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Are students and staff at either the University of Manitoba or University of Winnipeg feeling threatened since October 7?
By BERNIE BELLAN With tensions heightened to unprecedented levels at some university campuses across the US and Canada as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas, I wondered what it’s been like for students and staff at the Universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba this past month.
I set about contacting students, professors, and representatives of administrations at both universities.
As a preamble to writing about what I found out, it is important to explain that ten and a half year years ago, as a result of the efforts of Josh Morry, then a Commerce student at the University of Manitoba, a group know as Students Against Israeli Apartheid (or SAIA for short) was banned from the University of Manitoba campus.
Morry was able to use the University of Manitoba Students Union’s own rules to bring about that result. Morry cited something called Policy # 2009: “UMSU does not condone behaviour that is likely to undermine the dignity, self-esteem or productivity of any of its members or employees and prohibits any form of discrimination or harassment whether it occurs on UMSU property or in conjunction with UMSU-related activities. Therefore, UMSU is committed to an inclusive and respectful work and learning environment, free from:
- discrimination or harassment as prohibited in the Manitoba Human Rights Code;
- sexual harassment; and
- personal harassment.”
Not much more was heard about the decision to ban SAIA from the U of M campus for years – until recently, when another anti-Israel group, this time with a different name but the same agenda as SAIA, organized a demonstration against Israel on October 13. The demonstration was in response to Israel’s moves against Hamas following Hamas’s massacre of Israelis and foreign nationals on October 7, along with the taking of what we now know were 240 individuals as hostages.
The name of the group this time is Students for Justice in Palestine (or SJP for short).
What this group has been able to do, however, is take advantage of the fact that it is not a registered group on the University of Manitoba campus and, as a result, both the university administration and UMSU say they are powerless to prevent it from holding demonstrations or from disseminating anti-Israel literature.
In what seems akin to a Catch-22 situation, in an email I received from Vanessa Koldingnes, Vice-President External at the university – in response to a question I posed to her about SJP, Ms. Koldingnes wrote, with reference to SPJ: “this group is not currently recognized as a registered student club by UMSU. This does not prevent this group from assembling peacefully or booking university space for events or displays, in accordance with UM’s Use of Facilities policy.”
Apparently, however, UMSU has refrained from banning SJP because, according to a source within Hillel, the Jewish students’ organization at the U of M, SJP hadn’t completed its application to become a recognized organization on campus. As the source told me, UMSU is taking the position that “oh well, they’re not a club; we’re not taking a position on them. There are fewer restrictions on unofficial groups than there are for official groups – for some reason.” (I attempted to contact UMSU for a response, but did not hear back.)
In other words, because it hasn’t been banned yet from the University of Manitoba – for engaging in exactly the same kind of behaviour as its predecessor organization, SAIA, which led to its being banned by UMSU, SJP will be allowed to conduct protests against Israel on campus – and have a table in the University Centre where its members will be allowed to disseminate anti-Israel and pro-Hamas propaganda.
In order to get a better feel for what’s been happening at both university campuses, I went down to both – to the U of W on November 1 and to the U of M on November 2. I spent considerable time looking around to see whether there were any overt displays, either anti-Israel or pro-Israel, on both campuses.
Since news of the heightened dangers Jewish students at many campuses in the United States – especially at some Ivy League schools, in particular Cornell, along with York University here in Canada, have been facing, I wondered what Jewish university students in Winnipeg – or professors, for that matter, have been experiencing these past four weeks.
When I attended both universities I was quite expecting to see the kinds of fanatically anti-Israel posters that have been commonly displayed at so many American universities. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were no posters of any kind visible at either university – neither anti-Israel nor pro-Israel.
I had heard, however, that students at the University of Manitoba who had been wearing visible Jewish symbols, such as a kippah or Star of David, had been subjected to harassment at that university, including being spat upon.
In order to find out first-hand what it’s been like for Jewish students at the U of M these past four weeks, I made my way to the Hillel office in the University Centre. When I entered the quite small office I was surprised to see so many students – there must have been at least 20, crammed into such a small space. It was lunch hour, however, and many of the students that I saw were eating their lunches. Several of them were wearing kippot or Stars of David.
