Volume 43, Issue 4

Debtors’ University

Concordia’s Lackluster Accommodations for Iranian International Students in Debt

Zachary Fortier

I

n early 2019, Darya faced heavy bouts of depression. She found herself calling mental health hot lines for the first time. Unable to sleep or eat, she felt her world crumbling around her.

Darya, an international stu dent from Iran, watched her home country fall into chaos as crippling economic sanctions fueled mass protests.

“I felt like I was in mourning, a mix of rage and anxiety. These were really dark days, triggering my eating disorder and depres sion, and I know I was not the only one,” she said. Fuel would soon be added to the fire as the school year picked back up.

Darya had a new problem: she owed Concordia money. Fol lowing Iran’s economic crash, Concordia granted international students from Iran extensions in order to pay their outstanding balance—but with a deadline. She would have to find a solution be fore Dec. 31, 2019.

“Economists are now pre dicting that this currency crisis will likely continue in the coming years. Unfortunately, Concordia lacks the means to sustain these measures in the long term,” wrote Dean of Students Andrew Woo dall on Sept. 9, 2019. “We are also concerned that some of you may be increasing your debt loads to a

point that will make it impossible to pay back.”

Darya owed Concordia $8,824.16. As an international PhD student, she was only al lowed to work 20 hours a week as per Canadian law. Fearing interest rates and debt collectors, she had to borrow money from a friend to pay off her outstanding balance.

given ample time and support to pay their tuition. “When the Iranian currency crisis started in 2018, Concordia offered tempor ary measures for tuition and fees to international Iranian students as some of them were encoun tering difficulty accessing funds from Iran in order to pay their tuition fees,” she said.

ance to avoid debt collectors or the accumulation of further interest.

“It's not as if one student was irresponsible, no, we were more than 300 students,” Darya said.

“We wrote letters to the dean; we signed it, all of us. We were asking for an extension—we were literal ly asking for mercy.”

tinued devolving since the 2019 protests. In September 2022, Fol lowing the murder of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who died in custody of the nation’s mor ality police, the country has once again errupted into chaos.

On Sept. 27, the university put out a list of resources for Iranian students in crisis. The list included phone numbers to the international student healthcare plan, as well as links to Concordia’s Zen Dens.

The economic crisis gripping Iran in 2018 and 2019 was the re sult of the sanctions placed on the nation following the United States’ withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal. The nation’s economy was thrown into disarray, causing the Iranian rial to crash in value.

Feeling like international stu dents were being taken advan tage of, Darya was upset by how the university asked for money. “Concordia clinged to the expect ation that our families would help us. They have no idea,” she said. Because of the sanctions, the rial dropped down. If my mom want ed to help me, her whole salary for two months would be worth $80 when converted.”

According to Concordia Spokesperson Vannina Maes tracci, Iranian students were

“The measures,” Maestracci continued, “allowed international Iranian students, at Concordia, to delay the payment of their tu ition fees for several months, with no interest or late fees, and with many accommodations for specif ic and particular cases.”

Many Iranian students Darya knows have similar stories. “One had to pay $25,000. I had to pay close to $9,000. A friend of mine had to pay $17,000 at once,” she said. “This crisis has turned all of us from students to debtors.”

When accounts go unpaid, or “become delinquent,” as is stated on Concordia’s website, the uni versity turns to an “external collec tion agency.” According to Darya, hundreds of Iranian students wrote a letter to the dean of stu dents asking for additional assist

-- Darya

Bahar, an international stu dent from Iran who wished to remain anonymous, said she felt anything but support from the administration as she struggled to pay off her balance of $2,562.46.

Having dealt with financial issues from Concordia during the course of her PhD, Bahar was once again let down by the lack of sup port mechanisms the university provided her with. “We, as inter national students, are bringing lots of money to Concordia. They don’t acknowledge us, they just put the money in their pockets.”

“If they’re not willing to help us out financially, I would at least hope they would acknowledge what is currently going on in Iran,” Bahar said. “We can’t be there to support our families in person.

Iran’s political turmoil has con

“I remember calling a men tal health hotline,” Darya said. “I called every single number on the list of resources available to me. The earliest appointment was in seven months.”

“There are over a thousand international students from Iran at Concordia,” Bahar said. “We pay tuition, we pay taxes—too much money to not even get basic support when we are in desperate need of assistance.”

Since the uprisings in 2022 across Iran following Mahsa Amini’s death, many Iranian students have turned to political organizing. Darya has been at the front lines of organ izing protests across Montreal with the Iranian Student Association of Concordia University.

