CANADA

TORONTO — Awaiting an arbitrator’s decision that will decide whether or not she’s won a year-and-a-half- long battle to regain her sociology instructor’s job at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Jeanne McGuire says the fight has led her to a number of conclusions.

‘*My case is a vivid illustration of the kind of attack that is being waged against dissent, radical thought and opposition in our society’, McGuire told the Tribune in an interview recently.

Her battle started when, on returning from a two-year stint as the Communist Party’s Metro Toronto and xe- gional chairperson, she decided to return to Ryerson and apply for a teaching job in the Sociology Department. She was turned down on the grounds that her quali- fications were inadequate and she didn’t have the right ‘academic orientation’’.

While lacking a Master of Arts, (MA), degree, McGuire’s work record and academic assessments by the department were of a mgh standard and her teaching abilities had been praised by her senior colleagues while she was on the staff.

McGuire and her union, the Canadian Union of Edu- cational Workers, (CUEW), pointed out during her ap- peal as well as the arbitration hearings that there are other teachers, including some who were hired during her fight with the Institute, who are teaching at Ryerson without MAs.

Underscoring her qualifications, is the fact that over the summer months, she taught second level and senior Sociology courses at the University of Regina in Saskat- chewan.

McGuire test case for academic freedom

Her fight won the backing of a broad range of academics, students, faculty and such organizations as the Canadian Sociology Association. It was on the academic orientation issue, which most saw as a screen for political discrimination, that much of the support for McGuire’s fight came.

Heading an impressive line of academics and a few prominent intellectuals, who flooded Ryerson admin- istration with protests and demands that she be re-hired, was noted urban planner and Order of Canada recipient Dr. Hans Blumenfeld who renounced his honorary fel- lowship at the Institute.

CUEW, McGuire and her supporters have argued that academic freedom and trade union rights are the issues at stake in Ryerson’s arbitrary decision and the right it claims to set qualifications without any external inter- ference, read, union in-put.

CUEW has also pointed out, that to let Ryerson arbit- rarily decide on hiring criteria, as it has claimed it should throughout arbitration hearings that ended Aug. 25, is to endanger every teacher’s job at the institute by further undermining the already fragile seniority and job se- curity protection the union has fought for.

While hoping the arbitration will decide in her favor, McGuire says the union has scored a victory in this fight regardless of the outcome of the decision.

‘*First, it’s been made clear through the union’s fight that the administration can’t make arbitrary decisions without being subject to public scrutiny’’, McGuire said. ‘‘They have to stand up publicly for their decisions, have

those decisions scrutinized by the community and con- | demned if necessary.”

“Secondly, the union has established its right and | intention to'take a hiring decision to arbitration if it feels | that is warranted, and this is a significant development for CUEW at Ryerson.” |

She also feels the case has shed some light o academic freedom in a number of ways, particularly in the kind of political climate we live in today with con- | certed assaults on living standards and civil rights, such | as the impending federal ‘“‘security bill’? C-157.

“Academic freedom has often been understood as th academy’s freedom to pursue knowledge free from pub- | lic or social prejudices’, McGuire said. ‘‘But it also | means the protection of individual academics from the” prejudices and opinions of decision-makers within the | academy.

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“I agree I’ve an obligation to my students to teach | them, and ensure I don’t attack their integrity in any | way, but I also have a right and an obligation to present 4 | perspective, a theoretical framework, even if it’s one | they may reject’’, she said. —

‘These are young adults we’re teaching, they have 2 | right to be presented with a different perspective — to”

’ learn it, understand it and if they want, to reject it. I've | never demanded they believe what I teach, just that they | know and understand the information and framework J was transmitting.” — ;

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Thatcher protest

TORONTO — About 100 anti-Cruise protestors and oppo- nents of British imperialist policy in Northern Ireland greeted Margaret Thatcher, Sept. 27 with an angry protest.

Leading the protest were the coalition Against Cruise Testing, (ACT) and the Irish Prisoner of War Committee. Spokespersons for the two organizations stressed the need to demonstrate public outrage over the British prime minister’s brutal policies against the people of Northern Ireland and her war-mongering speech against disarmament.

Fr. Brian O’Ceileachair, on behalf of the Irish political pri- soners’ support group said the protest was designed to show the global support that exists for the people of Northern Ireland’s fight against British imperialist domination of their country and to counter what he called Thatcher’s repeated ‘‘attacks on the peace movement” since her arrival in Canada.

O’Ceileachair noted that the recent dramatic breakout of Irish political prisoners from the infamous Long Kesh prison and the support it evinced from the people of Northern Ireland was proof of the futility of the Thatcher government’s policy there.

