What's in a name? The renaming of former Riverview Hospital Lands as səmiq̓wəʔelə

We see in the Tri-Cities with the renaming of Riverview as səmiq̓wəʔelə (pronounced Suh-MEE-kwuh-EL-uh) a misguided attempt to rectify history.  Yes, the seeds of European colonialism began over 600 years ago, with the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, a momentous event (also perceived as tragic) which was soon followed by the new beginnings of slavery – in imitation of the ancients.  Today, North Americans are slowly coming to terms with the legacy of the past as First Nations’ Reconciliation is advanced, in part, by Canada’s Supreme Court and in light of Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict for the murder of George Floyd.  

Compassionate towards the sufferings of others, we can find at many levels a widespread and empathetic reassessment of history known as postcolonial theory, such that that almost everyone appears on the same page – and is learning the same thing.  But is it always good for everyone to read from the same book?  I am not denying that we should respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and other minorities, but in the effort to find social justice are we not privileging one group here over another?  Are we not overlooking the mentally ill?

With regards to the revamped səmiq̓wəʔelə how can the NDP boast of (as the recent BC Housing survey states) a proposed “community of mental health excellence” when there is no indication of plans for an actual hospital?  Currently there are some “facilities” in operation on the former Riverview grounds, but nothing that approaches the needs of BC’s population. 

In typical NDP fashion, there is also boasting that səmiq̓wəʔelə will be “complete and inclusive”, words which sound utopian – and a term which means “nowhere”.  The therapy is apparently in the community, where there are proposed amenities for the general public, but no discussion of the kinds of Wrap Around Services required by the mentally ill – a concept that prevails in the United States, not in British Columbia.  

Years ago, the name Riverview was introduced to de-stigmatize the original name Essondale.  Now in an effort to de-stigmatize Riverview, we have the name səmiq̓wəʔelə. The trouble with the latest name, aside from the fact that it is difficult to pronounce (and the native orthography is beyond me) is that it is tone deaf with regards to the mentally ill.  A depressed person, or someone suffering from psychosis, hallucinations, or delusions simply will not know what to make of the new name, their whereabouts, or their place in it.  I believe that the new name is so counterproductive that it will only work against the distressed person’s frame of mind - and hinder the betterment of their condition.  As a possible compromise, I suggest that we foreground what səmiq̓wəʔelə actually means by simply calling it “Place of the Great Blue Heron”.

Everyone seems so interested in reconciliation - and is busy rewriting centuries of history from the point of view of the victim, but no one here has considered the mind of the mentally ill.  Perhaps it’s time to write – or rewrite - the past from their perspective.  With that in mind I give the name səmiq̓wəʔelə a failing grade.

Mental Health and Covid-19: Revisiting Riverview (or, on the varieties of epistemic experience)

So many people are talking about mental health needs these days it has become almost fashionable.  Those who abide by Covid-19 protocols may suffer from isolation and anxiety, if not depression, while anti-maskers might be considered by the rest of us as truly crazy, if not stupid.  But now more than ever we should revisit the idea of establishing a new mental hospital at the Riverview site. As someone who has worked with schizophrenics locally – I am convinced that closing Riverview was a mistake.

Deinstitutionalization was a global phenomenon gone too far, guided by ideology, cost-cutting, advances in medication, and in BC’s case it has led to a hospital vacated.  Those who advocated for Riverview’s closure included Bob Hunter, co-founder of Greenpeace and local resident.  Other principal actors were: former Premiers Dave Barrett, a Coquitlam MLA who had degrees in Social Work; Bill Vander Zalm, who introduced the preliminary plan to replace it in 1987; and, Gordon Campbell who continued with the logic of Glen Clark’s policy of decentralization despite the former having learned – in adulthood – of his father’s death by suicide.

Self-determination was considered key; after all, the late 1960’s and early 1970’s were a time of “liberation”.  The Vancouver experience with the patient-led Mental Patients’ Association, a first in Canada, was spearheaded in 1971 by Lanny Beckman and the late Dave Beamish.  Their approach shaped the BC branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (an institution guided in policy these days by some in academe – yet another kind of institution) which argued in 2013, the year after Riverview closed, that: “Our Government has made the right decision.”  The Riverview model, it said, lacked “compassionate care.”

If we look closer at the historical record – for example the BC Legislature Hansard for Dec. 1, 1987 – we even find something of an alliance between the Socreds and the CMHA: both parties wanted the downsizing of Riverview to continue.  This is despite local NDP MLA John Cashore’s objections to the then Minister of Health Peter Dueck: “The minister knows full well that there have been comments from street workers, community workers and health workers about the number of ex-mental patients who have fallen between the cracks and ended up on the streets of Vancouver and other locations.”

