Showing posts with label Hazel Gashoka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hazel Gashoka. Show all posts
Monday, March 4, 2013
L'U d'O prend ses distances (St. Lewis v. Rancourt) -- La Rotonde
...and reported in English on Student's-Eye-View: LINK
“U of O insisted that it would not fund a potential lawsuit by Ms. St. Lewis against Ms. Gashoka. Recall that U of O has recognized that it is reimbursing Ms. St. Lewis’s legal fees without limit in in her pursuit against Mr. Rancourt in the name of a moral obligation and of the fact that Ms. St. Lewis was attacked for work she did as an employee. It is impossible for us to see how it would be different in Ms. Gashoka’s case, since she has been threatened with a lawsuit for having repeated and somewhat developed the ideas of Mr. Rancourt.”
(free translation) – Hamdi Souissi, La Rotonde, March 4, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
U of O president Allan Rock and law professor Joanne St. Lewis must not sue student Hazel Gashoka
 |
| Threat of lawsuit against YouTube video |
By Denis Rancourt
Hazel Gashoka earned an Honours B.A. in psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2012 and is now a graduate student in Community Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University. As an undergraduate at the U of O, she was an activist for social justice, and in her graduating year was elected to represent students on the University Senate.
In 2008, while Gashoka was an undergraduate, the student union reported systemic racism at the University of Ottawa. The report drew a lot of public attention and was an embarrassment to the university. In response, the university asked U of O law professor Joanne St. Lewis to publicly "assess" the student report. In just a few days' time, St. Lewis issued a public report questioning the validity of the student charges.
Gashoka recently made a six-minute YouTube video (imbedded below) analyzing St. Lewis's role in helping the university deflect the students' charge of racism. (St. Lewis and Gashoka are black, and this writer is white.)
After the video was posted, St. Lewis, through a big-name lawyer hired for her by the university, sent Gashoka a notice of libel, which is a threat to sue for defamation.
St. Lewis is already suing former U of O physics professor Denis Rancourt for $1 million for expressing a similar view on his “U of O Watch” blog. That defamation lawsuit, which began in 2011, is funded by the university and pursued by the same lawyer who is threatening Gashoka -- Richard Dearden of the large corporate law firm Gowlings. University president Allan Rock testified under oath that his funding of the lawsuit against Rancourt is without a spending limit, “without a cap.”
Gashoka made public the threat that she received, and she publicly called upon Rock to “Please confirm that the University of Ottawa will not be funding a defamation lawsuit against me [her].”
In this writer’s opinion, it is morally wrong for the University of Ottawa and St. Lewis to try to silence Gashoka. Using public funds and student tuition money to fund repressive litigation against her would be ironic, as the university claims to promote discourse and debate on matters of public interest.
Gashoka has the right to interpret the facts any way that she wants in this or any other matter of public importance. Public controversy and debate on societal issues can be a rough trade and can involve terms that sting, but the law accommodates its requirements. St. Lewis should not expect to be immune from criticism for the role that she played.
I call on president Allan Rock to state publicly, without further delay, that the university will not fund a lawsuit against Hazel Gashoka for her video, and to clarify the university’s criteria for funding lawsuits against its critics.
See all related posts HERE.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Former U of O student and senate member Hazel Gashoka receives a Notice of Libel
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| Hazel Gashoka |
Link to Notice of Libel HERE.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Two recent posts about the open court matter in the St. Lewis v. Rancourt litigation
Two elected members of the Senate of the University of Ottawa have sent open letters posted at the Student's-Eye-View blog:
Letter to Prof. Joanne St. Lewis from Kilamanjaro Black Student Association President: “A Travesty of Justice” (link)
Professor Joanne St. Lewis Maintains Demand for Legal Fees from Student (link)
Letter to Prof. Joanne St. Lewis from Kilamanjaro Black Student Association President: “A Travesty of Justice” (link)
Professor Joanne St. Lewis Maintains Demand for Legal Fees from Student (link)Sunday, June 5, 2011
U of O student union critical race theory burnout
SFUO: Left in words, Right in deed?
To Tyler Steeves,
I am writing to you as the Chair of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa's Black History Month sub-committee in your capacity as President of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO).
It is with sincere regret and utter frustration that I find myself writing this letter. As a committee, we experienced a lot of resistance from the executive of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa. We also felt as if we were being held hostage and that we had to dance to a tune in order to be heard and taken seriously.
