Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 18, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A11 BEFORE the findings of the Hughes commission report on the death of Phoenix Sinclair have been lost and forgotten and before the next child dies needlessly, we must all be reminded there are more issues at play than the effectiveness of the child- welfare system. The article Broken Childhoods ( Feb. 8) was helpful in outlining several serious and significant issues, some of which go back to the very way in which Europeans took over the land and culture of the aboriginal people who live here. The authors do a fine job of connecting the dots between colonialism, system mistrust, poverty, poor mental health and child neglect that together can lead to abuse and worse. The toxic mixture of these entrenched forces has resulted in a disproportionate number of aboriginal people living in poverty and of aboriginal children in care. Many children in care are there because of the burdens living in poverty impose on them, including the stress of transience. The Hughes commission emphasizes this reality several times but we have known it for years. The question remains, " Where is the will to do something about it?" The recommendations that are aimed at the child- welfare system are clearly the responsibility of Family Services. There are also programs within the government, including those linked to the All Aboard poverty- reduction and social- inclusion strategy that are specifically aimed at reducing poverty. Responsibility for attacking the root causes of poverty, however, does not rest with provincial governments alone. One of the many causes ( and effects) of poverty is the exclusive and profit- driven housing market results in an insufficient supply of adequate and affordable housing. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the federal government's decision in January 1994 to withdraw completely from the provision of long- term funding for new social housing. This decision in itself has deprived some of the most vulnerable Canadians of homes. Between 1985 and 1989, the federal government helped fund 5,356 units of social housing per year. If Ottawa had continued to fund social housing at this rate, between 1994 and 2013 some 107,120 homes could have been built. In January 1994, the budget of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation was frozen at $ 2 billion and CMHC no longer funded new social housing. The billions of dollars of profit from the sale of mortgage insurance CMHC used to invest in social housing was turned into government revenue to be used for other programs. No subsequent federal government, whether Conservative or Liberal, has overturned this decision. Short- term funding programs for " affordable housing" have occasionally been supported. The Conservative government now spends just $ 250 million per year on housing programs across Canada. The federal withdrawal sounded the death knell for low- income housing programs, which have never been re- established. According to the Canadian Homelessness Research Network, without an adequate supply of rent geared to income housing, more than 380,000 tenant households in Canada are in severe housing need ( living in poverty and spending more than 50 per cent of their income on rent in inadequate and slum housing). It has left at least 5,000 households waiting for such housing across Manitoba, including more than 3,000 in Winnipeg. Each year, 200,000 Canadians experience homelessness and as many as 1.3 million have experienced homelessness or extremely insecure housing in the last five years. In fairness, the Manitoba government recognizes this supply problem and has, with non- profit partners, created about 3,000 social and affordable housing units over the last five years. Its current pledge is to create 500 units each of social and affordable housing over the next three years. That being said, successive ministers have acknowledged these initiatives do not begin to meet the need. As a society, we have a lot to be accountable for regarding the state of child welfare, but we should never lose sight of the underlying causes that create the problems the child- welfare system is supposed to solve. These causes are much deeper and of much longer duration than the adding or training of social workers alone can resolve. A national housing strategy sustainable for at least 10 years, led by the federal government, that includes all levels of government, First Nations, non- profits and the private sector would be the start of dealing directly with one aspect of poverty. A bill to this effect, the Secure, Adequate, Accessible, and Affordable Housing Act, was tabled and defeated in the House of Commons last year. We ask " Where is the will?" Clearly, it is not in Ottawa. Clark Brownlee is the co- ordinator of the Right to Housing Coalition and a research associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba Winnipeg Free Press Tuesday, February 18, 2014 A 11 POLL �� TODAY'S QUESTION How did you spend Louis Riel Day? �� Vote online at winnipegfreepress. com �� PREVIOUS QUESTION How have you been handling your Hydro bills this winter? It's winter; I take heating costs in stride 43% TOTAL RESPONSES 5,308 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 VOL 142 NO 99 2014 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published seven days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204- 697- 7000 BOB COX / Publisher PAUL SAMYN / Editor WFP JULIE CARL / Deputy Editor SCAN TO VOTE ON TODAY'S QUESTION T RAIL, B. C. - The modern Olympic Games are not necessarily a religious experience. However, we might find in them some connection