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SPORTS
Cougars looking to promised land
by Chris Jaster
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Eyes on Sports
Go Bettman go!
by Steven Kiser
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Fit as a fiddle
A dream we all share
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Cougars control own destiny
by Chris Jaster
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NEWS
NDP’ers speak amongst friends
by Jeanette Stewart
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Arts plus co-op equals a useful degree
by Jeanette Stewart
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Regina gets Bloc’d
by Chris Jaster
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Loose a tonne and feel great
by Cassie Hawrysh
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Trouble in paradise
by Stephane Bonneville
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FEATURES
A reflection on England
by Morgan bradshaw
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Aught four: The year in film
by Dan MacRae, Steven Kiser, Cassie Ozog and Kent Farago
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Artistic License
Humanities darkest hour
by Emily Elias
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Spliced Politics in film: not rubbish
by Luke Fandrich
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2004: Year of the biopic
by Ryan Good
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COMMENTARY
Racism rears its ugly head
Editorial
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Bad moon rising
Commentary
by Justin Ludwig
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Confessions of a freshman
I pierced my face
by Amy O’Teri
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At the Gates
Food, faith and friends
by Lee Harding
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Trouble in paradise
by Stephane Bonneville
the Carillon
U of R research
partnership under fire
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The University of Regina’s partnership with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is being called into question over that company’s record on human rights.
The CNPC, which is contributing $2.1 million US to the Petroleum Technology Research Centre in exchange for expertise in oil recovery, has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its activities in Sudan.
Human Rights Watch slammed the CNPC in a 754-page report documenting links between resource exploitation and human rights violations in that country, where 70,000 people are reported to have died as a result of an ongoing conflict.
According to the report, military attacks on southern regions of Sudan have been facilitated by roads, bridges and airfields built by the CNPC (which owns a 40 per cent share of the Sudanese oil consortium) and other oil companies. It also alleges that the oil companies have been “aware of the killing, bombing, and looting that took place in the south, all in the name of opening up oilfields.”
Based on such reports, U of R student Christopher Taylor contended that the CNPC should not be welcome at the university. He said the U of R has an ethical responsibility not to do business with companies allegedly involved in human rights abuses.
“No institution of higher learning should cultivate financial ties of this magnitude with any human rights abuser, let alone one complicit in on-going genocide,” said Taylor. “It will be a huge black eye on this university.”
But according to Allan Cahoon, Vice President of Research and Development at the U of R, shunning the CNPC wouldn’t have been the appropriate course of action. He explained that the company’s involvement in Sudan is a concern to the university, but there must be an open dialogue in order to encourage improvement on that issue.
“The way you get people to think about social responsibility and a broader sense of responsibility is through an education process,” said Cahoon.
He also said establishing a personal relationship with the company is necessary to have such a discussion. “That relationship is that you’re credible, and that you’re not there either to make fun of them in a racist sense or that you’re imperial in the sense that your morals are the right ones.”
Taylor remains doubtful that human rights are a concern to the university. He argued, however, the university administration should have been more forthcoming if they were truly concerned about the CNPC’s behaviour. “It’s clear that their motive wasn’t constructive engagement,” he said.
Senos Timon, a Sudanese refugee who heads the Saskatoon-based Southern Sudan Humanitarian Action Development Agency, is also skeptical that the partnership will benefit human rights.
Timon felt that, even if the university does have a dialogue with the CNPC about human rights issues, the company has no control over how oil revenues are used in Sudan. “They can’t say to the government, ‘Whatever you get from oil, don’t spend it on this or don’t spend it on that,’” he said.
Timon also questioned why the university would form a partnership with the CNPC when Talisman Energy, a Canadian oil company, left Sudan in 2002 as a result of public pressure. “What is the reason that Talisman pulled out?” he said. “They should really try to ask that before they get into any partnership with another company [doing business in Sudan].”
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