The Bull & Bear | Winter 2019 - Making it Work by The Bull & Bear

the BULL & BEAR

w i n t e r

2 0 1 9

a n

M A K I N G

M U S I T

p u b l i c a t i o n

W O R K

Features: News “It Takes a Village” 5 by Ryan London and Patricia Sibal Opinion “Making it Work” 12 By Zach Lanys and Sarah Farb

Winter 2019

Business & Technology “Working to Make It” 21 by Sean McNally and Guy Miller Arts & Culture “By Any Means Necessary” 29 by Morgan David and Adil Dostmohamed

table of contents Contributors

Editor’s Note

End of The Road for Teo Taxi by Youcef Sahnoune

Earn While You Learn: McGil Students with Part-Time Jobs 7 by Maya Abramson McGill Holds Information Session on Mandatory Consent Training 9 by Erica Sheffres Making it Work: Healthcare 10 by Makenna Woodward-Crackower The Constitution of McLennan by Danielle Nisker The Sick Note Disease by Troy Lebane

The Vegetarian Butcher by Ella Corkum

The Cost of Choosing a Side by Zabi Asam

When Shoes Explode By Youcef Sahnoune

Moving Forward with the Women’s March 31 by Jenna Benchetrit Ten Great 2018 Films Directed by Women 33 by Jacob Klemmer Bridging Time in Little Italy 36 by Celia Farrow

contributors Executive Board: Executive Editor Dan Schechner Managing Editor - Editorial Quinn Halman Managing Editor - Operations Ali Schwenk Web Editor Archit Gupta Media Editor Marie Picard Business Director William Horwitz Creative Director Melle Dumas Editorial Board: Arts & Culture Editors Adil Dostmohamed Morgan Davis Opinion Editors Zach Lanys Sarah Farb News Editors Ryan London Patricia Sibal Business & Technology Editors Sean McNally Guy Miller Copy Editors Clariza-Isabel Castro Nora Duffy Evan Luxenberg Sruthi Sudhir

Business Team: Sales Managers Sabrina Barkhouse Ksenia Shulyarenko Ben Spilg Brian Spivak Sales Coordinator Hana Gill Finance Officers Abigail MacKenzie-Armes Megan Abellera Operations Team: Marketing Officers Syd Palter Gabriel Martz Vanessa Wong Ee Shan Demi Assimacopoulos Media Team: Photographers Zeyna Benbrahim FrĂŠdĂŠric Lam Melis May Sarfati Ruby Mouhanna Sascha Fawaz Trevor Pan Layout Team: Layout Editors/Graphic Designers Audrey Normand Julia Enright Erin Sass Sarah Vickers

Photo (cover): Marie Picard

editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note

Why is it that the default response to how we’re doing is “busy”?

Bump into a friend on campus, and the conversation will eventually pivot to the many things you have on your plate. Between coursework, extra-curriculars and part-time work – not to mention social obligations, job applications, and one’s mental health – university is a grand exercise in trying to strike some sort of balance. Yet we each face different challenges, and so we try to find our own ways to overcome them. Some of us spend all day studying, driven by hopes for grad school. Others prioritize involvement in student politics, campus media (guilty!) or clubs and services. Some of us work to fund our education. And there are other commitments that might seem less familiar to the average student – some of us are parents, off-the-island commuters or religiously observant. Our winter edition sheds light on how students “make it work.” Our student body is united not by our individual challenges, but by our common efforts to succeed in spite of them. The balance is hard to obtain – and even harder to maintain – but frankly, we’re all just trying our best. This issue seeks to celebrate that truth, and we hope you’ll enjoy it.

dan schechner 4

n ew s

it takes a village

Most importantly, for these students, parenting comes first while school comes second. Lisa Gallagher, the Director of CPE McGill, told The Bull & Bear: “Being a parent is the ‘first identity.’” Melim added: “The child is the first priority. I don’t even know how you’d be able to focus on class when your child needs care, like when they’re sick, for example. It has an obvious emotional impact on parents.” Student-parents must balance these two different, and at times conflicting, identities and responsibilities they carry. Thankfully for some, there are resources available on campus so that they don’t have to do it alone, if they can get a spot. The McGill System McGill campus contains two major child-

But there are students on campus who face the same responsibility – for two. Some students have children, and therefore face the additional challenge of parenting – a 24/7 job – on top of balancing school and the rest of their lives. How do they do it? The Bull & Bear met with student-parents and the communities that support them to find out exactly how they make it work. Unique Challenges It will come as no surprise that caring for children demands significant emotional, financial, and physical resources that can conflict with school and other priorities. Salina Melim, the administrative director for SSMU Daycare, says that the biggest challenge is balancing time for attending classes and for keeping up with the workload, all while not neglecting your child.

Image: Sarah Vickers

affairs and health, but we are also in charge of managing the schedules and ensuring the wellbeing of our kids.” Anna*, a PhD student in the Faculty of Law and mother of two, said “It’s hard to function during the day if I’m losing sleep at night. I have to work at night while my kids are asleep.”

Most university students find it challenging enough to take proper care of themselves. The daily struggle of maintaining a (reasonably) healthy diet, leading an active social life, and getting enough sleep to function is more than enough to keep most students occupied with themselves alone.

Olivia Kurajian, a U3 student and mother to 3-year-old Evelyn, stated: “Being a parent affects everything in my academic life as well as my personal life. Not only must a student-parent manage their own academic

care institutions: the SSMU Daycare, which caters mainly to undergraduate and graduate students, and the McGill Childcare Centre (CPE), which serves mostly graduate students, faculty, and staff. These organizations make it easier for student-parents to pursue their studies by ensuring that their children are supervised and cared for throughout the day, in an accessible and nearby location. The Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE) also offers a Family Care Program, administered by Jessica Wurster, which seeks to support student-parents on campus. These institutions strive to help student-parents achieve a balance between their work, life, and study obligations. However, they lack a mechanism to account for the exact number of student-parents on campus, and so may not be meeting demand. For many parents, daycare services are essential to their continued attendance at the university. Kurajian stated: “If I didn’t have daycare services on campus, I could no longer be a student at McGill… A subsidized daycare on campus means that I

save hours of my day running around the island and I spend less money to send my daughter to daycare than I [would] spend on my daily lunch. Financially, physically, emotionally, realistically: without a subsidized spot in a daycare on campus, I could no longer be a McGill student.” The amount of money that student-parents save with campus-subsidized daycare is significant. Parents at CPE pay $8.75 a day, while parents at SSMU Daycare pay $8.25, compared to the $40 per day charged by private daycares. Though provincial daycare is subsidized, and costs as little as $7.55 a day per child, the wait time to get in can be several years, at which point children are already old enough to attend kindergarten. Similarly, McGill’s daycare resources are limited in their capacity. The greatest issue, according to Gallagher, is that “demand is much higher than the capacity to offer spaces.” SSMU Daycare has 40 spaces, while CPE has 110. Both institutions receive funding from the Provincial government for their operations and are sub-

NEWS ject to the Minister of Childcare’s permit capacity allowances. While the Quebec childcare system includes many benefits and services, availability is limited. Spots in daycare are highly competitive and wait times can be months to years long. Gallagher told The Bull & Bear that the average waiting period is three years from the time parents apply to the time they get a spot, and that women often sign their children up as soon as they become pregnant. At CPE, there are currently over 600 families on the waiting list; the centre takes 20-30 new spots each year. Though locals with knowledge of the system register as soon as they know they are expecting, international students are often not as familiar with the province’s system. They arrive in Quebec with the misconception that their child will automatically get access to daycare services, only to be told that the wait for a spot to open will be at least several months long. For international students with children and no local support network, the wait time issue is a serious dilemma. Some are forced to turn to private daycares, which are expensive and often located far from campus. Wurster said that of the ten daycares in downtown Montreal, eight are workplace-based. Melim said, ”Many parents are desperate, and I sympathize with them.” Government regulations for childcare services make expansion a costly and time-consuming goal. Melim told The Bull & Bear that SSMU Daycare is restricted by the simple lack of physical space: “To actually expand we would need to buy a building or rent a bigger space, plus structuring to fit government regulations such as access to bathrooms, reconfiguring spaces to be child-safe, and very strict government processes for the building.”

Building a Village It is not uncommon for student-parents to face obstacles due to the lack of awareness and understanding about their unique situation and needs. Kurajian stated, “I know many student-parents at McGill who suffer in solitude because the resources are thinly spread throughout campus and there are no official policies on assignments, exams, etc. as it relates to childcare responsibilities.” Anna added that time for socializing with peers is limited: “I have to choose between spending time with my kids or with other students.” However, she stated that as a graduate student with fewer courses and more independent research, her kids actually help with the more solitary experience: “My kids force me to go outside and spend time away from my thesis. They let me take a break, sleep better and eat better… It helps my brain to have a break.” Melim added, “There must be some leeway when it comes to professors in accommodating students with children.” She explained that she herself has had to write letters and make calls to professors to explain absences or late submissions due to emergencies concerning children. The problem is particularly acute for student-parents on scholarships, for whom academic failure could be ruinous. When it comes to graduate students, Wurster explained that sympathy from professors for their situation is given arbitrarily: “It is very dependent on how receptive a supervisor is. Some may have never dealt with student-parents and may not know how to be more accommodating. The current policy [for students with children] is not very specific.” The same lack of understanding is often present amongst peers, too. Kurajian explained that being a parent profoundly impacts the way she interacts with other students: “Being a par-

ent means that when other students... complain about their assignments or lack of sleep, I sometimes feel resentful. This is not because I fault them for feeling this way, as their feelings are justified, but I resent not having time to watch an episode of a show on Netflix or being able to go out past daycare hours, 5 days a week. Sometimes, student peers will invite me to events and it is embarrassing to have to decline.” Making it Work To address isolation faced by student-parents, both SSMU Daycare and McGill Childcare Centre aim to help parents build a support network amongst each other and across the greater McGill Community. Community-building takes place through events hosted for specific communities or purposes, including international spouses and partners, study weekends amongst student-parents, and coffee socials. Wurster says the challenge lies in “trying to build community between people that already don’t have much time, as student parents are extraordinarily busy.” All of the childcare providers had one thing in common: each spoke of deep admiration for their student-parents. Melim told The Bull & Bear: “I admire all of my parents. They are doing their doctorates and PhDs with kids and families. I just admire how great they are. They try to be so actively participants here. We really try to build a strong community with them.” Melim emphasized the importance of daycare services in making the pursuit of education more accessible for student parents. She stressed, “Education is the future for parents and for their children. At the end of the day, this is your life. Everything you have is for your studies, which determines the future you build for yourself and for your children.” Ryan London and Patricia Sibal

