As the contract faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) negotiate a new contract, many within the union have recognized their struggle as another moment in the widescale resistance to neoliberal ideologies. With WLU and other universities operating with a capitalist business model, the schools are furthering their reliance on contract faculty. While teaching more classes than their full-time counterparts, contract faculty are paid considerably less than full-time faculty, receive no benefits, and are not paid for the research they must undertake to produce quality work in this competitive “publish or perish” atmosphere.

With universities accepting more students and charging more for tuition than ever before, there have been marked increases in the number of high-level administrators running the schools, and in the remuneration they receive, however, at every contract negotiation for the workers, “cost-saving” measures are forced on support staff and faculty.

In this interview, recorded December 30, 2016, we speak with Stephen Svenson (@DocSvenson), a contract faculty professor teaching at Wilfrid Laurier University, and a member of the communications team for the faculty association there. We speak about the contract negotiations at WLU through a lens critical of neoliberal ideologies and with a discussion of their impacts on communities and lives.

As the final edits were being put on this interview, word was received that a second round of conciliation has led to a tentative agreement being reached between WLU and the contract faculty within the faculty association. Details have not emerged about the deal, but check the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association website, Facebook, and Twitter for updates on the ratification of the deal.

“I am shocked to hear that mercury contaminated soil has been found behind the mill after Ontario assured us that the hidden mercury dump reported by Kas Glowacki did not exist,” said Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister. “We need an immediate investigation into mercury at the whole Dryden mill site by our trusted experts to tell us whether we are in danger from mercury dumps and leaks. We live downstream from that area and we rely on the fish from the river.”

The Chief wrote on Friday to Minister Glen Murray, and Domtar CEO John D. Williams requesting that they grant access to the Dryden mill site for Grassy Narrows’ experts to conduct a thorough investigation into improper mercury disposal.

In the letter Chief Simon Fobister writes “This site and surrounding areas need to be tested immediately so that we can locate any ongoing sources of mercury and assess the extent of the contamination. It is critical that our First Nation lead those studies so that we may trust in the results… We demand that the site and surrounding areas remain undisturbed until our experts have an opportunity to conduct the necessary tests. This is an urgent concern for us.”

Yesterday Domtar, the current owner of the Dryden mill property, responded to the Chief but did not grant access for Grassy Narrows’ experts to search for Glowacki’s toxic barrels on the property where mercury contaminated soil has now been found. Previously, in an August 9 letter, Domtar explicitly denied Grassy Narrows’ earlier request for access to the mill property to search for the barrels.

“Domtar does not consent to provide access to the Dryden mill property to grassy Narrows or its representatives for environmental testing or survey work,” wrote David Struhs, Domtar Vice President for Corporate Services and Sustainability on August 9, 2016.

Volunteers from Earthroots, an environmental group, recently found highly contaminated soil in the area where Kas Glowacki, a former mill worker, says he buried 50 barrels of mercury and salt haphazardly in a pit behind the mill in 1972.

Three generations of Grassy Narrows families bear the terrible burden of mercury poisoning on their bodies and brains. Fishing is a central part of Grassy Narrows’ culture which has provided sustenance and livelihood for countless generations of Grassy Narrows people. The collapse of fishing as a result of mercury poisoning created massive unemployment and poverty in the community which persists to this day. Social services are underfunded and youth suicides are on the rise in this formerly self-sufficient and healthy Indigenous nation.

“The government has always told us that since 1970 the mercury at the mill was safely disposed of and our river was healing. It appears that this is not the case. We need a clear, written commitment from Premier Wynne and Prime Minster Trudeau to clean our river, including making sure that the Dryden mill site is not leaking mercury,” said Chief Simon Fobister. “Every day that the Wynne and Trudeau governments delay there is a risk that more Grassy Narrows babies will be born into a lifetime of hardship caused by mercury.”

An expert report released last May found that Grassy Narrows’ Wabigoon River is still highly contaminated more than four decades after controls on mercury releases were put in place, indicating that there is an ongoing, but unidentified, source of mercury. The scientists concluded that the river can and must be cleaned up safely.

Grassy Narrows first learned about the barrels in August of 2015 in a letter from Kas Glowacki, a former mill worker who reports that he was part of a crew that filled, dumped, and buried fifty toxic barrels behind the mill in 1972. Glowacki wrote “he drums were dropped not placed into the pit… I can attest to the fact that there was several Hundred (sic) pounds buried up on the hill above the river.”

Former Grassy Narrows Chief Roger Fobister Sr. forwarded Glowacki’s letter to the government. On November 12, 2015, MOECC officials responded to the chief saying that “The Dryden pulp mill is not a source of mercury.”

