Windsor's Women in Black
An anti-war women's group recently told local
school board trustees that they would have blood on their hands if they
permitted students to enroll in a training program run by the Canadian military.
"We look at it as a death sentence...It's not the
school board's role to be procuring for the military...What is the future for
these kids?...They're going overseas to fight and some of them are going to
die."
The board's co-operative training programs let high school students earn academic credit while working on regular jobs in the community. During the meeting a consultant told the board that the military "co-op" will allow students "to explore such career fields as infantry, armoured soldier, weapons technician, vehicle technician, mobile support equipment operator, supply technician, resource clerk, cook and muscian."
The petitioners call themselves Women in Black, and are part of the world wide movement of that name. I know several of them, and one in particular is a long time friend and mentor. Pat's picture was on the front page of the Windsor Star, along with the article describing the board meeting. I emailed her, asking for a copy of their statement just in case the paper didn't do it justice. She referred me to someone else with the files but I haven't heard back from him, perhaps because I admitted I wanted to write something critical in my blog. Pat did give me a bit more to go on:
The board faq on co-ops says that students "generally shall not receive remuneration for on-the-job training; a company participating in a Co-operative Education program may pay, at it's discretion, expenses, an allowance, or an honorarium."
Googling around the province I found military co-ops in two other areas, Cambridge (p9) and Brockville .
The women's statements caused quite an uproar. Soldiers and students defended the program, as did a Star editorial and columnist Gord Henderson. Everyday for the past two weeks has seen at least one letter to the editor on the subject and until yesterday they were all criticial of the Women in Black.
That last writer had the opportunity (unlike me) to actually read the women's statement. He saw no evidence they "intended to besmirch the reputation" of the Canadian military. They were, he said, peace activists who had a point about the paid remuneration and noted that there are already programs in place for cadet solders and sailors not associated with the school system. Indeed his son had participated in such programs as a teenager and has gone on to proudly serve in the infantry, having been deployed in Bosnia and in disaster relief here in Canada.
When I was in high school every boy was required to join the school cadet program, in association with a local regiment. I was excused because of my mother's religous beliefs. When I became the student council president the ending of compulsory military training was a hot issue.
It was around that time (1969) that I first met Pat, a former high school principal and ex-nun who had become the leader of Windsor's feminist movement. She moderated a teen discussion group in which I and several of my friends met every week for many months. Some of us became student activists, started up an underground newspaper and lobbied the school board, demanding a student bill of rights. We eventually took over the Ontario conference of student councils (Pat paid the registration for Mark and I when our principal refused) and tried to turn it into a student union.
Back then I was of the opinion that teenagers should be treated as young adults, not as children. I still think the voting age should be 14, although now I recognize the wisdom of required higher thresholds for driving, drinking, signing contracts or joining the army.
I admire Pat's peace activism, while no longer supporting it. I think the debate that the Women in Black provoked was valuable and necessary in a democratic society. Their arguments should be considered, and then rejected.
The students in the co-op are not members of the Forces. They have, like all other students, the option of joining when they are old enough. And unlike the United States, reservists in Canada are not required to fight outside the country. They must volunteer to do so.
Why shouldn't army and navy cadets get academic credit for their training? The Women in Black said they don't want the kids to die. I would suggest that their real motivation is that they don't want them to kill. If the Christian Peacemakers offered a co-op program I can't see Pat and her friends opposing it on the grounds that what the Peacemakers do is too dangerous.
The Women in Black are not quite pacifists. Pat and I recently sat in the same hall and applauded a speaker who defended the right of the teenagers in Haiti's shanty towns to fight against a right wing coup d'etat and a foreign occupation. The UK Women in Black website admits that "when people are oppressed as an ethnic or national group they may need to organize resistance in that name." I'm sure that Pat welcomed the overthow of the Taliban. She just disapproves of the Canadian and American troops who did the job.
I share Pat's concern for the vocational school students she used to teach, many of whom had learning disabilities or were slow to mature. When I listened to an interview with American deserter Darrell Anderson, he struck me as someone who enlisted (in January 2003) without understanding the nature of his commitment. That was a failure of the recruitment process. I think we do that better on this side of the border.
And I do think Pat has a point about paying co-op students. The military says they are required by regulation to pay a wage to everyone they train. It doesn't seem fair that the students in the other work co-ops aren't being paid for their labour. They need a union.
Update (June 1): Two weeks after I posted the story above Enver sent out an email which included a link to the Women in Black statement. The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) has taken up the struggle to demilitarize the schools. See the May 10th issue of TMLDAILY.
This didn't change my mind. Nor apparently, the school board's, as there has been no indication of any decision to cancel the military co-op.
Update (June 11): The anti-war activists were successful in getting the board chair to move to close down the program, but in the end only one other trustee would support her motion and the military co-op will be offered to students next January as planned.
The board's co-operative training programs let high school students earn academic credit while working on regular jobs in the community. During the meeting a consultant told the board that the military "co-op" will allow students "to explore such career fields as infantry, armoured soldier, weapons technician, vehicle technician, mobile support equipment operator, supply technician, resource clerk, cook and muscian."
