Asia is big! Technically it begins in Turkey and ends not far from Alaska in the north west or Singapore in the south west. That’s a lot of turf and hundreds of cultures. Many of them are represented by significant communities in Canada, from Koreans to Armenians to Lebanese to Punjabis to Tamils to Vietnamese to Chinese and Japanese.

So, the concept of Asian Heritage Month, celebrated across Canada in May, has a lot of possibilities. As I considered the notion of music and Asian Heritage I decided to make the assertion that there is an Asian-Canadian musical form that is present across the country and that has transcended its origins to become distinctly Canadian. And that form is… drumroll, please…

Taiko! The Japanese percussion music that is simply iresistable.

Taiko means “big drum” in Japanese. Like the term “gamelan” in Indonesian culture, it refers to an ensemble of drums and related percussion instruments. The largest is the Odaiko, which can weigh tons. Shime-daiko are smaller and tsukeshime-daiko are smaller yet. The Odaiko is most impressive and gives taiko its individuality. There is nothing else like it.

Taiko goes back to 500 BC or so. The instruments came to Japan from China. According to its mythical origin story, the sun goddess was hiding in a cave and depriving the world of light. The goddess Ame no Uzume sought to draw her out of the cave, so she used Taiko drums to do so.

Traditional Taiko was part of military culture and used in agricultural and fishing rites in the countryside in the feudal period. Modern taiko is a product of the post World War II period in Japan. The first Taiko ensemble was started in 1951 by a jazz drummer, Daihachi Oguchi. He went on to form over 200 Taiko groups around the world. The first Canadian Taiko group, Katari Taiko, was formed in Vancouver in 1979.

Inspired by the San Jose Taiko Group at the Powell Street Festival, members of Vancouver’s Asian community came together to form their own Taiko group as a means of exploring and celebrating their heritage. Using a borrowed drum and beating on spare tires with sawed-off broom handles, members began learning the rudiments of the art form. Workshops with Sensei Seichii Tanaka of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo and Kenny Endo soon followed, as did a trip to Japan to learn from established groups such as KODO, Oedo Sukeroku and Osuwa Daiko.

Using a collective model with rotating leadership, Katari Taiko came to represent the emergence of a distinctive Asian-Canadian voice. The group gave its first public performance at a festival in Faro, Yukon and was soon performing at events throughout the lower mainland and across Canada. As word spread, the group was asked to give workshops in Japanese-Canadian communities across Canada, and these led to the formation of groups across Canada.

Hinode Taiko was founded in Winnipeg after a workshop in 1983 and has become a major multicultural ensemble. In Montreal, Arashi Daiko (“storm drums”) also started in 1983 after a successful workshop. In Ottawa, Oto-Wa Taiko was formed by the Ottawa Japanese Community Association in 1989, and in Toronto Gary Nagata has not only founded Taiko ensembles (his current group is Nagata Shachu), but now teaches taiko at the University of Toronto -a first for Taiko! Perhaps the most recent ensemble to the Taiko family is Uminari Taiko, Vancouver Island’s first ensemble, founded in 2002. Uminari is a Japanese word that can be translated as “roaring sea,” which refers to the sound of the crashing waves and the silence in between. The group feels that it captures the essence of taiko and their windy, wave-swept island.

Back in Vancouver, Katari Taiko has spun off various groups who began exploring different approaches. Present-day ensembles Uzume Taiko, Chibi Taiko, Sawagi Taiko, LOUD and Sansho Daiko can trace their lineage directly back to the early days of Katari Taiko. Uzume was the first professional taiko ensemble. Chibi Taiko is the first children’s taiko group, founded in 1993, Sawagi is made up exclusively of women, while LOUD; a duo of Elaine Stef and Eileen Kage, create original music ranging from the melodic to the extreme, using Taiko drums and electric guitar.

A powerful demonstration of taiko’s vitality in Vancouver came in April of 2011 when members of Chibi Taiko, Katari Taiko, Sawagi Taiko, LOUD, Sansho Daiko, Tetsu Taiko and Yuaikai Ryukyu Taiko appeared together on stage at an earthquake relief concert. The diversity of musical approaches, from traditional Japanese percussion to any number of hyphenated fusion forms is proof of Taiko’s deep roots in Canada. This is not “ethnic” music, but an indigenous Canadian music, more often than not featuring original compositions by group members that draws in performers from many backgrounds while still maintaining its commitment to a Japanese aesthetic.

If you live in or near a major city, the chances are that there is a taiko performance sometime this month close to you at an Asian Heritage Month event.

A man sits at Queen and John Sts. in front front of a line of riot police during G20 protests in Toronto on June 26, 2010. (Image: Steve Russell, Toronto Star)

When I discovered that there is a National Police Week that runs from May 7 through 15 in Canada, I was delighted. There are so many songs that deal with the bad behavior of the police over many years, and this gives me the opportunity to share a few. It is probable that the first song about the unjust behavior of the police was written within days, if not hours, of the establishment of the first police force.

These days there are at least three current ‘issues’ involving the police in Canada’s three largest cities. In Montreal we can witness the police beating up students every evening on our televisions. In Toronto there is still fallout from the over-muscular activities of the police during the G-20 protests a year ago, and in Vancouver the hearings into the murder of dozens of women by Robert Pickton highlight the apparent indifference of the police to the missing women, who were generally poor, addicted, aboriginal sex workers. These events will all produce songs in their own time.

