Articles from:March 2020

  • Niagara community encouraged to contribute to Brock’s COVID-19 archive

    Monday, March 30, 2020 | By

    MEDIA RELEASE: 30 March 2020 – R0056

    From bare grocery store shelves to playgrounds with warning signs, workplace and school closures, and unlimited social media and news content about COVID-19, it’s hard not to feel the impact of the pandemic.

    Brock University’s Archives and Special Collections and Digital Scholarship Lab have created a website to gather and preserve photos, text, video and other forms of capturing the experience of living in the Niagara region during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “In the near and far future, students, researchers, authors and other curious folks will be looking for such materials to retell the history of this challenging time,” said David Sharron, Head of Archives and Special Collections at the University’s James A. Gibson Library. “It was recently the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu, and people relied on our archives to see what Niagara did in 1918. We want to capture the history of COVID-19 as it’s happening.”

    Sharron says inviting the Niagara community to contribute their materials to the archives will allow for more organic, accurate history.

    “Archives usually receive historical documentation years after something has happened, but doing it in the moment allows primary reaction to be genuine and truly historic,” said Sharron. “It allows people to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences in real-time, and in a novel way.”

    He adds that giving people a platform to share their experiences while also learning about the experiences of others can allow those feeling isolated to feel less alone.

    Tim Ribaric, Acting Head, Digital Scholarship Lab, has been leading the technical side of the website

    “We have an open access platform at Brock called Omeka, which is an exhibit platform that allows us to showcase digitized materials,” said Ribaric. “You take that history and information and retain them for people who want to do research about how things such as normal everyday life felt for people in the moment.”

    A couple of key, recent examples in the Brock archives from people who self-submitted are the Occupy Wall Street protest movement in 2011 and the Ferguson Unrest protests and riots in 2014.

    “I see people posting on social media every day about what they’re thinking and feeling,” said Sharron. “It’s front and centre on our minds. To capture these raw emotions is more telling than writing this months later when we polish our thoughts. How we’re living right now is true to history.”

    There are two ways to contribute to the project.

     

    David Sharron, Head of Archives and Special Collections at Brock University’s James A. Gibson Library is available for phone and video interviews.

    For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

    * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected], 905-347-1970

    – 30 –

    Categories: Media releases

  • Brock expert believes pandemic is being used to further complicate border issues

    Monday, March 30, 2020 | By

    MEDIA RELEASE: 30 March 2020 – R0055

    An instructor in Brock University’s Centre for Canadian Studies believes the U.S. is using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to strong-arm Canada.

    Ibrahim Berrada, who teaches Canadian Studies at Brock and is a former staffer on Parliament Hill, says President Donald Trump’s threat of a military presence along the U.S./Canada border is a heavy-handed response to illegal border crossings.

    Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would no longer accept asylum seekers during the pandemic, instead sending them back to their country of origin.

    “This is a huge reversal from the approach adopted in the past,” says Berrada, who spent seven years working with different members of Parliament on various national and international portfolios. “It is too early to tell whether Canada will reverse this policy after the crisis, but it is unlikely, pending bilateral border negotiations.”

    The decision, he notes, goes against several United Nations conventions, in particular the 1951 Convention on Status of Refugees, which has been ratified by Canada. Returning asylum seekers may also be difficult as many international flights remain grounded.

    The Canada/U.S. border is governed by a Safe Third Country Agreement, meaning that if a refugee claimant enters the U.S., they can’t claim asylum in Canada since the U.S. is deemed a safe country. Refugees must claim asylum in the first safe country they land in.

    “The issue remains whether asylum seekers will be returned to an unsafe country, violating international refugee laws,” says Berrada.

    Trump is using the pandemic situation to enforce policies that would otherwise be shelved, Berrada says. Any changes to border crossing protocols require calm and composed negotiations.

    “Strong-arming Canada into accepting a proposal during this pandemic is inappropriate,” he says. “It devalues Canadian-American relations and threatens their stability.”

    While Berrada is confident current restrictions on travel between Canada and the U.S. will eventually be removed, he warns that U.S. plans to militarize the border will possibly continue if negotiations aren’t fruitful. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s position as Canada’s chief negotiator is a sign that Canada will not take the issue lightly.

    “Canadians should be wary about the possibility of a lingering military presence that may stretch beyond the pandemic,” says Berrada.

    The U.S. military has no domestic policing capabilities and can only serve as a support force within American borders.

    “Donald Trump is pulling out all the cards in an attempt to have a policy objective implemented and to be seen as a ‘tough on immigration’ leader prior to the fall election,” says Berrada.

     

    Ibrahim Berrada, Instructor with Brock’s Centre for Canadian Studies, is available for phone and video interviews.

    For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

    * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected], 905-347-1970

    – 30 –

    Categories: Media releases

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