It is an irony that we have mentally ill people on the streets at least in part because of ex-patient advocacy.  Those displaced onto our alleyways were deemed to be better served by “housing options” in “community-based settings” – a further indication of utopianism, given present-day property costs and availability.  In my opinion, this abysmal and long-standing failure to deal with the here and now of those in despair reflects poorly on all people of British Columbia.

I do not see the squalor of some Vancouver streets and our tent cities as less stigmatizing than Riverview, which is depicted in popular culture – to this day – as an “asylum”.  Without specialized treatment acute needs can go unmet – it is that simple.  I am not advocating for a Riverview reincarnated but for a new reimagining.  Now is the time to abandon rhetoric and search for solutions: clearly Covid-19 teaches us that mental ill-health can be everywhere and affect everyone.

 

Riverview Hospital Downsizing: BC Legislative Assembly Hansard, Dec. 1, 1987

Mr. Cashore: The minister knows full well that there have been comments from street workers, community workers and health workers about the number of ex-mental patients who have fallen between the cracks and ended up on the streets of Vancouver and other locations. ... 

NDP MLA John Cashore speaking in opposition to the Minister of Health, Peter Dueck, appointed by Social Credit Premier Bill Vander Zalm.  John Cashore represented Coquitlam-Maillardville from 1986 to 2001, eventually serving in a number of different portfolios as Cabinet Minster. He is also a United Church Minister. 

British Columbia Votes: Thoughts on a local riding with thanks to Democracy Watch

Voters in the BC electoral riding of Port Moody-Coquitlam were unlucky, putting me in a bind: the victorious New Democratic Party candidate and incumbent, Rick Glumac, has a relatively low profile; the BC Liberal, James Robertson, served with the Special Forces in Afghanistan (not my favourite occupation); and, the candidate for the Greens, John Latimer, failed to show up for the debate.

Still, I refused to vote NDP (though I never voted otherwise, provincially), because Premier John Horgan had a monopoly on everyone’s goodwill despite their minority government, and he took advantage of it in the most opportunistic fashion, with an unnecessary election, in the middle of a pandemic when our minds were – and are - clearly elsewhere. Who knows what else our Premier might monopolize now that he has his majority? (Full disclosure: both Horgan and I attended Trent University in Ontario as undergraduates, both in History, though he was one year ahead of me. I don’t recall ever meeting him).

So what was done with my vote?  I still remember newly-minted Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau’s performance at the provincial debate: for the most part poetic and sometimes moving, she issued a challenge to British Columbians to return us to a minority legislature.  I took her message to heart and voted BC Liberal for the first time.  My advice to any wannabe’s is: if you put your name before the electorate, you gotta show up for the debate! 

Perhaps, in hindsight, I could have shown more appreciation for the Green Party’s own predicament.  After all, Furstenau had been on the job for one whole week. This is where Democracy Watch comes in: it has teamed up with Integrity BC to challenge in court Horgan’s NDP for making an “illegal” election call.  What really is the point of having fixed election dates if the government does not abide by them?  And the Premier in his eagerness to sweep the vote was most unfair to the Greens, thus contributing to the paucity of my choice. In effect, Horgan’s NDP revealed itself as not very democratic, and nothing new.

My Response to a Coquitlam Confucius Institute student’s letter - after replying to me.

Re: “The Chinese Language and Culture Institute does not push propaganda” (Tri-City News, Oct. 29)

The Editor:

Letter-writer Adam Long claims that Coquitlam School District 43’s Chinese Language and Culture Institute, formerly known as the Confucius Institute, is “non-governmental”.  Fact: nothing is non-governmental in today’s China.  He also claims that it is “non-profit.”  Fact: it was formed to advance China’s “soft power”, to create a favourable body of opinion in the host country, much like sowing seeds overseas for cultivation. (To give an example: I studied in England which perhaps predisposed me to the UK despite its current government).

Trained as an educator, I am only too aware of what goes into curriculum – and what gets left out.  That material on Einstein and Darwin is part of its language program reflects how China is now ruled by engineers, including President Xi himself, who leaves his impression on everything. While hyperbole like “brainwashing” should be avoided, it is most concerning that mandarin immersion students at SD43 were subjected to ideology as a result of the 10^th anniversary celebration of the Institute.

Can language instruction be neutral?  When sponsored by China the answer is: no. Given the repressive nature of the regime, its imperialism regarding other language minorities, for example, and the absence of free speech within its borders, this is an impossibility.

Finally, there is the curious claim that “so many” Institute-detractors are “outside of the district”.  Must we build a wall around SD43, as well?  Or has it already done so?  

The Coquitlam Confucius Institute is a pretext for “good will”

In an effort to eliminate “confusion” the Coquitlam Confucius Institute is now rebranding after dropping the name of China’s most famous philosopher.[1] Meanwhile, in another shell game, it is no longer affiliated with Hanban, a branch of the Chinese Ministry of Education but will be headquartered in Guangzhou at the South China Normal University in a so-called sister-to-sister relationship with School District 43. 

