Author: Bambi

Bambi posted the promising news from Québec about its will to come up with a bill to protect academic freedom at its universities, as per the post shown further below. This bill is called Bill 32.

Today, Bambi learned that the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) does not like parts of this bill. It is asking the government of Québec to work with academic staff associations (https://www.caut.ca/latest/2022/04/quebec-academic-freedom-bill-more-clarity-needed-says-caut).

On which planet does CAUT seem to live to say the following: “For academic staff, the strongest protection for academic freedom in Quebec and the rest of Canada has been through labour law. The legislation should not jeopardize that legal foundation.”

If academic freedom foundation is that strong in today’s Canada why are we increasingly observing cases of censorship (suspensions, terminations, final firing, etc.)?

Jointly, across all the known cases of attacks on academic freedom, we can even wonder if being a tenured professor in our Canadian colleges and universities still concretely mean anything today?

At least, CAUT informed us that it welcomes parts of the proposed bill 32 (http://assnat.qc.ca/fr/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-32-42-2.html). However, the article above does not tell us which parts are NOT acceptable and why.

Perhaps even more shocking for Bambi was to also read that the union of faculty members of Laval University, entitled “Syndicat des professeurs et 
professeures de l’Université Laval” (SPUL), “prefers no bill than this bill” (https://spul.ca/actualites/pl-32-sur-la-liberte-academique-dans-le-milieu-universitaire-pas-de-loi-plutot-que-cette-loi/). Again, we are not fully clear of the reasons behind this rejection of the proposed legislative framework.

To come back to CAUT, the latter seems to consider that, with the proposed bill 32, a potential concern would be the following: Universities may become dependent on the provincial government… but Bambi feels like reminding CAUT that education is a provincial jurisdiction precisely, not a federal one. Is CAUT equally concerned about the dependence of our universities on the federal government, through funding of certain programs? It is only natural to become too loyal to the hand that feeds us in life. Plus, some of such programs may, directly or indirectly, relate to the mindset underlying many of the attacks on academic freedom (regardless of the cause célèbre of the moment).

To conclude this post, unions must be fully transparent with their members, and the general public, about what they do not like in Québec’s proposed bill 32 and why.

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Bravo Québec for being a national and international leader in the protection of academic freedom!

First, two of Bambi’s older and old posts, respectively entitled “Why don’t we just… smile?” and “What is happiness for you?“, are shown further below. Second, Bambi will be brief today. It is her wish that the music and/or lyrics of the chosen songs will entertain you, hoping that they can also make you smile :). Enjoy!

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What is happiness for you?

Why don’t we just… smile?

Cyprus is a beautiful island near Lebanon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus). Indeed, Cyprus is so close to Lebanon that it literally takes only about 20 minutes for an airplane to reach this island from Beirut airport.

Tragically, the Lebanese economic boat has been sinking fast for over three years now.

Luckily, Cyprus is around. The latter is perhaps the only “normal” country of the Middle East. With all due respect to all the countries of the region, by normal, Bambi simply means peaceful… of course despite the very old and unresolved issues (Cyprus and Turkey).

Bearing the above in mind, Bambi read in the Lebanese media (https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1295548/aub-to-open-campus-in-cyprus.html; http://www.balamand.edu.lb/news/AllNews/Pages/Details.aspx?FilterField1=ID&FilterValue1=243) that: (1) the American University of Beirut (AUB) is planning to open a satellite campus in Cyprus. Indeed, the first students will start their first academic year in Cyprus soon, that is in 2023; and (2) the Balamand University will open a Faculty of Medicine, in partnership with the UCLan Cyprus University. For more details on the locations, you may wish to read the links above.

This being said, Bambi adores Cyprus and is happy for this small country if the two initiatives will result in more economic growth and international visibility in its higher education sector. You can imagine that this country must have been hit hard by the pandemic (i.e., touristic sector) and needs to re-invent itself. Well deserved!

What about Lebanon now? Bambi has mixed feelings: both sad, for sure, and also perhaps promising news. Sad to see the Lebanese brain drain, as a direct result of the country’s financial tragedy (this in addition to the Covid-19 pandemic and the large brain drain that followed the surrealistic Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020). Just to give you a single example, at another university, Bambi heard that 35 of the close colleagues of her cousin already left the country!

To end on a more promising note, the students who can afford to study in Cyprus or those who may have scholarships will benefit greatly from those initiatives. The location of this country is geographically convenient. The students’ adaptation will likely be easy (weather, food, kindness of people, culture, maybe families not too far, etc.).

To conclude this post on a musical note, here is an example of traditional (Folk) music from this superb island for you for fun. Congratulations to Cyprus… Opa!

The thoughtful article featured in this post was published in French in the Journal de Montréal on April 1, 2022 [no, not April Fool 🙂 and if you do not believe Bambi, here is the link: https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2022/04/01/le-mensonge-sur-lequel-repose-la-discrimination-positive).

