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THE Fall Institute of the Stu-
ent Union for Peace Ac-
,, lon held Sept. 4-10 at St.
ixte, Quebec, marks a new
6 in the evolution of a radi-
Student peace movement.

© primary task of the 120
ipants was to review eight
_, Summer projects and plan
ategy for the coming year.

€ nature of the projects re-
a the awareness of the stu-
. Peace movement that world
ful Can only become mean-
for us within the context
.dical social, economic and
itical change in Canada.

Worked this summer with
askatchewan Indians (Nees-
‘oject) found they could,
Oncentrating on the prob-
Of economic stagnation in
Teserves and the racist pa-
ism of the Indian agents,
Parallels to the suffering of
ietnamese people perpetu-
y the same corporate
ver structure exploiting the
‘ns. Hence the project mem-
See that the struggle of the
nS to scrap the Indian Act
tip €stablish communities with
“'Y and purpose becomes an
4 uual part of the creation of
Socially just: world free from
Shial wars,
*Milarconcl..sions were
wn by students who worked
». Slums of Kingston, with
successes in organizing
ae for a better deal from
a landlords and winning
Park facilities for’ slum
l€s for slum children.

&

Reports were heard from the

mt Peace action” projects at

rae B.C. and La Macaza,
€. Although there have

ree Still are disagreements

ti € the participants as to the

SS of the peace movement,

Sand meetings held at the

het the nuclear base were ef-

+© in bringing attention to

med to remove such bases
anada.

© La Macaza project, much
Tin scope, submitted a de-
,, -POrt on the specific prob-
2 2 this Laurentian area.

Gray, the spokesman for
Project, said SUPA and
a hope to mobilize
, l thousand students in
tin what could be their

ise demonstration against
ot arms.

‘ewart Goodings reported on
thy Posed activities of the
pany of Young Canadians.
») ©! the students were scep-
of an Establishment-direc-
h movement, and urged
become ~a_ radical,
lly Corporation run democra-
Y the volunteers them-
; this were to happen,
u) of us agreed, then CYC
Complement the work un-
&n by SUPA.
cts €r important area of
ae was an examination
f Ecradian See
i ‘re was an obvious dis-
“ection with the “multiver-

a example, the students,

©mox participants said the -

sity” structure, in which stu-
dents are IBM-programmed and
processed until they are rejec-
ted from or accepted in the pro-
fessions on the basis of a total-
ly depersonalized system.

In an attempt to overcome
this rigid approach to education,
a number of students in SUPA
established two _ educational
workshops: “The School for So-
cial Theory” and ‘Peace and the
Professions.”

The participants. admitted
many shortcomings in their first
approaches, but were deter-
mined to carry on this winter.
The theme of the “free univer-
sity,” for a more humanized and
dignified educational process
was stressed throughout the
SUPA institute.

A contribution which greatly
enriched the Institute was made
by Robert Neilson who spent
the summer with TEQ (Travail-
eurs-Etudiants de Quebec). With
over 40 other students from the
University of Montreal he work-
ed on community projects in the
Gaspé and the slums of St. Hen-
ri. In both places the students
were partially successful in or-
ganizing the dispossessed.

In St. Henri, for example, a
number of sit-ins by children at
the community pool won them
the right to free use of the pool.
Neilson also described the strug-

gles of the farmers in Lac St..

Jean as part of a growing na-
tional movement for social and
economic reform in Quebec.

There was an intense feeling
at the institute to share in the
experiences of Quebec students,
to join with them in genuine
solidarity for a just, democratic
Canada that would recognize the

ction on campus

Canada's radical student peace movement
begins to examine a new set of values

national rights of the Quebecois.
The general reaction of the par-
ticipants was that student radi-
cals in English and French Can-
ada were working for common
goals, against a common “Estab-
lishment.” The need was stressed
for a continuing dialogue be-

tween French and English Can-~

adian students working for so-
cial change.

It was also noted with satis-
faction that the Canadian Union
of Students at its last Congress
(Aug. 29-Sept. 4) passed a reso-

By
CHARLES
BOYLEN

UBC graduate, president of
that university’s Communist
club for two years.

lution “recognizing the Union
Generale des Etudiants du Que-
bec as a_ legitimate national
union of students.” Such recog-
nition could be the first step in
cooperation between the two na-
tional student communities
based on the needs of all Can-
adian students.