I was able to speak with one of the students (who asked that I not identify them by name; they were naturally concerned for their safety and when I told them that I was also going to post this article to our website, we both agreed that, for their sake, they should remain anonymous).
During the course of our lengthy conversation, the student told me several things about what life has been like for Jewish students at the U of M. I asked whether there have been any incidents involving Jewish students and members of Students for Justice in Palestine. I was told that whenever Jewish students (who are identifiably Jewish because they’re wearing either a kippah or Star of David) “go up to them” and try to engage in dialogue, “they’re told, ‘No, I don’t walk to talk to you – go away.’ On top of that,” the source said, “they’re putting out documents saying ‘’all Israelis are supremacists, all Israelis are settlers.’ “
Beyond the kinds of literature disseminated by SJP, I was curious to know whether there have been reports of Jewish students or professors being threatened, either verbally, physically, or on line. I was told that one Jewish professor at the University of Manitoba is especially nervous because of threats that professor has received, but was offered no specifics. I was also told about a Zoom call that took place Wednesday evening, November 1, in which a number of different professors from both the U of M and the U of W participated, sharing their recent experiences with antisemitism on campus. The source with whom I was speaking gave me the name of one professor at the University of Winnipeg who, the source suggested, might be able to share their recent experience with antisemitism.
I contacted Haskel Greenfield, Head of Judaic Studies at the University of Manitoba, to ask him whether he’s personally experienced any acts of antisemitism since October 7 or whether he knew of any professors who might have experienced any.
On Friday, November 3, I received an email from Haskel to which he attached a poster that had been put up opposite his office in the Fletcher Argue building at the U of M.
Haskel also sent me a copy of an email that he had just sent to a number of different individuals at the U of M:
“I am making a formal complaint that I am being targeted with hateful messages. Thursday morning, I found this poster posted on the wall opposite my office door in Fletcher Argue 447. As coordinator for Judaic Studies, I am being targeted and not protected by the UofM. It is shameful and frightening at the same time
“This was put up by a group that advocates the destruction of the State of Israel and all Jews, regardless of where they live. It is funded by known terrorist organizations as well. This poster openly advocates for the policies of BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israel and Jews) which is named as an example of an antisemitic policies by the government of Canada.
“I think it is time that such groups be banned from being on campus as they are promulgating hate speech, just as UMSU did 10 years ago, and how the entire state of Florida has done because SJP openly supports terrorists (just as they do on this campus as they have put out flyers telling students to take up the call of the military wing of HAMAS). No one else on my floor had such a notice put up opposite their door.
“Maybe it is time to consider beefing up security for Jewish professors and students, and to limit access to the 4th floor of FA, especially after the recent break-ins and homeless people sleeping there. I have to keep my doors locked at all times now given the lack of security and dangerous people prowling the hallways.
“I have removed the offensive poster from the wall. I am attaching a copy for you.”
In response to Haskel’s email, I emailed a question to Vanessa Koldingnes, in which I asked, “I see that the poster has IJV on the bottom as well as CJPME. I wonder what the university’s policy is re allowing either of those groups to put up posters on campus?”
Ms. Koldingnes responded, ”I can confirm these posters were not approved. When security observes a poster without stamped approval, it is removed.”
I also contacted the professor at the University of Winnipeg who, I was told by the Hillel representative, had been part of that Zoom call on Wednesday evening and had mentioned antisemitism at the U of W. That professor did respond (and again, the professor preferred to remain anonymous). They wrote though, that I was misinformed by the Hillel representative; they have not encountered any overt forms of antisemitism at the U of W.
In the email sent to me by that professor, they wrote: “I have not seen any direct or overt forms of antisemitism or anti-Israel propaganda.” Instead, they referred to “the covert or systemic forms of antisemitism that we’ve experienced at the university. Anecdotally, some students have told me they feel unsafe, and one mentioned a professor downplaying antisemitism. But, again, these are anecdotes and I don’t have any evidence to prove this.