To set the context and review some historical songs dealing with the police and their actions I have assembled a few choice creations. Going back to the First World War we can remember Albert “Ginger” Goodwin, a leader of British Columbia coal miners and a vice-president of the BC Federation of Labour, shot while evading the draft, by Dominion Police (forerunner of the RCMP) constable Dan Campbell near Cumberland on Vancouver Island in July of 1918.

Goodwin had been given an exemption for health reasons but this was revoked after he led a strike. Conscription was seen as a death sentence and Goodwin had gone into hiding. His death precipitated the first general strike in Vancouver on August 2. If you think Ginger is forgotten, when the NDP was elected in the 90s the stretch of highway near Cumberland was named after Goodwin. The moment the Liberals came to power, the signs came down. Here is a song about Goodwin, sung by its author, Grant Olsen:

Thirteen years later, on September 29, 1931 the RCMP gunned down three striking miners and wounded several dozen more in Estevan, Saskatchewan during the Bienfait strike. John Weir, a Ukrainian-Canadian Communist organizer who was there, wrote a song about it using a pseudonym (he had a healthy desire to live a long life). After languishing in obscurity, the song was recorded by The Travelers on their Centennial labour songs LP. That song was reworked and sung a few years ago by Toronto actor Peter Kastner who dedicated it to American singer and activist Anne Feeney.

Jumping ahead to more recent times, the fine song, “Mr. Metro” released in 1990 by Toronto rapper/hip hop artist Devon Martin looked at the relationship between the entire Afro-Canadian community and Toronto’s ‘finest’. This was when the term, ‘DWB’ (Driving While Black) was coined by Torontonians of colour to describe the apparent crime they committed for simply owning a vehicle and driving it. The number of times they would be stopped, questioned and searched while driving from point A to point B seemed based on prejudice. The music video for “Mr. Metro” garnered Devon a MuchMusic Award for Best R&B video in 1990. He went on to win a Juno Award for Best Rap Recording in 1993.

Moving west, there is the case of Neil Stonechild, one of a number of aboriginal men taken for a “starlight tour” by the Saskatoon police and, it is alleged, left to die of exposure on the edge of town. Last seen by a friend in the back of a police cruiser, his body was found in late November of 1990. Kris Demeanor, a brilliant songwriter and spoken word artist, recently named poet laureate of Calgary, wrote a song about Neil Stonechild and his death called “One Shoe”. Here is Kris singing his song:

“Dalloy Politsey” is an early twentieth century Yiddish revolutionary song whose title translates to “Down with the Police.” Here is a classic version of the song with great images from the Russian Revolution:

Vancouver neo-Klezmer singer/songwriter Geoff Berner has updated “Dalloy Politsey” for the twenty-first century with a joyous adaptation and modernization of the song. He’s has changed the cry to “F–k The Police” and references the contemporary case and scandal of Ian Bush, a young Houston, BC man, who was arrested for having a beer in his hand and was shot by an RCMP constable a few hours later. It took many months for the police to tell the parents the circumstances of their son’s death. A good summary of all this is on the BC North/ Highway 16 magazine.

So, this Polic Week, sing along to these songs, look for more of them, but most importantly, do a little research on the people and events mentioned here so that you can help create a police force that really does ‘serve and protect’ YOU!

My grandfather John R. Surtees, a CANLOAN officer, 1945.

In Ottawa, a simple memorial stands in a park along the Rideau Canal. On it are the names, CDN numbers and British Regiments of the 128 men who died in Europe during the Second World War as CANLOAN soldiers. The memorial is inscribed:

“Erected by the Governments of Canada and the United Kingdom, the British Regiments, the CANLOAN Army Officers’ Association, and CANLOAN next-of-kin. Designated CANLOAN, 673 Canadian Officers volunteered for loan to the British Army and took part in the invasion and liberation of Europe 1944-45. CANLOAN total casualties were 465, of which 128 were fatal. Their fallen are honoured in this quiet place in gratitude and remembrance of the cost of liberty”.

John R. Surtees, my grandfather.

In the fall of 1943, these 673 Canadians, including my grandfather, John R. Surtees, volunteered as junior officers under British command to fill their dwindling forces in the fight to stamp out Nazi forces. After pre-selection, advanced training and a long wait, the Canadians were shipped to England in the spring of 1944. Upon arrival, they spent the next few months getting acquainted with their new British comrades knowing that a great invasion was imminent.

The CANLOANs wore British uniforms adorned with the Canadian Army “CANADA” shoulder patch. With this insignia displayed, John and his fellow Canadians were given the best treatment by British civilians nearly everywhere they travelled and enjoyed many pints, on-the-house. A friendship between the Brits and Canadians had been forged during the long months in England preparing for the Europe campaign.

The CANLOAN memorial honours the 673 Canadian junior army officers who served on loan to British forces in the Second World War.

Operation Overlord, the Allied plan to win the war with a surprise invasion through Normandy began with D-Day. The majority of the CANLOANs landed on Sword and Gold beaches between the afternoon on D-Day and ‘D + 2′ (two days after). Joining with the Canadian Army that plowed past Juno beach and the Americans that survived Omaha, CANLOAN in British ranks pushed their way through Germany’s most deadly SS tank and infantry groups towards the Seine.

The Canadian uniform patch that created such friendly bonding with the Brits, Americans and Canadians quickly became a danger once Operation Bluecoat got underway. The Nazi and SS soldiers had become suspicious of a British uniform with Canadian insignia. The sheer fearless gains of the Canadians at Juno also spooked the Germans. John, assigned to the experienced 7th Armoured “Desert Rats”, was advised to strip his Canadian patch off. Germans were killing Canadians on sight in some sectors. John was soon wounded in an SS ambush and taken prisoner. If he hadn’t taken off his Canadian insignia, he most likely would have been a dead man.

