Ehab Lotayef - Poet, Photographer and Activist

Listen to this unique Five O'Clock Train interview with poet and activist Ehab Lotayef - North American aboriginal rights, Palestine, solidarity, Quebec racism, culture cures, human rights, laws and colonialism...

Ehab ended the show by sharing this poem with our listeners:

To Kill a Suicide Bomber

When should you kill the suicide bomber?

Just do it fast before she dies.

Why would you kill the suicide bomber?

You kill the rage, the girl survives.

Where would you kill the suicide bomber?

Anywhere where there are no chains.

But how would you kill the suicide bomber?

Give her justice, she will defuse.

A Discussion on Allan Rock, Marc Kelly and Mario Savio

Five O'Clock Train co-hosts Mireille Gervais and Denis Rancourt opened this week's show with a recording of Allan Rock's short-lived greeting message on the University's main voicemail and telephone dispatch centre (562-5800). A marketing mishap to say the least...

"This is Allan Rock, President of Canada's university; How may I direct your call?"

The show went on to discuss Allan Rock's "shit magnets in his pockets" history as a Canadian politician; then as President of the University of Ottawa, including his role in undergraduate student Marc Kelly's case.

Marc Kelly faces bogus criminal charges following his attempt to video record a public meeting of University Senate at a time when no policy prohibiting filming existed. Since March 2009 the Senate meetings are now filmed by the University and the videos are posted on its website.

The Student Appeal Centre recently called upon Allan Rock to end the political persecution of Marc Kelly.

The show ended with a discussion on campus corporatization, linking back to Mario Savio's famous ''bodies against the gears'' 1964 speech at Berkeley.

About the co-hosts

Mireille Gervais

Mireille joined The Train to co-host with Denis Rancourt in December 2008. Since then Mireille has brought her vibrant activism, feminist, graduate student, and dedicated professional services perspectives as well as her extensive knowledge of both student life and university governance to the show. In real life, Mireille is a graduate student in law at the University of Ottawa and is the director of the student federation’s (SFUO) Student Appeals Centre (SAC). Due to her eclectic music tastes, she has also de facto become the show's music-break editor.


Denis Rancourt

Denis joined co-hosts Chris Jack and Jack DeJong as a co-host on CHUO’s Train in July 2005. Denis took up the activism/politics portfolio whereas Chris and Jack did the alternative arts scenes and community building portfolios, respectively. In August 2006 Denis became the only host of The Train until he was joined by Mireille Gervais in December 2008. Denis is the former tenured physics professor who developed the popular “Activism Course” at the University of Ottawa and is a public intellectual who has concentrated on social justice activism in modern society.

Mental Health in the Canadian Military

Straight-talk on the The Train with Lieutenant-Colonel Stéphane Grenier: Special Advisor on Operational Stress Injuries for the Armed Forces of Canada speaks of mental health in the military.

Grenier was recently recognized as one of the 2009 Champions of Mental Health by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH). In 2001 Grenier started a peer support and educational program to tackle stigma and provide resources to the many military men and women who struggle with mental illness as a result of their profession.

Democracy Watch on Corruption and Dishonesty in Canadian Government

Duff Conacher, Director/Coordinator of Democracy Watch, explains how and why Canada is far from being a model democratic society: ''The system is the scandal.''

Democracy Watch is an eminent Ottawa based organization advocating for democratic reform, government accountability and corporate responsibility. It was the first organization in the world to adopt the name "Democracy Watch".

Democracy Watch is typically cited in the mainstream media one thousand times per year and has had direct input into various government reforms and reform laws.

Respect|Spaces: How Organizers Sabotaged Their Cause

Five O'Clock Train co-hosts Mireille Gervais and Denis Rancourt took on investigative roles and reported back from the Respect|Spaces organizing meeting. Their conclusion: the campaign is already dead.

Listen to this interesting analysis of the campaign breakdown including how two key organizers dropped out of the campaign, how one of the authors of the manifesto sabotaged the cause, and how President Allan Rock showed up to the organizing meeting...