U of T students protest military recruitment

Alanna Wallace
cup ontario bureau chief
WATERLOO, Ont. – “It’s an ethical duty to refrain from legitimizing the military at a time when it’s been about 10 years now that Canadian military has been occupying Afghanistan,” said Jacob Nerenberg.
Nerenberg, a PhD student at the University of Toronto, was one of the organizers of a Feb. 2 protest against military recruitment on the institution’s campus.
“We heard that the military was going to be recruiting students and decided that we should come out and provide people with some other options,” explained Daniel Vandervoort, another protest organizer who is also a master’s student on the campus.
The protest, which included approximately 30 individuals, occurred outside a Department of National Defense recruitment session providing information regarding policy analyst positions for master’s and PhD students and was hosted by the university’s career centre.
The protest is just one of many events developing around the campus concerning military recruitment. Organizers of the demonstration have also called on the public to join in a similar demonstration opposing Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance’s upcoming speech at U of T on Feb. 15. A petition of approximately 300 signatures is also in circulation that calls for U of T administration to declare the campus a military-free zone.
“We are continuing to collect signatures on the petition and we’re meeting with the administration as well,” said Vandervoort.
Both Vandervoort and Nerenberg touched on the ethical implications of allowing the Canadian Forces to recruit on campuses, and how it differed from other businesses and corporations that have the right to do so.
“The Canadian military is not just your run-of-the-mill employer,” said Vandervoort. “This is an organization that trains people to kill and to fight wars.”
Despite admitting that the military can serve more productive roles than the current war in Afghanistan, Vandervoort asserted that is not the role it is currently exercising.
Major Richard Langlois, senior public affairs officer for the Canadian Forces recruiting group, said the Canadian military never recruits on campuses unless invited to and individuals must understand that the Forces have an agreement with the institution involved.
“Our policies are if we’re not invited, or if there is a group of individuals who make it challenging for us to be there, we just pack and go,” said Langlois, who added that in order to be competitive in the Canadian job market for the high-demand careers they seek, the Canadian Forces must employ recruitment tactics.
“We do appreciate and we do respect what the students want on their own campus. But as long as people appreciate that there are students who want that information to be available to them and we cater to that need,” said Langois. “We’re not forcing anyone to listen to us.”