NEWS

Earn while you Learn: McGill Students with Part-Time Jobs

Maya Abramson Even with the help of scholarships and financial aid offered by McGill, many students still struggle to pay for university. Costs include: tuition, rent, textbooks, and food, and many do not receive financial support from their families to use toward these expenses. For a significant portion of McGill students, the solution is to take on one or more part-time jobs in Montreal in addition to their studies. The Bull & Bear sat down with some of these students to discuss the unique challenges they face in balancing work with student life. As of 2012, a study conducted by the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec found that over half of full-time university students in Que-

bec also had jobs, and that over 40 percent of undergraduate students worked for more than 20 hours per week. Across Canada, 56 percent of all undergraduate students were working jobs in addition to attending class. In this study, 43 percent of students noted that working had negative impacts on their studies. The Bull & Bear interviewed Sandy Chopko, an Administrative Officer at the Scholarships and Student Aid Office, about McGill’s Work Study Program. The program accepts students based primarily on financial need, and acts as a marketplace to match students with potential employers on McGill campus or with McGill-affiliated organizations. The McGill-affiliated employers are eligible for wage subsidies through

the program, creating what Chopko described as a “win-win” situation for both students and employers in need. Chopko believes it is advantageous for students to be placed in jobs on campus, stating, “Students don’t have to waste time commuting to and from work, and most positions accommodate students’ academic schedules.” One U2 anthropology student, ‘Danielle,’ whose real name has been changed to accommodate her privacy concerns, found a job through the workstudy program. Recounting poor treatment in a past job experience, Danielle explained: “I have worked jobs outside of the work-study program and find that the McGill work protocol/student union really makes a difference in terms of work environment and conditions.” She expressed gratitude for this program’s existence on campus and the support it provides eligible students. “I know many talented, bright and hardworking students who would have a difficult time attending McGill if this program did not exist,” she stated. Still, despite these advantages, Danielle explained the challenge of balancing work with school. She admitted: “The hardest part is time management … having a job has forced me to perfect my time-managing skills and to prioritize what I need to do.” An American first-year student, who will henceforth be known as ‘Amanda,’ has a job through Mc-

Image: Sarah Vickers

NEWS Gill’s Work Study Program as well as a second job off-campus, and is applying to a third job elsewhere. She is responsible for paying her own university tuition and does not receive financial assistance from her parents. Amanda shared her difficulty in paying McGill tuition, describing it as “better than a lot of American schools … however, compared to Canadian or Quebec students it’s ridiculously high.” Amanda told The Bull & Bear that her grades have occasionally suffered from dedicating her time to working. She disclosed that she has had to skip class and miss deadlines for assignments on more than one occasion because of work. She explained that working several jobs in addition to class is “definitely difficult when you have a lot of deadlines, and … really difficult during finals.” Amanda also lamented that many of her peers do not understand her need to work. “If you’re working that many hours while you’re in school, you’re not doing it because you want to,” she said.

year she moved from the McGill Ghetto to what she described as “the middle of nowhere,” but now feels more financially stable. She admitted: “In the Ghetto … I was working like a crazy person … and all of my money would go to hydro.” Thierry expressed that she now feels able to save and spend money more freely with much lower rent and utility bills outside the McGill Ghetto. Thierry was not eligible for the workstudy program because she did not meet the requirements of financial need. “I didn’t qualify, but they didn’t take into account that I wasn’t getting money from my parents,” she said. Amanda also noted that this was a concern for many of her peers, because students with parents above a certain income bracket can be disqualified from the workstudy program despite not receiving financial support from their parents.

Thierry’s description of her working experience admitted a lack of free time and relaxation, but she still remained very positive about her experiences. Although she works out of need, she recommends the experience of working or volunteering to all McGill students. She said: “Although it was chaotic, [and] although I didn’t watch Netflix [or], I didn’t have any … moments to chill, I learned a lot and I had good opportunities and I’m grateful for those.”

Image: Sarah Vickers

U3 Psychology major Sophia Thierry described her own experiences working as a student. In her time at McGill, Thierry has worked as a piano teacher, a swimming teacher, a tutor, a research assistant, and a caregiver. In contrast with other working students, Thierry believes that working has actually contributed to a sense of balance in her life. “Working is a part of my life, and it’s important to me,” she explained. “I it makes me happy.” While Thierry finds her work rewarding, she must work in order to pay her bills and stay at McGill. This 8

NEWS

McGILL HOLDS INFORMATION SESSION ON MANDATORY CONSENT TRAINING Erica Sheffres

On February 15, Dean of Students Christopher Buddle, Associate Provost (Equity and Academic Policies) Angela Campbell, and Teaching and Learning Services Skills Development Officer Alex Liepins held an information session on the upcoming McGill-wide consent training program. Starting this summer, all McGill students, faculty, and staff will participate in a the mandatory online consent training in compliance with Quebec Bill 151. The program’s developers invited a group of key stakeholders to attend the information session, including faculty deans, student affairs offices within faculties, security services, athletics, and SSMU executives. The information session doubled as a consultation where stakeholders could ask questions and give feedback about the modules. This was the first time that anyone outside of the working group has had the opportunity to see the content of the training. The presenters began the information session with some background about why McGill is putting this training into effect. They explained that McGill is implementing the training in accordance with Bill 151, which was adopted in Quebec in December 2017. The bill and aims to prevent and fight sexual violence in higher education, and took effect on January 1, where all requirements outlined in the bill must be implemented by September 1. That being said, the presenters acknowledged the tight timeline for the project and outlined the measures they are taking to roll out the program smoothly.

cussing the project last fall, and have been thinking up ways to facilitate the program and ensure that it is meaningful. Buddle explained: “It’s always sort of this balance around finding an effective way to teach very difficult content to fifty thousand people.” He elaborated, saying: “We didn’t want this to be something that people could just click ‘play’ on and then go make their coffee… it had to be something that had the right level of interaction.”

With the timeline in place, Buddle and Campbell want to release the modules in May in the hope that incoming new students will complete the training by the time they arrive at McGill in Fall. All students and faculty must complete the modules by the end of the Fall semester, and administrative staff will be The interactive online education expected to complete the train- program, which was originally deing during the Winter semester. veloped by a working group from Concordia and has been tailored to According to Buddle, the small fit the McGill context, offers slightworking group that curated the ly different content for students content mainly included stu- and staff. The program consists of dents and staff from the Office four modules for both groups, adfor Sexual Violence Response, dressing sexual violence, sexual Support and Education (OS- consent, bystander intervention, VRSE) in addition to the pre- and supporting survivors. The sexsenters. The group began dis- ual consent module for staff also 9

discusses student-staff relationships; Buddle highlighted the importance of including information on “relationships of power, trust, and authority” in the program, as this has been a highly salient topic on campus in recent years. Following a brief sample of the bystander intervention module, various stakeholders were given the chance to offer feedback, ask questions, and raise concerns. A primary concern was expressed about whether the current form of the program represented the diversity of the community. In response to these considerations, Campbell confirmed that the program speaks to the disproportionate rate at which racialized persons, disabled persons, and persons of minority gender representations experience sexual assault. She maintained, “We’ve been looking at the modules as a whole with a diverse group of people -- students, faculty, and staff -- ensuring that we have the capacity to roll out modules that would allow different groups of individuals on campus to see themselves represented in what they’re learning.” In addition to taking diversity into account, the

NEWS program also has safety and accessibility mechanisms in place, including a ‘feeling overwhelmed’ button that allows users to pause the training and provides information for resources on campus. Stakeholders also wanted to make sure that the university would still facilitate in-person workshops related to sexual violence and consent throughout the year, and stressed the importance of discussion-based programming in teaching about consent. To this query, Buddle replied that “This is not an endpoint, this is only a starting point.” He assured that OSVRSE will continue to facilitate and grow their programming, and Rez Project will continue to run workshops around issues of consent. According to Buddle, the training is merely meant to provide everyone with a basic understanding of the topics. Ultimately, the project developers view the implementation of the training program as a dynamic process, and hope to modify and perfect the modules over time. “We’re not looking at this as a ‘checkbox’ that we now have online modules and we’re done for five years. That’s not how we’re looking at it,” Buddle expressed. “As this unrolls, there will be opportunities for feedback to make important changes to reflect the needs of the community.”

