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History and humanity
illiam Peyton Hubbard was a baker by trade, raised near Bloor and Bathurst, long before the area was a planning site for condos. In 1894, he became the first black man to be elected to Toronto’s City Council. Despite this momentous appointment — a significant step towards social equality among the races — the City of Toronto would not institutionalize the commemoration of Black History Month until 85 years later, in 1979, roughly 44 years after Hubbard’s death.There is some variation in the way Black History Month’s aims are articulated across locations and groups. In Toronto, for instance, Black History Month presents an opportunity for reflection and recognition of “the past and present contributions” that African Canadians make to the vibrant life of the city. U of T’s Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office wrote in their newsletter that the month of February is an “important month for anti-racism and cultural diversity in Canada,” recognizing the wealth of historical reflection that stems from not only Black History Month, but also Indigenous Education Week. Throughout the past few weeks of February, student groups across the university’s three campuses have incorporated Black History Month into a broader conversation about black experiences. Examples include events hosted at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) this past month focussed on building community, promoting black businesses in Toronto, and resistance. “Resilience & Resistance,” a Black History Month conference including input from groups based on all three campuses, purposefully  brought the theme of black history into a conversation about pressing issues affecting black communities today. Inherent to the reflections that inform Black History Month is the discord that exists between taking an opportunity to celebrate black communities’ diverse and abundant heritage and facing the sobering reminder that anti-black racism and social disparity persevere in Toronto and around the world. If a common thread is to be found in what Black History Month means to different people, it could be that it provokes reflection: on accomplishments, struggles, prejudices, victories, and what is yet to come. What follows is a sampling of reflections from black students, professors, and members of the community.“I feel like the approach from the Ontario curriculum is to treat the month like a holiday as opposed to the reason WHY it’s being taught.”“I’m curious about the way children, OUR future generation, are taught to understand Black History month. As someone with an 11 year old brother, they learn about accomplishments and but I wonder if the curriculum is sanitized to shield them from the pain and trauma that comprise the second half of each story. The unpleasantries are diluted so they can believe we’ve entered a post-racial society. How does that affect their understanding of anti-black racism? How will they react to true injustice when it inevitably reaches them?”— Melissa Vincent, Student, University College“I don’t know as many black people making history in Canada as I would like to. But I do hear and see stories of young artists, educators etc. doing what they can to promote blackness… so I would like to shout out and tell them to keep going because you never know who you might inspire with your work. At an event recently, I got introduced to whole bunch of black women such as D’bi Young — who is a poet — Jully Black — a singer and actress —and Traci Anderson — a play writer. They were all so amazing in their energy and in their work and I think that’s really a revolution in how we communicate and see each other. I also know a couple of students who also happen to be my friends who are starting businesses, clubs, conversation and encouraging people younger than us in a way that we never got encouraged because we never saw representations of ourselves. We are in a time where we should all be celebrating ourselves and making history so I really hope we do.There’s always a lot of talk around whether Black History Month should be a thing or not. I think it’s good because it’s a time where we can really be celebrated from who we are and what we do. We have the whole year where we are constantly criticized, attacked and shown in negative light. Black History Month does not need to be out about that. That being said, I am also glad that a lot of black people are now celebrating black people every time they can and not just this token that was given to us. I think it’s about taking this small token and growing it and making it so big they can’t ignore us.”