with spirituality, with the inner life that motivates all individuals. The Olympic Charter talks about something called " Olympism," which it defines as " a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind." Olympism sounds a bit like a religion, only without a divinity or any mention of the spiritual side of the human person. The ancient Olympic Games were part of a religious festival. From at least as early as 776 BC, male Greek citizens gathered on the plains of the sacred precinct of Olympia every four years to compete in athletic events in honour of the god Zeus. Although less well- known, the ancient Greeks also held competitive games at Olympia for unmarried women in honour of the goddess Hera. In the fifth century BC, there were other athletic games in honour of Zeus. King Archelaus held nine days of games in Dion, a small Macedonian village on the slopes of Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus, in Greek mythology, was the home of the gods. While Archelaus' games were not the famed Olympics, they are an example of the value the ancient Greeks placed on the connections between body, mind and spirit. In ancient Greek philosophy, there was a notion that the gods fired people into existence. Contemporary theologian Ron Rolheiser builds on this idea, and on the Christian idea of human restlessness that harkens back to St. Augustine, in his discussion of spirituality. Deep within every person, there is a fiery energy. Our spirituality is what we do with the interior fire of our restlessness. In Christian thought, spirituality begins within the individual, moves outward to the community and, ultimately, culminates in a sense of mission. During the Olympics, we witness a high level of fiery energy in the dedication, determination and competitive spirit that pushes athletes onward in hopes of reaching the podium. And while the athletes command centre stage, there is a bevy of people behind the scenes who assist the athlete in realizing their dream. No athlete becomes an Olympian without a community; the community plays a pivotal role in helping the athlete channel their inner fire. While some might consider restlessness something to avoid, I think human restlessness, when appropriately directed, is beneficial for us as individuals, and for human society. On the personal level, the fire within us can prod us toward higher levels of achievement than we might ordinarily expect to attain. And when a group of individuals harnesses its collective energy in support of a shared goal, they can make a difference in the world. Although I have no wish to idealize the Olympic movement, because like any human institution with lofty goals ( including religion) it contains the potential for hypocrisy, I detect something akin to spirituality in the goal of Olympism defined in the Olympic Charter: " to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." There may be a spiritual aspect to Olympism in the passion of the athlete, in the guidance and commitment of the community that surrounds the athlete and in Olympism's goal of service to the common good. Within the last few days, there have been some inspiring stories that demonstrate the harnessing of the fiery energy of athletic competition and a willingness to serve the common good. The sportsmanship of Canadian cross- country ski coach Justin Wadsworth, who rushed to help a Russian skier, and the selflessness of speedskater Gilmore Junio, who gave up his spot to teammate Denny Morrison, may have nothing to do with faith or religion, per se, but there is a spirituality to these actions that reveals the inner life of the individual. As the 17th- century poet George Herbert observed, " in sport and journey men are known." Troy Media columnist Louise McEwan has degrees in English and theology. She has a background in education and faith formation. - troymedia. com Spiritualism of the Games By Louise McEwan NEW HAVEN, Conn. - When a story breaks that involves sex without consent, like Dylan Farrow's or Daisy Coleman's, or the accounts of unnamed victims at Penn State or in Steubenville, Ohio, how do we decide when to use the terms sexual abuse or sexual assault, versus the words molestation or rape? Outside of the court of law, have all these terms become interchangeable? Or should we try to use each of them in distinct ways? Almost 40 years ago, feminist writer and activist Susan Brownmiller began trying to change the meaning of rape by scrubbing the word of shame for victims. In her 1975 book Against Our Will , Brownmiller argued - and bless her for it - that " rape is a crime not of lust, but of violence and power." This fundamental insight gave feminists one of their most important causes. It also helped fuel a drive to redefine rape not just in our minds but in state laws. Reformers wanted to broaden the crime to include male victims, they wanted to increase reporting ( still an issue), and they wanted to get rid of the requirement that a victim show that he or she had resisted. In some states, reformers pushed legislators to replace the word rape with sexual assault. The idea was to " shift the focus of the crime from the sexual to the violent aspect of the crime," according to an article by Stacy Futter Jr. and Walter Mebane in the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law, and Justice. " Equating rape with other assaults was designed to divert attention away from questions of the victim's consent," write Ronald Berger, Patricia Searles and Lawrence Neuman in the Law and Society Review . And yet, the word rape is still used in 24 states, DePaul University law professor Deborah Tuerkheimer found when she recently asked her students to canvass state