the meringue marauders
An open letter to the Criminology Students' Union,
This letter is being written to clear up any confusion resulting from yesterday's pie-ing of BC's Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh.
We would like to make it clear that we bear no ill will towards the Criminology Students' Union. We are sorry to hear that some members of the Union felt we ruined their event. However, we would like to point out that the pie was purposely not delivered until AFTER the event, during a press scrum. In fact, most students in attendance at the event were leaving or had already left.
While some students and other members of the Simon Fraser Campus Community felt that this action was inappropriate, we feel that there are larger, more important issues involved. As Attorney General of BC, Ujjal Dosanjh oversaw the 1995 siege at Gustafsen Lake (see attached press release). The truth surrounding this incident has yet to be brought to light in a public forum. In fact, Mr. Dosanjh had his own subpoena to testify in the resulting trial quashed. His appearance at SFU yesterday was a rare opportunity to publicly confront him on these issues.
Again, we apologize for any misunderstandings and hurt feelings that may have resulted from our action. However, the need for Canadians to be aware of the actions of their own police force and elected officials-carried out in the name of 'democracy'-should supercede the concern with proper "question and answer etiquette". After all, eternal vigilance is the price of democracy.
Section Two of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees us the right to freedom of expression. When the government and the mainstream media allow only one side of the story to be told, it is both our right and responsibility to find creative ways to get another side of the story into the public arena.
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