British officers recognized the CANLOANs’ talents as composed, non-reckless leaders and routinely assigned them as platoon commanders on countless patrols, risking their necks with tasks like reconnaissance, contacting other Allies, taking prisoners or destroying an outpost. CANLOANs were simply good at it and were heavily relied upon for it. CANLOANs also had a talent for being best equipped and were known for borrowing German weapons, tools and their superior boots.

Image source: John R. Surtees

In hindsight, the battle was a successful turning point of the war, but on the ground, even with liberating each city, it was a constant grind. Every town, hill and field was decisive. But, with their respective battalions spread across Europe, they had done it. From VE-Day on, many CANLOANs would remain in the towns they liberated with their units processing prisoners and snooping out the last of them. In return, townspeople kept them fed and well entertained.

When the 1945 Canadian federal election was announced, the CANLOANs were notified of an advance poll in Nijmegen, previously German-occupied Netherlands. One of the popular expeditions there involved my grandfather and four others who borrowed a truck to the polls and seized the opportunity to take a scenic route back through their “old haunts” that took them a week to return.

Many CANLOANs reunited in war hospitals, trading stories and support. When the war was over, the CANLOANs suffered a staggering 75% battle casualties, but not without recognition. 41 Military Crosses, one Order of the British Empire, one American Silver Star, one French Distinguished Service Cross 4 Croix de Guerre, one Dutch Order of Bronze Lion and countless “Mentions in Dispatches” were awarded.

There’s much to be said about someone who volunteers himself for another nation, especially when that nation has lost enough men to have to ask for more, and another that these volunteers were revered by so many for their contributions. My grandfather and many other veterans were so shaken by the war that they refused publicizing their involvement with it. But, without CANLOAN, the British they fought with and the many others who ‘brushed shoulders’ with them, I wouldn’t be here to write this. They were Canadians through and through, and they did it for us.

For more, read “Code Word CANLOAN” by Wilfred I. Smith.

Students march through the downtown streets during a demonstration against higher tuition fees Thursday, February 23, 2012 in Montreal. (Ryan Remiorz / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

“ …a corrupt elite, an elite that sees education only as an investment in human capital, that sees a tree only as a sheet of paper and a child only as a future employee.” (Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesperson for CLASSE [Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante]).

“…the CLASSE has excluded itself…you cannot take on acts of serious social and economic disruption with impunity …” (Line Beauchamp, Québec Minister of Education)

This is how both sides were expressing themselves after a three-day truce, the time to begin negotiations after a ten-week student strike that mobilized more than 200,000 students. Representatives from the three student associations including the FEUQ (student federation of Québec universities), the FECQ (student federation of Québec cégeps), mediators, and Minister Beauchamp were at the table for barely two days. Then, after a demonstration in Montréal on Tuesday, April 24, with vandalism and looting, the minister showed the door to Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the representative from CLASSE the most radical branch of the associations. The other reps, Martine Desjardins (FEUQ) and Léo Bureau-Blouin (FEQC), left the hall in a gesture of solidarity that has never once faltered. Not once.

An acute student crisis has shaken Québec for two months. A crisis punctuated by student rumblings in the streets in several cities. Students united in solidarity, determined and often supported by their professors. Articulate representatives who stay the course and are learning about media realities the hard way. Other students, opposed to the strike, are taken hostage by the decisions of their associations. Thugs take advantage of the mass movements to create havoc. Unions and public personalities join the demonstrations. Police, overwhelmed and under great pressure, are present at more than 150 student demonstrations in Montréal alone. Tear gas grenades, pepper spray, police clubbed on bicycles, officers on horseback and in plain clothes, arrests, bridges blocked, subways delayed, vandalism and destruction, picket lines respected and not respected.

Staggering costs. The spectre of the administrative nightmare of a cancelled or extended semester. No takers for summer jobs, internships cancelled or postponed. Injunctions given to some students who fear losing their academic year. Some institutions defy the injunctions. Husky security guards in university corridors. Semantic disputes and discussions over the words “denounce” and “condemn”.

The constantly present feelings and emotions create gaps and divide teachers, students and administration. Journalists are committed for or against. The written press collapses under the weight of letters to the editor. Social networks feed the conflict and/or call for calm.

Opinions and emotions ignite and shake up the population. It is a profound social challenge.

Three united student representatives, their solidarity never in doubt, are persistent and stick to their guns. The government remains unshakeable.

Such is and has been the social climate during this turbulent spring.

Issues

Tuition hikes are at the heart of the matter. The gradual increase announced by the Charest government would raise fees from $2,168 to $3,793 per year, or $1,625 annually spread over 5 years. Student associations decry the increase at their general meetings, but according to Minister Beauchamp the increase is written in stone. The increase should be cancelled in favour of a freeze in tuition rates or even free tuition, say the students. At the time of this writing (April 26), the government is offering to spread it over a 5 to 7 year period in order to resume negotiations. Negotiations that exclude Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

During a weekend of consultations with their members (April 28-29), the three student associations are rejecting this offer and calling on the government to engage a mediator and resume negotiations with the three representatives. No exclusions accepted. CLASSE reinforces the mandate of its representative Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

The three associations make a decision: to hold demonstrations every night until the end of the strike.

Premier Charest announces that the Liberal Congress, planned to take place in Montréal during the first week in May, will now be held in Victoriaville to avoid congestion. The students are renting busses and arranging transportation to Victoriaville.

The students are also asking for better management of the universities. The idea of an upcoming election is being put forward. The premier responds that this idea is simply “grotesque”.