MAKING IT WORK: HEALTHCARE Makenna Woodward-Crackower

It is well-known to the McGill community that dealing with McGill health services can sometimes turn out to be more trouble than it’s worth. To find out how much wait times are affecting students, The Bull & Bear sat down with various stakeholders to hear what they had to say about their experiences. McGill has a very high percentage of international students who don’t have access to provincial health care except through the university (though some choose to optout). They therefore likely don’t have a family doctor that they can go to and even if students have the potential to access to provincial health care, the wait to be assigned a family doctor is currently over 400 days. It is for this reason that many students go to the clinic de-

spite waiting several hours to be seen; they have nowhere else to turn. Currently, the clinic works on a “first-come, first-serve” basis, making waiting extremely difficult for students with more pressing medical concerns. Alua Kulenova, a U0 Arts student, explained that she “feel[s] like there should be priority-based waiting instead of first come first serve.” She told The Bull & Bear, “I know everyone has reasons to go to the clinic, otherwise they wouldn’t be getting up at 6 AM to go, but … some are much more immediate than others.” One U0 Education student had a memorable yet common experience this past December. “My friend started throwing up in her dorm around midnight about a month ago. She had a flu the day before and she doesn’t handle sickness well,” she explained. “We thought that it was better to be safe than sorry, so we decided to take her to the nearest hospital. We Ubered to Montreal General, and ended up waiting for nine hours before my friend could be seen.” She went on to explain a subsequent discussion about the under-staffed

status of the hospital, saying: “The attendant explained to us that it was dependent on the fact that there was only one doctor working that night, and they were busy with patients that needed more immediate attention. But they were definitely very understaffed for the amount of people that were also in the waiting room.” Although getting to see a doctor in Montreal or on campus is difficult, students requiring medical attention while abroad face an entirely different challenge. U3 student Noah Powers told The Bull & Bear about his experience studying abroad in the Netherlands last year. He tried to claim reimbursement from McGill after a trip to the hospital for some blood tests. He didn’t receive his reimbursement for months, and eventually decided to call the insurance company directly to figure out what was going on. “I end up calling people back and forth between five different insurance offices including Blue Cross, Canassistance, Blue Cross Manitoba, Blue Cross Quebec and Blue Cross-Medavie. I was on the phone one day for five hours,” disclosed 10

NEWS Powers. “No one had my claim and they had lost all of my original documents. I also have an extensive email chain with them, and I threatened legal action because it was basically negligence (losing my personal medical information). After I threatened legal action they somehow located my documents.” After hours on the phone, Powers ended up getting some of his money back. He spent around $650 dollars for his medical care abroad. “I got a cheque in the mail 2 weeks ago for, drumroll... $22.” Many students are dissatisfied, to say the least, with the McGill Health Care system, and they aren’t alone. Despite the fact that Canada’s universal health care system lessens the likelihood that people go into debt for simple medical procedures, it creates other difficulties for people trying to get more immediate medical attention. An article by the Toronto Sun cites a report indicating that more and more Canadians are leaving the country to seek health care. “217,500 Canadians left the country for healthcare in 2017, according to Statistics Canada.” This number is growing each year.

However, many Canadian students feel the issue is unique to Quebec and not of Canada as a whole. Torontonian student Olivia Zankowicz told The Bull & Bear, “Of course, it depends on your circumstances, but I feel like in Toronto there are more clinics and more availabilities. I’ve done phone call medicine there where you talk to a medical professional over Skype. I feel like the hospitals in Toronto are much more clean and put patient care at a higher priority. When I went to SickKids in Toronto, I was treated right away, there was no wait time.” Quebec also has a similar over-thephone healthcare program, called Info Santé, which is equipped to respond to callers who are concerned about the fever, flu, insect bites, and those who are seeking information about other health care resources. Some Canadians have been arguing in favor of a new healthcare system that divides health care access between public and private clinics, but whether or not this concept is picking up ground around the country is not clear. Alberta just introduced a bill entitled “An Act to Protect Public Health Care,” which

will prevent priority patient treatment in certain clinics for those who can pay for medical procedures up front. Alberta Lt. Governor Lois Mitchell delivered a throne speech on behalf of Premier Rachel Notley denouncing “American-style” health care, instead favouring more widely accessible healthcare. Quebec is in the process of asking for more federal funding for healthcare. A recent article in the Montreal Gazette reported that “Health Minister Danielle McCann says the reduction of health care funding from Ottawa to the provinces over the next decade represents a loss of $14 billion for Quebec....McCann has written to her federal counterpart, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, seeking an increase in federal funding that would see Ottawa eventually cover 25 percent of healthcare spending in the province.” Until then, McGill is trying to incorporate more benefits into its healthcare program, but at the student’s expense. A referendum is coming up to increase the opt-out health and dental fee and to increase maximum psychological coverage from $500 to $1000. The opt-out fee would be raised from $50 to $100, and the motion will be pro-

Image: Sarah Vickers

o p i n i o n

w or k

making it

Image: Erin Sass

To illustrate the diversity of “making it work” stories one might find on this campus, the Opinion editors opted to separate their feature article into two smaller vignettes. It was a slushy January morning at the Y-Intersection when I realized I needed to pay my first ever visit to the Arts Advising Office. Add/ Drop was in full swing, and outside, the campus was checkered with club sign-ups and red bags from Le James. But before I could leap into the new term, I sat on the edge of a more modest bench in the basement of Leacock, seeking much-needed help planning my degree. When I found myself in front of an advisor half an hour later, I no idea what classes I needed to be taking

By Zach Lanys and Sarah Farb

and was still unsure about which combination of majors and minors was right for me. These two queries frequently spilled over into one another, creating a flood of questions to which I desperately sought answers. She scrolled through my transcript intently, and then, peeling herself away from the screen, she trained her eyes on me. “You’re doing fairly well.” I nervously smiled and offered a cautious, “Thanks.” “You’ve taken a lot of good classes, and you’re on track for the majors you’re thinking about.” “Great.” “But,” she continued, a look of con-

cern now contorting her face, “We don’t want you to miss out on fun things in the future just because— because you’re tired.” At first, I dismissed her remarks. I nodded with artificial appreciation, and proceeded with my ramble about course requirements and Honours inquiries. It took virtually an entire semester for me to realize the gravity of her simple phrasing. I wouldn’t miss out on experiences on account of a more clinical-sounding condition, or because my mental health was in some grave state of disrepair. Instead, my advisor reminded me of the obvious, but oft overlooked reality: I would sacrifice my experience at McGill simply because I would be constantly, strikingly, and unremittingly tired. 12

OPINION And tired I have been. As a second year student, the transition from a predominantly 200-level schedule up to one mainly comprised of higher-level courses has been tough. The number of pages I have had to churn out about everything from foreign policy to medieval medicine has gotten dizzying. And it’s not like I have the additional pressures of a job or a family to mind, or that I have stupendously over-extended myself with extracurriculars. I simply find myself in the midst of a more mainstream incarnation of this problem, attempting to beat my own exhaustion, and only ever perpetuating it. Frankly, I cannot preach to you readers in these pages about “making it work.” In a term punctuated by all-nighters and invigorated by enough coffee to kill a small animal, I am still learning how to do that myself. I can’t offer you a recipe for success, but, paradoxically, I think perhaps I can give you just one ingredient. One that has given me some solace during long stints in the library or while holed up in Leacock. It is merely the solemn acknowledgement that everybody—even the person whose words you’re reading right now— sweats the work load sometimes. And that’s okay. At McGill, where everyone was “smart” in high school, we have a tendency to keep our day-to-day challenges to ourselves. We walk with an air of coolness and competence, but in rare moments, it’s clear that even the student with the most elaborately-doodled bullet journal, 13

whose study hours, meal times and eating schedule is mapped out, gets overwhelmed on occasion. Our school is good, but it’s also hard, and whether academically or otherwise, each of us grapples with that imposing duality in our own way. Maybe, then, suspending our individual prides and recognizing our shared reality is an ironic first step in “making it work.”

fondly by the time summer arrives. So, to all those who have toiled away at a problem set or a research essay into the wee hours of the morning before, I hope you smile knowing that I was probably awake too. -Sarah ………………………...

In that spirit, consider this story my own little contribution to the boundless mosaic that gradually reveals itself over the course of one’s time at McGill. It’s a composite of dimly lit college bedrooms, each one containing a figure hunched over a laptop, or memorizing lines, or practicing an instrument, or Facetime-ing family members abroad. It includes students who are cramming under a deadline, and it incorporates too those who are raising children or holding down part-time employment while pursuing their studies. Everyone is striving to do something great here, but we are remarkably cagey about the stress that striving yields along the way. From time to time, we’d do well to remember that yes, we’re tired, but at least we’re tired together.

No one person or strategy holds a monopoly on making it work. I’m fervently of the belief that only through an experience that required you, as an individual, to make it work -- which I define as the ability to respond and thrive despite less than ideal or expected circumstances -- can you take that experience and continue applying it in your future endeavours. No single experience or anecdote can be extrapolated to any other person or experience. With that being said, allow me to share one example from my university experience that can be construed as either good or bad, depending on the time and perspective one views it from. This experience includes moments of pride and confidence -- as well as moments of self-disappointment and a crisis in confidence which all emanated from the same objective.

On the long nights spent finishing readings (or writing articles), I periodically look out on to Durocher, its old victorians dutifully careening over the icy street. In every direction, I see lights on and backpacks on shoulders. I see a student community at work, in quiet synchronicity, forming the body of a school I know I will remember

Wanting to study political science and then eventually attend law school since I was first permitted to take an elective in high school, I scrolled through various student groups in my 3-and-a-half foot wide room in Rez and jumped on the opportunity to apply to the McGill undergraduate Moot Court Team -- whatever that was.