The petitioners call themselves Women in Black, and are part of the world wide movement of that name. I know several of them, and one in particular is a long time friend and mentor. Pat's picture was on the front page of the Windsor Star, along with the article describing the board meeting. I emailed her, asking for a copy of their statement just in case the paper didn't do it justice. She referred me to someone else with the files but I haven't heard back from him, perhaps because I admitted I wanted to write something critical in my blog. Pat did give me a bit more to go on:
"Our issue was not THE MILITARY or WAR or PEACEKEEPING (well yes of course it was)...but we were challenging a PAID co-op with medical/dental benefits that will "entice" kids...especially the kind of students I was with at Shawnee and Monarch. Other co-ops aren't paid. We wanted the military OFF school property."
The board faq on co-ops says that students "generally shall not receive remuneration for on-the-job training; a company participating in a Co-operative Education program may pay, at it's discretion, expenses, an allowance, or an honorarium."
Googling around the province I found military co-ops in two other areas, Cambridge (p9) and Brockville .
The women's statements caused quite an uproar. Soldiers and students defended the program, as did a Star editorial and columnist Gord Henderson. Everyday for the past two weeks has seen at least one letter to the editor on the subject and until yesterday they were all criticial of the Women in Black.
That last writer had the opportunity (unlike me) to actually read the women's statement. He saw no evidence they "intended to besmirch the reputation" of the Canadian military. They were, he said, peace activists who had a point about the paid remuneration and noted that there are already programs in place for cadet solders and sailors not associated with the school system. Indeed his son had participated in such programs as a teenager and has gone on to proudly serve in the infantry, having been deployed in Bosnia and in disaster relief here in Canada.
When I was in high school every boy was required to join the school cadet program, in association with a local regiment. I was excused because of my mother's religous beliefs. When I became the student council president the ending of compulsory military training was a hot issue.
It was around that time (1969) that I first met Pat, a former high school principal and ex-nun who had become the leader of Windsor's feminist movement. She moderated a teen discussion group in which I and several of my friends met every week for many months. Some of us became student activists, started up an underground newspaper and lobbied the school board, demanding a student bill of rights. We eventually took over the Ontario conference of student councils (Pat paid the registration for Mark and I when our principal refused) and tried to turn it into a student union.
Back then I was of the opinion that teenagers should be treated as young adults, not as children. I still think the voting age should be 14, although now I recognize the wisdom of required higher thresholds for driving, drinking, signing contracts or joining the army.
I admire Pat's peace activism, while no longer supporting it. I think the debate that the Women in Black provoked was valuable and necessary in a democratic society. Their arguments should be considered, and then rejected.
The students in the co-op are not members of the Forces. They have, like all other students, the option of joining when they are old enough. And unlike the United States, reservists in Canada are not required to fight outside the country. They must volunteer to do so.
Why shouldn't army and navy cadets get academic credit for their training? The Women in Black said they don't want the kids to die. I would suggest that their real motivation is that they don't want them to kill. If the Christian Peacemakers offered a co-op program I can't see Pat and her friends opposing it on the grounds that what the Peacemakers do is too dangerous.
The Women in Black are not quite pacifists. Pat and I recently sat in the same hall and applauded a speaker who defended the right of the teenagers in Haiti's shanty towns to fight against a right wing coup d'etat and a foreign occupation. The UK Women in Black website admits that "when people are oppressed as an ethnic or national group they may need to organize resistance in that name." I'm sure that Pat welcomed the overthow of the Taliban. She just disapproves of the Canadian and American troops who did the job.
I share Pat's concern for the vocational school students she used to teach, many of whom had learning disabilities or were slow to mature. When I listened to an interview with American deserter Darrell Anderson, he struck me as someone who enlisted (in January 2003) without understanding the nature of his commitment. That was a failure of the recruitment process. I think we do that better on this side of the border.
And I do think Pat has a point about paying co-op students. The military says they are required by regulation to pay a wage to everyone they train. It doesn't seem fair that the students in the other work co-ops aren't being paid for their labour. They need a union.
Update (June 1): Two weeks after I posted the story above Enver sent out an email which included a link to the Women in Black statement. The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) has taken up the struggle to demilitarize the schools. See the May 10th issue of TMLDAILY.
This didn't change my mind. Nor apparently, the school board's, as there has been no indication of any decision to cancel the military co-op.
Update (June 11): The anti-war activists were successful in getting the board chair to move to close down the program, but in the end only one other trustee would support her motion and the military co-op will be offered to students next January as planned.
Posted: Thu - April 20, 2006 at 11:54 AM
Quick Links
A blog by Jim Monk
XML/RSS Feed
Archives
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Categories
My Favourite Blogs
My Favourite Sites
Subscriptions
Windsor - Essex Blogs
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Sep 12, 2007 03:13 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Sep 12, 2007 03:13 PM