“I will say, however, that I see colleagues on social media calling the flag of Israel fascist (which should concern anyone who sends their children to Jewish schools, goes to the Rady JCC, or who attends a synagogue, all of which are places that fly the flag of Israel.) The same colleague also refers to Israel on social media as ‘whiteness,’ but there are issues of academic freedom that come into play here; and, this is something, however, that I have already discussed with the Human Rights and Diversity Office at the university, with whom I have a meeting next week.”
While Jews are experiencing new and unprecedented levels of antisemitism throughout the world, and there has been at least one incident reported by the Winnipeg Police Service about a bullet being shot through the window of a Jewish-owned home, the situation in Winnipeg has not, so far, been shown to be as dangerous for Jews as it is in so many other cities. Granted, the level of vitriol on social media has shot through the roof. So many of us have seen absolutely vile antisemitic posts on social media – some originating in Winnipeg, but aside from that one very scary incident of a bullet being fired through a window, along with other reports of swastikas appearing at certain locations, we haven’t received reports of the kind of threats against Jews here that have become widespread in other parts of the world.
And, while Jewish students and professors at our two major universities may be feeling insecure these days, relatively speaking, Winnipeg students have not seen anywhere the level of overt antisemitism that has reared its ugly head at so many other campuses throughout North America.
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Thoughts on Sid Green
By GRANT MITCHELL (Grant Mitchell is a well-known lawyer in Winnipeg whose father, Leon Mitchell, was Sid Green’s law partner for many years.
Following are remarks Grant delivered at the meal of remembrance which was held following Sid Green’s funeral on June 9:
Sid was a Gold medallist in law in the class of 1955.
He knew that my Dad, Leon Mitchell, was in sole practice in the Confederation Building. Leon was 13 years older than Sid but graduated just the year before. Leon had been the business agent for the Civic Employees Union of the City of Winnipeg before and during law school, and his union connections gave him a client base to start a practice.
After obtaining his call to the Bar, Sid attended Leon’s office and informed him, “You need me.”
Leon was taken aback. He was physically disabled from a major bout of Guillen-Barre syndrome, but felt fully capable of practising solo. He told Sid he didn’t need anyone.
Sid told Leon, “You don’t understand. I don’t mean you need me to advise clients, I mean I can do the physical side for you, attending court and hearings and other functions that require mobility.”
With that understanding, they became Mitchell & Green, and later Mitchell, Green and Minuk when Sam Minuk joined the firm. They were the only labour firm in Winnipeg at that time that acted exclusively on the Union side.
In around 1960, a Mitchell & Green client did not have the money to pay for his legal fees and offered the partially constructed cottage he was building at Big Whiteshell Lake to the firm as payment, with the excess to be refunded to the client. Sid and Leon became co-owners of that cottage. For years it had no plumbing and an incomplete ceiling. When Leon died in 1987, Sid got the cottage.
When Sid went into politics, Leon supported the move, and in fact delivered the nomination speech for Sid to be leader of the NDP when he ran against Russ Paulley and then Ed Schreyer.
When Sid was made a Cabinet Minister in the Schreyer government in 1969, Leon also left practice to go into public service, as Chair of the Municipal Board, Chair of the Mental Review Board and Commissioner in the Churchill Forest Industries inquiry. Sam Minuk became a Provincial Judge. It was the end of Mitchell Green and Minuk. That practice was the foundation of what has become the Myers firm.
Sid and Leon’s paths would cross again when Leon was mediator of the Northern Flood Agreement and Sid was the Minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro.
They had been professional partners with profound mutual respect, but they were also personal friends and remained so for the rest of Leon’s life.
Leon had a huge admiration for people he thought were unusually intelligent. Sid was at or near the top of that list.
At the funeral, I spoke of Sid’s relationship with my father, Leon Mitchell.
I will just add that during their years at the Confederation Building and then in the Crown Trust Building, they hired an articling student named Bill Rachman, who made Sid and Leon nervous about everything he did. When the articling period ended, Sid told Leon that notwithstanding their reservations about Bill’s ethics and practicing skills, Bill would be far more financially successful than either Sid or Leon. Leon agreed. They were correct.
