CFS Accused of Sexist, Racist Coverup 1/2
S.I.S.I.S.
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WHAT IF AN ORGANIZATION WHOSE IDEALS YOU SHARED COVERED UP SOMETHING YOU
COULDN'T STAND FOR?
September 8, The Ontarion, University of Guelph
by H. Hudson
What if an organization whose ideals you shared covered up something you
couldn't stand for?
What if it was legally prudent to remain silent? What if everyone else was
doing it? What if you didn't have all the facts, but felt in your bones
that something was very wrong?
A First Nations woman was the victim of violence. Two eyes swollen shut.
Four stitches on her cheek. A chipped tooth.
What if the court cleared the perpetrator of all wrong doing? Said it was
justified, said he did nothing wrong and the issue was closed. What if it
still wouldn't go away?
What if you weren't there? You don't have all the facts. Who do you
believe? Do you look take the law to equal the truth? Do you allow yourself
to see patterns in the situation that it would be easier to ignore?
Last November Canadian Federation of Students staff person Philip Link hit
Federation member Lanna Many Grey Horses, sending her to hospital. In June
of this year, his assault charge was dismissed by a BC provincial court.
According to a court of law, his name has been cleared, but the issue has
not gone away.
This piece contains my opinion. It also contains the facts that I know, and
I don't know them all. The CFS-BC statement, the judge's verdict, all
accounts contain opinion. Some people's biases are more normalized in
society than other's. No one is objective, no one has all the facts.
By all accounts, the blow occurred in the context of an argument. The court
heard that an argument ensued in the evening of November 4th. This was the
evening of a CFS meeting in Vancouver. People had left the meeting as a
group, and gone to a bar. At some point in the evening Link and Many Grey
Horses began to quarrel. By all accounts she slapped him first.
The woman stated, both in court and to me, that she doesn't remember what
happened next. The Simon Fraser Peak reported in June that Link told the
court that she grabbed at his face and collar. The paper quotes : "it was
an intentional blow to break free.... I hit her out of fear." By all
account Link hit her. The next thing Many Grey Horses remembers, she told
me:
"I stood there with blood coming down my face."
By all accounts, Philip Link fled the bar immediately, chased out to hit
car by angry people who had witnessed the injury, and drove away.
Lanna left the bar soon afterwards to go to the hospital. She was stopped
by police on her way, who noticed her injuries. Charges were laid.
We live in a society that is not equal. We live in a patriarchy. We live on
stolen land. We live in a world where socialized, treated or perceived
equally.... in such a world, how can we be equal before the law?
I don't have all the facts. I have some.
I know that the legal system doesn't generally get at "all the facts." I
know that victims of violence are not believed in court. I know that
justice is denied to First Nations people again and again over land over
genocide over self government and the legal system is a vehicle for that. I
know the legal system has a long and ongoing history of silencing First
Nations people. We are not all equal before the law.
I know that when a woman is hurt physically by a man who she's close to her
confidence is often shattered. Her priority is often on protecting the man
from repercussions, over taking care of herself.
I know it has been ten months, and I am the third journalist that Lanna
Many Grey Horses has spoken to. I know she has been actively involved in
CFS, and believe that she cared deeply about the organization, and what it
purports to stand for.
I spoke with Lanna Many Grey Horses. I've spoken with survivors of violence
before. Her statements sounded familiar.
"Philip was a good friend," she told me.
After the altercation she was extremely isolated. "I secluded myself for
four days...I was told I had to keep it quiet" due to legal issues. She was
embarrassed and dropped out of school and lost her funding.
Her debt began to accrue. Still she didn't press charges. "I was thinking,
I didn't want to get him in trouble."
Philip was her friend. She emphasized this repeatedly. "I spoke to Philip.
All I wanted was that he recognize it and that he seek help and he wouldn't
even do that."
Seven months went by before the trial. She removed the restraining order
that had been placed, so that Link could return to work. They interacted in
the office over this period. The worked within the same committee at the
national meeting in May.
I asked her about the trial, and her answers rung frighteningly true.
He was asked about his job, his education. She was asked how much she had
had to drink that night.
She hadn't pressed her own charges. She declined to talk to the police when
the tried to press theirs. "I just got beaten up by a white man. I don't
want to be confronted by another white man shining a light in my face. I
was in shock. I just wanted to be by myself," she told me. They didn't get
a statement form her until she got to the hospital.
The court date in June was for an assault charge brought by the crown. The
crown only called he the night before the court appearance to put together
the case. Some witnesses did not show up.
The Simon Fraser Peak reported that "the defence counsel stated in his
closing argument that the woman's refusal to cooperate with the officers
was representative of her overall belligerence that night."
A First Nations woman, an aboriginal activist was penalized in court for
not co operating with the police The time constraints of an overworked
crown's office resulted in an incomplete case. I've seen these things
happen before. I can't close my eyes to that pattern. These are the facts.
"I was the one on trial," Lanna said in the interview. I've done court
support work for women victims of violence before. I believe her.
The Canadian Federation of Students is a national student union. If you are
an undergrad or grad student at the University of Guelph, it is your
student union. A union. that means something. Or it is supposed to. The CFS
has admirable policy on harassment, on aboriginal issues, on women's
rights. I believe in these policies.
So I contacted Liz Carlyle, the national chairperson of the CFS.
She told me the trial was the only fair and thoughtful process where all
the facts had been heard. She expressed "frustration on the part of the
Federation that people are so concerned about this issue when there's been
a clear verdict." She called the situation is "a little bit of a
distraction from the real issues" facing students, such as debt.
Philip Link has been hired, since this incident, by the National office of
CFS. He is taking a leave from his job with the BC component to take this
job. Liz Carlyle called this "essentially a transfer" and said that his
altercation with Lanna Many Grey Horses was "not a factor in our decision."