The Québec students’ crisis, described as the “Maple Spring”, is being covered by many international media.

The government proposes to improve student loan programs and set up a
repayment plan proportional to income after graduation. They propose to decrease maximum parental income to $35,000 from $45,000 so students have better access to loans and bursaries in the province’s Educational Assistance Plan. Cost: from $35 to $45 million per year. Proposals rejected.

Movement

After boycotting classes, several schools declare themselves on strike. Events are held throughout the province, the biggest on March 22 mobilizing 300,000 students in the streets of Montréal, while another 378,000 are on strike elsewhere in Québec. A peaceful demonstration.

After weeks of demonstrations, some peaceful others violent, Line Beauchamp invites the three student representatives to enter into discussions. The first night there is a violent demonstration in Montréal. The minister then excludes the CLASSE, fuelling the students’ anger. Negotiations will resume if and when its representative clearly condemns violence.

Nadeau-Dubois reiterates the position that his association “denounces” all forms of violence, but that he has no mandate to “condemn” it.

After two weeks of demonstrations and consultations, the minister asks for a 3-day truce to resume discussions – a truce during which no demonstrations are to take place. She accepts Nadeau-Dubois at the table. On April 25, there is an eleventh-hour demonstration in Montréal that degenerates into violence and vandalism. For the first time, the crowd of students shout disapproval at the rioters.

The next day, the minister terminates negotiations and declares the CLASSE and Nadeau-Dubois in particular responsible for the violence, excluding them from all future talks.

The two other representatives reaffirm their solidarity: no negotiations without Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, and without the CLASSE.

The mayor of Montréal, concerned with the image projected image of his city, expresses his frustration.

Several associations of professors, intellectuals and the Parti Québécois ask the government to impose a one year moratorium on tuition fees and establish a plan on the State of Education in Québec.

Students in Toronto take to the streets in a show of solidarity.

At the time of writing (April 29), all are holding their positions.

It is a deadlock. Still.

Costs

Cégep directors estimate that costs associated with the strike will erase benefits gained from tuition hikes for the first years to the tune of $40 million. This estimate includes teachers’ salaries, overtime for administrative staff, and hiring security guards.

The government is providing an additional $350,000 to Cégeps to cover the salaries of contract teachers.

The Sûreté du Québec has paid out $1.5 million in overtime to date.

Salaries paid unnecessarily to teaching faculty and others: $95 million.

Police officers across the province to cover demonstrations, social upheaval and other: $120 million.

[Translated by Susan Spier]

Manifestation monstre à Montréal. De 100 000 à 200 000 personnes marchent pour protester contre la hausse des droits de scolarité. Photo: Marco Campanozzi, La Presse.

<< …une élite corrompue, une élite qui ne voit l’éducation que comme un investissement dans un capital humain, qui ne voit un arbre que comme une feuille de papier et qui ne voit un enfant que comme un futur employé >>. (Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, porte-parole de la CLASSE, i.e. la Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante).

<<…la CLASSE s’est exclue d’elle-même…on ne peut pas impunément poser des gestes graves de perturbations sociales et économiques…>> (Line Beauchamp, ministre de l’éducation du gouvernement québécois)

Ainsi s’exprimaient les deux protagonistes au terme d’une trève qui devait durer trois jours, le temps d’amorcer des négociations et ce, après dix semaines de grève étudiante qui a mobilisé plus de 200 000 étudiants. Autour de la table se sont retrouvés, pendant à peine deux jours, les représentants des trois associations étudiantes, FEUQ (Fédération étudiante des universités québécoises), la FECQ (Fédération étudiante des cégeps québécois) des médiateurs et la ministre Beauchamp.

Mais, suite à une manifestation mardi soir (24 avril) à Montréal, suite à des actes de vandalisme et de saccage, la ministre a montré la porte à Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, représentant de la CLASSE, qui est la branche la plus radicale des associations. Se sont alors levés et ont quitté la salle, les deux autres représentants soit Martine Desjardins (FEUQ) et Léo Bureau-Blouin (FEQC), dans un geste de solidarité qui, depuis le tout début, n’a jamais failli. Jamais.

Une crise étudiante aiguë secoue le Québec depuis deux mois. Ponctuée par des étudiants en grogne dans les rues, dans plusieurs villes. Des étudiants solidaires, déterminés et appuyés parfois par leurs professeurs. Des représentants pausés qui gardent le cap, qui s’expriment clairement et qui apprennent à la dure les réalités médiatiques. Et d’autres étudiants, contre la grève, pris en otage par les décisions de leurs associations. Des casseurs qui profitent de ces mouvements de masse pour faire du grabuge. Des syndicats et personnalités publiques qui se joignent aux manifestations. Des policiers débordés, sur les dents, présents dans plus de 150 manifestations étudiantes à Montréal seulement. Des bombes lacrymogènes, du poivre de cayenne, des policiers matraqués à vélo, cavalerie et en civils, des arrestations, des ponts bloqués, des métros arrêtés, du vandalisme et du saccage, des piquets de grève respectés, non-respectés.

Des coûts faramineux. Le spectre de voir le semestre annulé, ou du moins prolongé, véritable casse-tête administratif. Des emplois d’été qui ne trouveront preneurs, des stages annulés ou reportés. Des injonctions accordées à certains étudiants devant la peur de perdre leur année. Des injonctions défiées par certaines institutions. Des gardes de sécurité costauds, dans les corridors des universités. Des accrochages sémantiques, des débats sur les mots ‘’dénoncer’’ et ‘’condamner’’.

