Arctic science conference steamed over ‘sexist’ remark

GALA BANQUET

statement about a misspeak that Martin had made several years ago at one of the Arctic science meetings we were holding,” said Barber.

“He was speaking at the end of the banquet and making a few comments about the meal and he said he went and sampled some of the vegetarian women to make sure they were happy with the food they had received.”

Fortier had meant “surveyed” and not “sampled.”

Barber said the speaker stated the bare bones of the word mix-up without explaining that it was another in a series of Fortier’s innocent linguistic mistakes.

On Thursday, an open letter began circulating at the conference and was released online with 26 signatories, mostly graduate and postgraduate students from universities across Canada.

“We were stunned and offended by the statements,” the letter reads. “Comments that frame women as ‘a buffet’ to sample are deeply offensive.”

The letter also says a speaker two days earlier used a photo of men making “inappropriate and sexually explicit” gestures.

“The trivialization of these behaviours at a professional event illustrates the deeply embedded sexist culture that exists in this field and this organization,” the letter says.

Frank Tester, an emeritus professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia, heard the “sampled” comment and signed the letter after speaking to some female researchers.

“Some of them were on the verge of tears,” he said.

“That one joke was bad enough to trigger a whole bunch of people, including myself and some of the people I walked out with, (to take action).”

Barber said the ArcticNet board has apologized. A second apology was delivered at a conference plenary session Friday.

“We’re apologizing for the fact there was no context provided for the statement that (the speaker) made Martin Fortier about the statement Martin Fortier made,” Barber said.

“We’re using this as a teaching opportunity to get them to understand the complexities of these things ... It is perfectly fine that people feel this was an inappropriate thing to say. They should have brought that up with the board. To take it and make it available to the media is inappropriate.”

Tester said Arctic science isn’t any more sexist than any other part of society — but it isn’t any less, either. He called the apologies a good start.