When Sid returned to private practice after his time in government, the unions and he had a falling out and he found himself acting against unions rather than on their behalf
Sid’s philosophy on unions was that protective labour laws produced weak unions, who would not represent their members’ interests effectively. He felt that Wagner Act type labour legislation, now universal in North America, was a tragic compromise by unions. He believed that the recognition strike and the wildcat strike were fundamental weapons for successful trade unions, and that certification of unions, the duty to bargain in good faith and mandatory grievance arbitration were the poor cousins of the recognition and wildcat strikes. This was opposite to the position of the union movement at that time, which lobbied strenuously for union-friendly legislation in the form of greater and greater regulation of the union employer relationship.
In fact, Sid said that the only labour laws that unions should need were to protect the right to picket, and to take away a court’s power to order a person to work. These 2 provisions are found in sections 56 and 57 of the King’s Bench Act to this day, more than 50 years later, and still known to people of my generation as the “Sid Green amendments”. No injunction to enforce a personal services contract. No injunction to restrict assembly on a public thoroughfare to communicate accurate information, that is, a picket sign.
Sid supplemented professors at the law school, Robson Hall, by delivering several lectures in each term about the fundamentals of labour law. I taught that course for 22 years and I had Sid come for a guest lecture, as he had done in the labour law class when I was a student.
He had a powerful and persuasive way of making his points. For example, he felt that a legislated duty to bargain in good faith was a mistake – let the parties fight it out, and let the stronger survive. If employers don’t bargain genuinely, the response is to hold a strike, not run to the labour board.
“If I offer $1, $2, $3, $5, $10 then I’m bargaining in good faith. If I offer $10, $10, $10, $10, then I’m bargaining in bad faith. But it’s still $10!”
He didn’t like certification and preferred the recognition strike. Settle disputes through battle, not argument. Conflict rather than compromise. He particularly objected to certifying unions by card count as opposed to secret ballot vote. A card signer had no meaningful way of revoking their support for the union if they changed their mind after the union applied for certification.
Sid said, “If I buy a vacuum cleaner from a door to door salesman, under the CPA I have a month to change my mind and get my money back. But if I sign a union card, the next day may be too late to change my mind. Which is more important, having a union take over my bargaining rights, or buying a vacuum cleaner?”
Apart from representing employees against unions, Sid also built a practice of representing lawyers who faced disciplinary action from the Law Society. When he ran to be a bencher, he received more votes than any other candidate, even though he was not affiliated with any of the larger law firms. As a bencher, he would send out a “Report from a Bencher” after each Bencher meeting, giving his analysis on the decisions the Society was making, often critical of the majority.
In so many ways, he believed in a “survival of the fittest” approach to human differences. He did not care for protectionist legislation like Human Rights laws. He particularly objected to affirmative action or any other form of “reverse discrimination”.
In one case I had with him, he was acting for Nabila Malik, an economist in the Cabinet secretariat who had been laid off. I was acting for the employer. He called me to tell me that he wished to amend his statement of claim. “I want to add a paragraph to the claim to say that in letting my client go, the government violated its own affirmative action policy because the policy said that there should be more women in senior civil service positions and yet my client, a woman, was let go when many men in senior civil service positions had remained employed.
“Do you object to my amendment?” “No.”
“You don’t think I believe in that affirmative action bullshit do you?” “I don’t know.”
“I DON’T!” But I say, ‘If you are going to preach bullshit, you have to practice bullshit.’”
Sid took up hockey when he was 50. As a young man, he had been a good athlete, quarterbacking the law school football team. It was a late stage of life to learn to skate and join a new sport but Sid approached it with the same gusto he applied to everything else. When he awoke after cardiac surgery a few years later, his first question was, “Will I still be able to play hockey?” You don’t have to be great at something to love it, as I well know. And Sid loved to play hockey, indoors or out.
