RMC ads banned at University of Ottawa student paper...

...along with any others connected to the CF/DND. From an editorial in the Fulcrum:

THIS ISSUE MARKS the last issue of the Fulcrum in which an advertisement for the Canadian Armed Forces, any of its subsidiaries, or anything involving military recruitment will run. Beyond obvious organizations like the army, navy, or air force, as of May 1, 2008, we will no longer accept ads from the likes of the Royal Military College, the National Search and Rescue Secretariat, or anything else that falls under the Department of National Defence umbrella.

The Fulcrum’s annual general meeting (AGM), held in the Unicentre on March 19, marked a number of firsts for our publication (“our” referring to the U of O student body, not merely its editorial staff), not the least of which was the substantial turnout. This year marked the Fulcrum’s third AGM since its independence from the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO). These AGMs serve as an opportunity for all students at the U of O—both graduate and undergrad—to gather, elect members to our board of directors, enact policy, and hear updates on how the paper is doing from a business perspective. At the previous two meetings, attendance was miniscule, barely making the quorum of 35 voters both years. In comparison, this year’s meeting saw at least 178 members cast their vote.

Perhaps a more notable first, though, from our staff’s perspective, was the motion that the vast majority of those at the meeting came to vote on regarding a boycott of National Defence advertisements. It eventually passed [93 for the boycott, 85 against], making the Canadian military the first organization to be boycotted by the Fulcrum (at least in institutional memory)...

The editorial has, I think, a very reasonable conclusion:

The right for U of O students to have a say in how the Fulcrum is run is not in question here, but whether this was the right manner in which to bring about such a discussion is. Had we have received a single letter to the editor questioning our advertising policy to spark the debate prior to the meeting and inform more of the readership of any concerns, it would have been a different story. Particularly when so many of the people in favour of the boycott have never been shy about writing letters on previous issues.

It was disheartening to see that the majority of students that spoke at this meeting were heavily involved with the two organizations on campus the Fulcrum works hard to be politically independent from--the SFUO and the Graduate Students’ Association. At the next SFUO Board of Administration (BOA) meeting at 1 p.m. on April 6 in the Senate room of Tabaret (083), there will be a discussion about whether the SFUO should endorse a campaign to end the war in Afghanistan. With this boycott in recent memory, we encourage the BOA to think about how level the playing field really is for the significant number of students that don’t agree with this position. This motion has politicized the advertising policies of campus media, and if this campaign is adopted, the climate on campus will not be one of debate, but of one-sided rhetoric courtesy of those elected to represent the interests of all students that attend classes at this university.

The Fulcrum has never taken a position on the war in Afghanistan or whether Canada should have a military at all. That’s a stand that can be taken by every student at the University of Ottawa on his or her own. Feel free to tell us what you decide.

Ah, the power of organized, ideological minorities. Here's the audio of an interview with the paper's editor-in-chief this morning on CBC radio, Ottawa.

H/t to Ken Edwards for the info and links.