
for his use of the internet for the purposes of campaigning to be
limited to Facebook (a medium which, by all interpretations, is
inherently freely available and was not involved with the campaign
website). His spending would still be capped and his website would
come down completely – not to be replaced. He would still be able to
make use of his campaign videos and whatever paper material had
already been produced. Choice number two was based on a strict reading
of the by-laws, it was simply that RJ be disqualified for exceeding
the allowed spending limit.

During a conversation in the Leacock basement at approximately 5:00pm
on 7 March 2008, RJ agreed to the first sanction. The sanction was
thus applied and his website was ordered removed. It was also decided,
and agreed upon by both parties, that RJ may, if he wishes, retain use
of the url www.notanotherstudentpolitician.com to be used only as a
redirect to a “mailto:” function – sending any visitors directly to
their chosen email client to send an email to the candidate.

Conclusion

Given that both Kay and RJ have agreed verbally that the indicated
solution is acceptable and will not necessitate an appeal to the
Judicial Board, it is the opinion of Elections McGill that with the
sanctions having been applied, this matter can now be brought to a
close. Both parties deserve to be commended for their restraint in
what was, without a doubt, a physically and emotionally trying three
days for all involved.

The post Kelford reprimanded for electoral violations appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The audience greeted Sharpton, an American civil rights activist and former Democratic Party presidential candidate, with a standing ovation.

“I’m not always treated as kindly in introductions in the States,” he said.

Although Sharpton has not officially endorsed any candidate for president, he called the career of Barack Obama an “ascension” that was “nothing short of astounding.”

He also criticized the Clinton campaign, arguing that a memo it released before last Tuesday’s primaries – which claimed Obama aides met with members of Canada’s Conservative Party to discuss NAFTA – was “suspicious.”

The memo said that an adviser of Obama had met with Canadian officials to say that he would not renegotiate the free trade agreement, which contradicted statements the Illinois Senator had made during his campaign that were strongly anti-NAFTA. After publicizing the memo, Clinton won Ohio, where a large, working-class population blames NAFTA for job losses.

The Conservatives have proposed to investigate the matter themselves, but Sharpton called for an independent investigation.

“Here’s a little advice from south of the border: usually, when people investigate themselves, they exonerate themselves,” he said.

Sharpton said the Clinton campaign was attempting to change the rules of the primary system by trying to seat Michigan and Florida’s delegates prior to February 5. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) stripped both states of their delegates.

He also ridiculed the superdelegate system, which allows Democratic Party leaders to determine the outcome of the primaries even if more people vote for one candidate. He compared it to the 2000 Supreme Court decision that ended the Florida recount, effectively ensuring George W. Bush’s presidency.

Finishing with U.S. politics, Sharpton changed focus to schools and reasonable accommodation. He compared the creation of black-focused schools in the U.S. to the institution of affirmative action, and said that both remedy historical inequalities. The creation of black schools was approved in Toronto earlier this year.

But he saved some of his harshest words for the reasonable accommodation debate, ridiculing the arguments of those who advocate a shift towards a policy of assimilation.

“We have no problems in Canada. We get along with everybody – but don’t wear that turban,” he parodied. “Don’t speak your language. Don’t practice your religion…. If I have to deny myself, it is giving you a supremacist position.”

Despite his comments on these Canadian issues, the majority of audience questions addressed the upcoming U.S. presidential election, with a few divergent questions.

Asked whether America is prepared to accept a black president, Sharpton said, “I don’t think America was prepared for black people in the front of the bus.”

When a representative of the Concordia Animal Rights Association asked about Sharpton’s involvement with activists opposing KFC’s treatment of animals, Sharpton said that he became involved after learning about KFC’s practices, even though animal rights has not traditionally been one his issues.

“I’m trying to grow into that,” Sharpton said.

Another student asked why Malcolm X was not as celebrated as Martin Luther King Jr., his contemporary in the civil rights movement.

“Malcolm X should be,” Sharpton replied. “They speak to different parts of my soul.”

The Concordia Student Union hosted Sharpton Wednesday as part of their “Great Canadian Speaker Series,” even though Sharpton is not Canadian. Prior speakers have included environmentalist David Suzuki, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, and former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, and should include NDP leader Jack Layton by April.

The post Al Sharpton weighs in on U.S. election appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The meeting, at St. James United Church downtown, brought together former and current UN officials and lobbyists as well as journalists, activists, and community members to discuss alternatives to Canada’s role in the war.

Peggy Mason, Canada’s former Ambassador for Disarmament at the United Nations, argued that a war mission in Afghanistan was failing the region.

“The present strategy is delivering Afghanistan to the hardliners,” Mason said.

She contended that the only possible mediator in an Afghan peace process is the UN.

Stephen Staples, Director of the Rideau Institute on International Affairs, a think tank based in Ottawa, argued that Canada’s involvement in the Afghanistan war reflected what he called the “Americanization” of Canada’s armed forces.

He contended that Canada’s military culture now relies on concepts imported from the Pentagon, citing Defense Chief Richard Hillier’s involvement in the U.S. Army. Hillier entered a U.S.-Canada officer exchange program in 1998 and served as deputy commander of the III Armored Corps of the U.S. Army at Fort Hood, Texas.

Staples discussed Hillier’s references to the “transformation” of Canada’s armed forces, which he described as a shift away from peacekeeping toward combat.

“We just repeat the terms and hope someone will figure out what they mean later,” Staples said, comparing Hillier’s language to Newspeak from George Orwell’s 1984.

Mason also criticized the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan, which published the Manley Report recommending Canada’s continued involvement there, and argued that the panel was not truly independent.

She said that the report’s recommendations were too similar to Prime Minister Harper’s proposals. Both Harper and the Manley Report favour increased troop numbers and an extension of the armed presence to 2011.

But Jooneeb Khan, International Affairs journalist at La Presse, took issue with Mason’s confidence in the UN, noting the skepticism many developing nations have toward the organization and the flaws in the organization’s structure, which he believes favours an elite group of countries.

“The UN itself needs to be balanced – in fact, needs to be reorganized,” Khan said.

Raymond Legault, a spokesperson for anti-war group Échec à la guerre, agreed that the UN needed overhauling, but stressed that it is often used to justify intervention, which he opposed.

Some audience members questioned the practical problems with forcing a peace process through the UN.

“I don’t understand practically how you get the Taliban to sit down with the powers that be,” said Sasha Mandy, a law student at the Université de Montréal.

Others drew parallels with other international conflicts. One audience member noted Haiti as a precedent for Canadian involvement in Afghanistan.

Jakov Rabkin, a history professor at the Université de Montréal, compared Canadian involvement in Afghanistan with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, arguing that both were neo-colonial efforts by governments without majority support.

Staples suggested that Canadians recall the country’s former role as a peaceful nation.

“This is a fight for Canada’s soul,” he said.

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