The application seemed simple enough and given my (unfounded) confidence in this particular area at the time -- I did have one year of experience on the high school Mock Trial team, after all -- I figured, naively, that taking on this extra-curricular could only bring about positive consequences. What seemed like an amazing opportunity given my longer term goals ended up teaching me something far more valuable than simply having another experience to slap on my resume (and forgive me in advance for the overly self-righteous clichĂŠ that is, as I sit here, making me cringe profusely): do more with less, especially at McGill. While I could have been attempting to reconcile with the change from high school to university, I instead was focusing most of my energy (and stress) on prepping for weekly Moot Court meetings. While I now, with the gift of retrospection, see how this experience and hardwork served as both a positive and a negative, it was clear that at such an early stage in my university life, academics ought to have taken precedence over Moot Court. While I managed to muddle through first year with this less than ideal situa-

tion, events came to a head in the Fall semester of my second year. I came to the realization that I had not focused enough time on the one thing much more pertinent and tangible to my future of getting accepted into law school -- my university grades -- at the expense of something that at best was helpful, but hardly necessary nor sufficient in order achieve those ends. I was stuck in a paradox of sorts -- take on an extracurricular that, in my mind, could help my pursuit of law school while resulting in average grades, or focus on school and set aside the extra-curricular relevant to that very pursuit. In retrospect, it should not have been a hard or as long-thought out decision as it ended up being. I decided to drop Moot Court, and the acrimonious response by my teammates and executives only confounded the stress weighing on my mind, causing me to constantly question whether I made a mistake. I did not. This entire series of events guided me through the fraught and difficult process of the law school admission test. I initially failed to get the grade I felt necessary to achieve my post-undergraduate goals because I thought I could breeze

OPINION through a few weeks of studying before going on vacation and writing the exam. However, rather than allowing a less than ideal situation to fester and confound the issue -- as occurred during my time at Moot Court -- I refused to allow my poor judgement to define this experience. The following summer, I swore off anything that could even be perceived as a distraction or inhibition to my success on the test. In the end, I reacted to the less than ideal circumstances,to which I myself played a part in, by taking on less, focusing on my singular goal at that moment in time, and upending the narrative regarding my pursuit of legal studies. I can honestly attest that without the previous experience of failure during the infancy of my time at McGill, I would not have been mentally-prepared to cope throughout this up-and-down process. To me, this is the essence of making it work. -Zach

OPINION

by Danielle Nisker Alas, finals have come and gone. Most of us got a break from the stinging cold of winter in Montreal; we have cleared our heads, surpassed 4 hours of sleep per night, and now we’re back where we belong and determined not to make the same mistakes and experience the epic failures of last semester. We are born-again academic protégés, ready to take the world by storm. Instead of the -25 degree weather (without wind chill), you should be afraid of us. It’s new year, new us until around halfway through the first week of January. In a devastating turn of events, when we realize that most New Year’s Resolutions are, pardon my French, irréaliste. While you and I both know that neither of us will ever do the optional readings for Religions of Ancient Israel, no matter how enticing the subject matter, there are some life changes that are absolutely essential to implement in 2019. After spending two weeks straight in the same section of McLennan, I may have developed hypersensitivity to other people’s actions within the walls of what is essentially a giant cement holding cell in the middle of campus. It wasn an eye-opening and deeply moving learning experience on many levels. And so, fellow students, faculty members, and visitors from Concordia and across the globe, it is an absolute honour to present to you the Constitution of McLennan. 15

1. FOOD – I am not about to advocate for a food-free McLennan. We need brain power; radish with ranch dip from PM, Ruffles from the vending machine, chocolate covered pretzels on a good day. I’m all for it. All I ask is two simple favours: no stinky, no crunchy. I know I don’t need to elaborate, but just so we’re all on the same page here: I understand getting a salad that involves some capers (out of absolute desperation) or salmon. This is a safe space and we will pass no judgement. But please do not actively seek out tuna, hard boiled eggs, or a stalk of celery (which was invented as a garnish for Caesars, by the way). And please, apple picking season is over, leave the Granny Smith at home. On a similar note, I’m not sure if the community at large how knows about the “no hot food” in the library rule, or if it will be continuously enforced in the new semester. However, it has in fact been confirmed that if you order a cold dish such as a salad or a slaw, no rules have been broken. Disclaimer: McLennan security may ask to touch your food for temperature. They’re just here to protect us. Non-threatening library snacks may include but are not limited to: apple sauce, plain tofu, and juicy fruit gum. 2. TYPING – I’m not trying to nitpick here or be melodramatic, but I can’t think of anything worse than a loud typist. You know who you are. This is a library, not a nightclub; quiet down. 3. PERSONAL HYGIENE – Despite the fact that the library temperature sits at a crisp 7 degrees Celsius, the air does circulate, and aromas (like your Nicoise salad)

OPINION can hit you harder than finding out attendance counts during Add/Drop. Finals and midterms are tough times for all, but personal hygiene is mandatory. You may think you’re sneaky. “Perhaps nobody will notice,” you tell yourself. But we know who you are, Denise in graduate carrel #1407. And for heaven’s sake, please keep your shoes on.

5. PDA – While you may think that this one is self-explanatory, some duos just do not seem to get it. The library is no place for hugging, or worse, smooching. Please keep physical contact limited to handshakes and/or silent high-fives. 6. Premiere Moisson – Private message me for directions to the closest Tim Hortons.

4. SOCIAL GATHERINGS – A small chat with a friend – preferably related to academia in order to maintain So there you have it, folks: the Constitution. Cherish it, the vibe – is fine. But the library is no place for laughstudy it, become one with it. Keep it on your night-tater. ble next to your Juul and your phone. In fact, sleep with it under your pillow, because this may be the most important piece of literature you will read not only during your McGill career, but in your life.

Image: Danielle Nisker

by Troy Lebane Being sick always sucks. Sometimes it’s bearable, sometimes it’s not. On some sick days, going to class is an option; on others, it’s a chore to even get out of bed. During the fall semester, I was in the latter situation. Unfortunately, one of my classes had a department-mandated policy regarding unexcused absences: each day missed translated to the loss of an entire letter grade (i.e., A- to B-). The only way to avoid this penalty was to get an official medical note, which had to reflect the date of the missed class. Below, I have recounted my experience trying to acquire one of these precious pieces of paper from the McGill Student Health Services. I hope it illustrates to our administration what sick notes truly are: an unnecessary inconvenience that should never be required to excuse an absence.

It is not easy for students to obtain a medical note if they, like me, do not have a family doctor in Montreal. Assuming a student wakes up feeling ill and it is later than 7 AM, their position in line at McGill’s Student Health Services is already compromised by the people who were ill the day before or have a pre-booked appointment that was scheduled weeks in advance. I woke up around 10 AM and then waited on hold for 25 minutes to speak to someone at the clinic (whose website urges students to stay home and take time to recover when they have cold symptoms). I was then told that I needed to see a medical professional in person to obtain a note, but that, on account of it being 10:30am, all of the doctor appointments were fully booked for the day.

In our conversation, the receptionist mentioned that there were some nurse appointments available if I arrived there in the following few minutes. After experiencing mild cold symptoms over the Despite feeling like I couldn’t even leave my room, weekend, I woke up on a Monday in October I rushed to get to the clinic. Yet, after filling out a feeling extremely ill – certainly not well enough to form and taking a number, I sat on a bench and go to class. I emailed all of my TAs for the classes waited for over an hour and a half to register for where attendance is taken, and all of them respond- an appointment. In that time, the receptionist had ed wishing me a speedy recovery. However, because gone to lunch and neglected to register several othof the department policy for the one course mener people who were also very ill and waiting in line. tioned above, I knew a sick note would be necesMeanwhile, anyone with a pre-booked appointsary. ment for a check-up or a physical was attended to 17

OPINION

promptly and seen without delay. When it was finally my turn to register, the receptionist informed me that all of the nurse appointments were booked for the day and that she would provide me with a list of off-campus clinics to get my medical note. Knowing that I would not be trying my luck at another public clinic if the one for McGill students could not even accommodate me, I asked the receptionist why no one had told me an hour before that all of the appointments were full. While she tried to formulate a response, someone luckily cancelled their pre-booked appointment and there was now a nurse appointment available – scheduled for over an hour later. After leaving the clinic and returning later, my appointment with the nurse took a total of five minutes and, as expected, I was diagnosed with a common cold. After expressing my dismay about the lengths I had to go to procure a note, the nurse informed me that the clinic had been in talks with McGill for years about removing the requirement for a medical note. The slips, he said, waste the clinic’s time and resources, and they do not have enough doctors or nurses to give a medical note to every student who needs one. In the event that the appointment had not opened up by chance, I would have had to walk to an off-campus clinic and wait there, likely for another several hours, just for a medical professional to diagnose me with a common cold and potentially charge me upwards of $50 to write a medical note. All in all, it took me over three hours to get a sick note – time that I could have spent actually recovering from my illness, as the clinic’s own website suggests. Additionally, just as the nurse had said, I wasted the McGill clinic’s resources and took away an appointment from someone who could have needed it more than I did (there were at least two people behind me in line). The conventional logic says that schools require medical notes to discourage poor attendance. I understand this in elementary education because it teaches students that actions have consequences. However, university students do not need their professors and their administration policing attendance, especially if the student’s work speaks for itself. We are all young adults; if instructors actually want to stop students from skipping class, they should design their course to make it difficult for students to do well without maintaining consistent attendance. If McGill is truly interested in student health and in the efficiency of its medical centres, it does not make sense for any professor to require a sick note. In fact, Queen’s University recently changed its policy so that a student who is ill for under three days is only required to submit a self-declaration of illness. McGill should follow their lead and review absence policies across all of its departments. The reasons behind requiring a medical note, the difficulty of obtaining one as an out-of-province student, and the pressure it puts on Student Health Services all support the idea that it should be abolished. Hopefully, with this new policy, no one will have to interrupt their recovery to obtain a tiny piece of paper from an already-overwhelmed clinic. 18

OPINION

by Ella Corkum Last year, I praised Cineplex for all the life lessons I learned after one and a half years under their employment. So imagine my surprise when, despite my glowing review, Cineplex didn’t want me back when I re-applied last May. In fact, not a single one of the fresh resumes I distributed in search of a summer job resulted in an interview. I thought the whole point of subjecting myself to McGill was to make it easier to get a job. But apparently, I was a lot more hireable when my only qualifications were a highschool education and a smattering of babysitting experience. I had nearly resigned myself to an incomeless four months of rewatching The Office until one fateful morning when, for better or for worse, I got a call from my local butcher offering me a job. If it was any other of the many positions I had applied for, I would have quickly and gleefully accepted.

lennial sin. So, I decided to throw my morals to the wind in exchange for $14/hr and a 40% discount on steaks that would go unused the entire summer. I tried to approach my new job with a positive attitude, but it wasn’t long before I could no longer suppress my vegetarian disgust. My store served cooked meat in addition to the raw meat, the most popular dish being the rotisserie chicken. Before this summer, even I could admit the chickens looked pretty tasty, their crispy sriracha skin glistening as they spun slowly through the licking flames. But now, after the things I know – the things I’ve done – I can barely look in their direction.