Most of the SUPA _partici-

pants felt, however, that much
has to be done in English Can-

‘adian universities to win the

average student to such an
awareness.

An appreciated contribution
to the Institute was made by
several students from _ other
countries. Three Cuban Student

Christians described experiences
of their revolution and the pro-
ductive dialogues taking place
between Cuban Christians and
Marxists. They pointed out that
revolutionary change need not
exclude any real community of
people, that Cuban Christians
could support the revolution and
still maintain many differences
with Cuban Marxists.

One of the leaders of the Na-
tional Union of Students (Eng-
land, Wales and Northern Ire-
land) commented on the grow-
ing radicalism among British
students, in particular, their hcs-
tility to U.S. policy in Vietnam.

Most relevant and encourag-
ing, however, was the participa-
tion of U.S. students represent-
ing the Student Non-violent Co-
ordinating Committee, Students
for a Democratic Society, and
the Student Peace Union. Faced
with countless problems (the
girl from SNCC for example had
been burned out of her home
in Mississippi three times), they
were all optimistic about the
growing number of students ac-
tively moving to democratize
American society, to end the
war in Vietnam and to bring
purpose and dignity to life.

They emphasized that many
of the student radicals come
from affluent middle-class homes
and are motivated by an at-
tempt to find moral and spiri-
tual fulfillment. They saw stu-
dents as catalysts of social
change in America.

This analysis is shared by
many in SUPA. In fact this was
the whole tone of the Institute.
The peace movement has em-
erged from an_ organization
which began by protesting

The student peace movement began with demonstrations against nuclear

weapons,
tions as well.

opposition to the U.S. war in Vietnam, is now turning to social ques-

, bureaucratic,

against nuclear tests to one
which sees world peace in direct
relationship to a whole new set
of values — brotherhood and
love as opposed to “me first”
and the “jungle rat-race.”

An indicator of the attitudes
of this new student Left, was
the general reaction at the In-
stitute to Pearson’s announce-

> ment of an election Nov. 8. A

concensus of opinion could be
summarized as follows:

“The electoral process as now
conceived is a fraud. The old
line parties are hopeless, not
even worthy of consideration.
Although the NDP has taken a
good position against the war.in
Vietnam, it too is hung up in a
parliamentarian, .
system-analysis type mentality.
To participate in the actual elec-
toral process would be to dissi-.
pate the energy of the move-
ment and divert it away from
the real problems; the war in
Vietnam, the crisis in Confede-
ration, U.S. domination of Can-
adian economic and political
life, the problem of poverty and
the continued misery of the In-
dian and Eskimo peoples. This
election is a game, part of the
system from which we want to
opt out.”

The most radical expressions
of political anarchy wanted to
“carry on as_ usual.” Others,
however, suggested that SUPA
could not ignore the election.
Most agreed to organize in
whatever communities they were
in to bring attention to the real
issues.

It was agreed to make the in-
ternational teach-in on Oct. 8
accessible to aS many commu-
nities as possible. Also on the
theme of the Vietnam war, it
was agreed to make Oct. 15 a
day of protest at every Can-
adian university.

Other SUPA members will
continue to work in their com-
munity projects in the spirit of

creating a grass roots move-

ment. As one student put it:
“power is here, in the strength
of people who are conscious.”

Other students are more ex-
plicit. In fact, one ofthe pro-
posed projects for this winter
was to study the possibility of
interrupting the supply of vital
raw materials from Canada to
the U.S. war economy. Such ac-
tion, it was pointed out, would
emphasize the need to stop the
Vietnam war and would empha-

size the need for Canadian con-

trol of its own economy.

The 120 student radicals .
brought together by SUPA at
St. Calixte reflect the growing
discontent of the post-war gene-
ration, and perhaps the Can-
adian people as a whole, with a
society devoid of values and
purpose.

The Institute was composed
of studends who read and act,
who are not static but who seek
to find solutions to problems. It
was an Institute where personal
and social concern merged.

October 8, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 7