As a representative of the committee, I first approached the SFUO in July with the plan to put certain things in motion. I had a meeting with an executive member and the response from the meeting was an email advising me that the SFUO would be "selecting members" for the 2010-2011 Black History Month Committee. This response perplexed some students who were interested in being members because we did not understand them criteria that was to be used. We also questioned the SFUO's qualifications in determining who was suitable to be on this committee. What made this response even more curious for us was the fact that for centuries marginalized groups have always been told who has the legitimacy to speak on their behalf by the dominant group.
According to the SFUO Constitution, "the SFUO Executive shall only act as a liaison between the Black History Month Committee members for financial and logistical matters". There were a few embarrassing moments that were avoidable had the SFUO executive followed their mandate as stated in the Constitution vis à vis the Black History Committee. The most embarrassing and regrettable one was suffered by our keynote speaker Dr. George Dei of Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), as he tried to check out of his hotel room.
It was also embarrassing to have to hold our event at the Carlton University Campus because of the delay in mobilizing the committee. This delay was due to SFUO's inaction in terms of setting up the committee and lack of facilitation in accessing all the resources required by the committee. The committee was also puzzled by the lack of attendance by any of the SFUO executive members.
We all have to acknowledge that the committee is seen by outsiders as representing the University of Ottawa's student body. As such any failure by the committee is seen as a failure by the whole student body. We have to work together to promote an inclusive and respectful study body at our university. The committee would like to set up a meeting with the SFUO executive to revisit the issue and come up with a more respectful working relationship.
I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Kindest Regards,
Hazel Gashoka
Chair, Student Federation of the University of Ottawa's Black History Month sub-committee
cc: Black history month committee members, SFUO executives, the fulcrum, and black caucus members
UofOWatch has learned that this letter (below) was duly sent (in cc) for publication to the student paper The Fulcrum on March 26, 2011, and was simply ignored. The Fulcrum did not acknowledge or contact its author, despite the paper's statutory commitment to publish all student letters. This, for a paper that has been consistently enthusiastic to criticize the SFUO's Left politics.
It appears that at the University of Ottawa racism runs deep and crosses all race, political, age, and class boundaries...? (See all posts about racism at U of O HERE.)
UofOWatch has learned that the letter was re-sent today addressed to the present SFUO president Amalia Savva.
To Tyler Steeves,I am writing to you as the Chair of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa's Black History Month sub-committee in your capacity as President of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO).
It is with sincere regret and utter frustration that I find myself writing this letter. As a committee, we experienced a lot of resistance from the executive of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa. We also felt as if we were being held hostage and that we had to dance to a tune in order to be heard and taken seriously.
As a representative of the committee, I first approached the SFUO in July with the plan to put certain things in motion. I had a meeting with an executive member and the response from the meeting was an email advising me that the SFUO would be "selecting members" for the 2010-2011 Black History Month Committee. This response perplexed some students who were interested in being members because we did not understand them criteria that was to be used. We also questioned the SFUO's qualifications in determining who was suitable to be on this committee. What made this response even more curious for us was the fact that for centuries marginalized groups have always been told who has the legitimacy to speak on their behalf by the dominant group.
According to the SFUO Constitution, "the SFUO Executive shall only act as a liaison between the Black History Month Committee members for financial and logistical matters". There were a few embarrassing moments that were avoidable had the SFUO executive followed their mandate as stated in the Constitution vis à vis the Black History Committee. The most embarrassing and regrettable one was suffered by our keynote speaker Dr. George Dei of Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), as he tried to check out of his hotel room.
It was also embarrassing to have to hold our event at the Carlton University Campus because of the delay in mobilizing the committee. This delay was due to SFUO's inaction in terms of setting up the committee and lack of facilitation in accessing all the resources required by the committee. The committee was also puzzled by the lack of attendance by any of the SFUO executive members.
We all have to acknowledge that the committee is seen by outsiders as representing the University of Ottawa's student body. As such any failure by the committee is seen as a failure by the whole student body. We have to work together to promote an inclusive and respectful study body at our university. The committee would like to set up a meeting with the SFUO executive to revisit the issue and come up with a more respectful working relationship.
I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Kindest Regards,
Hazel Gashoka
Chair, Student Federation of the University of Ottawa's Black History Month sub-committee
cc: Black history month committee members, SFUO executives, the fulcrum, and black caucus members
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