However, as a diligent vegetarian for over six years, I was faced with a tricky dilemma: Should I decline the job in the name of ethics and face being called lazy by my friends and family? Or sell out, abandoning my principles for the prospect of a perfectly good pay cheque?

I have defiled brined chicken corpses, impaling them with a spit and slathering their cold wet bodies with sriracha the colour of blood. As if the poor creatures hadn’t been degraded enough, a customer would then ask me for a half-chicken. Unable to refuse, I’d tenderly place its lifeless body upon the cutting board and raise my knife. “I’m so sorry,” I’d whisper under my breath as I untied its poor little chicken legs and chopped it down the middle with a crack as loud as the sound of my heart breaking. The only thing that would have been worse than suffering through this whole ordeal would be eating it afterwards, but luckily that horror was saved for the customer.

Either way, I was doomed to perpetrate a deadly mil-

Like any disgruntled employee, I often dreamt of

OPINION quitting. I frequently felt the powerful urge to stand outside the store and denounce the meat industry and all its environmental faults for all the butchers to hear. I came very close one day when, upon opening up the meat fridge, I shrieked at the sight of three hanging pig heads staring straight at me. “How could you do this to us, Ella? Think of our wives and children!” wailed their glassy, lifeless eyes. I fled their betrayed gazes and waited to see whether I would vomit or resign first, but thankfully I did neither. An empty bank account would not erase the things I had seen, and I could never go back to the way things were after being an accomplice to the death of so many cute animals. I stuck it out until the end of the summer and settled for a civil two weeks’ notice instead of a dramatic exit. I walked out of there looking like an unaffected employee, instead of as the traumatized vegetarian that I really was, now faced with the task of escaping a dark past. It is one thing to hate your job, but it’s another to hate your job and do it poorly. I was lucky that it’s not customary to include your dietary restrictions on your CV, as there is no way my manager would have hired me if she was aware of how hopeless I would be at my work. I am all too aware of the irony of a vegetarian working at a butcher shop (why do you think I’m writing this article?) but it is depressing to continuously be reminded how ill-suited you are to your own job. I don’t know what it was about my boney arms and pasty complexion that convinced the customers that I consumed enough protein to give them reliable meat recommendations, but apparently when you work at a butcher shop, people expect you to know these sorts of things. I was often asked what cut of meat was the best, which was difficult to answer given that they all look disgusting to me. With a bit of experimentation, I eventually discovered that when I didn’t know what I was talking about, “juicy” was a very convincing adjective to make my uneducated opinion seem trustworthy. I don’t understand what the word truly means or why it’s such a desirable quality in a steak, but whenever I was asked why filet mignon is more expensive that rib-eye, inserting “juicy” somewhere in my response almost always resulted in an understanding nod from the customer. Little tricks like this helped me

keep up the appearance of a carnivore, although deep down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was a fraud. For four months, I spent my days in an overly air-conditioned room full of animal body parts. It seems like a strange, ambiguously metaphoric nightmare. I likely spent more of my precious, fleeting summer days with dead pigs than with my friends! Even though the bleach-stained aprons were surprisingly flattering and all the practice wrapping with butcher paper translated very well to wrapping Christmas presents come December, I don’t think I can stomach reapplying next summer. Interpret my story as you will. Is it a social commentary on the unreasonable depiction of lazy millennials given the current job market? A cautionary tale about following your dreams in order to avoid an ethical dilemma like mine? An epic about a girl overcoming the ick-factor of dead animals to become an active participant in the economy? Whichever it is, I hope it speaks to you in some way, because now that my pay cheques have been eaten up by samosas, this article (and some unsolicited knowledge about the anatomy of chickens) is what I have to show for my summer of moral ambiguity and gore.

Image: Ella Corkum

business & technology

working to make it If there were a guidebook to navigating one’s experience at Desautels, it would be called “Making it Work”. Receiving it on your first day, you would hastily comb through the pages as you did with all other documents and manuals you collected that day. You would quickly learnt that the Desautels experience is uniquely suited to “making it work,” where balancing several tasks at once no longer becomes challenging but rather the norm. This article is not to say that other faculties do not face similar experiences, but instead attempts to highlight the instant pressure to perform that burdens many management students. Academics, extracurriculars, and internship recruitment are realities of all students, but there is something unique about the intensity of the 21

Image: Audrey Normand

By Sean McNally and Guy Miller

management experience. Academics One of the great things about Desautels is that you do not have to declare a major until your second year. This offers you a chance to discover what you’re interested in through the core courses: Introduction to Finance (MGCR 341), Information Systems (MGCR 331), Organizational Behavior (MGCR 222), and others each offer a different perspective of the business world that is crucial for students in order to discover their niche. As one would expect, it is not uncommon to overhear finance majors gripe about all non-finance courses in the Bronfman Basement. Many students are set on their chosen major and may overlook core courses that do not interest them. This is a bad idea for several reasons. For one, overlooking these courses

is an easy way to sink your GPA in your beginning semesters. And how can one be so certain that finance is their desired career path? While having an idea of potential paths is important, do not overlook the many other career options—introductory courses can offer that spark. Because the core courses are prerequisites for many major-specific courses, one must complete (at least) the introduction course to their major. For instance, Introduction to Financial Accounting is a prerequisite for Intermediate Financial Accounting. Typically, students complete most of their core courses before moving on to degree-specific courses. These are often more challenging, but (hopefully) more interesting to you, and allow you to drill down on totally new or certain

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY concepts you learned in introduction classes. Desautels can feel like a pressure cooker. The stress of getting a strong GPA in the presence of other students is overwhelming. Some people thrive in this atmosphere, and others donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. If you fall in the latter camp, know that this school will, by default, allow you to rise to the occasion whether you intended for it or not. Assignments, midterms, and finals are only one aspect of your life you will have to balance. That is the great thing about this school: the herd behavior of passionate students is infectious and will soon be a part of you. By the end of the first week, you will fit right in. Extracurriculars The imposter syndrome that comes with recruitment can be dampened by involvement in relevant extracurricular activities. Joining a club or organization whose mission you are passionate about is a great way to meet new, like-minded people who will help your personal development ( Frosh and Faculty Olympics are indeed

great ways of meeting new, like-minded people, though may not help your development). Extracurriculars are a great way to stay motivated outside of an academic setting, which we all need to prevent burning out. Clubs and committees range from publications like The Bull & Bear and events like FBU (fashion business uncovered) to Junior Enterprise Desautels, a student-run consulting club. Clubs are the best form of low-risk experimentation, allowing students to explore their interests, turning hobbies into jobs. If nothing else, extracurricular involvement is an easy way to pad your resume during your undergraduate experience and shows recruiters and firms that you can juggle several activities at once which is a valuable, sought-after skill. Recruitment & Internships Info-sessions, OCR, and networking. These terms will all be familiar to you by the end of your first semester. Soon enough, you will be recruiting for jobs you are vastly underqualified for. Last summer

you worked as a camp counselor, and now you feel like one month of studying finance manuals has prepared you for a summer in banking. Or, a semester of case cracks has armed you with the ability to tell fortune 500 companies what to do and what not to do. The experience is awkward but rest assured, everyone is aware of your qualifications. You are not expected to know much beyond acing the interview - and like most other things in school, you will figure it out at you go. Unfortunately, these seem to be things you cannot skip out on. Being a summer behind on internships might put you far behind your peers in the never-ending race to full-time jobs. The mirage that is recruitment makes you feel as though your education is a means to an end, prioritizing recruitment over learning and money over knowledge. Internships are the catalyst for the rest of involvement in Desautels. While the stress of your peers and program do result in better internships for Desautels students, it promotes an environment that does not suit 22

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY everyone. Bills, Loans, Commitments The undergraduate experience is not quite glamorous all the time. For those who are not fortunate enough to have school covered by family or scholarships, part-time jobs and student loans are a stark reality. This of course adds to the many stresses of being a student but contributes to the theme of being a stu-

dent, we are all just trying to make it work. Conclusion

The undergraduate process will allow you to discover who you truly are. In the beginning, finding that out is extremely difficult because you will be influenced by those around you to choose careers and paths. Be wary of falling for the trap of convincing yourself you are interested in (enter job here) be-

cause those around you are. To make a true, conscious decision of where life will take you after graduation, isolated self-reflection is necessary. Unfortunately, you cannot reach out to anyone to solve this riddle, it must be done individually. The next time you are up at 3AM trying to crank out an assignment due in 5 hours, embrace that experience and know that you are not alone. We are all working to make it.

the cost of choosing a side

By Zabi Asam

What are the Financial Implications of M a j o r C o r p o r a t i o n s Ta k i n g a P o l i t i c a l S t a n c e ? On September 4, 2018, Nike famously announced their endorsement of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick. Their catchline: Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. Nike’s decision to “pick a side” in the increasingly controversial war between the NFL and Kaepernick’s choice to kneel during the national anthem was seen as a major corporate gamble - especially considering the political tension surrounding the conflict. His actions were condemned by the likes of President Donald Trump, portraying Nike’s advertisements promoting Kaepernick’s actions as a bold political statement. Many even took to Twitter to display the disapproval, with some cutting the Nike logos off of their socks and burning other merchandise. But Nike’s decision seemed to pay off. General buzz on social media and news surrounding the controversy generated value worth $43 million with 24 23