‘Her government has been bragging that they have broken the back of the IRA, (Irish Republican Army) with all their informers — but all of their informers couldn’t tell them anything about the biggest prison break in British history’’, he said.

ACT spokesperson Andrew Carder said his group was protest- ing the proposed testing of the Cruise in Alberta and also the planned stationing of Cruise weapons inside Britain at Greenham Common. He attacked Thatcher for her arrogant refusal to re- spond to the massive disarmament movement in Europe.

EDMONTON — David Wallis, newly-elected Communist Party leader in the Province of Alberta, said at a Sept. 24-25 meeting of the Alberta Committee, Commu- nist Party of Canada, that ‘‘there are three major areas of-concern facing the people of Alberta.’’ He identified these as: the deteriorat- ing economic situation with high unemployment; the growing legis- lative attacks on trade union and other democratic rights; and the growing threat of nuclear war.”’

The 37-year-old Wallis, who has been the party’s Alberta Or- ganizer for the past two years, was elected as Alberta Party Sec- retary of the CPC, the position held by William Tuomi until his death on Oct. 15, 1982.

“The Communist Party de- plores the situation in which thousands of Alberta residents have been deprived of a job, de- cent housing and enough money to pay for rent, food and heating”’, Wallis said. ““There are no ex- cuses in our rich province, that

are acceptable, for such a situation.

‘‘We need emergency legisla- tion now to guarantee jobs or wages for all those who wish to work’’, he said.

Wallis called on the Alberta Government to ‘‘repeal Bill 44 in its entirety and refrain from initiating any more anti-labor legislation. The people in Alberta cannot afford to be hit with the reactionary legislation now being

‘ pushed through the B.C. legisla-

ture to take away trade union rights; the rights of renters, the sick and the unemployed,”’ he said.

The solution, stated Wallis, ‘‘is not to attack the poor, the unfor- tunate and the working people, but to cut monopoly profits and increase the purchasing power of the people. .

‘‘We are coming to a crucial stage in the nuclear arms build- up,’’ he added. ‘“‘If the testing of

Alberta leader

DAVID WALLIS New Alberta CP leader

the U.S. Cruise missiles tak t place in Alberta this winter Y p will be one step closer to nuc#™ war. q “The Alberta Legislature the responsibility to all of us liv™ y here to raise its voice in stro®

opposition and condemnatio® | », the proposed testing,” al

said.

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A statement by the

government has expressed her concern

and premiums as presently existing in

Canada Health Act good first step — CPC

e Maintain and extend federal tra 1

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Communist Party of Canada

The actions of a number of Provincial Tory governments to introduce hospital user fees and allow extra billing by doc- tors is putting the medicare system in j y. The response of the provin- cial health ministers to the proposed Canada Health Act proposed by Fed- eral Health Minister Monique Begin in- dicates their opposition to the basic concept of Medicare which must in- clude universal accessibility, compre- hensiveness of insured services co- vered, portability of benefits, adequate standards of hospital care, and public administration on a non-profit basis.

Begin, on behalf of the federal

about the recent action of some provin- cial health authorities to expand hospi- tal user fees and tolerate extra billing by doctors.

While Begin’s proposed Canada >

Health Act is a step in the right direc- tion, while it proposes to penalize pro- vincial governments to the extent of the user fees they collect and the amounts they allow doctors to collect in extra billing, it does not go far enough. What the Canadian people need is a Canada-wide health system that pro- vides adequate care equally at no cost to the user, financed through General revenues of the federal and provincial governments. User fees, extra billing

most provinces should be ended. |

The principles agreed upon prior to the introduction of the Canada Health Act, i.e. universality of services and uniform adequate care on a non-con- tributory basis should be clearly estab- lished in the Canadian Health Act.

In line with this the Communist Party puts forward the following proposals:

e End premiums for provincial

health insurance.

e Eliminate extra billing by doctors

throughout Canada.

e Eliminate all user fees for hospi-

tals, ambulances, etc.

e Expand medicare to include den-

tal and drug services, and eye care.

fer funds directly to the ministers’ health. e Outlaw the practice of turt™ over the administration of hosp!" to private multi-nationals. e Review doctors’ fees from tim® time based on the cost of living. This program must become pat) the Canada Health Act. q r To win such a program will req’) 4 great effort by all Canadians concer") g with ensuring that good health is a!) 4

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for all Canadians. me i Released by Central Exec), —

/\, Committee, Cy

Sptember 27, 1% q

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— OCTOBER 5, 1983—Page 10