“It costs nothing to spread awareness,” she said. “We’re not giving up.”

“We wrote letters to the dean; we signed it, all of us. We were asking for an extension—we were literally asking for mercy.”

GRAPHIC NADINE ABDELLATIF

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Iranian Reporting Must Continue Media Ought to Amplify Voices, Not Muffle Them

Marianne Liendo-Dufort

Weeks have passed since the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman who succumbed to her injuries while under police custody. Yet, pro tests and vigils persist, organized to support those living under the current government of the Islam ic Republic of Iran.

On Oct. 1, people gathered worldwide, including in Mont real, to express their frustrations about the human rights violations occurring in Iran.

“I have been feeling so many emotions in the past 12 days,” said protestor Azi Vaziri. “I’ve been feel ing guilty, I’ve been feeling sad, I’ve been feeling angry. I’ve been feel ing a lot of love and support from people who do show up and do post and do amplify the message.”

Mainstream media have been reporting on the ongoing issue in Iran since Amini’s death, but most of the reporting has been done by citizens themselves on social media. Twitter threads and hashtags are where their voices are amplified and reach other countries.

“Continue using the hashtags, continue spreading the message,” said Vaziri. “This [demand] is from the people who are in Iran, fighting right now.”

The issue is more than one woman’s death—it’s about anyone who voices their opinion against the restrictions forced on women by Iran’s current regime.

It’s Nika Shakarami, a 17-yearold whose body was found ten days after she was last seen being chased by authorities on Sept. 20 in Tehran.

It’s Hananeh Kia, a 23-yearold shot dead while walking back home from the dentist in Now shahr on Sept. 21.

It’s Minoo Majidi, a 62-yearold mother of two, shot while protesting for Mahsa Amini in Kermanshah on Sept. 20.

It’s Hadis Najafi, a 22-year-old TikToker shot dead while pro testing Masha Amini’s death in Karaj on Sept. 21.

It’s Sarina Esmaeilzadeh, a 16 year-old student who died in Karaj on Sept. 23. Police reports say she died by suicide, yet Amnesty International says she was killed by repeated hits to the head with a baton in Karaj on Sept. 23.

“It’s not just an issue about religion, about the hijab. It’s a women’s rights issue, it’s a human rights issue,” explained Vaziri. “It’s just a basic, basic, basic human right to just be who you are in

your skin and not have your gov ernment try to control that.”

A.H., a protestor who did not want to share their name to protect their family and friends in Iran, shared Vaziri’s feelings about wit nessing so many people coming together in reaction to the situation.

“I think it’s one of the biggest feminist and human rights move ments happening around the world,” A.H. said. They also ex plained that while many people in Iran might want a drastic change in the situation, such a fast change will likely not be sustainable.

“We had the revolution be fore [in 2009], and that was a rapid change,” A.H. explained. They added that the situation quickly developed into something the population did not like. “We need a stable, peaceful change, in my opinion.” For A.H., stability and peace will hopefully bring long-lasting, sustainable changes.

“People [in Iran] are not asking for a regime change from an exter nal point of view—they’re going to do that on their own,” said Vaziri. “They’re already fed up. They just want the world not to forget.”

Vaziri explained that media outlets should be held responsible and accountable for their report ing and coverage. “When it’s no longer new, it’s no longer reported as news,” Aziz added. “We need that journalistic integrity to keep pushing and keep digging and keep figuring out why politicians aren't really doing anything.”

Arsho Toubi, who protested alongside Vaziri, remarked that thorough reporting also applies for governments and the various laws and treaties they sign.

People in Montreal have been living in a bubble of relative peace and democracy for gen erations, Toubi stated. “They’ve never known any real difficulty, like life-challenging events the way that a lot of people in the rest of the world have known,” she added.

This difference in realities only enhances the need for ac curate media reporting, explained Vaziri. “Stay informed, and get out, and amplify the messages as much as possible,” she said. Stud ies and reports from organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch do come out, but it takes time to gather the data and conduct a proper analy sis, Vaziri explained.

According to her, it is up to everyone to keep on top of this issue. “This does not pertain to one country necessarily,” she said.

“There are other places in the world where this is happening to women, to young people, [...] to freedom of speech.”

The latest Amnesty Inter national report discloses only a fraction of the inequalities and increasing instability happening in 154 countries, including Iran. “It’s happening there and it will hap pen here one day,” said Toubi. “You need to care about all of it.”

PHOTO IVAN DE JACQUELIN

PHOTO IVAN DE JACQUELIN

PHOTO IVAN DE JACQUELIN

“When it’s no longer new, it’s no longer reported as news.”