Et partout présentes ces émotions, ces opinions qui créent un fossé et qui divisent professeurs, étudiants et administration. Des journaliste engagés, pour et contre. La presse écrite qui croule sous le poids des lettres à publier. Des réseaux sociaux qui alimentent le conflit et- ou qui appelle au calme.

Des opinions et émotions qui viennent chercher et qui secouent la population. Une profonde remise en question sociale.

Trois représentants étudiants qui s’unissent sans jamais mettre en doute leur solidarité, qui persistent et signent. Et un gouvernement imperturbable.

Tel est, et a été le climat social de ce printemps houleux.

Enjeux

La hausse des frais de scolarité est au coeur du débat. Une augmentation progressive annoncée par le gouvernement Charest qui passerait de 2 168$ par année, à 3 793 $ soit
1 625$ par année étalée sur 5 ans. Hausse que dénoncent les Associations étudiantes par le biais de leurs assemblées générales. Hausse qui est inscrite dans le béton, selon la ministre Beauchamp. Hausse qui doit être annulée au profit d’un gel des frais de scolarité voire même de la gratuité scolaire disent les étudiants. À l’heure ou ce texte est écrit, le jeudi 26 avril, le gouvernement offre de l’étaler sur une période de 5 à 7 ans, dans le but de reprendre les négociations. Négociations qui excluent Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

Lors d’une fin de semaine de consultation avec leurs membres (28-29 avril), les trois associations étudiantes rejettent cette offre gouvernementale et somment le gouvernement d’engager un médiateur et de reprendre les négociations avec les trois représentants. Aucune exclusion ne sera acceptée. La CLASSE renforce le mandat de son représentant, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
Une décision est prise par les trois associations, de tenir des manifestations nocturnes tous les soirs jusqu’à la fin de la grève.

Le premier ministre Charest annonce que le congrès libéral qui devait se tenir à Montréal durant la première semaine de mai, aura plutôt lieu à Victoriaville, dans un souci d’éviter une trop grande agglomération. Les étudiants louent des autobus et organisent leur transport à Victoriaville.

Les étudiants exigent aussi une gestion plus saine des universités. L’idée de tenir une élection sous peu est lancée et fait son chemin. Le premier ministre répond que cette idée est tout simplement « grotesque ».

La crise étudiante au Québec, qualifiée de ‘’Printemps érable’’ est couverte dans nombre de médias internationaux.

Proposition du gouvernement de bonifier le programme de prêts étudiants et mettre en place un régime de remboursement proportionnel au revenu des futurs diplômés.
Proposition du gouvernement de faire passer de 35 000$ à 45 000 $ le revenu parental maximal qui permettrait aux étudiants de toucher tous les prêts et toutes les bourses offertes par le régime d’aide aux études. Coût : de 35 à 45 millions par année. Proposition rejetée.

Mouvement

Après le boycottage de cours, plusieurs facultés se déclarent en grève. Plusieurs manifestations se déroulent partout dans la province, dont la plus importante qui mobilisera en ce 22 mars, 300 000 étudiants dans les rues de Montréal, alors que sont en grève près de 378 000 d’entre eux répartis partout au Québec. Une manifestation pacifique.

Après des semaines de manifestation pacifiques et d’autres violentes, la ministre Line Beauchamp invite à des pourparlers les trois représentants étudiants. Le premier soir a lieu une manifestation violente dans les rues de Montréal. Elle exclut alors la CLASSE, ce qui attise la colère des étudiants. Les négociations reprendront quand, et si, son représentant condamne clairement la violence.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois réitère sa position en disant que son association ‘’dénonce’’ toute forme de violence mais qu’il n’a pas reçu de mandat de ses membres, de la ‘’condamner’’.
Après deux semaines de manifestations et de concertations, la ministre demande une trève de 3 jours afin de reprendre les discussions, trève pendant laquelle aucune manifestation ne doit avoir lieu. Elle accepte à sa table, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. Le soir du 25 avril, une manifestation tardive se déroule à Montréal. Qui dégénère en violence et saccage. La foule des étudiants crient leur désapprobation aux casseurs, une première.

Le lendemain, la ministre met fin aux négociations et déclare que la CLASSE et surtout Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois sont responsables de la violence, les excluant de toutes négociations futures.

Les deux autres représentants, réaffirment leur solidarité envers leur camarade. Pas de négociations sans Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, sans la CLASSE.

Le maire de Montréal exprime son ras-le-bol, soucieux de l’image projetée de sa ville.

Plusieurs associations de professeurs, intellectuels et le Parti québécois demandent au gouvernement d’imposer un moratoire d’un an sur les frais de scolarité et la mise en place d’États généraux sur l’éducation.

Des étudiants à Toronto descendent dans la rue dans un geste de solidarité.

À l’heure ou se termine ce texte en ce 26 avril, tous restent sur leurs positions.

C’est l’impasse. Encore.

Coûts

Les directeurs des cégeps estiment que les coûts associés à la grève effacera les bénéfices engendrés par la hausse des frais de scolarité pour la première années soit dans les 40 millions de dollars. Inclus dans cet estimé sont les salaires des enseignants, les temps supplémentaires pour le personnel aux prises avec le réaménagement des calendriers, l’embauche des agents de sécurité.

Le gouvernement a versé une somme additionnelle de 350 000 $ aux cégeps en vue de couvrir le salaire de professeurs contractuels.

La Sûreté du Québec a dû débourser à ce jour, 1,5 million de dollars en temps supplémentaire.

Salaires versés inutilement, professeurs et autres : 95 million de dollars

Effectifs policiers à travers la province pour couvrir manifestations, débordements sociaux et autres : 120 millions de dollars.