In June of this year, after a Toronto Star investigation exposed the government’s failure to act on Glowacki’s tip, a spokesperson for the MOECC told the Star that the ministry is doing “everything in its power” to find the site. The government searched for the barrels this summer using geophysical sensors but concluded there was no evidence of the barrels. But it appears that they searched in the wrong place.

On November 23^rd the Wynne government told the legislature that “We have completed very extensive tests all across the site… and found there are no barrels buried and there is no source .” That same day Minister Murray told the legislature “I will promise that we will… get the cleanup to the satisfaction of the chief and the health of the people of Grassy Narrows.”

Grassy Narrows’ Chief Simon Fobister responded saying “I invite the Premier to put this historic commitment in writing and sign it alongside me in proper ceremony so that we can know it is real. We have borne 54 years of poison and inaction – we need a firm timeline and a realistic budget to get this cleanup done as soon as humanly possible. We will not rest until our fish are safe to eat again.”

However, the following day Premier Wynne back tracked and refused to commit to cleaning the English-Wabigoon River claiming that it would risk releasing old mercury.

The Toronto Star reported that, when asked, her government provided no evidence of risk associated with the clean-up methods recommended by the expert report. Dr. David Schindler, founder of the Experimental Lakes Area, wrote to Premier Wynne saying that “this fear is needless” and urged the Premier to proceed with the reclamation of the river.

A recent report by Japanese mercury experts found mercury poisoning symptoms in 90% of people tested in Grassy Narrows First Nation and Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in 2014, including younger people. Another expert report by Canadian mercury expert Dr. Mergler found that between 1978 and 1992 many babies were born in Grassy Narrows with umbilical cord blood mercury levels high enough to cause permanent brain development impacts.

Another building delay has students scrambling for stable housing as mid-term exams begin.

by: dan kellar (@dankellar)

Waterloo–After a digital tour of the condo in early June 2016, and a conversation over the phone with an Atlas Properties Group leasing agent, Sarah and David* signed a lease for a two-bedroom suite in the 21-storey K2 condo tower on King St near Wilfrid Laurier University, the larger of a two tower development at the site. David said the two international students then paid a three-month deposit “for our final three months in the unit”, totalling nearly $5,000.

The occupancy date on the lease was September 3rd, and the two students asked the Atlas leasing agent, allegedly a University of Waterloo student herself, if they could move in early as they were coming from out of town. The pair say the agent agreed and Sarah and David planned to come to Waterloo on August 20th.

However, in early August, the building’s developers UID Development sent renters an email telling them that, due to a “Construction Worker Union strike”, units at the larger of the towers at 158 King St N would not be ready for the beginning of September. No firm date was given in the email. David and Sarah were shocked to learn that the suite they had rented was actually in a building still under construction. “The Atlas leasing agent never told us this was a new building”, Sarah explained, continuing “when we signed the lease in June, the agent never mentioned that it may not be ready for September.”

On receiving the notice of delay, David says he re-read his lease and noticed a paragraph that was sloppily inserted into the lease between two other conditions:

“If the Landlord and/or Authorized Representative is unable to give possession of the Rented Premises on the commencement of the term for any reason, including, but not limited to construction delays or an over holding tenant, the Landlord and/or Authorized Representative shall not be to liable to the Tenant and shall give possession as soon as the Landlord and/or Authorized Representative is able to do so. The Rent shall be abated until possession of the Rented Premises is offered by the Landlord to the Tenant. Failure to give possession at the date of commencement of the term shall not in any way affect the validity of this Tenancy Agreement. This Tenancy Agreement shall be enforceable against the Tenant named herein, regardless of whether such Tenant actually occupies the Rented Premises.”

Translated to non-legal, the clause states that the landlord is not responsible for any delays in the unit being available, and that if there is a delay, it would not be a sufficient reason to release the renters from the lease. With Sarah and David signing their lease in June, Atlas and UID may have already known that a September move-in was out of the question, yet David says the leasing agent never mentioned the building was yet to be completed.

screenshot from: http://www.atlasproperty.com/property/k2/

In lieu of completed apartments, UID gave renters the option of moving into one of two hotels, to move into a bedroom in shared student housing, or to delay the start of the lease until the units were ready. The hotels on offer were a Howard Johnson in southern Kitchener and a Travelodge in Cambridge with shuttle buses transporting students to and from campus. The shared housing units, as David and Sarah discovered on touring one, included a “not nice” room in an old home, nothing like the clean apartments still on view on the Atlas website. UID also informed the renters that they would have to pay $600 a month for a room in the shared housing with a $250 key deposit. Hotels would also come with a cost, though the exact details were not clear. If a renter chose to delay the lease start date, they would be credited $100 a month towards their first month’s rent.