-- Azi Vaziri

PHOTO

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La Falaise Saint-Jacques: From Forgotten Dump to Rebirthed Forest

A Group of Volunteers Transformed an Area Used to Dump Garbage Into a Community Forest

Aatefeh Padidar

T

he Falaise Saint-Jacques is a beautiful, wooded area along the Ville-Marie highway. It’s hard to believe that this area was once a garbage dump. For decades, Montrealers remembered the Fa laise Saint-Jacques as a dumping site. In fact, many of them used it for that purpose.

“Residents from [Notre-Damede-Grâce] would dump their gar bage, snow, tires and even fur niture they didn’t want too,” said Lisa Mintz, founder of the Sauvons la Falaise conservation group, dedicated to preserving the SaintJacques escarpment.

“Because there’s a whole high way and everything else between here and the rest of the Southwest, nobody cared about it,” she add ed, gesturing at the whole area.

A Strategic Sanctuary

The Falaise links green spaces in Westmount, Notre-Dame-deGrâce, Montreal West, Lachine, the Southwest and LaSalle. Despite covering just over 20 hectares, its position makes it a significant tar get in the effort to save and link green spaces.

It is home to some 65 species of birds, many of which use the escarpment as part of their migra tory flight path. The escarpment is also a quiet refuge for local wild life, such as squirrels, foxes and a large population of brown snakes.

According to Montreal’s Policy on the Protection and Enhancement of Natural Habitats, the Falaise is one of ten eco-territories on the Is

land of Montreal slated for priority protection and enhancement.

For Mintz and her group of vol unteers, the quest to save the Falaise started in 2015, when she discov ered that parts of the Falaise were being bulldozed for construction.

The activist said the cleanup has been going on for years, but it was not her who started the motion.

Once during the 1980s, the area was cleaned and regreened.

“Workers from the [union of the Commission de la fonction pub lique de Montréal] came here and cleaned it all up and put fences, but people cut holes in the fence and continued dumping their gar bage,” Mintz pointed out.

Today, little garbage can be seen in the area and instead of fences, a bike road was stretched through the highway.

A Green Walk

On Sept. 17, residents of NDG, activists and a number of politicians gathered at the Falaise to celebrate the opening of the green strip at the foot of the Fal aise. The strip acts as a buffer zone next to the CN railway tracks and Highway 20. It’s a multipurpose path for cyclists and pedestrians along forested areas and grasses.

The band was constructed by Transport Quebec, which finished the project in June 2022. But it was Mintz and other members of Sauvons la Falaise who pushed the city’s officials to make it happen.

“In the beginning, it was just

a small group of senior citizens that started writing proposals and asking questions from the city officials and going to the council meetings,” said Hedi Dab, a mem ber of Sauvons la Falaise.

Hedi said the construction of the green strip is excellent but what was promised to them was Dalle-Parc. The park was sup posed to be a bike and pedestrian bridge and elevated park over Highway 20 that would link NDG to the Lachine Canal and LaSalle.

“We are here for the DalleParc,” member of Sauvons la Fa laise Michel Tesler said.

“I’m here to support people who believe that we need an im proved nature present in our city,” Tesler added as he handed out pamphlets about the Falaise to people at the opening event.

The Dalle-Parc project was in itially promised as part of the Tur cot Interchange redesign but was later shelved. All attempts made by The Link to contact officials in volved in the project have failed at the time of printing this story.

The Mission Continues

Although the majority of the Falaise is cleaned, activists say there are still people who secretly dump their garbage in it.

“The biggest problem we have right now is the dumping of garbage that comes from the businesses at the top of SaintJacques,” Hedi said. “People have been fined, businesses have been

fined, but still garbage is being dumped. Last year, we pulled 200 tires out of the Falaise.”

As the winter approaches, an other concern presses on: snow. The Falaise has been a snow dumping site for years.

“The problem with the snow is that it got salt and dirt in it. The snow also pushes down the trees, so it causes erosion,” Mintz said. She explained that invasive spe cies are another threat the Falaise is dealing with.

“There are a lot of invasive spe cies here. When the Falaise was regreened, several invasive plants threatened its biodiversity,” Mintz said, pointing at intertwined plants on the side of the road.

An Educational Hub Sauvons la Falaise is not only trying to preserve the area, but they are making it a place of education. Mintz likes the Falaise area as an en vironmental teaching ground and a place that school groups could visit to teach children about nature.

“I started environmental teaching education four years ago, and we do many things here,” Mintz added.

The Falaise has been the scene of many changes, from a forgot ten garbage dump to a bike and pedestrian path. People might witness more significant changes in the Falaise, which could erase the memory of the dumping site from the minds of Montrealers.