— Shully Sappire, Student“For me, a moment in Canadian Black History that stands out as historically significant is the founding of the Black Action Defence Committee in Toronto in 1988.After multiple egregious incidents of police brutality and anti-black racism in Toronto — including the police murder of Buddy Evans in 1978 and Albert Johnson in 1979 — the Black Action Defence Committee (BADC) was formed by Caribbean Canadians Lennox Farrell, Sherona Hall, Dudley Laws and Charles Roach.This moment is important, not only to Black people in Canada but all Canadians, for so many reasons. BADC was responsible for increased police accountability through civilian oversight. It was the organizing and protesting of BADC that led to the creation of the Special Investigations Unit. BADC can also be credited with being behind the promotion of Black police officers to senior positions.Many of the major players involved in the creation of BADC were also instrumental in shaping Toronto and the world in so many other ways. Charles Roach became a human rights lawyer and, along with Lennox Farrell and Sherona Hall, founded Caribana. Hall was also involved in freedom struggles throughout Africa until her death in 2007 at 59. Lennox Farrell, the lone surviving member of BADC, was a teacher and also advocated for Black youth. He founded the North York Black Education Committee that kept the heat on the North York School Board on issues involving Black youth.The formation of BADC is also significant to me because it reminds me of a time when the revolutionary spirit was alive and kicking in Toronto and also helps place me, as a first-generation Canadian born of Caribbean parents, in Canadian history.”— Septembre Anderson, Toronto Journalist“t this point so many people are making history. There’s a new wave of awareness and activism — not only black leaders, but everyday people have gained greater awareness of themselves and there is so much rallying and unity being promoted. All these people are making history because they are working to bring about change in different ways.”— Fanta Diaby, Student“Currently, Canadians are able to purchase a stamp featuring The No. 2 Construction Battalion, the “Black” Battalion mustered in Pictou, NS, in 1916, to allow African-Canadians an opportunity to serve in The Great War--or WWI. These servicemen, segregated and separated from the regular Canadian Army, were sent to the French-Swiss border to fell trees, cut logs and lumber, and construct railway ties to assist the Allies in their globe-girdling struggle with Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.  The unit was led--in part--by Rev. Capt. William Andrew White (the first black officer in the British Army), whose job was to counsel the alienated, pray for the sick, mourn the dead, and cheer up the disgruntled. Certainly, his men — his Coloured soldiers — fell ill from infection due to mosquitoes and chills and succumbed to disaffection due to racism and elitism. So, White was called upon to show red-blooded courage when, fed up with taunts from nearby white soldiers, black soldiers assembled to wage pitched battle with their sworn comrades.Fistfights erupted, brawls broke out, and soon a threat of all-out race riot materialized. Into the middle of the sorry melee, White surged his dark horse, forcing the two sides to separate, as he rode up and down the divided lines, exhorting, preaching, calling on the soldiers to keep the King’s peace. He succeeded, and a bloody ruction was prevented. In a career of milestones, this moment was perhaps his finest, and he returned from France, in 1918, the de facto leader of all African Canadians...."— George Elliott Clarke, Professor of English, St. George Campus, Toronto Poet LaureateHarlem Pamphlet (1943) By Langston Hughes That skull-faced cops feel the privilegeTo Murder, as mourners allege—To shoot down black boys, not white toughs,But kids (wrists too skinny for handcuffs),Warns us that pale police perceiveEmancipation as a sieve,Setting too many Negroes freeFrom Dixie plantations. Cops seeOur Suppression as their Mission:Police repeal Abolition.Every shot dead Negro attestsTo Anti-Liberty’s Success.Every cop who kills a “nigger,”Rapes Justice with gun-snout vigour.—George Elliott ClarkeHarriet Tubman & Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Debate Stowe:                The tears of slaves hail so sorely on Heaven,Poets straggle from sonnets to Struggle.Tubman:             Poets clad shit in blossoms.Stowe:                 Harriet, this Harriet—who’s no Judas Iscariot—feels it’s strategicto ink visions.Tubman:             Didn’t Moses fell soft bodies with sharp blades,dilapidate a palace with disgusting murders—and have Cairo bombarded with stone and fire,clog roads with horses, chariots, Hebrew Refugees;while the pursuing Gypsies,in heavy gallop,floundered in nostril-clogging water,so dead horses piled up in sky-high mud.Thus was the oldest Grief—Slavery—indecorously extirpated.Stowe:                Miss Tubman, or “General Moses,”I caution:One who brandishes a swordmay soon prove herself its sheath.Tubman:             Miss Stowe, or “Grandma Moses,”I bade thee remember God’s Moses: The