In Vancouver, in 1935, as many as 30,000 demonstrators paraded from the Cambie Street Grounds to a rally in Stanley Park. Vancouver Public Library, via Lorne Brown, When Freedom was Lost (Black Rose Books, 1987)

While May Day is celebrated widely just about everywhere except North America, its roots are firmly in the United States, in Chicago to be precise. It is also a product of the struggle of workers for the eight-hour day, one of the key demands of workers during the late nienteenth century and much of the twentieth. While May Day is known as the day of international workers’ solidarity, there is no one song associated with it. “Solidarity Forever”, “Joe Hill, Hold The Fort” and “The Internationale” are all widely sung in Canada as is “Bread and Roses”.

At the founding convention of the American National Labor Union in 1866 the following resolution was passed dealing with the shorter workday: “The first and great necessity of the present, to free labor of this country from capitalist slavery, is the passing of a law by which 8 hours shall be the normal working day in all states in the American union. We are resolved to put forth all our strength until this glorious result is attained.” In September of the same year, the Geneva Congress of the International Workingmen’s Association, the First International, went on record for the same demand. Both the American National Labour Union and the First International ceased to exist in the 1870s, but the campaign for the eight-hour day was alive and well.

When the small North American union movement regrouped into the American Federation of Labour in 1884, they passed a resolution stating that “eight hours shall constitute legal day’s labor from May First, 1886, and that we recommend to labor organizations throughout their jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to conform to this resolution by the time named.”

Mass strikes took place on May 1, 1886. In Chicago, a series of demonstrations and police terror produced what is known as the Haymarket Massacre, which occurred after a dynamite bomb was thrown at police during a general strike. In retaliation, the police fired on workers, killing dozens of demonstrators. Three years later, on July 14, 1889, the hundredth anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, the Second International of workers’ parties was founded and declared May first the day upon which the workers of the world, organized in their political parties and trade unions, were to fight for the important political demand: the eight-hour day. It has been celebrated ever since, embracing various goals of the workers’ movement. It has been celebrated in illegality and as an official ‘holiday’. Sometimes it has mobilized hundreds of thousands, sometimes only a few dozen, keeping the flame alive.

In Vancouver, in 1935, as many as 30,000 demonstrators paraded from the Cambie Street Grounds to a rally in Stanley Park. In their report to Ottawa, the RCMP said it was “one of the largest labour demonstrations in the history of that city,” and noted that it included “approximately 900 public school and high school students who had come out on strike in sympathy with the relief camp strikers.” The throng sang “The Internationale” and observed a two minute silence for revolutionary martyrs. A Jugoslav orchestra played the “Soviet Funeral March”

The relief camp strike evolved into the On-to-Ottawa Trek, which helped bring down the Conservative government of RB Bennett in the next election and set the stage for the establishment of Canada’s post-WWII social safety net.

A few years ago the British artist Billy Bragg did an updated version of the workers anthem “The Internationale” originally written in the 1880’s in France and widely sung on May Day.

While May Day in Canada is not the official holiday that it is in many countries, trade union and other social activist organizations organize a variety of events around it. In many cities there are dinners and rallies, and in some of the bigger ones there are Mayworks cultural festivals, often spread over a number of days. A Canadian Union of Public Employees video of a 2007 May Day event in Edmonton features the song, “I dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night”, commemorating the great labour songwriter murdered by the State of Utah in 1915. It also features links to May Day arts festivals and celebrations in a number of Canadian cities.

Some confusion exists on the difference between May Day and Labour Day. This was explained to me many years ago by a veteran Austrian labour organizer who simply said, “On Labour Day the bosses give us a holiday. On May Day, we take one!”

Helmut Kallmann was the pioneer scholar of Canadian music history and the founder of the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada and author of A History of Music in Canada 1534-1941. He was co-founder of the Canadian Music Library Association and the first chief of the National Library of Canada’s Music Division (1970-1987).

Researching, recording and celebrating Canadian music was his life’s work, and he is remembered as a man whose passion, precision and dedication to Canadian music helped shape and elevate its study. As the Dean of the University of Toronto’s School of Music Don McLean said at Helmut’s memorial service, “Helmut Kallmann gave Canadian music an identity and a voice.”

The Helmut Kallmann memorial service included musical performances by John Beckwith, Robin Elliot and Elaine Keillor among others, playing pieces by John Weinzweig, R. Murray Schafer, and W.A. Mozart. Enjoy a slideshow of the events below.

Friends have shared their fond memories of Helmut in writing, including Editor in Chief of The Canadian Encyclopedia James Marsh and composer John Beckwith.

A line from Thomas Hardy's "Convergence of the Twain."

The sinking of the Titanic has resonated now for 100 years in the consciousness of Canadians. The grief, wonder, and curiosity the disaster continues to inspire has been the impetus for countless literary works. While the majority of these are factual or biographical, significant imaginative works of poetry and prose have been produced, works that strive to understand the psychological, social and personal effects of the disaster. Here, then, is a survey of some of the most important works of poetry produced on the subject of the sinking of the Titanic, poetry read and loved by, and for the most part produced by, Canadians.

In poetry, a form in which the intellectual and the emotional spheres converge and find concentrated expression, the most successful and long-lasting responses to the loss of the Titanic have been found. Thomas Hardy’s terse, echoing “The Convergence of the Twain” (1915) remains the poem most Canadians likely recall when they think of the disaster. Opening with stanzas describing the ship’s existence in a chill, indifferent underwater world, Hardy’s poem suggests the work of fate in shaping a counter-force to the much-lauded, unsinkable machine:

And as the smart ship grew
In stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.