To tackle this issue, environ mental volunteers from Mintz’s team have been involved in a project with the city of Montreal. Their main job is to detect invasive and exotic plant species that are not indigenous and native to Que bec. “The Falaise is in danger from these invasive species. Some plants have no natural predators here, and they change the soil chemistry and make it toxic for the native plants,” said Bruce Dawe, a volun teer member of the project.

-- Michel Tesler

PHOTO AATEFEH PADIDAR

PHOTO AATEFEH PADIDAR

“We are here for the Dalle-Parc [and] to support people who believe that we need an im proved nature present in our city”

Disabled Student Unable to Evacuate During Fire Drill

Concordia Security Mishandled a Student on Crutches During Learning Square Drill

Kaity Brady

Adisabled student was unable to safely exit the Learning Square building during a fire drill last month and is raising concerns about campus accessibility and evacuation policies.

Jess Marshall, an undergradu ate student in the English depart ment, uses crutches on and off to help with hypermobility-related injuries and chronic pain. Mar shall was in a science fiction class in the Learning Square building on Sept. 26 when fire alarms went off.

Marshall never made it out of the building. Instead Marshall was instructed to stay in the building by Concordia security because a transfer chair could not be found.

As students and instructors flooded the building’s stairwell and emergency escape, Marshall looked for security guards for guidance as they ushered students out.

“I was worried I was going to get trampled [...] and I was certain ly pushed around a lot. I managed to make it back [to the fire escape], and [the security guard was] like, “go go go,” Marshall said.

The student said the fire es cape was too precarious to at tempt an exit because it had holes in the sheet metal. “Definitely big enough that even if my crutch couldn't fall through—which I honestly think it could have—it could very easily get stuck and wet in there, and I could fall.”

According to Marshall, the guards radioed downstairs to ask if a transfer chair was available, the usual protocol in evacuations of mobility-impaired people, but there wasn’t one. Marshall said

after asking what would happen if this was a real fire, one guard made a remark suggesting they would carry mobility-impaired students down.

“She made a joke about how she would throw me over her shoulders,” said Marshall.

“First of all, I'm injured. I don't want a random person—no offence to the security people— picking me up and dragging me down a flight of stairs in the middle of it. I don't think they're trained for that and I don't trust them to do it safely,” said Marshall.

Marshall explained that lucki ly, a friend, Ace Côté, was in class that day and able to help figure out what to do. Côté, a second-year creative writing student, explained that they have participated in safe ty trainings in the past and are rather familiar with drill proced ures, but that what happened that day in the Learning Square didn’t inspire confidence at all.

“It was frustrating watching how the situation was handled. It’s a very steep staircase to go out, and there was only one guard—if it had been an emergency, I was not con fident they would have been able to get Jess out in any sort of way, much less a way that was not pain ful or humiliating,” said Côté.

“It felt like they were given very cursory instructions and were not prepared to deal with anyone with mobility issues,” Marshall added.

Marshall said navigating campus stairwells using crutch es can be trying at the best of times and especially in emergen cies. “People have no idea how

to have common courtesy with crutches and they overcorrect by just standing at the bottom of the stairs for the full seven minutes to get up,” Marshall said.

Concordia’s website has in formation related to mobil ity-impaired students and fire drills. It points to the use of an “Evac-chair” in emergencies and suggests that these chairs are de signed to be placed in hallways and near exits ready for an emer gency. Marshall said the security guards acknowledged that there should be a chair, but that they did not know where it was or why it wasn’t there that day.

The page also says it's within protocol at the school to leave mobility-impaired individuals on the floor during drills. Contrary to what the guards told Mar shall, the website explicitly states that carrying a person out of the building is not recommended.

Marshall and Côté were espe cially concerned when they no ticed the guards radioed down stairs and told the security desk that everyone had been evacu ated, which they dispute, as they were both still in the building when this was said.

After the security guard couldn’t find the Evac-Chair, according to Marshall, “she just messaged down being like, ‘we safely evacuated the mobility-re duced person,’ and then she

winked at me and was like, ‘yeah, you can stay up here. It's fine,’ and that was that.”

“They fully lied. I wasn’t safe ly evacuated,” Marshall said. “I don’t know what I would do in an emergency at this point, and I have not been able to get a straight answer from anyone.”

Marshall said regardless of whether the emergency is real, it’s problematic that disabled stu dents will potentially miss out on safety drills that others get to ex perience in full.