Divine Ten Orders—that rustic calligraphy—scribed scrupulously into stone—brooked no profligate diction,no forgiving asterisks.The words were harsh:Obey, repent, or perish.Stowe:                Better it is to chequer ink cross foam-white paper,than it is to give inklings of swords.Tubman:             I lead ex-slaves through angry rain,and traverse from hungry bower to hungry glade,where winds lourand frost numbs tongues with chill.Exhaustion lames us,but we limp and skulk, shadow-low,hiding were pines hang down green boughs, sheltering behind magnolia,while a lamp gives light, not heat,or a small fire crumbles snow into water.A biting feeling—and frigid—is our crouching, cringing,like hunted beasts….Yet, thus we suffer until we slip into Queen Victoria’s America,abandoning households of whippings and cold ash and Rape….Stowe:                Hew to the Christian example of Uncle Tom.Tubman:           I hew to the Christian example of Uncle Sam.—George Elliott ClarkeDark-SkinnedFanta Diabymy mother tells meI was born with dark gums and black palms.as if to saythat even as I entered this world I could not bearto be anything butthe colour that covered her.The Barber’s ChairBy: Jaren KerrI’m not one of the regularsso when I walk in, they’re all a bit mystifiedBut they carry on, like they do in all shopsSharing stories about back hometold in Patois and Drunk.I’ve perfected my nervous laughThey’ve perfected a home away from homeSometimes I get my hair cut thereI wait to be pickedby one of the roster:Shaky HandsHeavy BreatherAlways Laughingand I hope for the bestShaky leaves patchesHeavy is too tediousLaughing Always goes into my hairline for $18, why complain?Educated in a way I envythey envy and love my “U of T”I could be a community leader, on the cover of ShareI tell them I study Medicine(I’m tired of explaining Bioethics to everyone I know) I do not mention poetry or philosophyThat would be insultingThey are small cBig minds in their own right, philosophical and criticalconcerned about the new world that passes them bywhile they bathe in nostalgia. Emmett Till ‘15By: Jaren KerrOn my walk homeI see a delicate rose in the distanceWith soft, blonde curls, looking like sapphire. She reminds me of my love, with her own curls,Her own gems, and pink cheeks.What a fine day.Innocently (since I must make it clear),I want to share my joy and give her a smileUntil I rememberMy tight black curlsMy bronze exteriorMy brothers on the news.I may worry her purse, which would hug her tightly as I approach.I may excite horrors; a product of violent fairy tales.To be safe,I decide to cross the street, avoid eye contactAnd walk home,To my womanAnd her soft, blonde curls.By Shully Sappiremy new coworker,who is a funny, round, little older manthinks i know nothing of classics.he walks me around the store,pointing to things that should be childhood memories,staring at me when i say i have never watched star wars,confused when i don’t know of the little hidden joys Canadian children here. he goes home thinking,she’s caught up in technology.she doesn’t remember the old, fun days.but it’s not that.i remember the games,playing ludo till we were forced to bed.playing azigo under the moonlight.laughter always eruptingbecause somebody was always cheating.i am not a lost cause,as my new coworkerwho is a funny, round, little older man thinks.we just have different ideas of the classics.- stories by an immigrant student II
Published by Jaren Kerr on 02/28/2016
Rock This Way!
For some scenesters, the big story about last week's North by Northeast music festival wasn't the big names like Television and the Buzzcocks who flew in for bonus showcases at the Phoenix, but rather who chose to opt out of this year's big indie shindig. With well-known indie labels Baudelaire and Paper Bag Records hosting their own sold-out showcases at Sneaky Dee's and The Mod Club, NXNE still managed to create a commotion producing winners, losers and drama galore. Reps from the record industry clamoured into Kensington on Thursday night to catch Midland's feral indie-kids Born Ruffians rock The Boat. After impressing a capacity crowd with their Pixies-esque sound and wild stage antics, the word on the street is that a U.K. tour is in the works, so don't expect these boys to stay unsigned for long. Also attracting attention on Thursday were recent EMI signees Slute. While their "let's-be-controversial" posters bear more than a passing similarity to prints put up by Drug Money only last year, their sweaty, Motley-and-Roses inspired set had a packed the Gypsy Co-op bleeding suits in spades. Big losers included pop-punk wannabes The Hemmingway Solution whose uninspired Friday set at Holy Joe's was universally panned by those unlucky enough to witness their whiney drivel. It might be time to implement that "solution," boys…One big surprise at this year's festival was the inclusion of Dan Burke's NeXT showcase at the Silver Dollar in the