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

hours of launching the campaign, snowballing to an increase in overall value to the Nike brand worth $6 billion. Today, Nike’s endorsement of Colin Kaepernick can be seen as perhaps a best-in-class example of the benefits associated with major corporations engaging in politics. Now, more than ever, society is beginning to turn to the corporate world to right political wrongs, and to boldly present their positions beyond the walls of their office buildings. When Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, twenty-five major corporations jointly submitted a publication expressing their staunch disapproval. When he moved to eliminate an unreasonably large portion of protected land, clothing company Patagonia did not hesitate to make a clear announcement on their website: “The President Just Stole Your Land.” Increasingly, brands are running towards the proverbial political tornado with more confidence and openness. And this is simply because it’s becoming good business. A 2017 research study found that 63% of US Citizens hope that companies will drive social and environmental impact, and 86% expect businesses to do more than maximize shareholder value through profit. Corporate decisions to pick a side do more than generate a positive image; consumers are more frequently making purchase decisions based on company values. The study, restated on Quartz, also found that whenever possible, 87% will purchase a product from a company that has taken a stance on an issue they care about. AdWeek, too, found that a majority of consumers want brands to take a stand on social and political issues. It is no longer enough for companies to sit back and let the sociopolitical world progress independently of the corporate one. While this greater consumer-based importance has been placed on corporate political stances, there may be an equally significant risk on a loss of business for those who shy away. Taking a particular stance, or rather, not taking a stance at all, can bring about dangerous consumer boycotts. This occurred with Uber, when the company failed to take a stance on one of Donald Trump’s infamous travel bans. With every decision to take a stance comes a serious moral obligation for the company to do what is right, whether that is promoting financial safety or driving political change. From protecting the environment to defying rightist Republican viewpoints, showing the finger to those who go against freedom is no longer an act of defiance, but an act of survival.

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

end o f the road fo r Téo Taxi by Youcef Sahnoune

On January 29, 2019, Quebec entrepreneur Alexandre Taillefer announced that his brainchild, TéoTaxi, would be shutting down and laying off its 450 drivers. That’s right, the iconic green and white Tesla that you’ve seen (probably from the backseat of your Uber) is no more. Téo had a noble objective: become the first socially and environmentally conscious taxi service in Quebec. With 41 million dollars 25

of public funding, including many provincial government subsidies, the future appeared bright for Téo.

“However, it wasn’t long before Quebec’s stringent taxi regulations, Téo’s faulty business plan, and heavy

competition in both price and service erected roadblocks that Téo could not overcome.” In 2019, being socially and environmentally conscious is the name of the game. However, while industry and technology have made great strides, the affordability of Image: Creative Commons

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY living in such a manner still has miles to go. Téo believed in wage equality for their workers, and thus implemented a fixed salary rate of $15 an hour for 8 hour shifts -- no matter how many fares each driver received or the time of day. In principle, this seems like a decent strategy. However, in practice, anyone could see the faults in this compensation scheme. As stated by George Boussios, spokesperson for Taxis du Grand Montreal, “There's no way that car brought in $120 in eight hours." Logically, the fact that each driver is getting paid no matter their effort could contribute to lower service and laziness among drivers. Moreover, creating Téo’s infrastructure had astronomical costs for the company. Implementing a fleet of Teslas (some of the most expensive cars on the market) and other environmentally conscious vehicles like Prius’ and Kia Souls, as well as the charging stations to go along, led to massive fixed costs for the company. Additionally, while a typical company may raise their rates to cover fixed costs, Téo was established as a provincially recognized taxi service in Quebec. Under this status, they were unable to raise their rates above government imposed fare caps under S-6.01 - The Act Respecting Transportation Services by Taxi.

“The inability to alter their prices gave Téo a

competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis its main competitor, Uber, in that Uber could implement “surge pricing” depending on the time of day or level of business when the rider would use the service.”

claims that Téo’s ecological infrastructure is something that Quebec needs to preserve, and Taillefer has essentially asked that Hydro-Quebec purchase it directly from the company. Taillefer’s final point outlined the government’s support of Téo’s Technology, and the support of Téo’s app to other companies, which he states has been extremely well-received by the general public, holding a 4.6 rating on the Google Play Store.

Given that Téo could not bolster its revenues alongside these high costs, they sunk deeper into the hole created by their business plan. With the high cost of operation, inconsistent service, and competitive advantage introduced by Uber, Téo found itself in a precarious position only one year after launching.

It is currently unknown as to how Legault responded to Taillefer’s pleas, but Pierre-Karl Péladeau, a former politician and extremely wealthy Quebecois businessman, has shown interest in purchasing the business. While the Teslas will be missed, at the end of the day, TéoTaxi’s failure poses a greater question for the future. With the incredibly high costs of operation accrued to run a “socially conscious” company, alongside legislative concerns, is it feasible for such companies to exist in Quebec today?

As a result of its shortcomings, Téo received 9.5 million dollars in grant money from the provincial government, as well as a 4 million dollar government loan. At the time of its shutdown, Taillefer stated that his entire investment in the company was lost, after paying back the money to Téo’s various creditors. Additionally, Taillefer’s open letter to Quebec Premier Francois Legault outlined the reasoning behind Téo’s failure, and how Quebec can still make use of Téo’s resources and infrastructure. In his five point address, Taillefer states that Quebec’s “unfair and outdated regulations” drowned the project, and that Quebec’s stance on price flexibility allows rideshare companies to run taxi companies down. He also

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

When Shoes Explode By Youcef Sahnoune

If you’ve ever flipped to ESPN, picked up a Sports Illustrated, or watched any sports network at all for that matters, you’ve likely seen one of Zion Williamson’s crowd-shaking dunks. The top prospect for the upcoming 2019 NBA Draft, Williamson is second in scoring for the Duke Blue Devils and leads the team in rebounds, steals, and blocks. Given the season that he and Duke had been having, the future looked bright. Well, that was until February 20th, when Williamson suffered a grade-one knee sprain following the implosion of his Nike PG 2.5 shoes. After playing only thirty-three seconds against rivals UNC (a game so highly anticipated that Barack Obama was in attendance) Williamson’s left shoe gave out, tearing completely. After then, Duke had dropped three out of six games and fallen to the number 4 seed from first place, with Williamson unable to do anything but watch helplessly from the sideline. It’s clear, however, that Williamson’s injury didn’t just shake up the sports world. The following day at the markets, Nike shares slid about 2%, losing the company nearly $3 billion in value. This poses a greater question: Should sportswear companies be held accountable for damage to a player’s career? An injury at this point in the season for any college athlete cannot be taken lightly. Now is the time for maximum caution among athletes, as most major league drafts take place in the summer and athletes are under the most pressure to perform. In the past, players like Michael Porter Jr., a former college basketball star whose back injury tumbled his draft potential and lost him millions last year, have had their careers ended by a single injury. But for Nike, the problem is a little more complex. As a player who inspired millions, exciting the world with his incredible athleticism and comparisons to LeBron James, an injury to Williamson is devastating to the sports community. He was basically guaranteed the maximum rookie contract a player could receive upon entry to the NBA, which is valued at approximately $19 million. But the problem here is that Nike has locked Williamson into wearing their shoes for the rest of his college basketball career. Duke has struck a deal with them barring their players from wearing anything other than the infamous swoosh. While this is a typical arrangement for thriving college teams to make with athletics companies, longtime sportswriter Oliver Con27

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

nolly writes that the fact that college players are mandated to wear certain brands adds another dimension to the responsibility that these brands hold. Connolly states, “[Williamson’s] year in college serves only to create problems and potentially cost him millions,” now that even his own gear is at risk of injuring him. For Nike, Williamson’s accident is not as unusual as you might expect. In fact, fans have taken to creating montages of professional NBA players like Manu Ginobili and Aaron Gordon blowing through their Nike basketball shoes in years past. And while these players were fortunate enough to avoid injury, it could have easily happened given the speed and agility at which they were moving. Just in the last year, Nike has also seen their fair share of problems with the Association as their jerseys have seemed to tear like paper for some players. While Nike has seen successive dips in their value both on the market and in the public eye following each self-proclaimed “isolated occurrence”, their stock was still up 25% in the last year. However, in an era of growing social responsibility among companies, one must ask whether Nike has an obligation to ensure that the gear they provide to their college athletes are quality-assured. As the CEO of Kaymore Sports Risk Management, Ronnie Kaymore says yes.“The university usually isn’t insuring the guys to their full value,” which means that the responsibility lies within the player and the company to ensure that the brand players are locked into provides reliable gear. Kaymore has also said that “Williamson is worth as much as seven times what Duke insured his loss of value for,” indicating how much of a setback in one’s career at this stage could result in the loss of millions for the athlete. As it stands, Nike is still poised to have a successful year. According to Bloomberg intelligence analyst Chen Grazutis, Nike may receive “a lot [of] bad press,” but it shouldn’t have a direct impact on future profits unless shoe failures begin to happen on a larger scale. That said, whether or not companies like Nike should accept responsibility in a situation like this remains a question that sportswear companies still have not explored. What is certain, however, is that both professional and non-professional athletes run the risk of injury even without the added burden of unreliable gear. While Nike continues to leap to higher bounds, one should hope their customers can continue doing the same.

arts & culture

By Any Means Necessary by Morgan Davis and Adil Dostmohamed

Image: Morgan Davis

Popularized by Malcolm X in his speech at the Organization of Afro-American Unity, the phrase “by any means necessary” communicated the idea that an organization was willing to do anything required in order to achieve their desired goals. You might already know this, or perhaps you simply recognize the phrase, but what you might not know is the inspiration 29

for Malcolm X’s use of the sentence: Jean-Paul Sartre. Known mostly as a French intellectual for his contributions to the philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology, Sartre originally wrote the phrase for the script of his play Les Mains Sales. That’s right, the same person known for complex philosophical works like Being and Nothingness was also a playwright, and despite

being extremely active in his role as a philosopher, Sartre also devoted significant time to writing for the theatre. Conversely, this is something students often struggle with: we find it difficult to maintain a passion of ours while also being a full-time student. Inspired by this tension, we’ve set out to discover the reasons why some students might let go of their passions in fa-