With the help of her faithful friend Google Translate, Bambi took the time to translate it for you, inserting a couple of her comments here and there.

Dr. Bock-Côté’s article begins here:

“Positive discrimination” programs are based on a thesis that is false, but which is nevertheless treated as official truth by the dominant ideology: Western societies practice systemic discrimination against “minorities”.

It would therefore be necessary to put in place reverse discrimination mechanisms to allow “disadvantaged” groups to obtain positions to which they would not have access.

Injustice

This flawed sociological thesis is an absolute falsehood, and even more so when we talk about Québec [Bambi happens to agree].

We must get rid of certain commonplaces such as that “white men have monopolized power for 2000 years” [Despite the good intentions of many of the people endorsing this view, Bambi finds it sad, and even absurd, to divide people according to their skin colour or, mind you, any other identity-based characteristic like religions, etc. She prefers to focus on our shared humanity and on the uniqueness AND richness of each person we encounter in life. We walk together a certain journey, short or long, and we learn from each other].

Who affirms this spreads without embarrassment his/her non-sense [“sa bêtise” in the original French text] and lack of culture.

Some reminders here: The significant demographic presence of “racial” minorities is more than recent in the history of Québec. Therefore, social organization could not be based on their repression.

French Canadians, white as they were, were themselves treated as negligible numbers at home. To see the world through the prism of race, we forget that countries are not interchangeable [Bambi agrees], and that Québec is not a state in the southern United States [indeed. In turn, this state is not Québec].

Advocates of affirmative action keep repeating confusing statistics they don’t understand. They also forget the fact that a statistical disparity is not necessarily explained by a discriminatory system [related to this, Bambi recommends the excellent book of Mr. Kenny Xu, “An inconvenient minority”; For instance, there are also culturally-based preferences, which have nothing to do with discrimination, like for instance Lebanese youth seen massively more in an Engineering program than in a psychology program. Are they being discriminated at in psychology? No, they are not. We can also think of Québeckers who happen to be of African origins found more, and excelling, in running or those with a black skin present in the music genre called jazz, etc.].

Québec

There is no systemic racism in Québec [Bambi happens to agree; she has lived there for over 15 years]. But there is systematic discrimination against white men in particular, in cultural and intellectual circles, as we have seen at Laval University [How sad, again despite any noble intention]. This racial discrimination against white men is trivialized and widespread.

Let us recall an elementary principle: refusing a black man because he is black is racism. Refusing a white man because he is white is racism too [absolutely; same analogy with what happened during the Lebanese 15-year-long war to civilians of all confessions: Muslim, Druze, Christian, Jewish, Atheist, etc.].

Those who defend positive discrimination defend a racism that they consider acceptable because it targets white people [again, despite the stated, or maybe even heart-felt good intention, such programs come with long-term social toxicity… Of course, Bambi can be wrong. However, from her second life in a country with religion-based quotas deeply rooted in its political sector, she is convinced of the following: racial-based policies may lead to social tension. Little by little, this tension may result in a strife. Pushed to the extreme, this can destroy a country…].”

Bambi would like to thank her two friends who shared with her this piece of good news in both English (Globe and Mail) and French (ICI RDI):

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-quebec-bill-on-academic-freedom-says-no-words-are-off-limits-in/

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1874566/quebec-loi-liberte-expression-campus-universitaire

Of course, in an ideal world, we would not need governmental intervention to protect academic freedom of university teachers.

However, as per ICI RDI’s media article, given the increasing “slippery slope” of self-censorship, Québec plans to better define and protect academic freedom with a legislative framework.

Québec’s idea is that no word is off limit while teaching in the classroom.

Of course, we need to wait to see what this legislative framework would look like to fully rejoice. However, Bambi feels like saying, just like her two friends: Way to go Québec! If she may, she would like to offer la Belle Province a song. Tonight, it will be “Gens du pays” of Mr. Gilles Vigneault :).

Thank you, Mr. Girac for honouring the late and unique Mr. Charles Aznavour.

Our world needs your pure voice and the authenticity of your emotions.

Please keep singing!

Lebanon has many brilliant chess players. Some win tournaments abroad. Some participate in domestic tournaments, even post-explosions and in pandemics.

A Chess Tournament Was Just Held In Beirut

Well today, Lebanon is proud as his UK-based-champion is just 9-year-old (https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1292709/a-9-ans-un-joueur-dechecs-libanais-devient-champion-en-angleterre.html).

It is refreshing to finally read a piece of happy news related to Lebanon. Bravo Kari and “Mabrouk” to you and to your proud family from Bambi :)! Keep up your passion, talent, practice, and attitude!

Of course, Bambi cannot conclude this brief post without a song to Kari and his parents. Guess which song? Of course, it is the Mabrouk song to their/our champion :).

Ms. Nancy Ajram’s song, subtitled in English, is based on a poem by the late and great Syrian poet Mr. Nizar Qabbani. His moving poem is entitled “To Beirut The Female, With Apologies”.