NXNE lineup. Usually happy to rebel against the fest, Burke added some much-appreciated talent with likes of Montréal soul punks King Khan and Toronto's best post-punk militants Anagram. And what would a Dan Burke showcase be without a full-blown fiasco? This year's came courtesy of once-acclaimed Hamilton rockers From Fiction who decided to breakup their band (after dropping their Steve Albini recorded debut Bloodwork on Last Gang Records back in March) and cancel their upcoming tour on the day of their NXNE showcase. Lucky for us, Guelph's D'ubervilles were on hand to fill in, and amazed everyone who turned up expecting a spastic math-rock set. Thursday June 8The Born Ruffians @ Boat, 9 p.m.Brampton's Born Ruffians began their show in a huddle, an auspicious beginning after distributing free cupcakes to the audience. The band unleashed a series of songs so fresh and crisp it was like biting into a ripe Granny Smith. A mixture of classic rock, disco, and country (with one foot in the indie door), the Ruffians used call and response, doubled bass lines, and the pretty warblings of their lead singer to win over the packed room. Their lyrics reflect the 19-year-old ideologies of the band members: the endless pursuit of jobs, chicks, and the meaning of life. While some moments in the 40-minute set were a little too erratic, by the fourth tune the band had found its groove and were controlling the pulse of their songs like a metronome. -CLRating: VVVvHostage Life @ Bovine Sex Club, 10 p.m.This Toronto-based Underground Operations five-piece played a solid, if run-of-the-mill set. Hostage Life's hardcore-tinged melodic punk incorporated a disco beat for one song, which was oddly refreshing in a genre that can get monotonous. Intense frontman Colin Lichti provided some charming banter, for example: "My ass is slathered in Preparation H right now, and I challenge you all to lick it." Lovely. In any case, a small contingent of devotees shouted, "Hostage Life ain't nothing to fuck with!" during breaks in the set, showing that their dependably tight brand of punk rock was instilling Stockholm syndrome in the Bovine audience. -JFRating: VVVThe Two Koreas @ Silver Dollar, 11 p.m.Let's face it; Iggy Pop and Mick Jagger aren't getting any younger. So who better to pick up the slack than a bunch of rock critics from the GTA? Stuart Berman, frontman for The Two Koreas and senior editor of Eye Magazine, proved that journalists can rock and dish out some pretty sweet moves to boot. Wearing jeans so tight I'm sure he required resuscitation afterward, Berman spent his time on stage voguing with his hands in front of the microphone, pausing to rake his sweaty mitts through his brush cut and hip thrust his way into the hearts and minds of NXNE concert goers. The Two Koreas sound and look like an authentic 70's punk band, featuring raw yet addictive chord structures, grooving bass lines, and low-key Ramones inflection. Self-indulgent rock critic behaviour has never been more successful or appreciated. -CLRating: VVVvOliver Black @ Horseshoe Tavern, 12 a.m.At first, singer Serena Pruyn's damp hair and cheery smile are cute and endearing. Her powerful, smoky voice hits you, and you imagine she could be the awesome townie you meet when your car breaks down in middle America, who takes you to her friend's house for a white trash barbecue where she and her pals bust out a guitar and sing some rockin' ditties. But then her eye makeup runs down her face, her hair becomes greasy and matted, and she looks more like someone who'd be offering seedy services behind that small-town's gas station to get another hit of whatever she's on that keeps her smiling so damned much. Also, by this point the volume at the Horseshoe is turned to the maximum, shredding your aural canals. You leave disappointed, and certain you'll hear this band again on the 102.1 the Edge, right after Theory of a Deadman's latest masterpiece. -JFRating: VvRobin Black @ Bovine Sex Club, 1 a.m.A capacity crowd of well-coiffed and blasé scenesters were in attendance to watch Robin Black and his consorts blast their generic brand of glam rock at the Bovine. Black, who recently played a "celebrity" on MuchMusic's VJ Search, proved once and for all that he's pure style over substance. Black and his band (who may single-handedly keep M.A.C. cosmetics in business) strutted their stuff onstage for a set that included both old favourites and new material. When Black stripped off layers of his meshy clothes and dangled impishly from the chain-link ceiling belting "Why don't you love me?", more than a few convincing reasons came to mind. When he used an audience member as a foothold to better pose his hairless, pierced torso for the copious cameras, I realized that I'm not among the "some of you boys and most of you girls" who allegedly love him. Sorry Robin, your derivative sound and carefully-crafted look are as stale as they are contrived. -JFRating: VvFjord Rowboat @ The Crowbar, 1 a.m.With a similar feel to Healy's, the Crowbar had a better-than-expected lighting rig, but next to no walk-up traffic, which was a shame because Fjord Rowboat are a band ready and able to make new converts out of the uninitiated. Despite deserving a much larger audience, Fjord Rowboat launched into a sea of shimmering, reverb-drenched guitars anchored by their sinister rhythm section. Despite the fact that frontman Craig Gloster looks like Ian Curtis as a vampire, his melodies are much more in step with Ride singer Mark Gardener. And while the UK shoegazer sound is a clear touchstone for Fjord Rowboat, their catchy, sing-along choruses and bouncy rhythms pack the neat, dynamic punch often missing from the pastoral soundscapes of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. Highlights of their set included their creeping instrumental opener "Paragon," "Taking the Pass," and the infectious closer "Carried Away." Definitely a band to watch, Fjord Rowboat are reportedly recording material with miracle producer Andy Magoffin (Constantines, The Straits, The Hidden Cameras). -JBRating: VVVVFriday June 9Television @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre, 7 p.m.Anyone who likes what '70s punk did to rock music worships the ground that Television walks on. Culled from the same New York scene that produced such seminal bands as Blondie, the Talking Heads and the Ramones, these proto-art rockers pretty much built the Mecca of CBGB's with their infectious dueling guitar lines. Singer Tom Verlaine appeared in top form, considering his advanced age, and while a few songs ended less than perfectly, Richard Lloyd's amazing guitar work on classics like "Venus" and "Prove It" easily rendered these minor errors forgettable. While bassist Fred Smith could have stepped out a bit more (at times he looked a little robotic) drummer Billy Ficca was all smiles from behind the kit, obviously thrilled to still be playing live. Television saved "Marquee Moon," their best-loved punk-opus for their encore. Soon the cavernous Phoenix had the feel of a smoky bar-room (although it wasn't because of tobacco) with members of the band trading knowing smiles throughout. After the final song, the new "Live Today," Lloyd was accosted onstage by a die-hard fan desperate to claim his guitar pick as a souvenir. Security acted quickly and throat-tackled the disheveled reveler into the wings where he had one final tussle with his guitar hero. Very punk. -JBRating: VVVVMandy Kane @ The Bagel, 10 p.m.Billed as Gary Numan meets David Bowie, this Australian solo electro-rocker worked best as a comedy act, though that was far from his intention. Apparently the author of three top-30 songs back down under (must have been a slow music year), Mr. Kane's music sounds like a shittier version of Econoline Crush meets Placebo. Playing a distorted electric guitar over a backing track that sounded like he just opened up GarageBand and selected "generic industrial-pop song #1," Kane was vamped up with loads of black eyeliner, supposedly shooting for last year's Billy Joe Armstrong look. Sadly his complete lack of sincerity coupled with 90210 side burns made him look like an insane Good Charlotte imposter, and sound even worse. Eventually, I had to flee the Bagel because I couldn't stop laughing. Oh yeah, and in this one song he sang, "If the good die young, why am I still here?" Think about it, Mandy... it's because you suck. -JBRating: VSpiral Beach @ The Drake Underground, 11 p.m.These self-described kids "from down the street" wowed a packed house at the Drake Underground. Fusing funky beats that drop like pianos from third story windows with sultry vocals, guitars, and keys, these three-guys-and-a-girl sure know how to keep an audience watching. Their tight musicianship and quirky arrangements only fueled the fire started by their frantic onstage energy. Channeling the spirit of Debbie Harry with a touch of Metric's Emily Haines, vocalist Maddy Wilde was both charming and proficient as Spiral Beach jumped and charged their way through their set. The general consensus seemed to be that the audience was up for much more than 40 minutes of Spiral Beach's addictive brand of quirk-pop. Watch for them to upstage bands twice their age at this year's Hillside festival in Guelph. -JBRating: VVVVThe Mark Inside @ The Rivoli, MidnightFresh off their acting debut on CTV's At the Hotel, Toronto-cum-Whitby rockers The Mark Inside turned everything up to 11 and gave the at-capacity crowd a sonic endurance test. Divided between material from their acclaimed debut Static Crash, and new songs from a hopefully not-too-distance follow-up, The Mark Inside's set was full of flailing bodies, charging rhythms and massive distortion levels. "Questions," a new song they've been playing live, sounded amazing with Geoff Bennett's fluid and catchy bass line simmering while vocalist Chris