Bonus – The Lambda Editorials

In addition to writing the Fifth Column during my time on the Laurentian University student newspaper, Lambda, I was also news editor and was occasionally asked to write the editorials. Below are those editorials, as well as an analysis article and a book review.

 

Opinion (1970-10-22)

Richard W.

The civil rights of the Canadian people have been suspended! This is due to the action of the Trudeau government in invoking the War Measures Act. This is an unjustifiable action.

Prisons in Quebec are now being filled with political prisoners. Hundreds of Quebecois are being persecuted for their political views. The F.L.Q. (Fronte de Liberation Quebecois) has been declared an unlawful organization and there ‘s a five year jail term provided for:

a person who

(a) is or professes to be a member of the unlawful organization.

(b) acts or professes to act as an officer of the unlawful organization.

(c) communicates statements on behalf of or as a representative of the unlawful organization,

(d) advocates or promotes the unlawful acts, aims, principles or policies of the unlawful organization.

(e) contributes anything as dues or otherwise to the unlawful organization or to anyone for the benefit of the unlawful organization.

(f) solicits subscriptions or contributions for the unlawful organization or

(g) advocates, promotes or engages in the use of force or the commission of criminal offences as a means of accomplishing a governmental change within Canada.

In one rash act of totalitarianism the government has eliminated the basic freedoms of association, assembly, expression and thought.

The government has made membership in a political organization a crime and the holding of “undesirable” political views a crime.

Regardless of the policies of the F.L.Q. they should not be subject to the violation of their civil rights. Neither should other separatist groups. Neither should the Canadian people,

All members of the F.L.Q. have been declared criminals, regardless of whether they have committed any criminal acts. Hundreds of Quebecois have had their civil rights violated simply because they express the same aim as the F.L.Q. - an independent socialist Quebec, They do not necessarily believe in the use of violence to obtain that objective.

However, since some members of the F.L.Q. have been involved in terrorist activities, and since the aim of the F.L.Q. is the same as that of other separatist groups, all separatists have become suspect. Because of this they have had their civil rights violated in a manner never before seen in Canada. In a manner contrary to the principles of “justice” which our government supposedly believes in and claims to practice.

The government says that its action is necessary to protect the freedom of the people of Canada.

However it has been said that if one citizen has his freedom violated all the people lose their freedom.

We are now in a position where the freedom of all the people of Canada is subject to violation; and in fact the freedom of the Canadian people has been lost!

 

EDITORIAL (1972-02-29)

By Richard W. Woodley

There are a number of questions that you should ask yourself before voting on the proposed new constitution. A constitution is a philosophy. The philosophy behind the proposed constitution consists of a number of principles. These are:

(1) Decentralization, and a committee system to lessen the executive’s power,

(2) Representation according to academic division,

(3) An executive based on function,

(4) A bilingual SGA (however without language representation on the council),

(5) A free student press,

If you agree with these principles then you should vote for the proposed constitution. Probably few will agree with every clause in it, but that will never happen. No one will come up with the perfect constitution agreeable to every student.

The basic principles behind the constitution are the important things. If you cannot agree with them you cannot agree with the constitution. But if you do agree with these principles then you should vote for the constitution. Amendments to details can be made later.

The point is that if people vote against the constitution because they do not agree with every single clause in it, it probably wouldn’t receive any votes. Or, if people voted for it because they agreed with only one clause, it would probably pass unanimously.

What you are voting on are the principles behind the constitution.

As well one should consider what a defeat would mean. It would mean that we would still continue to operate under the old constitution, which everyone must agree is archaic. The new constitution is a definite improvement and hopefully it will be improved in the future.

But it is a start. A new philosophy of decentralization. A point to begin in making the SGA truly relevant to the student body. It will only be as good as the students make it.

But the SGA cannot move forward under the old constitution. It is imperative that students approve the proposed constitution.

Two-thirds of at least fifty per cent of the student body must vote in favour of the proposed constitution for it to be ratified.

It is your SGA! Your future! Your choice!

 

EDITORIAL (1972-03-21)

By Richard W. Woodley

Mysterious happenings have occurred in and around the SGA this year, centring to a great extent around the business operations of the organization and the dismissal of Frank Reynolds, former SGA business manager.

A number of questions and charges have been raised by some students and an organization calling themselves the Students for a Democratic Laurentian (SDL).

This organization, and its charges, we first tended to dismiss as a political front used by Mr, Reynolds for his own political purposes, A number of their charges directly contradicted the SGA Executive, whom we tended to give more credibility to than the SDL. Many were quite strong. Many were misleading, And many we felt to be incorrect or unjustified.

Yet, upon talking with people in SDL and having the other view, along with a number of interesting facts and recollections, brought to our attention we began to question.

We can no longer dismiss the SDL as a small group of people out for their own political ends using whatever tactics possible.