With the September semester approaching at school, and their unit still incomplete, Sarah and David still had to find a new place to live. The pair arrived in Waterloo and rented a hotel room while they tried to deal with UID and Atlas on their housing situation.

Now with mid-term exams underway, David and Sarah say they are not interested in waiting for their unit to be completed, they just want their $5,000 deposit returned as they have already found alternate accommodation outside of UID’s lacklustre offerings. To this point, UID has refused to refund the money, directing David to the clause in the lease about construction delays. Atlas Properties Group meanwhile, is trying to avoid accountability in the situation, telling David to “deal with UID”. In response to the stonewalling, Sarah says she and David went to the landlord and tenant board with the issue and now have a hearing scheduled in late November.

As the landlord and tenant board hearing was set, UID sent an update to renters, informing them they would be able to move in mid-November, but with the building still missing its outer skin, and little completed work on the inside of the units, David says he is skeptical that date is realistic. David added that even if the outside was complete, the situation for those living in the 11-storey K2 building next door has given him further reason not to trust what UID is telling him and hundreds of other impacted students and other renters.

According to David, in the smaller K2 building that has been occupied since September, the building’s interior is not yet complete, with “bedrooms” being set up in common areas of apartment units, separated by half-height paper room dividers. “Only one of these bedrooms has actual walls and a door; the other three, these are not bedrooms,” asserted Sarah, adding that “there is no privacy”. The picture our news department obtained seems to verify these claims.

With many of the impacted renters being international students, paying up to 500% more for school than non-international students, David says there has been little organising among the tenants to work collaboratively for solutions. Sarah explained that many of the students simply took what was offered as they need to focus on their studies, and did not have the energy to confront UID.

While the Universities have not kept track of the number of students impacted by insecure, inadequate, or non-existent housing, high profile cases have certainly impacted thousands in just the past two years. In 2015, students successfully challenged Schembri property management at the landlord and tenant board when the units and the building they signed leases for were not completed on time. Already this fall, delays in the ICON development left more than a thousand students scrambling to find alternate solutions as they started classes.

At the K2 towers, there is a frenzy of construction activity as crews continue to work on the outer walls of the upper-half of the building, but for Sarah and David, the efforts are much too late. As the two prepare for the landlord and tenant board hearings to demand a return of their deposits, and to be released from their unfulfilled lease, they must also prepare for their mid-term exams and keep up with all their other school work.

—

*names changed to protect identity

a screen shot from: http://www.atlasproperty.com/property/k2/

Chippewas Of The Thames–In less than two months, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation will appear in the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) to assert their right to consultation and argue that the Canadian government failed in this regard for the heavily contested Enbridge Line 9 pipeline. This challenge comes amidst a wave of resistance to pipelines and a heightened profile for issues of consultation with Indigenous communities. But the path to court is made difficult beyond the legal argument as COTTFN has to finance the legal defence of their rights against treaty violation, which they anticipate will reach half a million dollars. $50,000 has been raised so far, and for the remainder, COTTFN’s fundraising and awareness campaign is intensifying with a new video and website highlighting issues of the case and foregrounding voices from the community.

COTTFN is challenging the Canadian government’s approach to consultation, arguing that based on treaty and Canadian law, the federal government is directly responsible for consulting Indigenous communities on projects that will affect them, and the National Energy Board (NEB) is not a substitute. Clyde River Inuit is simultaneously challenging the lack of consultation in the NEB process which approved seismic blasting exploration in the waters surrounding their community. The recent successful challenge to the Northern Gateway pipeline addressed similar issues, with the ultimate ruling affirming the Canadian government’s legal duty to consult. COTTFN’s case will argue specifically that the NEB cannot substitute for the government in consultation.

Throughout the Line 9 planning process, COTTFN made it clear that they wanted their voice heard. They took part in the NEB hearings for the pipeline, articulating their concerns to the review panel, while insisting that this process was not a substitute for consultation. As band councillor Myeengun Henry explains in the new video, these issues can be traced back to the pipeline’s origins: “Forty years ago our people were still in residential school. When there was a process that brought this pipeline through our traditional territory, we were never consulted at all. So they just built this pipeline without any acknowledgement of the First Nations in the area.”

COTTFN filed their initial legal appeal on April 8, 2014, well before the line was operational, yet in the delay preceding this hearing in the SCC, Enbridge has been operating the pipeline and profiting immensely from the flow of oil, including tar sands and fracked oil, through it.

