Jock Turcot
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Francis James "Jock" Turcot (5 October 1943 – 25 December 1965) was President of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (then known as the Students' Union of the University of Ottawa) in 1965 and a leading figure of the Canadian student movement in the 1960s.[1]
Turcot was born on October 5, 1943, in Kenora. He was the eldest of 12 children.
Early involvement at uOttawa
Fluent in English and French, he came to the University of Ottawa to study civil law. His first notable post within the SUUO was when he became Publications Commissioner in April 1964.
As Publications Commissioner, he also created a commission with the goal of creating a charter for both the student papers.[2]
Presidency of the SUUO
Campbell Crisis
In the 1960s, the relationship between the student government and the university was marked by a battle for autonomy on the part of the student government. The university often interfered in the SUUO's affairs and threatened several times to expel student leaders for their activism, while the faculty associations repeatedly threatened to separate from the SUUO and the SUUO struggled financially. In late 1964, those tensions climaxed when SUUO President Robert Campbell attacked the university, accusing it of ignoring students and wasting their time, and stating that the SUUO would do whatever it took to gain independence. The SUUO's Grand Council, however, used that letter as a pretext to impeach Campbell, at which point the rest of the SUUO exec resigned in solidarity with Campbell.
In the special election that followed, Turcot quickly emerged as the compromise candidate, seeing as he had not been particularly involved with any of the political factions on campus.[3] On 17 January 1965, he was elected President of the SUUO for the remainder of the 1964-65 year.
Presidency
Upon becoming president, he soon released a long-term plan for the SUUO based on a Students' Charter, a study of the SUUO structure, a new SUUO Constitution, incorporation of the SUUO and the construction of a student centre for campus. He also quickly undertook consultations and meetings with all of the faculty associations on campus and began a practice of holding weekly press conferences to update students on SUUO affairs.
In March 1965, he was re-elected as president for the 1965–1966 term.
In November 1965, the SUUO led a march of over 800 students on Parliament Hill to demonstrate in favour of free tuition. As President, he also helped organise SUUO participation in the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, highlighted the situation of international students on campus for the first time, lobbied for the introduction of a reading week in the winter semester, and oversaw the creation of a charter for the SUUO Student Court.[4] He also helped formulate the SUUO's response to the Commission on the Financing of Higher Education in Canada led by Vincent Bladen, which rejected calls for free tuition.[5][6]