We no longer know who to trust. We know that the SGA has not been open. We begin to feel that they have lost a certain amount of credibility. And they have, And that is the most unfortunate thing of all.

There is a new executive and a new Council now, They must decide whether they will be open with the students, They must let the students know what they are doing and why they are doing it. There must be no room for doubt.

They cannot count on the students’ faith and trust in them to remain, no matter what, They cannot count on absolute trust, for this is what the past executive and council expected from us. We no longer have that absolute trust in them, We question their actions.

The new Council and Executive must not let this happen. For if it loses credibility the whole SGA will be placed in jeopardy.

It is up to them to decide how they will run their affairs, but we will be watching them much closer than we have in the past, We have learned from this year, and we have our friends, who we thought were our enemies, to thank.

 

editorial (1972-10-03)

(by rww, authorship not attributed)

A free press is essential to a free people. True freedom of the press, however, involves more than an absence of controls by outside interests. It means all must have access to a press. It means that the press must not be solely in the hands of the establishment, as the bourgeois press of this country is.

The student press in Canada prides itself in having this freedom to present all the views of the student population, without editorial or financial control, even if these views oppose the official student government. They pride themselves in being guaranteed the ability to do this by being financed by the student governments they may, themselves, oppose.

The Statement of Principles of the Student Press in Canada (Canadian University Press) to which Lambda adheres, guarantees to the student press the non-interference of student governments in the editorial, advertising, and financial policies of the student press.

The Students’ General Association of Laurentian University has seen the need for such guarantees and has made constitutional provisions to guarantee the freedom of Laurentian’s student press.

The Lambda Publications Brief (A Bylaw to the SGA Constitution) provides that the editor may be removed only by a referendum of the student body.

The Brief also guarantees Lambda a minimum SGA grant of $3.00 per student ($5,850) as well as all revenue from advertising in Lambda. The Brief also states that this revenue, from student fees, will be paid directly to Lambda Publications and that any surplus incurred by Lambda shall be used by Lambda for the purchase of equipment.

However, despite the constitutional provision of such financial guarantees, the present SGA Council has disregarded the constitution.

The SGA Council has passed a budget limiting the Lambda grant to $3,900 ($1,950 below the constitutional guarantee) as well as limiting the amount of advertising revenue Lambda may receive to $3,100 and at the same time putting the uncollected Lambda advertising revenue into the general SGA budget (rather than allocating it to Lambda for equipment purchases as provided in the constitution).

These are not “trifles”, as Yvon Lachappelle calls them, but are a flagrant interference with the freedom of the student press on this campus. These guarantees are provided to ensure that the student press can operate without financial pressure from a student government, that it may often be critical of.

The effect of the SGA’s disregard for these guarantees will mean that the quality of the paper (and possibly its ability to be critical) will suffer and that it will possibly be forced to cease publishing before the end of the year.

The SGA, or rather Yvon Lachappelle, claims that it is acting in the students’ interests. But how can the SGA be impartial in limiting the freedom of a press that is, at this time, highly critical of it.

A Constitution is a set of rules set up to ensure that those with power within an organization serve the wishes and interests of the members of that organization, When the SGA Council ceases to follow the Constitution they lose all legitimacy and cease to be responsible to the student body as a whole, When this happens all hell should break loose!

 

NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT (1973-10-09)

By Richard W. Woodley

Northern development is a concept that is coming under increasing discussion. It is seen by many as the natural fulfillment of the Canadian dream (and by others as necessary to serve the needs of a North American, i.e. Amerikan, community).

It is referred to in terms of bringing the resources and beauty of the great Canadian northland to all Canadians.

The reality, of course (as with most aspects of Capitalism), is the opposite.

What the development of the north refers to, in actuality, is the transformation of the north from serving the needs of the people of the north to serving the needs of the Amerikan dominated corporate elite of this colonial state.

It means the radical transformation of the ecology from one which served the needs of a northern community based on hunting and fishing, to one which simply serves the needs of southern industry. It means the alienation of the people of the north, with the subsequent economic and social problems which occur as a civilization, hundreds of years old, attempts to adapt to changes imposed from the outside.

The answer to this problem is provided by assimilation - and the dominant southern culture prides itself in its few successes in assimilating northern natives through educational and industrial training programs imposed from the outside.

These programs. and their resulting assimilation of the native population into the southern culture, would, of course, be unnecessary if the northern people were allowed to keep their own culture, A culture far superior to the southern culture, a non-alienated culture based on people helping people (not on the southern god of economic and industrial development).

The examples are numerous: The James Bay power development in northern Québec will flood huge areas of northern Québec, forcing the population out of their homes and altering the ecology in a way that could destroy their way of life forever.

The Mackenzie Highway, which is being fought by the northern natives, will bring more southern-type development to the north, forcing native peoples from their traditional way of life to a culture based on alienating work in factories.

