Jane Kirby

The Amelie: Canadian Refugee Policy and the Story of the 1987 Boat People

jane kirby — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:40:44 +0000

An Audio Documentary

In 1987, a small boat called the Amelie brought 174 refugees to the shores Charlesville, Nova Scotia. Most of the passengers were Sikhs fleeing persecution in India, who had endured a long a difficult journey to reach Canada. Though the people of Charlesville offered their hospitality to the

‘Downstream’ Aboriginal Activists Blast the Tar Sands

Hillary — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:32:27 +0000

Nova Scotians asked to take action

More than 100 people came to St. Andrew’s Church on Coburg Rd. Tuesday night to hear two young Aboriginal activists describe the Alberta Tar Sands’ effects on their communities.

Advocates speak out against the cutting of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation

Hillary — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:46:35 +0000

Seven AHF programs cut in Atlantic Canada

“Residential school survivors and their descendents respond more positively to traditionally-based healing services than conventional methods” says Tarry Hewitt, Project Coordinator at Aboriginal Survivors for Healers on Prince Edward Island.

Federal budget cuts affect survivors of residential schools

jane kirby — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 10:37:33 +0000

Impacts in Atlantic Canada and across the country

Jane Kirby of CKDU's Operation Wakeup interviews Maya Rolbin-Ghanie, a member of Missing Justice Montreal, and Tarry Hewitt, of Aboriginal Survivors for Healing on Prince Edward Island, about the cutting of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation in the recent Federal budget.

Military Ties at Dalhousie's Centre for Foreign Policy Studies

Hillary — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:21:48 +0000

Is academic integrity at Halifax’s largest university compromised by funding from the military?

HALIFAX—In May 2008, Dalhousie University's $2-million funding agreement with arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin raised alarm bells for many local peace activists and advocates for academic freedom.

With attention focused on the science and engineering departments involved in contracts for developing weapons technologies, however, relatively little focus has been given to the role of social science departments in conducting military research - this despite the fact that the Department of National Defence (DND) has been directly supporting research at Canadian universities for over 40 years.

Dalhousie's Centre for Foreign Policy Studies (CFPS), a research institute affiliated with the school’s Political Science Department, received $323,636.21 from various programs and channels of the DND in 2008-2009, according to the Centre's annual report. This means that direct military funding accounted for approximately 56 per cent of the Centre's overall budget.

The bulk of this funding comes via the Security and Defence Forum (SDF). One of the requirements of receiving the core SDF grant is that CFPS must teach a minimum number of courses with “significant security and defence content.” According to the Centre's 2008-2009 Annual Report, this means 15-20 courses with at least 50 per cent security and defence content.

“What concerns me about the CFPS is that the funding they receive from the military will affect the scope of my education as a student of political science here at Dalhousie,” , says Jesse Robertson, a third-year Political Science student at Dalhousie and a member of the Student Coalition Against War (SCAW). “I believe course content should be determined by the university, its professors, and its students, and them alone”

Blaming the Victim of Sexual Assault

CKDU News Collective — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:57:59 +0000

Carleton University's comments elicit grassroots response

CKDU News Collective
August 19, 2009

HALIFAX - Carleton University's recent comments towards a court case from 2007 has campuses across the country in an uproar.

A woman known only as 'Jane Doe' was sexually assaulted while working after hours in a lab on Carlton University campus. Jane Doe believes the University did not take sufficient responsibility in ensuring the safety of it's female students, and sued the University.

In the midst of the recently settled case, the University stated, “the victims injuries were caused or contributed to by the plaintiff, through her own negligence. She was not keeping a proper look out for her own safety.”

The assault drew attention to rampant sexual violence on campuses. A group of students called The Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Center formed in response. They are calling for the university to establish a sexual assault centre, and to retract it's comments.

In this episode of Operation Wake Up, CKDU News Collective host Jane Kirby interviewed Julie Lalonde of the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre.

Also in this feature:

Headlines: After recently celebrating her 100th birthday, revered activist and feminist Muriel Duckworth has recently fallen ill.

Music: London Bridge (song) by LAL, from the album Deportation