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.

(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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