These oil products are of grave concern not only to COTTFN, but to communities across the continent in the path of pipelines and oil trains. As we experience the hottest year on record, pipeline projects are being met with increasing opposition, including the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and Energy East. Councillor Henry concludes, “We know of the damaging impacts of the tar sands, fracking, and other extractive industries have on our earth yet these developments continue with government protection. This is why COTTFN is developing a protocol to engage with proposed plans that would affect our territory. We believe that​ protecting the water and land, requiring sustainable development, adapting to climate change, and ensuring a safe home for future generations must be central to this protocol.”

COTTFN is inviting donations from individuals and groups and encourages people to visit chippewassolidarity.org for more information about the case and to watch and share the video, “Defending Deshkaan Ziibi: Challenging the Line 9 Pipeline.”

Chippewas Of The Thames–In less than two months, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation will appear in the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) to assert their right to consultation and argue that the Canadian government failed in this regard for the heavily contested Enbridge Line 9 pipeline. This challenge comes amidst a wave of resistance to pipelines and a heightened profile for issues of consultation with Indigenous communities. But the path to court is made difficult beyond the legal argument as COTTFN has to finance the legal defence of their rights against treaty violation, which they anticipate will reach half a million dollars. $50,000 has been raised so far, and for the remainder, COTTFN’s fundraising and awareness campaign is intensifying with a new video and website highlighting issues of the case and foregrounding voices from the community.

COTTFN is challenging the Canadian government’s approach to consultation, arguing that based on treaty and Canadian law, the federal government is directly responsible for consulting Indigenous communities on projects that will affect them, and the National Energy Board (NEB) is not a substitute. Clyde River Inuit is simultaneously challenging the lack of consultation in the NEB process which approved seismic blasting exploration in the waters surrounding their community. The recent successful challenge to the Northern Gateway pipeline addressed similar issues, with the ultimate ruling affirming the Canadian government’s legal duty to consult. COTTFN’s case will argue specifically that the NEB cannot substitute for the government in consultation.

Throughout the Line 9 planning process, COTTFN made it clear that they wanted their voice heard. They took part in the NEB hearings for the pipeline, articulating their concerns to the review panel, while insisting that this process was not a substitute for consultation. As band councillor Myeengun Henry explains in the new video, these issues can be traced back to the pipeline’s origins: “Forty years ago our people were still in residential school. When there was a process that brought this pipeline through our traditional territory, we were never consulted at all. So they just built this pipeline without any acknowledgement of the First Nations in the area.”

COTTFN filed their initial legal appeal on April 8, 2014, well before the line was operational, yet in the delay preceding this hearing in the SCC, Enbridge has been operating the pipeline and profiting immensely from the flow of oil, including tar sands and fracked oil, through it.

These oil products are of grave concern not only to COTTFN, but to communities across the continent in the path of pipelines and oil trains. As we experience the hottest year on record, pipeline projects are being met with increasing opposition, including the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and Energy East. Councillor Henry concludes, “We know of the damaging impacts of the tar sands, fracking, and other extractive industries have on our earth yet these developments continue with government protection. This is why COTTFN is developing a protocol to engage with proposed plans that would affect our territory. We believe that​ protecting the water and land, requiring sustainable development, adapting to climate change, and ensuring a safe home for future generations must be central to this protocol.”

COTTFN is inviting donations from individuals and groups and encourages people to visit chippewassolidarity.org for more information about the case and to watch and share the video, “Defending Deshkaan Ziibi: Challenging the Line 9 Pipeline.”

In August 2016, CKMS News intern Lisa Irimescu created this 30 minute podcast on welcoming refugees to Waterloo Region, and the programs and barriers which impact the process.

The podcast includes interviews with a Syrian refugee, a private refugee sponsor, and two support organisations.

To download a copy of this program, and to listen to other work from CKMS News, visit the Grand River Media Collective and CKMS News

“We see housing as underpinning the entire health of a community”- Catherine Fife

In mid-August, the CKMS newsroom caught up with Kitchener-Waterloo NDP MPP Catherine Fife to critically discuss new legislation passed in the Ontario legislature — the Promoting Affordable Housing Act. The discussion deals with implementing the act in Waterloo Region with funding and zoning options available to municipal governments including promotion of inclusionary zoning, and ending appeals to the OMB, as well as some of weaknesses in the legislations around gentrification and renters rights.

This Interview was originally aired on August 19th on CKMS Community News, a program of the CKMS newsroom at 100.3fm, SoundFM.ca in Waterloo Region. It was undertaken by Rachel Avery.