Trudeau's arms deal does not invalidate
his entire government record

> Hypocritical judgement of standard actions

Cazzy Lewchuk
Opinions Editor

 

ustin Trudeau and his
government have upheld a
contract originally placed by the
previous Harper administration
to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia.
The $15-billion 15-year deal allows
for Saudi Arabia to buy tanks from
Canadian military contractors
for use in defence. Saudi Arabia
has a bad track record of human
rights: Their Sharia law leads
to torture and executions of
protesting citizens, or those who
attempt to dismantle the state.
The Trudeau administration
is committed to human rights in
Canada and around the world.
While there is—and always
will be—a lot of work to do,
they have a clear track record of
optimism and commitment. I
believe Trudeau does not actually
support Sharia law, nor is his
genuine commitment to human
rights invalidated by this deal.
Canada is a large military
power, and does business
with a lot of countries. It is a
fundamental part of our own
economy and part of the global
trade sector. Many of the things

exchanged are unpleasant
things—arms designed to kill
people who don’t agree with
whatever country may have
control of the weapons. In a
perfect world, they are only
used on mutual enemies, but
we all know this isn’t the case.
We can hope that the weapons
are not used for evil, and that
acts of evil committed by the
Saudis are not committed
with Canadian technology.
It doesn’t make the actions
right, and it’s not something
we should actively encourage,
but it’s hard in a complex
geopolitical military alliance to
discourage this kind of thing.
The criticism of Trudeau also
seems hypocritical, considering
that doing business with Saudi
Arabia is something most world
leaders do. Canada has been
selling arms to them for 30 years,
but it’s only now we are suddenly
criticized for it. In fact, the
contract was previously drafted
by the Harper government.
Trudeau argues that they were
stuck with the deal already
instituted, and that backing
out would have devastating
effects on Canada’s relationship

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with Saudi Arabia overall.
Trudeau is actively
campaigning for human rights
in Canada and beyond. Holding
his nose and doing business
with a divisive country does not
counter any of his human rights
campaigns. He still cares about
Indigenous people's plights
in Canada; he still encourages
other countries to engage in
fundamental human rights,
and discourages the opposite.

Countries like China use
Trudeau's deal as a bargaining
tool when he questions their
own human rights record. It’s
ridiculous that his economic
condemning of Saudi Arabia
means he isn’t allowed to
discuss the problem in other
areas. It’s hypocritical, it’s petty,
and it’s effectively blackmail
on a global economic scale.

All world leaders, especially
those who lead powerful

Introvert inclusion at Douglas 1s Just shy of ideal

> A look at including strengths

Jamal Al-Bayaa
Staff Writer

 

M: Douglas College,
“introvert” has become a
big buzzword that’s generating
a lot of conversation. It could
even be called the beginning
of a new awareness culture.
While the conversation is
good, it lacks discussion around
the strengths of the average
introvert, instead choosing to
focus on weaknesses. What it
also lacks is discussion of most
“extroverted” qualities in general,
whether they be strengths or
weaknesses. This leaves us with
an awareness culture that is
focused on making it clear that
introverts get overwhelmed
in social situations and think
slower, so they need to have
accommodations made for them.
It’s unintentional, but not any
less ineffective because of it.
Understanding someone’s
key traits is always worthwhile,
but the conversation should
be around all of what makes a
person tick, not just a weakness.
The weakness approach to
introvert inclusion, especially
in large social situations such
as New Student Orientation,

 

involves accommodating
for that weakness.

At New Student Orientation,
an “introvert corner” was put in
place, to allow for a quiet space
during the large event. Although
the introvert corner soon became

the texting corner, it was not
unsuccessful, nor was it a bad
idea. People felt that that’s where
they were most comfortable,

and they had the freedom to go
there and not be bugged. More
projects like these would provide
a definite benefit to future

Image via thinkstock

events, so long as they’re part of a
strategy to close the gap between
introverts and extroverts.

That larger strategy would
have to include creating
situations in volunteer
organizations, classroom settings,
employment opportunities,
or extracurricular activities in
which the introvert could shine.

A full strategy would involve
a combination of weakness- and
strength-based approaches. This
could include creating situations
that center around smaller

social circles, more idea-driven
conversations, and projects
that span over longer periods of
time. These groups could stay
together for periods of weeks and
months, rather than days, so as
to increase intimacy and reduce
the number of introductions.
Two areas this matters
most in are student engagement
and experiential learning
opportunities, both of which are
dominated by extroverted types.
While they’re both important to
the college, there hasn't been an
effort yet made to reach out to
both personality types. Introverts
prefer not to be approached in
large crowds by a promoter, for
example. It’s important that
the college reaches out and
finds ways to equally present
opportunities to everyone in the
college, not just the majority, as
introverts make up approximately
30 per cent of a population.
Introverts, I believe, can be
most easily found in the various
clubs of Douglas College. What's
great about these is that they’re
run and operated by students,
which means that there’s not only
already a subculture of student
engagement with untapped
potential, but there’s also an

  

militaries, have to make morally-
grey decisions. They sign papers
and issue orders that lead to
deaths—far too often being
collateral civilians. We get one
world leader who has to make
these difficult choices, and

we criticize him for trying to
stand up on human rights in
other areas in the process. I’m
not a fan of Trudeau’s decision,
but I understand and support
the reasons behind it.

entirely new, quieter group of
student leaders for the college
to invest in and support.

Maybe the introverted
revolution at Douglas will
continue by finding ways to
enable these clubs. The school
could increase funding and
form partnerships with club
presidents, presenting ideas
and opportunities directly.

It could also start with the
restructuring of interviews for
campus-wide opportunities,
so that the “30 seconds
to charm” approach that
dominates job interviews isn’t
the only method by which a
student’s merit is judged.

So far, the college has
been doing a rather good job
of taking initiative. To really
make a difference, though,
it takes an understanding of
where introverts shine, and
knowledge of the markets that
they're finding themselves
unable to break into. It also
takes a willingness to reach
out and bridge the gap to
form partnerships, since
introverts are unlikely to ever
list “networking” as their
biggest strength on a résumé.