While Marshall and Côté don’t blame the instructor for what hap pened that day, they say it would have been nice if the instructor had some awareness of what to do in this situation and checked in with the students who remained upstairs.

According to Concordia’s web site, there is specific safety training for emergencies that students and staff can take by special request. They are voluntary and subject to cancellation due to low enrollment.

Marshall explained that the Access Centre for Students with Disabilities is too difficult and time-consuming when it comes to providing and maintaining ac commodations. Marshall doesn’t think students should have to

deal with formal accommodation processes to be able to evacuate safely. Marshall gave student ath letes as an example, who could get injured at any time and need ac commodations quickly.

Concordia Student Union Executive Coordinator Fawaz Halloum told The Link he will bring up Marshall’s experience with Michael Di Grappa, the uni versity’s vice-president of services and sustainability.

“This doesn’t shock me,” Halloum said. “Accessibility needs to be a bigger priority at Concordia and we need to make sure each and every building has the required support for disabled students.”

Neither Marshall nor Côté felt supported from administration, their instructor or security. Côté didn’t feel that anyone at Concordia took their friend's safety seriously.

“I don't think it was a success ful fire drill,” Marshall said. “And I don't think I would be saved there in an emergency.”

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Big Picket Energy

Arts and Science Students Strike for Fall Reading Week

Zachary Fortier

Partially blocking a door and sitting in a hallway in the middle of the Loyola campus’ central building, Rami Zemouri and Erik Hristev were playing a game of chess.

The two students, both execu tives in the Concordia Undergradu ate Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physics Society, were not simply shooting the breeze on a Tuesday morning. Their ultimate gambit— picketing their physics class—re quired even more strategizing.

Moments earlier, three security guards entered the hallway after being called by picket-line-crossing biology students in a neighbouring classroom. “Our physics picketing was planned, but the biology stu dents spontaneously joined in,” Ze mouri said of the biology students who formed their own picket line in front of their classroom.

As security arrived to over see the situation, the line-crossers found a way to bypass picketers and sneak into their biology class. Once the guards assisted the biology pro fessor into the room, the next-door physics professor entered onto the scene. Only one student showed up to the physics class—the others skipped in solidarity.

Between Oct. 3 and Oct. 7, over a dozen student associations within the Arts and Science Feder ation of Associations participated in a strike for a fall reading week. Classes were picketed, but mul tiple activities and workshops were planned across both campuses.

Although a fall reading will be implemented in 2023, the strike was a symbolic measure for student action and immediate change on campus. In lieu of a reading week, the Fall 2022 semester merely had a reading day on Oct. 11.

Hundreds of students participated in the strike in one way or another.

On Oct. 4, the first official day of the strikes, the Loyola campus was quieter than usual. Akira Oikawa, vice-president of communications within the Communication Studies Student Association, was patrolling the CJ building’s hallways.

“I’m so shocked that nobody’s here,” Oikawa said.

“I’ve only seen about three people show up to their classes so far,” he added. With the help of ASFA Communications Coordin ator Payton Mitchell, Oikawa set up a coffee station in the lounge area for fellow strikers.

Organizing and planning the strike was no easy feat, according to ASFA executives. Just days before the strike week began, Mobilization Co ordinator Ashley Torres contracted COVID-19. Without her presence, other coordinators, like Mitchell, amped up their involvement.

Oct. 4 was a hectic morning for strikers at the downtown cam pus. At 11:30 a.m., dozens of dem onstrators attempted to block off street corners near de Maisonneuve Blvd. and Bishop St..

ASFA General Manager John Hutton and CSU Sustainability Co ordinator Sean Lévis, who acted as the strike’s police liaison, were im mediately approached by SPVM officers once protesters started blocking streets. According to mul tiple sources within ASFA, nobody had been in contact with the police to let them know how their event would be planned.

Grabbing a megaphone, ASFA Academic Coordinator Lily Cha rette encouraged the crowd of paint ers and protesters, hoping to boost morale. The police forced the paint ers to relocate to the sidewalk, where two smaller paintings were made.

Across Concordia, class rooms in multiple buildings were tagged with leaflets made by the different member associations on strike. MAs tailored their pamphlets to their liking, placing them on the doors where classes were supposed to occur.

Besides picketing classrooms, multiple events were planned throughout the week. On Oct. 5, “all-nighters,” gatherings from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m., took place at both libraries. At the Webster library downtown, ASFA Internal Co ordinator Scarlet Guy handed fresh cups of tea to passersby, explaining the purpose of the strike.