An employer client of mine had one of its managers vilified in the union newsletter – the “Golden Turkey Award”. My client said, “We want a lawyer for the manager, and we want that lawyer be one with the kind of reputation that when the other side sees who is threatening to sue them, they will involuntarily cringe uncontrollably.” I gave them 2 names, with Sid’s being the second one. “Sid Green, that name sounds familiar. Who is he?” “Oh, he was once the Minister of Labour in the NDP government, but after he left politics, the unions treated him as a pariah, and now he fights them regularly.” “That’s the guy we want.” Sid took the case. He got a settlement offer so generous that the manager desperately wanted to accept it: full page retraction, apology, substantial payment. He may have been a turkey, but he was not foolish. Sid said it was not enough. He got more, before yielding to the client’s wish to settle. And oh, yeah, there were no more golden turkeys awarded.
Sid loved to litigate. He would rather fight than settle. His adversaries knew that, and as a result, he achieved great settlements. Sid’s rejection of an offer was never a bluff.
He had a fundamental belief in democracy, that the rules should be made by people who were elected, not appointed. If he had the choice, he would prefer to be a law maker rather than a lawyer or judge. He also felt that if a matter was worth taking on, it was worth taking all the way. I doubt that any private lawyer has been involved in more appeals.
Others know more about Sid’s career as a politician than I do. He did love to tell one story about his time in government. In 1975, Bob “Junior” Wilson had just been elected in a Wolseley by-election, narrowly defeating Sid’s friend, D’Arcy McCaffrey. In his first appearance in the Legislative Assembly, Wilson stood up to make his maiden speech. The protocol had long been that when a member speaks for the first time, they give a benign speech about how honoured they are to serve their constituents and how they look forward to working with everyone in the house. Instead, Wilson launched into an attack on the governing Schreyer government, accusing them of every misdeed known to politics, and demanding that they immediately resign and call a general election. It fell to Sid to respond on behalf of the NDP majority.
“The Honourable Member has ignored the usual protocol for new members. I don’t mind that. I have no particular affinity for protocols. I think members should say what they genuinely feel. So I commend the Member for being so frank. I have some difficulty with his message, however. He says that we should resign and cease to govern. But that would be undemocratic. A majority of Manitobans have elected us to run the Province. That is our duty. He may not like it, but the fact is that we are his government. But if he feels badly about that, he should imagine how I feel. He is my member!!”
I’ll close by saying that in Sid’s pre-politics practising days, there were many colourful lawyers that made being a lawyer a fascinating profession. By the time he returned to practice, there were only a few of the wild ones left. The profession needed a gadfly like Sid to make practice fun. The reason he got so many votes from the profession is that Manitoba lawyers recognized that in Sid there was a fearlessness mixed with skill, humour, joy and a profound understanding of the policy reasoning behind the letter of the law. There was no one like him, and I doubt that there will be one. I will miss him.
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Sid Green – famed lawyer, one of the first Jewish provincial cabinet ministers, and first director of BB Camp – passes at age 96
By BERNIE BELLAN Sid Green, whose name was well known in so many different circles in Manitoba, passed away on Sunday, June 7, at the age of 96.
Green was perhaps best known as one of three Jewish Members of the Legislature who became cabinet ministers in the first ever NDP government in Manitoba, which came to power in 1969 under the leadership of Ed Schreyer. (The other two Jewish members who became cabinet ministers were the late Saul Cherniack and the late Saul Miller.)
Green, who had first been elected as an MLA in 1966 representing the riding of Inkster, led a challenge to then-NDP leader Russ Paulley in 1968, which eventually led to Paulley resigning as leader. The subsequent leadership race saw Green, who was only 39 at the time, facing off against a 32-year-old Ed Schreyer.
Although Green and Schreyer were later to part ways over a number of issues – especially over the issue of aid to private schools, Green and Schreyer were actually good friends.
In fact, Ed Schreyer, who is now 90, spoke at Green’s funeral, which was held Tuesday, June 9, at the Chesed Shel Emes (with interment following at the Hebrew Sick Benefit Cemetery).
Schreyer told some humourous stories about his and Sid’s competition for the NDP leadership back in 1969. Although the two were rivals they agreed occasionally to share expenses along the way as they toured various Manitoba locations, including one night in a hotel in Flin Flon (or it may have been somewhere else; I wasn’t taking notes at the funeral.) Regardless, they agreed to share a room that night but, as Schreyer recalled, it had to have “two beds.”