This is all sleight-of-hand. Consider the front page headlines from the Globe and Mail which raise specific concerns, as SD43 applies white-wash. [2] Children celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Confucius Institute in Coquitlam can be found in a YouTube video all synchronized and pumping their fists in the air while reciting “I am proud. I am Chinese”, lines from a patriotic poem which also praises the “five-star red flag” as well as the spirit of the Communist revolution.

SD43 Superintendent Patricia Gartland has also long claimed that Confucius Institute teachers are sourced within Canada and have undergraduate degrees or more.  But upon investigating LinkedIn accounts the Globe and Mail determined that “at least two instructors worked as teachers in mainland China shortly before beginning work for the Coquitlam Institute, which says it only uses local staff.”

On top of this there have been problems with educational materials in the form of textbooks from China which depicted Taiwan as a province and Tiananmen Square as sanitized.  Clearly SD43 has been less than truthful about the China’s influence, and Gartland and our Trustees should be held accountable.

But what is the true cost of doing business with Beijing? SD43 sees it as a boon with about 10 percent of its budget paid for by fees from overseas Chinese students, on average twice the rate of other school districts in the province.  Lest we forget, however, about the over 5,000 British Columbians who have died from overdoses of illicit fentanyl which derives from China. In today’s postcolonial world, it’s likely considered payback for that country’s national humiliation following the Opium Wars in the nineteenth century.

If we look at the controversy surrounding Huawei, Global News has reported on the link between that company’s sudden rise and the bankruptcy of Nortel, Canada’s telecommunications gem.[3]  Too interested in profit margins, Nortel failed to protect its own research and development as China-based military hackers downloaded and stole from executive accounts.  The Globe and Mail has also reported that listening devices were found in the former Nortel building walls.  Perhaps SD43 would consider this sort of information  as beyond its purview.

Myopia prevails at SD43. Speech is not free in China.  It’s a police state with internet firewalls, censorship in overdrive, intrusive facial recognition technology, and a pervasive social credit system to regulate its people.  There is no “public” in mainland China, a concept which suggests “openness” – something President Xi sees as a political enemy.  It also has an aggressive international agenda which should be clear to all.  In other words, the Coquitlam Confucius Institute is just a pretext for Chinese Communist Party “good will”.

Confused?  Beijing certainly is not – though it appears SD43 is muddled about which side of the Pacific Ocean it is meant to serve: China and its despotism, or Canada and its democracy? I know which I prefer.

 

 

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[1] “China has no influence on schools, say trustees, as they double down on Confucius Institute”, Tri-City News online, Wednesday October 14, 2020.

[2] “Beijing uses B.C. schools to push agenda”, The Globe and Mail, Thursday October 15, 2020.

[3] “Inside the Chinese military attack on Nortel”, Global News online August 25, 2020.

Coquitlam’s Confucius Institute in light of Covid-19

 

School Trustees in SD43 missed their annual trip to China this past spring, and likely they will remain home again next year – one minor consequence of the virus originating from and mishandled in Wuhan.  And as the entire globe grapples with Covid-19, President Xi has galvanized Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ambitions – over Hong Kong, the Himalayas, Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, Mongolia, the South China Sea, and, of course, democratically-elected Taiwan, the so-called “renegade” province.  What sort of government is this in China, where one man rules over its only party without limits?  Are not the new Emperor’s boundless aspirations rather self-evident?

Aside from the many overt geopolitical ventures, Xi persists in “hostage diplomacy”, the latest victim being Chinese-born Australian news anchor, Cheng Lei.  Hostage diplomacy is essentially an ugly Communist habit picked up from Stalin, who held a number of hostages in his time, including Chiang Kai-Shek’s only son, which gave the Soviet-supported CCP leverage as the they and the Nationalists (and Japanese) fought over control of China in the 1930’s and 1940’s.  According to Jung Chang and John Halliday’s book, Mao: The Untold Story, Mao’s famous “long march” was saved precisely because of Stalin’s hostage diplomacy.[1] It was also used during Mao’s Cultural Revolution.  Today Xi is copying from Mao.

Meanwhile, in sleepy Coquitlam BC, our “public” school board maintains a Confucius Institute, not at all far removed from the autocratic reach of the CCP itself, in the hopes that it will lure “business” in the name of overseas students thus adding to its coffers, since depleted because of Covid-19.  I am sure Chinese students will always want to come to Canada, not only for the fresh air, but also for a bit of breathing space, as Xi clamps down on even freedom of thought, where nothing within its grasp is deemed independent of the CCP.  But closing the Confucius Institute requires principle.  No school district should have one – or rely on the income from overseas students.  It’s a stand SD43 seems unwilling to take, owing to its sorry addiction to the cash nexus, induced by BC government chronic underfunding of education. History will not take too kindly to this Canadian yearning for the yuan.