At Loyola’s Vanier library, or ganizers handed out slices of piz za to participants. They had laid out poster boards for students to write out their biggest issues with the university. One student wrote about overbooked mental health

services. Another student added on: “Same thing for me. There was no place anytime [to seek profes sional help]. Their alternative was [a] 24h suicide hotline.”

On Oct. 6, MA executives erected an inflatable obstacle course on the Loyola Quad. “Ac cess Mental Health Services Here,” a parody of Concordia’s lack of mental health support for stu dents, was written on a sign next to the obstacle course. “If Concordia wants to give us Zen Dens and therapy dogs, we’ve got a bouncy castle for them,” said Mitchell.

A rainy Friday capped off the fall reading week strike, conclud ing the demonstrations. While this year’s strike was organized by Arts and Science undergraduates, next fall semester’s official reading week will be Concordia-wide.

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Ordinary Wonder Tales: Fantasy Meets Daily Experiences

Emily Urquhart Contrasts her Life With Folklore and Legend

Claire Helston-VanDuzer

A s a university student I often have a difficult time justify ing reading books that aren't aca demic. As I sit doing something that supposedly brings pleasure, I chastise myself for not devoting this time to my ever accumulat ing pile of readings.

Perhaps I am not choosing books that offer an escape that I intuitively associate with the act of reading for pleasure. This is where Ordinary Wonder Tales by Emily Urquhart differs.

Alternating between in timate family tales and related myths, Urquhart paints a nos talgic image, stringing along certain comforts that satiated my yearn for escapism.

Emily Urquhart is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Toronto Star, The Literary Review of Canada and Guernica Longreads. She draws on her doctorate in folklore to incor porate legends and myths in her novels. With a large repertoire of pieces, many of which have been nominated for awards within the National Magazine Awards, Ur quhart demonstrates her skill for weaving her knowledge of myth and legend into non fiction. Or dinary Wonder Tales is a great example of this. It is a personal account of her life experiences, from tales of ghost stories she saw as a child to being a mother her self. Within all the stories encom passed in her memoir, she draws on mythical elements to illustrate the lessons she’s learned.

When seeking literary escape, I tend to gravitate towards fantasy books that I devoured in my mid dle school days. I'll be the first to admit that I still enjoy reading the Harry Potter series on a rainy Oc tober afternoon.

Ordinary Wonder Tales acts as a more mature alternative to this. Urquhart’s corrobation of legends to day-to-day life offers the same getaway and warmth that indul ging in a supernatural world can. So, to all the retired fantasy lovers out there, please do yourself a fa vour and read this book.

Urquhart skillfully employs imagery throughout her novel, illustrating her most intimate moments through well-placed details. She transcribes her ex perience conducting fieldwork in a small Newfoundland town with personal and emotional language. She refers to her research meth od at this time as “mythological doom scrolling, the grimmer the legend, the more sated I am. I go to bed only once I've read the worst, most appalling pestilence tale I can find.” In this journal-like read, she adeptly invites the reader to be her confidante. Ordinary Wonder Tales is a vulnerable work that reads like delving into memories of a life that could've been yours.

In her set of essays entitled “Lessons for Female Success,” Ur quhart details experiences of hers in which she was either victim or a learner of the dangers of being a woman. She accompanies these stories with myths of a woman es

caping her killer, noting the abnor mality that the woman survives in the end. The tales she uses in these essays soften the sharp edges of female trauma, and allow herself and the reader to give their story an alternate ending, one in which they are the heroine who escapes.

As Urquhart puts it, the use of the supernatural is well-suited for telling a woman's story because “It can't be taken down, it's yours. And it belongs to you. And no body can go in there and try to tell you that it isn't right because it exists only in your own head. So it has a power of its own in that way”

Detailing experiences of her own childhood, family and being a parent herself, Urquhart maps out a comprehensive tale of a life lived. Like any other, this life story holds pain, but Urquhart also brings attention to the joys of motherhood and family. She turns her own experiences into family folklore to share with her children, and within these stories, uses legend to allow her kids an understanding of her experiences. The kinship that she holds with her children is continuously in corporated into her stories. They act as a participatory audience for these tales, alternating between inspiration for her storytelling and sources of comfort. Though this book does not highlight her motherhood as a primary com ponent of her storytelling, her children are omnipresent in the novel, lending love and under standing to her tales.

Midterm Horoscopes

Sophie Dufresne

Cancer: Congrats on surviving midterms! How many all-night ers did you pull because you were too busy crying about how much work you had to do?

Leo: If you feel confident about your midterms, I’m sure you can continue lying to yourself until you receive your grades :)

Sagittarius: Partying the night be fore a midterm is actually known as self-handicapping in psychol ogy. It means you knew you’d fail regardless of what you did, but you wanted a convenient excuse, so you’ll blame the tequila.

