A policy governing Carleton’s model parliament debate has sparked criticism from students who say it censors discussion on important issues.
Members who want to participate in the event, organized by the Carleton Political Science Society (CPSS), must agree that they will not bring up controversial issues at any time, which according to the policy include gay marriage and rights, abortion, Quebec separation, gun control, Israel/Palestine, ongoing or major conflicts, and any disrespect to the crown.
The policy is in place because the goal of the debate is collaboration, said Ryan Husk, CPSS vice-president (political).
“Model parliament is not supposed to be some sort of political platform debate where students get to lay out their political agenda or whatnot. It’s supposed to be an enjoyable experience where students can have a lot of fun,” the third-year global politics and history major said.
Eighth-year human rights student Arun Smith said preventing discussion on these issues isn’t constructive.
“We’ve seen, on countless occasions, people of a certain political persuasion want to dissuade conversation on what are deemed divisive issues, and instead I guess talk about everything we already agree on,” Smith said. “I don’t think that builds any form of discussion. I don’t think that’s useful in any way except for maintaining the status quo.”
Husk said discussion of these controversial issues doesn’t lead to progress, and only creates anger and tension.
“Essentially, students will be coming to model parliament and we don’t want to put them into a non-constructive environment where they’re essentially cutting each other’s throats out,” he said.
The debate, set to take place February 2014, is the CPSS’ first since 2007. Husk said many of the rules are in place to protect students, and that it is a “cut-and-paste policy” from other successful model parliaments.
Smith said he feels students should be able to voice their opinions, regardless of venue rules.
“I think the best way to move forward is either to say ‘no, we’re actually going to treat this like a parliament and talk about issues,’” he said. “Or, if these are the rules that are being imposed upon us by the House of Commons, to abstain from participating and host it elsewhere.”
Smith said he believes it is important to give students the chance to talk about current issues in an academic setting.
“We absolutely need to be able to have discussions that validate marginalized peoples, experiences, and identities, not that retrench dominant narratives,” he said.
Husk said this isn’t the right forum.
“Simply, this is just not the place for these issues to be discussed. Certainly, they do have a place. At model parliament, that is not [it],” he said.
