Coalition Against Deregulation. Monday, January 21, 2002:Second Floor, Richardson Hall. Tentative duration: one business day.
We have overrun the entire second floor of Richardson Hall, the hub of Queen’s Administration, as we lie down side by side to prevent, for another day, the unaccountable and unjust administration of this university.
We lie down to draw public attention once again to the lies that our administration and our government have fed to us. We lie down to expose the lie that the government has no more money to fund post-secondary education; we know that if even the petrol companies alone were to pay their back-taxes, there would be enough money to make education free for decades.
We lie down to expose the lie of accessibility in a deregulated environment; we know that there has yet to be a proper study of deregulation’s long-term affect on accessibility, and that it has been clearly demonstrated that deregulated programs show an immediate and dramatic decrease in enrolment of persons from low-income families.
We also know that, in our unjust and inequitable society, the effects of tuition deregulation will be felt most harshly by those for whom life is already most difficult, particularly single mothers, first nations peoples, and other people of colour.
We lie down to expose the lies of neoliberalism. We know that quality cannot be measured in dollars, pounds or pesos; we know that more money for the powerful few does not lead to a better world for all of us. We know, in short, that the free market is a murderous lie, that it is not an historical inevitability, but an agenda developed, promoted and imposed (by force when necessary) by actual people making deliberate choices. These people have names and addresses.
We will soon honour William Leggett with the Disorder of Canada for his proud place among their ranks.
Today, in carrying out the second in our ongoing campaign of campus occupations, we lie down on the floor of Richardson Hall to again stand up and say, “Enough.” Enough! Enough! Enough! Enough of being ignored! Today, if the administration decides to use its offices in Richardson Hall, they must stomp on us as they have stomped on the principles of democracy, accountability, and the right of equal access to education.
We lie down this morning with our bodies, hearts and minds, to say, Trample this.
We invite those of you in the vicinity to join us, to come to Richardson Hall and lie down next to us, for an hour or two, or even for five minutes.
We need your support to stop deregulation. Principal Leggett has, so far, ignored our simple and just demands. No doubt he hopes that we will eventually just go away. We lie down to inform him and others that we have no intention of going away.
Please e-mail messages of support to: [email protected].
Please fax messages of support to: (613) 533-6190.
Editor’s Note
In the January 14, 2002 issue, the Varsity published a letter called “Israel and terrorism.” The letter included examples and assigned numbers to persons killed or displaced in various historical situations. The Varsity would like to make it clear that in each of these cases the exact number of victims or refugees is in dispute.