ARTS & CULTURE vour of committing to the demands of student life. A lot of us come to McGill with years of experience being something other than a student; some of us were athletes, some of us were musicians, and some of us were everything in between. This non-student identity is something that develops over time, through built up passion and the desire to act on it. We want to spend time doing what we enjoy, so we seek out whatever that may be, and dive right in. This helps define us as individuals, and distinguishes us from other students; you’re no longer just ‘____ the student,’ but instead, ‘___ the swimmer,’ and this becomes a part of who you are. When the time comes to enter university, however, a lot of things change. You start to shape your life around your identity as a student. Most of your relationships are with other students because they’re other students. You spend 30 hours a week on campus, despite having only 15 hours of class. Between this, extracurricular activities, and planning for life after graduation, it’s hard not to make a constant commitment to playing the role of ‘student,’ and in the process, let go of the passionate identity you built up over the years. With all this being said, we revisit our initial mention of Sartre to argue that this does not have to be the case. Just like Sartre, we should be able to maintain our passionate identity without sacrificing our role as a professional or as a student. On the surface, this seems incredibly difficult to do - there are only so

many hours in the day, how could we make extra time for a passion that comes second to our education? What can we do to embrace our commitment to being a student without neglecting the passion that once brought us incredible joy? Being a student roots itself into all areas of your life. A Management student explained that halfway through her degree, she experienced just how alienating being a student can be. “One of the first times I actually noticed just how strange my weekly schedule as a student was when it interfered with dating. Despite an age gap of just under three years, a guy I’d been seeing at the end of a summer became unreliable due to different schedules, priorities (midterm season still exist in the real world, they just call it end of fiscal year).” Another student finishing his degree in the Faculty of Arts explains “I think that school, because it is a top priority, becomes ingrained in all aspects of my life. I often find myself wanting to be able to go out with friends, work out, and play video games, but I find myself having to prioritize school work over these things that I enjoy. Although I understand the importance of getting an education and I know it will pay off in the long run, it’s the momentary lapses which I want to do something really bad but I find myself going to the library instead. I think being a student has really taught me how to prioritize and time-manage efficiently in order to balance the things that I have to do and the things that I want to do.”

That’s not to throw the term student in your face as if it’s a disease, rooting itself into your life and disintegrating the person you once were. Rather, our aim is to foster a heightened sense of awareness, especially (and self-benefittingly for the two authors) during this upcoming period of transition as a quarter of our campus’ population (along with the honourable fifth years) look forward to graduation, soon to be hanging up their caps and robes for the indefinite future. A lot of us can relate to the slap in the face of transitioning from highschool to university. And true to form, we wouldn’t be McGill students if we didn’t pity ourselves (read: brag about) how we had it even worse, “cause it’s McGill”. Regardless of your year, faculty, or age, being a university student is a challenge. But more importantly, your identity as a student is not the only thing that defines you; or at least it won’t be forever. Without having to be selective with the hours in the day, one will often discover parts of themselves they may have otherwise not explored. By fighting for time spent on yourself, this time will subsequently be more appreciated. Because being a student eats up so many hours in each day, those who grow their other interests, because you have so little time for yourself, you are able to prioritize those parts of yourself that are important to you. By embracing the itches of creativity and the drive to start something new, we don’t diminish our capabilities as one identity, but rather grow in all areas of life. 30

ARTS & CULTURE February 2018: Whatever one makes of Mallory and Sarsour Moving FORWARD attended events at which these allegations, with the Women’s March Louis Farrakhan, the which are undoubtedly Nation of Islam leader, deserving of more nuWritten by is a speaker (Farrakhan ance and contextualJenna Benchetrit is notorious for making ization than this arhomophobic, misogynist ticle can offer, it’s and anti-Semitic stateimportant to consider When the Women’s March ments). how the organization movement materialized can move forward as in the wake of Donald Trump’s a united front. The March - November 2018: inauguration in 2016, a 2019 March featured Mallory and Sarsour wave of immediate supstated on multiple oc- decreased enthusiasm, port was followed by casions that they dis- much of which can be wary observers. Some agreed with Farrakhan’s traced back to these were concerned about controversies. It saw comments, but some the kind of movement it pushed for stronger significantly lower would be and, more specondemnations, or for turnout and a lot of cifically, for whom it them to cut ties with sponsors dropping out would be. Some did not Farrakhan completely. last-minute. In New see the value of a December 10 2018: York City, a second symbolic gesture, no A few people presented march unaffiliated with matter how many peoat early Women’s March ple turned out for it, the Women’s March orand others were disil- meetings claim that Malganization occurred, lusioned thanks to the lory and Perez “asserteffectively splitting emergence of the “pussy ed that Jewish people marchers into two comhat” iconography, which bore a special collecpeting groups. Across tive responsibility as effectively excluded the U.S., some marches many trans and non-bi- exploiters of black and were cancelled altonary folk from what was brown people.” Others gether, in direct rebeing touted as an in- deny that this kind of sponse to the charges. exchange ever happened. clusive march. In the years since that first Women’s March, the organization has just had its most contentious year.Its co-chairs, Bob Bland, Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory and Carmen Perez, face ongoing charges of anti-Semitism. The following is an abbreviated timeline of the allegations: 31

December 23 2018: An article published in the New York Times quoted an organizer who claimed that she heard Mallory “berating” co-founder Vanessa Wruble over her Jewish identity, which Wruble confirmed. Mallory denied the claims.

So what are the potential next steps for the Women’s March after such a tumultuous period in its infancy? There’s no easy answer, but it starts with a willingness to engage in difficult conversations.

ARTS & CULTURE

The Women’s March was a massive endeavour, perhaps the first time since the Million Woman March in 1997 (organized entirely by black women) that feminists banded together in such huge numbers. Disagreements are bound to happen; women are obviously not a homogeneous group. The only way to acknowledge the presence of so many identities is to have an open, honest dialogue. Choosing to abandon the movement in protest of its leadership prompts a question: If we aren’t willing to have these discussions now, when will they occur? The organization is young and it needs fine-tuning. No one will ever be completely satisfied by those in charge, but the Women’s March should nevertheless be bigger than those who organized it. After all, the greatest accomplishment of the movement is that it prompted historic changes during a crucial moment, motivating women to run for office at all levels of government at the height of the Trump era.

“No one will ever be completely satisfied by those in charge, but the Women’s March should nevertheless be bigger than those who organized it.”

Some want the co-chairs to step down, but Bland, Sarsour, Perez and Mallory have indicated that this won’t happen unless they choose to do so. Starting from scratch, as other activists have tried to do, is simply not viable in an era where so many women are at risk. Instead, perhaps a potential solution is to establish representative branches within the Women’s March organization. These branches could then account for the needs of specific marginalized groups who don’t feel adequately represented by the co-chairs or co-founders. In a perfect world, the Women’s March would be completely decentralized, and it would function best as a framework for mass organizing. But asking women with a history of progressive activism to repeatedly account for the actions of men is not a healthy way forward. The focus should be on how they can do better in the future. The co-chairs have made several tangible changes to the organization since those first few missteps, demonstrating that they want to navigate these choppy waters with sensitivity and real action. It should go without saying that when a movement like this has so much inner turmoil, those on the outside who want to destroy it will do anything they can to take advantage of its weaknesses. The Women’s March controversies are merely the growing pains of a huge movement, one that is difficult to manage. It will never be able to fully satisfy everyone’s needs, no matter the effort made to do so. But with open dialogue and a willingness to listen--instead of walking away--the Women’s March can survive its turbulent year and thrive again. 32

ed t c e r i D s ilm F 8 1 0 2 t Ten Grea Women

ow) N t h g i R ch t a W n a C (That You

*Written by Jacob Klemmer This year, not a single woman was nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards. I wish I could say that it was a disappointment: there has only been a woman nominee in five (!!) of the 91 years that the Oscars have existed, and only one winner. And this isn’t due to a shortage of talent behind the camera, because I had to make ten or fifteen painful cuts from this list. These ten films, directed fantastically by ten women, deserve some attention. Leave No Trace by Debra Granik (Available on Amazon) This one, for me, is the most galling omission. I don’t want to say too much about the plot of Leave No Trace, beyond that it revolves around a father and daughter living in the wilderness and subsequently being thrust into modern society. The joy of watching this film, apart from watching the terrific debut of Thomasin McKenzie, is seeing Debra Granik reveal new details about its scenario, never allowing you to feel just one way about this duo. This film possesses all the visual flair of Granik’s previous film Winter’s Bone, but adds a substantial emotional core that was not present beforehand. The road to its heartbreaking ending (perhaps the most heartbreaking of the 33

year) is paved with few elements and fewer words, building poetry only out of what is necessary; the mark of a master filmmaker. Let the Sunshine In by Claire Denis (Available on Amazon)

The French title, like always, is way better. Un Beau Soleil Intérieur, meaning “a beautiful sun within,” is much more evocative of both the film’s plot (and its ethos) than its english counterpart. Juliette Binoche shines as Isabelle, an artist living in Paris who has resumed dating after the dissolution of her marriage. It begins comically as a guided tour through the worst men in France, but

Image: Julia Enright

ARTS & CULTURE

evolves into a loving portrait of companionship and loneliness in middle age. Claire Denis’ touch has never been lighter, but the thoughtful gorgeousness of her frames (as well as her repeated use of the song At Last by Etta James) shines through. She directed this while killing time, getting ready to make this year’s High Life (which, by all accounts, is insane), and so it has largely earned the critical designation of ‘minor.’ That a film this terrifically funny, emotional, and insightful can be considered minor is a testament that Claire Denis is one of the most essential and exciting filmmakers alive. Madeline’s Madeline by Josephine Decker (Available on Amazon) In the six months since I saw this film at Fantasia Film Festival I haven’t stopped thinking about its disorienting, almost seasick cinematography, and the boldness of its free-associative editing. Upon a rewatch, I realized that as glowing of a review I gave it, I was still underrating the performances. This film’s trio of conflicting women is just as prickly, codependent and toxic as the one depicted in The Favourite. Miranda July and Molly Parker are both equal parts trustworthy and devious, always credible in their soul-sucking claims to Madeline’s identity. Helena Howard fully commits to her multiple volcanic expressions of stress and rage, but modulates them expertly between moments of quiet stewing and joyful dance. With apologies to Elsie Fisher, this is the best acting debut of 2018.

