Inuit exiles the basis of professor's boycott

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What's in a name?

A lot, according to one Carleton University professor.

Foster Griezic has teen teaching history at the school's Ottawa campus

for 25 years, but he hasn't set foot in its administration building for

three years. He refuses to enter the building solely because of its

name: Robertson Hall.

The building was renamed in 1993 to honor Gordon Robertson, a former

chancellor of Carleton University and a high ranking civil servant in

the federal Liberal government of the 1950s.

But Robertson was also a key figure in the relocation of 86 Inuit to

the High Arctic during the '50s, an act for which the present Liberal

government has just agreed to provide $10 million in compensation.

Robert's role in the relocation is no grounds for the honor that

Carleton has bestowed on him, Griezic argues.

"It really is a slight to the Inuit who were so badly treated by Mr.

Robertson and by the Canadian government. The university should not

condone that activity in any sense by naming a building after the man

who perpetrated the deed."

Griezic's indignation has been heightened by plans to hold an Inuit art

fair and symposium at Carleton June 1 and 2. He believes it's a

conflict of interest to try to promote Inuit art and culture in the

shadow of a building named after Gordon Robertson. Symposium organizers

from the Inuit Art Foundation could not be reached for comment.

From 1953 to 1955, 17 Inuit families were moved 2,000 km from Inukjuak,

Que. and Pond Inlet, N.W.T. to Resolute Bay and Craig Harbour in the

High Arctic. Government officials said the move was necessitated by

poor living conditions and starvation level food shortages.

But those who were moved say they were thrown into winters of almost

constant darkness with no housing and little food. A 1977 Indian

Affairs report suggested the move was part of a plan to establish

Canadian sovereignty in the High Arctic during the Cold War.

The relocated Inuit and their families recently received the

compensation agreement from the federal government, but no formal

apology. Instead, a reconciliation statement acknowledges the "hardship,

suffering and loss" caused by the move.

Gordon Robertson remains adamant that what he did was right.

"I don't think for a minute that they suffered any real hardship," he

told Southam News in March. "I am completely baffled by the

compensation. The reason for the move was to improve the lot of these

people, and I think they were better off."

Mary Silllett, vice-president of Inuit Tapirisat, Canada's national

Inuit organization, expressed guarded support for Griezic's concern over

the naming of Robertson Hall.

That particular part of history is not something that Canada should

necessarily be proud of. Anyone who was involved in the particular

(Liberal) administration and in those major decisions at that time

should not be given credit."

Prof. Griezic has boycotted Robertson Hall since its renaming and

continues to send letters of protest to university staff and

administrators, all to no avail. He said some of his colleagues have

privately expressed support, but are afraid to speak publicly for fear

of retribution from school administrators.

Madeleine Dion Stout is the director of Carleton's Centre for

Aboriginal Education, Research and Culture. She said her organization

is taking its cues on Robertson Hall from the Inuit community itself.

"On June 1 and 2, the Inuit Art Festival will be here, so that

indicates to me that there's still a certain comfort level (among) the

Inuit to work at Carleton University." She pointed out that a member of

her centre's advisory board is an Inuit woman who is also involved in

organizing the art symposium.

The larger issue is that administrators didn't really consult staff and

students on the name change, Stout said. The centre has heard no

complaints about the name of Robertson Hall from anyone expect Griezic,

she said.

Carleton University spokesman Pat O'Brien said Robertson Hall was named

primarily to honor Rbertson's former role as chancellor of the

university, not his political career. School administrators have

received no other complaints about the building's name except Griezic's

he said, adding there's "absolutely no consideration" towards changing

the name at this time.

"Prof. Griezic has every right to express his opinion, but this opinion

is not shared by everyone, O'Brien said. "I don't believe its shared by

all of the Native peoples of this country in particular."