This form of industrial development has its critics - mainly among northern natives and environmentalists.

Less criticism has been aimed at the development of the north from tourism. Perhaps because plans for this sort of development are not as extensive or advanced as those concerning industrial development. However, suggestions have been made that tourism be developed extensively in the north. This is said to be required to serve the employment needs in the north where southern imposed industrialization has destroyed the traditional way of life, forcing the northern natives to become alienated wage-labourers.

The development of the north for tourism would again entail a transformation. The beauty of the north is a special beauty, appreciated by the people of the north. The imposition of tourist resorts designed mainly to serve the Amerikan tourist market would bring all the conveniences necessary to ensure the huge flow of tourists. They would see the north through the windows of resort hotels. The northern tourist areas would be transformed into circuses for Amerikan tourists.

The far north is not the only area threatened by this development mentality.

Northern Ontario is indeed threatened. But in this case of Northern Ontario it is threatened from within, It is the threat of a southern mentality adopted by the political-businessmen of Northern Ontario, we see development as a god - more development equals more people equals more money equals more PROFIT! —

Northern Ontarions are a special kind of people who prefer space to convenience - a people who would rather walk in the bush than drive on a superhighway - a people that would rather camp alongside a lake than stay in a luxury hotel with a heated pool.

Northern Ontario, with its lakes & rivers, and undeveloped land can serve these people well. An attempt to bring this life to southern Ontarions on a mass scale, through luxury hotels or crowded trailer parks in the north would only transform the north. It may serve the needs of southern Ontarions looking for diversions from the big cities, but it would destroy the type of life that Northern Ontarions have found far superior to the convenience of the south.

Anyone who has been on the Polar Bear Express should understand what this is all about. Moosonee and Moose Factory are invaded every day during the summer by the hundreds. Invaded to the extent that the tourists outnumber the residents during the day. The culture of the communities has been transformed, from one in which the native population provided for their own needs, to one where they serve the needs of southern tourists. Native art is no longer an expression of culture, but a commodity to be sold to the tourists. Life is no longer satisfying, but alienated. Northern Ontario is a special community and Northern Ontarions are special people.

Imagine two lovers walking along the shore of a Northern Ontario river, crossing the current together to a rock island over-looking the beauty of rapids. Imagine the same scene, this time with rows of camper-trailers parked along the shore of the river. It just isn’t the same. Love

 

The thought of Karl Marx (1973-10-23)

By Richard W. Woodley

Today, one-half of the world’s population - is governed under political systems based on the ideas of Karl Marx.

Yet the other half of the population has a very poor understanding of Marx’s actual ideas. The association of Marxism with the ‘‘enemy” of communism during the cold war era, presented the western public with a distorted view of Marxism. Anti-communist groups invariably presented a negative view of Marx’s philosophy, more often based on the acts of those who claimed to be his followers, than on his actual philosophy.

On the other hand, certain left wing groups present Marx’s philosophy more in a manner designed to show that they are the real Marxists, than to explain what Marx really said.

With the decline of the cold war, there was a more objective interest shown in Marx and his philosophy by academics. But a clear understanding of Marx’s philosophy required a great deal of study of his writings and his life.

In an attempt to bring Marx’s ideas to the general public, numerous books of selections from his writings became popular. But all too often these were just collections of disjointed specimens of his work presented one after another with no reference to the context within which they were written.

In “The Thought of Karl Marx’’, David Mclellan manages to overcome this major problem, without giving us the feeling that is is his ideas and not those of Marx that we are reading,

He does this, not simply by using selections from Marx, but by placing them in the context of Marx’s life and the historical conditions of the time they were written.

In the first section of his book, Mclellan divides Marx’s life into periods based on historical events and the development of his writing. He gives a historical sketch of Marx’s life and the period followed by selections from Marx’s writings. To this he adds a brief out line of the historical events and influences on Marx at the time of writing & reasons for writing each particular piece of work.

This approach to Marx does a lot to discredit the many charges of contradiction levelled at Marx, by showing how Marx’s philosophy and writings changed and developed. It also puts Marx’s writings into the context of why they were written - as a philosophic treatise, economic theory, political pamphlet, or journalism - a very important distinction when interpreting them.

In the second section of the book, Mclellan deals with Marx’s writings by subject (e.g. Alienation. Labour, Class, etc.) He follows a pattern similar to that used in the first section, describing the influences on Marx’s writings on each subject followed by selections from his work.

The book is an excellent introduction to Marx’s ideas, for someone who does not have the time or inclination to read a great deal of Marx’s original work.

It does, by its nature as a book of edited selections, suffer from the influence of the author’s interpretations. However, the author’s intent appears to be to given an outline of Marx’s ideas as free as possible from his own personal prejudices.

 

For more from Lambda see Laurentian University student newspaper Lambda - Internet Archive

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