Lavoir screams "Am I doing this right?" in a nearly trace-like state. Playing to a crowd of long-time friends and fans the band seemed loose and giddy on stage, even teasing a long-lost cover of "Groovy Dead" by Rusty. Capping off their set with their current single "Sweet Little Sister," these guys play every show like their lives depend on people walking away impressed. -JBRating: VVVVvThe Coast @ The El Mocambo, 1 a.m.U of T's biggest Brit-rock threat The Coast had the El Mocambo packed for their gig at Friday's Doritos showcase. While the chip-maker used the night to hawk it's new Sweet Chili Heat nacho snacks, The Coast seized the opportunity to showcase songs from their brand new self-titled EP. Lit by their trademarked white Christmas lights, singer Ben Spurr led the band through an emotionally-charged set of shimmering guitar hooks and wait-and-see choruses that always delivered by songs end. At times upstaging his own frontman, guitarist Ian Fosbery channeled the best of delay-heavy U.K. rock to create the breathtaking sonic atmospheres on which The Coast thrive. By the end they had the crowd eating out of their hands and ignoring the shitty, free Doritos that were strewn everywhere. -JBRating for the new Sweet Chili Heat Doritos: zero!Rating for The Coast: VVVVThe Secret Handshake @ The Bagel, 1 a.m.Probably still sweating from the release party for their debut album Shhhh… or Yer Fucked a few months back, Toronto punk posse The Secret Handshake took the stage at the Bagel looking to exorcise the demons of the shitty band that preceded their night-closing set. A strikingly atypical band-one guitar and drums back up a tall dude covered in tats who talks and screams instead of singing-The Secret Handshake take their cues from loud D.C. hardcore and punk. At times they remind me of Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat's short-lived band Embrace (not to be confused with the whiny Brits who now use that name) although they never get quite that melodic. Dense lyrics, which play out as stories reminiscent of James Joyce, are spoken and then screamed as a loud-as-fuck guitar kicks you in the face. Songs like "Gloria" and "Wet Hum" among their best. If you're into loud punk music, singers who hawk promotional merkins, and anything-can-and-does-happen stage antics, this is the band for you. -JBRating: VVVVSaturday June 10Buzzcocks @ The Phoenix, 7 p.m.I arrived at the Phoenix at 5:45 p.m., the earliest I've arrived at a show since I was 17 and didn't know any better. But this was the Buzzcocks, one of those rare bands that are probably older than your parents, and that every new punk band worth their safety pins has paid homage to. At first, Pete Shelley's pudgy physique and wispy hairline caused some worry about the band's stage-worthiness, but as the hour-long set progressed, it became clear that he and his bandmates can still rock like the smartass punks they were 30 years ago. The set spanned their extensive discography, with favourites like "Ever Fallen in Love" and "What Do I Get" receiving cheers from the mixed audience of adoring young fans and bespectacled oldsters. By the time the encore ended, my ears were buzzing from volume levels that stealthily increased over the course of the show, but I was also grinning from having just witnessed these punk rock legends in action. -JFRating: VVVvOctober Guard @ The Bagel, 1 a.m.Imagine if every time you did your job you got electrocuted. This is exactly what singer Randall Roland Savoy of October Guard had to endure at the Bagel on Saturday night. "When I touch the mic I get a shock," he explained after picking himself up off the floor following their opening number. This is where most bands would stop the show and give up, but not these kids. Instead, the up-and-coming three piece charged forward blasting into "Nightmare Patrol," one of many highlights from their debut album. Their dark-wave rock, which sounds kinda like Bloc Party communicating from beyond the grave after dying in a fiery plane crash, impressed the hell out of a small yet attentive audience at the Bagel. While Savoy was fun to watch climbing on tables and playing with reckless abandon, guitarist Brett Clarkson had his hands full playing some of the best indie-rock hooks I've heard to date. At the end of their NXNE-regulated 40 minutes Savoy asked the audience, "Do you guys want one more?" Following screams, cheers and drunken demands for the band to play an encore he resigned (with NXNE staffers tapping their watches) to retorting "Well, too bad, 'cause it's not happening." -JBRating: VVVVThe Matadors @ Bovine Sex Club, 3 a.m.After standing outside the club for an hour and a half, I was finally admitted to the Bovine, which was bursting at the seams. The Matadors' horrorbilly show - which includes an automated singing skeleton, smoke machines, and a hidden hose in singer Hooch's pocket (wanna guess why?)-was shortened by the lengthy set-up the act required. The mere six songs in the set were punctuated by bassist "Creepin' Jeff" actually leaving the stage and playing from the rammed audience on his stand-up bass, often while perched on top of it. The Matadors' devilish rockabilly freak show was the perfect sweaty climax to the otherwise civilized festival. -JFRating: VVVV