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[1] Jung Chang and John Halliday, Mao: The Untold Story (Toronto: Random House, 2005), pp. 130-137.

Mandarin Immersion?

Thanks to Premier Christy Clark’s non-adhesion to two decisions by the B.C. Supreme Court, the Coquitlam District school board has cut millions of dollars from this year’s budget and millions again from last year’s budget.  The impact on the school system is huge, and deleterious: increased class sizes, no job security for teachers with 10 years’ experience, Special Education Assistants are spread thinner and thinner, librarians are gone, no cafeterias in Middle Schools, and buses slashed (adding to greenhouse gases).

But has anyone at the School Board thought about cutting Mandarin Immersion from the public purse? As a Canadian I find Mandarin Immersion in Coquitlam rather odd.  Once the dialect of northern China, Mandarin is now the official language of the People’s Republic of China, and Taiwan, where everyone is expected to speak it.  Mandarin is also the native language of maybe 250,000 immigrants spread across Canada today, approximately 30,000 of whom are of Taiwanese origin. In 2011 Statistics Canada reported 94,000 Mandarin-speaking individuals in B.C., or 2.2% of the population, so that is hardly enough to justify public immersion classes in Coquitlam.

Yes, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to “instruction in minority language educational facilities provided out of public funds”.  But the Charter implies that only minority language parents have rights for their own children “where numbers warrant”.  Are we talking about “minority language educational rights,” as per the Constitution, or are we talking about opportunity for instruction in an “official” language that is neither English nor French?  I suspect the latter.

Because the number of Mandarin-speaking immigrants has not reached any sort of ‘critical mass’, we can see that the decision to bring about these immersion classes was based on factors not protected by the Constitution. Most students in these immersion classes likely come from outside of Mandarin-speaking immigrant families, yet the public is footing the bill for nearly exclusive, other-Chinese or Asian communities to learn Mandarin as a second, or possibly third language. The decision to have Canadian taxpayers fund Mandarin immersion in British Columbia takes a block of parents off the hook for funding the education of their own offspring, aided as they are by the Confucius Institute, which quietly peddles China’s soft power.

But wait!  China is going to be the premier world economic superpower, I hear, which is the real reason behind Mandarin Immersion.  We need to understand language and culture better in order to do business with the Chinese state and economy, which wields greater and greater influence. The philosopher Karl Popper, in his classic The Open Society and its Enemies (1945) describes this kind of argument politely as moral futurism because it “takes sides with the powers that will be, with the rulers of tomorrow”.  One finds many moral futurists in different parts of Canada who do not realize that their logic tends to undermine what it means to be Canadian.

Yes, language is important, so is cultural heritage, and immigration. And the ability to speak a number of languages fluently is admirable and pressingly urgent, but the case for Mandarin Immersion violates the spirit of the Canadian Charter while at the public’s expense.  Given the scarcity of resources in Coquitlam’s school district, perhaps it’s time to give Mandarin Immersion a serious re-think.

Sink the Semester System

Did your mother not tell you “everything in moderation, nothing to extreme”?  That old adage derives from the ancient Greeks, among them Aristotle, who emphasized balance and a sense of proportion.  Today, with the semester system of high school education under the Coquitlam District School Board, that old adage is thrown out the window.  Ancient Greek wisdom has been replaced by North American “workaholic” types and Asian “obsessive” models, and we think that we are doing our kids a favour, by making them “tougher”.

Coquitlam high school classes resemble educational silos, where course curriculum is designed to over-the-top standards.  This can be especially daunting for kids who actually care about what they are being taught.  The guilty party is not any teacher, or school, but the School Board, which (following the industrial model) wants to “compress” time and learning – and presumably costs.

    

The never-ending “factory work” is not healthy.  We try to do the best for our kids yet there is no time to live. There has to be a period in a student’s day when homework is finished, and when free play begins. Students need to feel like they can successfully complete their assignments to achieve this sense of balance.  And the more we endure excess in our schools, the less critical might we be of extremes in our public politics, but that is another story.

Keep in mind, as well, that most Coquitlam District high schools are at best pretentious, because they do not offer year-round courses in mathematics, preventing students from building consistency in a vital foundational skill.  Looking closely, for example at after-school programmes, the overall net effect is that the offspring of immigrants are destined to become superior doctors, lawyers and engineers, because many immigrant parents – not the School Board - are the ones who recognize the problem-solving significance of mathematics in the first place.  Go figure.

And as for the over-programmed semesters (here I borrow from Karl Marx) - Parents in District 43: unite!