Taurus: I hope you had mul tiple alarms set and didn’t sleep through any midterm…or did you fall asleep during your exam?

Gemini: I know you’d probably rather watch TikTok videos than study, but maybe consider com pleting at least some of your read ings by the final. Unless you want your GPA to suffer.

Pisces: Being the teacher’s pet won’t get you bonuses in uni, I’m not sure why you’re even trying?

I found comfort reading this book. This novel uses myths as a mother's forehead kiss, or an all too knowing hand-squeeze of a friend at the end of a particularly bad night. My inner child's desire for fantasy was left equally satiated.

Ordinary Wonder Tales has opened my eyes to the ways that the mythic al can allow opportunity for women to tell their own story in a forgiving environment. It has encouraged me to seek out other narratives that do the same.

Libra: The type to never study and still get straight A’s.

Scorpio: I’m sure finals will go better for you. You just have to maintain hope and maybe study a little.

Aquarius: Are you really sur prised that you got that one question you answered creatively wrong? Creative isn’t better when the answer is straightforward.

Virgo: Everyone thinks you’re the angel of the zodiac, but I bet you’ve managed to sneak in some notes during at least one midterm.

Aries: Who would win in a stub born match: an Aries or a strict grader who never ever ever changes a student’s grade? Probably an Aries.

Capricorn: I’m sorry you didn’t survive midterms. My condol ences, but one of the signs had to be the scapegoat.

COURTESY BYRON EGGENSCHWILER

Fall Baking Essentials for Students

Student-Friendly Recipes for Study Sessions, Late Nights, and Crispy Autumn Mornings.

Kathleen Champoux

Pumpkin Spice Coffee

We all love a good pumpkin spice latte, but paying upwards of seven dollars per cup is not friendly to a student budget. So, why not make it yourself?

You’ll need:

Coffee or tea of your choice

½ cup of milk

1 tbsp. canned pumpkin ½ tsp. pumpkin spice seasoning

½ tsp. cinnamon

2 ½ tsp. sugar

Whipped cream (optional)

Start by brewing your coffee or tea. While that finishes up, head to the stovetop. In a pot, combine the milk, pumpkin, and spices. Over low heat, constantly stir the milk until it is warm, bubbling slightly, and everything is mixed.

Once the milk is ready and the coffee or tea is hot, pour the milk into your drug of choice and top with whipped cream and extra cinnamon. Delicious!

Quick and Easy Apple Pear Pie

You can’t have a hot beverage without something to snack on, right? Be it on a cozy night in or gobbled up on your way out the door, pies using fresh fall fruits can never disappoint. (Bonus, it’s plant based!)

You’ll need:

For the filling: 4 apples

4 pears

2 teaspoons of cinnamon 2 tablespoons of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

For the crust:

Cold water

A pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of baking soda ½ cup of vegetable shortening

1 ½ cups of flour

Start by preheating the oven to 375° F, then begin peeling and chopping your apples and pears, reserving a few slices of each to decorate the top of the pie. Mix the fruits in a large bowl, adding the cinnamon and brown sugar. Let that sit while you make the crust.

In a separate bowl, slowly add the flour, shortening, and mar garine. When mixed, pour in the cold water to form a more cohesive dough. When the dough is able to be rolled into a ball but is no long er sticky, split it in two. Spread one section of the dough into the bot tom of your pie plate and reserve the other half for the top.

Place the pie plate in the oven for ten minutes or until the edges of the crust start to brown. Then, add the filing and spread the other half of your dough over the top. Decorate with the reserved fruits. Continue to bake for another 30 minutes or until the pie is brown and bubbling.

Let it cool, and enjoy!

Savory Pumpkin Biscuits

We’ve covered coffee and des serts, but what about something savoury? These pumpkin bis cuits are perfect as a side dish or warmed up in the morning with some butter.

You’ll need:

2 cups of flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

A pinch of salt

⅓ cup of shortening

cup of milk

cup of canned pumpkin

Start by preheating the oven to 450° F. Then mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Once combined, cut the shortening into pieces and add it in along with the milk and mix. It should give a very dry dough. Add the pump kin and mix again.

The dough might be a little sticky at this stage. Flour your work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Flour the top of the dough then use a rolling pin or a wine bot tle to spread it to about a half inch tall, adding flour as needed.

A circular dough cutter works best, but any cookie cutter you have will do. Get the shapes out of the dough and add them to a cookie sheet. Bake them for 12 minutes. Take them out when they’re starting to brown.