Another time during that race, when they were somewhere in western Manitoba, they both received a call from someone in a place on the eastern shore of Lake Manitoba. (Again, I don’t remember which location Schreyer said it was.) The caller said they both had to get there soon because there was going to be a crowd of several hundred people gathered for some other event – and it would have been a perfect time to do some politicking.
But, as they pointed out to the caller, that location was 250 kilometres away and they couldn’t possibly drive there on time – so they both agreed to hire a float plane to fly them there. Unfortunately, that was a very windy day, Schreyer noted, and the plane wasn’t able to land close enough to shore for the both of them to wade in. Instead they decided to jump off the plane’s pontoon – landing up to their armpits in water. They bravely went to meet the assembled crowd – in their soaking wet suits.
Green had a long career as an MLA, being elected to the Manitoba Legislature four times: in 1966, 1969, 1973, and 1977. Eventually he broke completely with the NDP and, along with fellow NDP MLA Ben Hanuschak, started a new party, called the Manitoba Progressive Party, in 1981, which failed abysmally.
I remember well how captivating a speaker Sid Green was when he was campaigning in 1981. One story that he told several times to different audiences went along these lines: After the NDP first formed government in 1969 – much to the surprise of almost everyone back then, Green was often called upon to speak at different venues because he was such a powerful orator.
One time he was somewhere in rural Manitoba and before he was called up to the podium to deliver his remarks, the person who was introducing Green said to the audience: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce to you the ‘Green Minister.'”
Not missing a beat, Sid took to the podium and said something along the following lines to the audience: “My first appointment to Cabinet was as Minister of Energy, Mines, and Natural Resources. Well, I little knew about energy, even less about mines, and nothing at all about natural resources. So the title “the Green Minister” is an apt one.”
In his early years, Sid Green was a very active member of the YMHA on Albert Street, serving as president of the house council for several years. A dedicated athlete, Green competed in basketball and volleyball at the Y. At the age 50 he took up ice hockey – and was known for his fierce competitiveness. He was to serve on the board of directors of the YMHA for many years, right up until its closing in 1997.
Green was also the quarterback for the University of Manitoba law school football team during the early 1950s – and led them to two school championships. In a 2019 interview I conducted with Green about his early years at the YMHA, he noted that he was the only 5’6″ 150 pound quarterback in the inter-faculty league.
In 1954 Green became the first director of BB Camp, which had just moved to Town Island from Sandy Hook.
In 1955, Green graduated from the U of M law school, winning the gold medal in law that year.
He went on to become one of Manitoba’s most successful labour lawyers, subsequently pairing withfamed labour lawyer, Leon Mitchell, later to be joined by Sam Minuk (who was to become a provincial court judge) in what became the firm of Mitchell, Green & Minuk.
During his time as a lawyer, Green often represented employers – which might seem a little surprising for someone who such a staunch NDPer. But Green was staunchly opposed to entrenching laws such as anti-scab legislation or secret ballot voting to unionize. He thought it important to represent any client, including employers engaged in disputes with unions, no matter how much he might have disagreed with that client’s position, and because he was so skilful in arguing a case, he was much sought after by employers to represent them in labour disputes.
He was so respected as a lawyer, moreover, that he was often asked to represent other lawyers in cases before the courts.
Green was also very pro-Israel and extremely proud of his Jewish roots. Although not a religious man, during his many years at the Y – first on Albert Street, then later on Hargrave, Green was involved in developing many Jewish cultural programs.
In days to come we will have much more about the life of Sid Green. In the meantime, if you want to watch a video interview I did with Sid about his experiences at the Y on Albert Street, you can go to Sid Green reminisces.
Sid Green was predeceased by his wife Shleema in 2009 and is survived by his five children: Arthur, MIndy, Cathy, Sharon, and Marty, as well as 15 grandchildren.
For more about Sid Green’s career, read Grant Mitchell’s eulogy, which was delivered at the Meal of Remembrance following Sid Green’s funeral on June 9: Grant Mitchell on Sid Green
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