Canadians can also claim magnificent poems on the subject: Sir Charles G.D. Roberts’ “The Iceberg” and E.J. Pratt’s “The Titanic.” Roberts’ 1931 long poem recounts the birth of an iceberg in the Arctic seas “beyond Cape Chidley” in Labrador, and its irresistible progress, through “a thousand years” and great distances, along the coasts with their teeming life of gulls and whales and seals, to hover, “greatly incurious and unconcerned… a casual expectancy of death,” in the north Atlantic. Roberts’ presentation of the collision is chilling: the iceberg is an uncomprehending, indifferent witness, of course, to a scene of horror and death. The poem’s end brings the diminishment of the iceberg, too, in time, a scene of death which soothes the human loss of the first, suggesting a final unity:

Dissolved in ecstasy
Of many colored light,
And I breathed up my soul into the air
And merged forever in the all-solvent sea.

Pratt’s magisterial poem of 1935 (and Pratt was a master of the epic, sweeping form) speaks to his ever-present themes: the growth of technology and its effect on our ways of being; the human struggle for existence in a world dominated by an indifferent and even cruel nature; and human efforts to understand and succeed in a rapidly modernizing world. “The Titanic” was Pratt’s second major poem on shipwreck, preceded by “The Roosevelt and the Antinoe” of 1930; Pratt had of course been writing extensively on maritime life and teasing out its possibilities for commenting on the human condition for years. “The Titanic” begins with the ship’s birth in the opening section, “Harland & Wolff Works, Belfast, May 31, 1911”:

Mind and will
In open test with time and steel had run
The first lap of a schedule and had won.

The poem observes the hubris of proclamations of human victory, shifting to the approach of Roberts and Hardy as it chronicles the growth of the iceberg  in language both mythic and scientific:

…with an impulse governed by the raw
Mechanics of its birth, it drifted where
Ambushed, fog—grey, it stumbled on its lair,
North forty—one degrees and forty—four,
Fifty and fourteen west the longitude,
Waiting a world—memorial hour, its rude
Corundum form stripped to its Greenland core.

The clamour and gaiety of the sections depicting the human feasting, sleeping, sport and speculation on board the ship is punctuated by brief, choppy messages from other ships in the area, warning of icebergs; the poem then presents different perspectives on the gathering realization of the ship’s desperate position. The tone is coolly ironic, commenting “So suave the fool—proof sense of life that fear / had … become a mere / illusion,” itemizing the furs and pearls of first class and the frequent contempt for the lower decks. “The Titanic” telescopes from large, encapsulating views to vital scenes of human sacrifice and weakness, folly and dignity.

Joining this company of works, this year another substantial poetic engagement with the Titanic’s loss has appeared: Halifax-born Vancouver poet Billeh Nickerson, who is increasingly well-known for his irreverent engagements with the sexual politics, gay scene and cultural landscape of the 21st century world, has shifted his focus and released the collection Impact: The Titanic Poems. Nickerson’s short lyrics draw the reader’s attention to small, significant moments in the lives of those who encountered Titanic. In “The Lost Worker,” Nickerson focuses on the sense of loss and doom that built even as the ship was being constructed:

Whether the rumours resulted from the faint clangs,
or the faint clangs resulted from the rumours,
even the oldest believed the possibility
of a lost worker could only be an omen.

The many commemorative ceremonies and discussions in this year of the hundredth anniversary of the Titanic’s disastrous plunge into the Atlantic indicate we will not forget the ship or the effects of its loss any time soon. It’s important, then, that we have literary works like these to translate the disaster from a collection of facts to a human experience, one that prompts us to consider our own relationships to the world, to technology, and to our fellow travellers.

To commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I thought it was appropriate to revist some classic shipwreck songs, from the Jack-Johnson-inspired “Fare Thee Well Titanic” to a vibrant toast about escaping the Titanic’s sinking, and a popular Stan Rogers’ song about the fictional wreck and rebuilding of the the Mary Ellen Carter.

One curious legend of the Titanic revolves around the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world, Jack Johnson. The story goes that Jack tried to buy a ticket on the Titanic and was, luckily, refused. While having no grounding in reality, the story, perhaps because of the white racist fury with Johnson’s victory and uncompromising lifestyle, persists.

The tale of Johnson and the Titanic was the foundation for a song by another legendary African-American, Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly. His “Fare Thee Well Titanic” includes the lyrics:

“Jack Johnson wanna get on board
Captain said I ain’t hauling no coal.
Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well…
When Jack Johnson heard that mighty shock,
Mighta seen the man do the Eagle rock.
Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well.” (The Eagle Rock was a popular dance at the time).

It ends with, “Black man oughta jump for joy/Never lost a girl and either a boy. Fare thee Titanic, fare thee well.” Above is a long version with an introduction, recorded by Alan Lomax in 1948. Skip to 1:04 if you’d like to listen to the song without the intro.

Another folkloric representation of African-Americans and the Titanic is the “Shine and the Titanic” toast. A toast is a dynamic, narrative oral performance, often recounting a heroic event. “Shine and the Titanic” tells the story of Shine, an old Black stoker on the Titanic, who warns the captain of the ship’s impending disaster. Shine, in his heroism, also refuses money from millionaires, sexual favours from white women and manages to swim to shore. He is found drinking in a New York bar when news of the Titanic‘s demise arrives. His advice – “get your ass in the water and swim like me” – is well remembered. Read the lyrics here and a full analysis here. A warning: the language is graphic!