“There has only been a woman nominee in five of the 91 years that the Oscars have existed, and only one winner” Milla by Valerie Massadian (Available on iTunes) Milla is the most under-discussed film of the year. A tender portrayal of a french couple squatting in a house by the beach. It is particularly unfathomable that people are ignoring Valerie Massadian’s superlative direction: she is always finding the exact right corner of a small room to frame her characters, the exact right light to cast them in, and expertly navigating her infrequent trips from realism into surrealism. This film’s slow pace and ascetic story (there are three characters and nothing really happens in the first 45 minutes) probably alienated many people, but they are the exact right choice. This is the most empathetic and compassionate film of 2018, a year with no shortage of brilliant films about families on the fringe of poverty. Pepe Le Morse by Lucrece Andreae (Available on Vimeo) My favourite short film of the year is this absurdly funny, stunningly animated French film about the peculiar mourning of a beach-bum grandfather. I don’t want to give away its jokes, so I’ll only say two more things: it’s fifteen minutes, and it’s free. Whaddya need, a road map? 34

ARTS & CULTURE

Private Life by Tamara Jenkins (Available on Netflix) Despite its newfound subject matter, the tribulations of middle aged conception and adoption, at heart, this film is an old fashioned New York dramedy, with a large cast of character actors (Giamatti! Hahn! Shannon!) having passionate conversations rife with wit about topics big and small. Private Life’s witty and melancholy story bristles with intimate and minute detail, not just about the process of conception and adoption, but about life in changing New York, about family gatherings, about relatively obscure authors and playwrights, and the sum of these details is a film that feels more alive than any of the “universal” dramas nominated for awards. The Rider by Chloe Zhao (Available on Google Play) The most simple and elemental film on this list, Chloe Zhao’s modern western is hyperfocused on one man, newcomer Brady Jandreau, and one question about that man: will he get back on the horse after a head injury that might end his riding forever? Though it’s a narrative film, this exact thing happened to the real Brady Jandreau, and you can feel the authenticity in every frame. It’s stunningly composed, perfectly edited, and attuned so well to its small community of competitive riders that it’s almost unfathomable that Zhao isn’t a cowgirl herself. Western by Valeska Griesbach (Available on Amazon) There are no cowboys in Western but 35

there is a horse, a village full of natives, a bunch of labourers, and a struggle between them. It’s just that the workers are Germans, they’re in Bulgaria building a power plant, and the tensions between them never erupt into a standoff at high noon. Like Leave No Trace, I don’t want to reveal too much about Western since the pleasure of the film is watching it redefine itself scene by scene, sometimes shot by shot. Its slow pace gives ample time for themes to ruminate and tension to sizzle. It’s the most rich film of the year, one you’ll want to return to as soon as it’s over. You Were Never Really Here by Lynne Ramsay (Available on Amazon) Lynne Ramsay’s new fever-dream-revenge-film is as good an introduction to her style as you’ll get: somehow both minimalist, in that almost all exposition and connective tissue is omitted, and maximalist, in the sense that every image is mind-blowing and every jump-cut is like a punch in the face. Ramsay’s gaze typically frames ordinary objects in unfamiliar and uncomfortable ways, and her realignment of the traditional revenge story highlights both the brutality and the sadness of Joaquin Phoenix’s bloody quest. This is my favourite type of cinematic mindfuck: you’re never in doubt as to what’s happening, but you also cannot believe what you are seeing. Zama by Lucrecia Martel (Available on Amazon) I would’ve saved this one for last even if the alphabet hadn’t made me: this is the best directed film of 2018, constantly controlled and perfectly composed even as it takes wild left

ARTS & CULTURE

turns. The film follows the Spanish colonizer Diego de Zama in Guyana, but crucially does not share his chauvinistic perspective. The action of the plot follows his quest to get reassigned, which turns from irritating to existential as he “loses” more and more of himself to the land. Peer around the margins and at any given time you’ll see the eyes of native people, judging and ridiculing him for his pathological entitlement and lust. It demands to be watched, rewatched, and pondered over, with a jaw-dropping finale that recontextualizes everything that came before. It’s also a fantastic entry point into Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel’s filmography: all four of her films are like nothing else I’ve ever seen; and they’re not even like each other.

Bridging Time in Little Italy //Written

Celia Farrow

Image: Creative Commons

A view of Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia was the first close-up many Italian immigrants had of Canada. Not very picturesque, perhaps, with its serviceable brick buildings and expansive car parks, but then, most immigrants coming over in steamships after the Second World War did not uproot themselves for a glimpse at Canada’s landscapes. The ordeal of being documented on the pier over, the newly-arrived often travelled by train further inland – of the near 300,000 Italians that came to Canada in the 50s and 60s, a majority settled in Toronto and Montreal. For those who chose the latter, Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense Parish (in the present borough of Rosemont-la-Petite-Patrie) became the site of their changed life, and of their community-building. Today, this stretch of 36

ARTS & CULTURE

their claim to the tables by the win“Little Italy.”dows. No one, that is, except the young people that flood the café when Italy is playing in the World Cup. Then, they Many of the original immigrants have laugh, there are almost no spots left passed away, and their children and for the “old timers.” This well exemgrandchildren have made their homes elsewhere in Montreal. Yet there replifies the fact that Caffè Italia, like many of the establishments in Little mains in Little Italy a band of inItaly, serves a dual function: it is dividuals who set their roots in the at once a community centre for Ital50s and have happily stayed put. You may find them three times a day on St. ian-Montrealers, and a place for the Laurent Boulevard at Caffè Italia, en- wider Montreal community to enjoy Italjoying a laugh and a healthy argument ian culture. They point to Milano’s, (Full disclosure: I know this only be- just next door, as another place that cause I have often sipped a caffe latte serves the Italian and broader Montreal at a table chosen specifically for the communities simultaneously. view it affords me of the corner of the room these merry men occupy). My Italian is nonexistent, which is a shame, for it prevents me from understanding the taunts and banter they seem so easily to toss around. I am attracted to them for no other reason than this: they seem to know a good time, and theirs is retirement done right. I have long fought the impulse to go over and talk to them. A few days ago, I sucImage: Julia Enright cumbed. I took my latte, pointed to an empty seat, and asked whether I could join. They indulged me. the city bears the name

I learnt that most of these men came over in the fifties, having left their hometowns all across Italy. Thus, they use a local variation of standard Italian (with its share of words borrowed from French and English) developed to account for the fact that they all spoke different dialects when they first arrived. If they find a shared space in this new language, Caffè Italia serves as the physical equivalent. They have been meeting here for decades, and many of them since it opened in 1956. They are well-known to the proprietors (family of the original owners), and no one would question 37

“So, wander Little Italy for the spirit, for the pork sandwiches, for the trattorias, for the art and history of Madonna Della Difesa. But go first for the stories. Go because it is part of Montreal and because we can learn a lot about our city – and ourselves — by doing so.”

ARTS & CULTURE

Milano’s takes up most of the block. A “fruiterie” established in 1954, it has now grown to such a size that you would be hard-pressed to find something not on offer. T here are dozens of different olive oils and vinegars, rows of imported canned fruits and vegetables, all varieties of dried goods, meats, cheeses, Italian sweets and pastries, fruits and vegetables, as well as household goods. I once picked up a pot of what I took to be a fancy chocolate face cream, only to discover it was fine imported hazelnut spread.

As you walk down the stretch of St. Laurent boulevard between St. Zotique and Jean Talon Street, notice the Italian shoe store, and the Italian bookstore, and Porchetta. Stop in at Milano’s and talk to someone about the salamis, or the olive oils, or the huge log of cheese sometimes on display. Spend an idle thirty minutes in Caffè Italia, or sit in a pew of the first church built by and for the Italian community in Canada.

But notice also the Latin American grocery store, and the French bakery, My only defence is that the writing and the Spanish language school. And was all in Italian and it was stacked think about how this speaks to this right next to the shampoos. In any city’s character. In Little Italy, case, I was not disappointed at the cultures are shared and maintained, discovery. The point is, Milano’s has but they are transformed too. And we it all, and it draws people from all are part of that transformation. Above parts of the island, not just the “old all, as you explore Little Italy, timers” — though they profit the most, seize any opportunity to speak with perhaps, by making several trips a day people who knew and know a different Montreal — and Canada — to you. Listening to the conversation of these men, I think I was right to take a seat by them. In ten years time, their share of the noise in Caffè Italia will be claimed by others. With the passing of their hearty banter will pass away the chance to hear their jokes, and anecdotes, and their recollections of experiences we may, in years to come, hope to patch together from photographs in an archive. So, wander Little Italy for the spirit, for the pork sandwiches, for the trattorias, for the art and history of Madonna Della Difesa. But go first for the stories. Go because it is part of Montreal and because we can learn a lot about our city – and ouselves — by doing so.

Photo (back): The Bull & Bear