Shame on York and Guelph Universities

(photo courtesy of Google)

From Ian Denomme of the University of Western Ontario Gazette. Hat tip to Neale News.

With Remembrance Day on Friday, this is generally a time to honour Canadian war veterans, and take pride in the Canadian military. But two Ontario universities appear to be doing the opposite.

Last week at York University, a group of students confronted the Canadian Armed Forces (there to recruit students for jobs), driving them off campus. Meanwhile, the University of Guelph?s student council, the Central Student Association, is drafting a policy that would ban military recruiters from campus, as well as oppose any research done on campus that would benefit military organizations.

"We don't think a university campus is the right venue for the military to be recruiting," said CSA communications commissioner Hannah Draper. "We have a code of conduct around suppliers and which employers and recruiters we want on
campus."

The CSA's "Policy Against the Militarization of Research" also says, "The CSA opposes military research and research on behalf of military organizations at Canadian universities. Research that benefits military-related organizations involved in, or closely tied to, war crimes will be opposed by and campaigned around by the CSA."

However, Draper said there has not been any objection to Remembrance Day ceremonies, and the CSA will be participating in events on Friday.

So Ms Draper says the Central Student's Association has no objection to, and will participate in, the Remembrance Day ceremonies at Guelph. In what organization does she think those veterans served? Hello. Is there a functioning brain in that cranium? Connect the dots please.

Those deceased veterans served in the same military that your snotty-nosed student association kicked off campus. You have dishonoured their memory and you should be banned from the Remembrance service tomorrow. You won't be, thanks to those guys that gave their lives for your freedom to be a jerk. Time to grow up Ms Draper.

Kudos, however, to the students' council at the University of Western Ontario.

Here at Western, University Students' Council president Ryan Dunn said the USC has no such policy and does not intend to implement one any time soon.

"We know that students are grown up enough to decide what they want to do with their futures," he said. "Military recruitment just adds another life choice. It's the same as any other corporation."

That's close, and well intentioned, but not quite on the bulls eye. Serving in Canada's military is not quite the same as having a job in a corporation. Juno Beach and Vimy Ridge were not littered with the bodies of clerks and the personnel department of Magna employees. The guys who died in Canada's wars and other military actions may have worked in corporations before they signed up, but they died as sailors, soldiers and airmen/airwomen. If you ever serve in uniform, you'll soon learn the difference.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them."