Other Nova Scotia Shipwrecks

Many scores of ships, not as famous as the Titanic, have gone down off the shores of Nova Scotia, and songs have been composed in response to them. Perhaps the most dramatic and probably the longest is “The Wreck of the Atlantic,” published in all 49 verses in Ballads and Sea Songs from Nova Scotia, 1928, the first collection of folk and related songs collected in English speaking Canada.

The Atlantic was a forerunner of the Titanic, being an A1 ship of the White Star Line, the same company that built the Titanic. The Atlantic went down off Prospect, Nova Scotia on March 31, 1873, having left Liverpool for New York ten days earlier. Roughly half the 1,000 or so passengers were rescued by the heroism of the local inhabitants, and the story is told eloquently in song in “The Wreck of the Atlantic.” Below is a video that visits the site of the cemetery where victims of the Atlantic are buried:

These songs were collected in the second decade of the 20^th century and therefore were well within the living memory of the folks who sang them and many who listened to them. Most of the songs were a way of preserving local lore and did not travel well. Songs of sea battles, mutinies and the like tend to be more widely disseminated.

A more recent composition by Stan Rogers, an Ontario songwriter with roots in Nova Scotia, Shas become an icon of Canadian folk music. “The Mary Ellen Carter” is a fictional song about a ship that is wrecked and then salvaged by her crew after being written off by the owners. Its metaphor for persistence in the face of adversity is what makes it so popular. The denunciation of “smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go” resonates deeply. In “The Mary Ellen Carter,” the shipwreck tradition has been updated for contemporary usage. Stan Rogers died in a plane crash in 1983 but to my knowledge there is no song about that plane wreck. Times change.

The Titanic, named for the Titans, or god-giants of Greek mythology, was the largest (269 m), most luxurious ocean liner to its time. It was touted to be unsinkable, but it struck an iceberg just before midnight on April 14, 1912, on the fifth day of its maiden voyage, and sank in 2 hours, 40 minutes, with the loss of 1513-1522 lives, including the captain and Canadian railway tycoon Charles Melville Hays.

Lack of adequate lifeboat space, poor evacuation procedures and slowness of response to distress signals resulted in new mandatory safety rules and the formation of the International Ice Patrol. Many novels, including one from the viewpoint of the iceberg by Canadian oceanographer-ornithologist R.G.B. Brown, and the musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown, were inspired by the tragedy, as was E.J. Pratt‘s long narrative poem of the same name. There have been several documentaries and movies of the story, including Canadian director James Cameron‘s Titanic, which was a blockbuster hit in 1997.

A White Star Line poster advertising the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic (public domain).

After numerous attempts to find the Titanic, a United States-French expedition culminated in the discovery of the wreck on 1 September 1985, 73 years after its sinking, 590 km southeast of Newfoundland at 3810 m depth in an undersea canyon. Four days of unmanned dives with sophisticated camera and diving equipment followed by 11 manned dives a year later, showed extensive rust in stalactite-like “rusticles,” deterioration of wood by shipworms and colonization by sea life, but many artifacts intact. Research showed that an alleged 91 m gash did not exist, but the ship had split in two and hull and stern were 549 m apart.

Titanic exploration allowed scientists to test sophisticated submersible sonar and camera equipment developed by numerous researchers, including Canadian Joseph MacInnis, who also took part in the expedition in 1987 in which a container was salvaged from the wreck. Salvage efforts have continued subsequently. The most newsworthy of these was the 1998 expedition in which a section of the hull and a gangway door were retrieved.

Joseph MacInnis and Jeff MacInnis. Joseph has participated in many diving expeditions, including an arctic dive in which the "Breadalbane" was discovered. His son Jeff led an expedition to sail the Northwest Passage (photo by Guntar Kravis).

The expedition, from July 30 to August 31, was led by Bill Garzke and David Livingston, aboard the Ocean Voyager, which set sail from Boston Harbor. Three other ships joined them in the expedition - Nadir, Abeille Supporter and Petrel 5.

Lying 16 km from the Titanic‘s wreck site, 3300 m beneath the surface, was the section Titanic explorers call the “Big Piece,” a 22-ton, 7.5 m by 3.9 m piece of the hull. Retrieval of the section had been attempted before by George Tullock in 1996. Tullock, aboard the Nadir, successfully retrieved the Big Piece on 10 August, using 2 huge lift bags filled with lighter-than-water diesel fuel and a winch. The retrieved piece was made of steel plates striped with strong vertical steel beams and had 4 portholes as well as portions of 2 others. The manufacturer’s marking was still clearly visible on the brass fittings on the portholes – “Utley’s Patent #11.126-1908.”

Wreckage of the RMS Titanic. Efforts have been made to salvage large portions of the RMS Titanic, most recently in 1998 when a 15-ton piece of the hull was brought to the surface.

On 28 August a gangway door was retrieved from the main wreckage site. It was in the open position in the ship’s hull, most likely having been opened to allow passengers to escape to the lifeboats.

The expedition explored parts of the ship never seen before with a small remote-operated camera and, through a complicated connection of computers and television cameras, transmitted images from the wreckage via satellite to the world.

Dr D. Roy Cullimore, a microbiologist, placed samples of 15 different types of steel under the Titanic‘s engines, where they were to remain for at least a year. He studied the ship’s “rusticles,” which are unusual biological formations, consortiums of various microbes growing and co-operating in ways we do not see on land. Cullimore estimated that the wreck loses one-tenth of a ton every day to the iron-eating rusticles and that within 20 years the ship will suffer a biological implosion and collapse.

Read the original article at The Canadian Encyclopedia