Published by Chandler Levack, Jordan Bimm, JENNIFER FABRO on 06/19/2006
Jane Goodall fills Con Hall with hope
Jane Goodall, the world-renowned environmentalist and U.N Messenger for Peace visited U of T on May 16 and delivered a public lecture titled Reason for Hope as part of the launch of the Centre for Environment's Natural City 2006 conference.U of T president David Naylor and professor Ingrid Leman Stafanovic, director of the Centre for Environment, opened with mention of Goodall's numerous awards and doctorate honors as well as her remarkable contributions as an U.N. Messenger for Peace since 2002. Taking the stage before a packed Con Hall, Goodall greeted the audience with an astonishing voice imitation of chimpanzees. When the laughter died down, Goodall charmed her listeners with her childhood dreams of Africa and her life-long study and passion for chimpanzees, which she called "the extraordinary ambassadors of the animal kingdom."Goodall's lecture advocated hope for the future. Her "reasons for hope" included an immense enthusiasm for children in the future, a belief in the extraordinary human mind capable of building airplanes and televisions, and faith that the human spirit can "overcome insurmountable tasks." All of these, according to Goodall, are reasons for hope and peace on mother Earth. With love, passion, compassion, and dedication, Goodall stated confidently that here on earth, God's work can truly be our own.Goodall paid special tribute to her mother, Vanne Goodall, who encouraged the young Jane to study the chimpanzees of the Gombe National Reserve in Tanzania in 1960. Goodall then spoke of her life before and after her time in Africa as well as her observations and discoveries about chimpanzees that helped millions of people understand the importance of wildlife conservation.
Published by Nazila Reyhani on 05/15/2006
Dispelling the myth of the WTO 'evil empire'
The huge crowds of protesters outside World Trade Organization conferences are not difficult to explain. The WTO's somewhat obscure mandate can make it seem slightly sinister, and the organization hasn't done the best possible job of explaining itself to the world at large. All things considered, it's not too surprising that some people have come to imagine the WTO as part of some evil globalization cabal, so dangerous that it's worth travelling long distances to throw bricks at police officers over. Chapter 11 of NAFTA, under which the Ethyl Corporation recently successfully sued the Canadian government, is often perceived as belonging to the same international conspiracy.What precisely do these bodies do? Can they ever work in our favour? One case worth considering is the ongoing softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States. The export of Canadian lumber products to the States was worth $10 billion and hundreds of thousands of jobs in Canada last year. Canada supplies about a third of American demand, much to the chagrin of the American forestry companies who have difficulty competing with our exports. But why should the Americans bother competing when they can get their government to protect them instead?Thus was born the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, a group of American forestry companies headed by aptly named lobbyist Rusty Wood. They headed to Washington to hit the lobbying circuit, armed with expense accounts for lunches with senators and a questionable argument to the effect that Canada was illegally subsidizing lumber exports. Soon enough, duties totaling 32 per cent were slapped on Canadian lumber imports, effectively pricing the Canadian product out of the market and throwing 20,000 Canadians out of work. Canada rejects the association's charge and has firmly protested the tariff, but it seems impossible to penetrate this closed power system through diplomatic means.Enter the World Trade Organization. Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew has submitted the case to the WTO's dispute settlement process, claiming that the American import duty is an unfair tariff. The WTO offers an independent, judicial resolution to trade disputes such as the lumber issue, including the right to appeal and an enforcement mechanism. While not yet able to ensure total compliance with its decisions, the WTO's voice is respected nonetheless as a neutral third party. If Canada is a mouse in bed with the American elephant, isn't it in our interests to have a set of independent rules about who can roll over when? The alternative is entrusting our economy to Washington lawmakers who will decide these issues over three-martini lunches and rounds of golf with representatives of American forestry companies.The problem is that when it comes to protectionism, Canada gives as good as it gets. Recall the Brazilian beef ban fiasco of last February. Claiming a risk that Brazilian beef was infested with BSE ("mad cow disease"), the federal government banned all beef imports, casting a pallor on the international reputation of Brazilian agriculture. However, it soon emerged that there was nothing wrong with Brazilian cows, and that the ban had more to do with airplanes than with cattle.Canada's Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer are bitter rivals in the airplane industry. The Brazilian and Canadian governments have employed a succession of protectionist schemes and millions of taxpayer dollars to help their respective companies sell airplanes. The WTO has issued several judgments against these practices, but both sides continue to violate the spirit if not the letter of the rulings. Seizing on the opportunity offered by international paranoia over BSE, the Canadian government decided to hit Brazil where it would hurt. This is called a trade war, and it's the inevitable result of letting governments establish international trade policy unilaterally. We should be very clear on who pays the price for giving governments this power. Firstly, the Brazilian cattle ranchers who depend on exports for their livelihoods—they could probably share some hard luck stories with BC loggers. Secondly, you, me and the rest of the taxpayers of Canada and Brazil, whose money is used to fight dirty trade wars on behalf of companies like Bombardier and Embraer. Thirdly, anyone who buys beef or any other products whose prices are driven up by trade wars. That the ban lasted for less than a month is a credit to the courage of the individuals who revealed the plot, but also to the fact that we have finally started to recognize that national governments cannot always be trusted to do the right things for the right reasons in matters of international trade. The WTO has unfortunately not been given enough authority to settle disputes before they reach the level that this almost did, but its decisions have provided a crucial objective guideline. This brings us to the Ethyl case, in which a suit was brought against the Canadian federal government under Chapter 11 of NAFTA, obliging it to revoke its ban on the importation of fuel-additive MMT. Unquestionably, the safety of citizens is a legitimate ground for restricting the trade and production of dangerous substances. Chapter 11 is intended not to sacrifice this well-being to the interests of corporations, but to ensure that national governments do not use bogus safety concerns to discriminate between companies based on their national origin. The reason why the MMT case was the first to be filed against Canada under Chapter 11 is because, like most safety and environmental regulations, the ban on MMT was based not on science but on insider politics and protectionism. In 1994, when Health Canada scientists evaluated MMT, they concluded unambiguously that "the combustion products of MMT in gasoline do not represent an added health risk to the Canadian population." A 1997 Senate Committee investigation was also unable to find conclusive health risks. The evidence against the substance came overwhelmingly from automobile industry representatives, who claimed that MMT disrupted the functioning of their engines. This is a questionable claim, but it's easy to reconstruct the government's reasoning in accepting the argument. Ethyl Corp., an American company, is the sole manufacturer of MMT. The automobile industry is hugely important in Canada, and its representatives carry corresponding weight in Ottawa. Moreover, were MMT to be banned, competing fuel additives manufactured in Canada would gain an obvious advantage. So the government, not surprisingly, went ahead and banned it. Justice ultimately prevailed only because of the prescient inclusion in NAFTA of a judicial oversight for unilateral, protectionist import bans such as this one. The WTO, Chapter 11 of NAFTA, and the rest of the international rule-based trading system act as safeguards of the economic well-being of citizens from narrow protectionist interests in Washington and Ottawa, and from our own often capricious politicians. We live in an economically interdependent world, in which export industries are fundamental to our economic well-being. Just as our society needs laws governing how individuals can behave toward each other, we need international laws governing how states set trade policy. International trade is about more than just capital and corporations, it's about real people with real jobs. Ask a Brazilian cattle rancher or a BC lumberjack if you don't believe me.Photograph by Simon Turnbull
Published by Noel Semple on 02/11/2002


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