"We cannot hire or not hire people because of gossip and rumors. That would
be simply unfair," she stated.
Carlyle brought up the issue of Link's hiring in the interview. I had not
raised the issue, hadn't questioned their hiring process or their decision.
I never suggested that there was a connection, or even mentioned that I
knew of the transfer.
She urged me to obtain the court transcript. I may do that. Most of my
leads for this story have been obtained on the internet. Carlyle told me:"I
don't think a few malicious postings amount to much of a story." She stated
that "the Peak article was reasonable grounds for a libel suit." I did not
feel encouraged by her to run this story.
Carlyle raised another issue. "There was simply no questioning of the
background of violence of this other person." When I spoke with Lanna Many
Grey Horses, I questioned this background.
She and Philip talked in the past about Lanna having got into fights as a
12-13 year old, defending herself in school when confronted with racial
slurs. Is this her background of violence? What else is in this background?
"I've been a victim of violence my whole life," she told me.
Philip Link's background of violence is reported in same Simon Fraser Peak
article that covers the trial: "In October of 1989, Link was seem dumping
copies of the Voice, Langara's journalism school paper, into a dumpster. A
journalism student responded by pulling copies out of the dumpster, walking
into Link's office and dumping them on the floor. Link responded by
knocking his glasses off, pushing him to the floor and chocking him with a
camera strap. A witness to the incident said, 'Link was completely out of
control, it took four people to restraint him.' In December 1989 Link was
convicted of assault and fined a $100. In another case Link pled guilty to
a charge of public mischief for smashing a Langara Student Union (LSU)
member's windshield with his elbow."
A statement has been made by the organization on September 2nd. It is
signed from the BC Executive committee of the CFS, but at least one
executive member was not informed of the statement before it was made
public.
"Over the last few months," it begins, "a great deal of debate has occurred
over an incident that occurred between a member of staff of the British
Columbia component of the Canadian Federation of Students and a former
director of the organization." While some of the debate has been accurate,
it states, "some of it has included rumors, speculation, and
misinformation."
"The Board has decided to issue a statement that provides a rationale
for...the actions that we have taken."
The two page statement contains views that I can't reconcile with the
realities of a legal system and a society that are skewed against women,
against First Nations people, against those without the money for extensive
legal advice.
"While we do not believe the courts are always right...we also believe the
judicial system is the only forum in which any impartial hearing of this
facts has taken place"
There are facts that seek relevant to this case that the legal system is
not set up to hear.
Lanna's election as Aboriginal Caucus representative to the CFS national
executive has been contested. Consequently she has been removed from the
position. When researching this article I was unable to determine
conclusively the connection (if any) between this fact and Lanna's
situation. I do imagine, at the very least the isolation that much place
her in, be it real or perceived.
Elvira Balakshin, CFS-BC's women's liaison submitted her resignation to the
board on September 4th. In her letter of resignation she writes: "I can no
longer work for an organization whose actions are contrary to its beliefs
and whose decision undermines the work women have struggled to achieve in
the prevention of violence against women."
Lanna cites Balakshin as the one member of the CFS-BC board who gave her
unconditional support, outlined her options. Balakshin, who joined the
board in May, told me that she "remained optimistic that something would be
done until hearing the testimony at the trial."
Since coming out in support of Lanna Many Grey Horses, Balakshin feels she
has been undermined and isolated within the organization. "It's been an
extremely uncomfortable environment," within the BC office. "I'm having
trouble receiving information and receiving support implementing directives
from the women's caucus," s
As a journalist and as an anti-racist feminist I have to ask certain
questions. Is this purely a legal matter? Are the CFS' hands tied by labour
contracts, or can is there avenue for justice open that has not been tried?
Why is the organization not openly addressing the issue? Is there a pattern
to the way it is reacting?
Some have called for Link's dismissal. Some have called for individual
student unions to pull out of the CFS. Others have said that the matter has
been dealt with appropriately. I believe strongly in justice, and as such I
believe strongly in unions. What, in this situation is the principled thing
to do?
I asked several people who have been involved in the CFS for their perspectives.
Past students of colour commissioner, and national executive member Lance
Morgan, stated, "to be honest I don't think it's terribly out of character
for the Fed to respond that way."
"They can be a reactionary organization. They become defensive [when
challenged]. The statement is a reflection of that," he continued. "They
ball up and say everyone else is wrong, but they don't address the issues."
One student union rep contacted the national office about this in August.
"I don't feel as though my concerns will be taken seriously" she said to me
last week. "Nobody's willing to answer my questions; nobody's willing to do
anything," she added.
She is also in contact with other CFS members who are deeply concerned.
"It's a call to hold the 'leadership' accountable and get all locals who
think this a problem to... take the CFS back in our hands and make it a
safe and workable environment," she stated.
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Letters to the Ontarion - mailto:onta...@uoguelph.ca
This article was submitted to the Canadian University Press News Wire, but
was not selected for distribution. If you think it should have been,
contact the Bureau Chief Idella Strurino at
mailto:c...@interlog.com or (416)504-4672.
EXPRESS YOURSELF TO THE CANADIAN FEDERATION OF STUDENTS:
Elizabeth Carlyle, National Chair - mailto:ch...@cfs-fcee.ca
Maura Parte, BC chair - mailto:cfs...@ultranet.ca
Anita Zanker, Women's National Representative -
mailto:ani...@uvic.ca
Janelle Ho-shing, Students of Colour Representative-
mailto:nan...@mala.bc.ca
Solidarity with Aboriginal Students:
CFS - BC Aboriginal Caucus Liaison
Anna Hudson : ahu...@uvic.ca
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