laws. Sexual assault is the next most common wording used, with 14 states, her students found. ( Other terms the students noted: criminal sexual conduct, sexual battery, sexual intercourse without consent, criminal sexual penetration and sexual imposition.) I'm glad the most common codified term for sex crimes that involve penetration is still rape, because it is also still the best term we have for signifying the innate brutality of unwanted sex. With its harsh vowel sound and single syllable, and because rape isn't primarily a legal term, the word is in no way a euphemism. It's unflinching. It dates to late 14th- century France, where it meant " seize prey, abduct, take by force," and before that, it probably came from the Latin rapere , which has the same set of meanings as the French and was also occasionally used by the Romans to mean " sexually violate." Of course, not all acts of rape involve seizing by force. In fact, it's been crucial to remove the element of force from statutory definitions, as the Department of Justice did in 2012, finally bringing a 1927 federal law into modern times and following on the heels of most states. But the powerlessness the old archaic word conveys is crucial to understanding why it is devastating for victims. What Susan Brownmiller did for the word rape - make clear that it's about violence, not sex - is exactly why I want to keep it. She drew the lines. Rape culture is also a useful feminist phrase. It's the handle for identifying - and dismantling - the misogyny, stupidity and binge drinking that enables two high school football players from Steubenville to rape a 16- year- old girl, that allows for humiliating pictures and gossip about the rape to circulate on social media and that permits some people to rally behind the rapists rather than the victim. Though there are questions about how the story played out online and in the media, where the town and its athletes were widely condemned, there was also vile slut shaming and a disturbing video in which another football player ( not one of the two convicted) talked on and on about the assault, saying, " She is so raped right now," as an audience of boys laughed crazily. Rape culture isn't a legal term that sends anyone to prison. But it is ugly and real and all too prevalent, as these examples from Soraya Chemaly make clear. I'm glad we've found the language to talk about it. What about sex crimes that involve touching or grabbing but not penetration? As a more general term, sexual assault can cover this terrain in a way that rape, technically, does not. But as David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, pointed out over email, " Sexual assault implies physical force, which is not present in most sex offences involving adult offenders with children." Sexual abuse is useful here. The term has a limited meaning for child protective services, Finkelhor told me: In that context, it's only used for cases involving caregivers. But that's a convention most of us don't follow, and I don't see why we should. In this case, the older word, molestation, is a little vague, and it's also primarily thought of as applying to adults with young children. Finkelhor says he favours two approaches when talking generally about non- penetrative sex crimes against children. " One is just to refer to sexual offences against children ( or minors or juveniles). Another option is to say sexual abuse/ assault." He says that clearly includes peer offences and date rape. I see that, but I also think it doesn't force us to face the horror children, and adult victims, too, experience. The best way I can explain what I mean is to quote the novelist and screenwriter Rafael Yglesias, whose words are hard to read, which is why I'm asking you to: " Sexual assault, statutory rape, sexual abuse, and sexual molestation are clinical and legal terms that irritate me as a writer because they are vague and mislead the hearer. I used to say, when some part of me was still ashamed of what had been done to me, that I was " molested" because the man who played skilfully with my eight- yearold penis, who put it in his mouth, who put his lips on mine and tried to push his tongue in as deep as it would go, did not anally rape me. Instead of delineating what he had done, I chose " molestation" hoping that would convey what had happened to me. " Of course it doesn't. For listeners to appreciate and understand what I had endured, I needed to risk that they will gag or rush out of the room. I needed to be particular and clear as to the details so that when I say I was raped people will understand what I truly mean." Yglesias is right. Words can't stop his boyhood suffering. But specificity is the first step to understanding it. Legally speaking, I'm not sure rape is the right word to use for this crime. Morally and viscerally, for a child who went through what Yglesias did, I know it is. Bazelon is a Slate senior editor and a fellow at Yale Law School. She is the author of Sticks and Stones. - Slate Sometimes the right word is rape EMILY BAZELON DAVID J. PHILLIP / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Canada's Gilmore Junio gave up his spot in the 1,000- metre speedskating race to teammate Denny Morrison, who won silver at the Games. By Clark Brownlee One of the many causes of poverty is that the exclusive and profit- driven housing market results in an insufficient supply of adequate and affordable housing Before we shelve the report I've installed a wood stove to save money 4% I dread receiving each bill 1 4% I grit my teeth and pay them 20 % Pull on sweater, turn down heat, switch off lights, cry 1 8% A_ 11_ Feb- 18- 14_ FP_ 01. indd A11 2/ 17/ 14 5: 10: 10 PM ;