Let them cool off slightly, split them in half, and eat with your favorite spreads!

Enjoy

Creating fall treats is a great way to warm your space and your plate. Most of these reci pes use the same main ingredi ents in different ways to make sure you stay on budget while still being able to add some fall spirit to your dishes.

Why I Write

I write to fill empty pages with feelings I want to be reminded to forget.

I write to scribble and burn my thoughts, so they absorb the page with ink for those words to never go away.

I write and hate and write some more until that hate turns into grief.

I write so one day maybe just maybe I’ll remember why I hate it so much.

Sudoku

Callista Mille

SCOREBOARD

MEN’S RUGBY

W 58-0 vs. Carleton Oct. 8

WOMEN’S RUGBY

L 48-13 vs. Carleton Oct. 8

WOMEN’S SOCCER

W 2-1 vs. Sherbrooke Oct. 7

MEN’S SOCCER

W 3-0 vs. Sherbrooke Oct. 7

FOOTBALL

L 31-13 vs. UdeM Oct. 8

BASEBALL

W 15-2 vs. McGill Oct. 7

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (Exhibition)

L 84-67 vs. St. FX Oct. 8

MEN’S BASKETBALL (Concordia Classic)

L 72-60 vs. Dalhousie Oct. 7

75-62 vs. Trinity Western Oct. 8

75-70 vs. TMU Oct 9

SCHEDULE

WOMEN’S RUGBY

Saturday Oct. 15 vs McGill at 3 p.m.

MEN’S RUGBY

Friday Oct. 15 vs. UdeM at 12 p.m.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Saturday Oct. 15 @ Cornell at 2 p.m

MEN’S HOCKEY

Saturday Oct. 15 vs RMC at 3 p.m. Home-Opener

Sunday Oct. 16 vs. McGill at 3 p.m.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Friday Oct. 14 @ Laval at 6 p.m. Sunday Oct. 16 vs. UQTR at 3:30 p.m.

MEN’S SOCCER

Friday Oct. 14 @ Laval at 8:15 p.m.

MEN’S BASKETBALL (Carleton Tournament)

Friday Oct. 14 vs. Carleton at 8 p.m.

Saturday Oct. 15 vs. Victoria at 6 p.m.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (Waterloo Tournament)

Sunday Oct. 16 vs. UQTR at 1 p.m. Thursday Oct. 13 vs. Guelph at 8 p.m

Friday Oct. 14 vs. Waterloo at 6 p.m. Saturday Oct. 15 vs. UNBC at 6 p.m.

Sunday Oct. 16 vs. McMaster at 12 p.m.

Game of the Week:

Concordia Rugby vs. McGill

The Fifth-Seeded Stingers’ Open Fall Sports’ Post-Season

tency. In matches where Concordia wins, they have a point differential of +92, yet in games where they lose, the differential is -166.

At one point in the year, the Stingers were ranked 9th in the U Sports national power rank ings. If it were not for the loss against Carleton University on Oct. 8, Concordia would likely still be ranked in the top 10.

These two are just some of the many players who have made impressive contribu tions to Concordia. The Sting ers’ aforementioned quickness and stamina culminated with a sturdy defensive line and text book tackling that head coach Jocelyn Barrieau implements.

The first instance of fall play offs is here, with the Con cordia Stingers’ women’s rugby team taking on the McGill Mart lets on Saturday, Oct. 15.

The first-round match-up has fifth-seed Concordia, who finished the season with a 3-3 record. The Stingers are heavily favoured going against the lastplace McGill team who went winless in 2022. The last time the two anglo universities faced one another was during the Kel ly-Anne Drummond Cup where in Concordia dominated 55-3.

The Stingers experienced a tur bulent campaign. Their .500 record is a reflection of the team's inconsis

The Martlets are susceptible to speedy play. They have given up an atrocious 61.5 points per game. If the Stingers execute their typical game plan, consisting of quick passes and utilizing their stamina, they will win.

Concordia’s stud players will set the tone. Captain Mahalia Robinson evolved into her leader ship role, as her vocal candour has steadied solid group efforts this year. Forward Roxanne Galar neau had notable games this year as well. She amassed two mul tiple-try games against McGill and one against the Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or; the latter of which granted Galarneau Stingers’ Athlete of the Week honours.

Stingers’ Weekend Wrap-Up:

Oct. 7 to 9 Thanksgiving Weekend Means Big Games

Conor Tomalty

Football: Fourth place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec

It’s fair to say this will not be a championship year for the Stingers’ football team. Their loss against the Université de Montreal cements a losing season as their winning record will be under .500 from this point on. The offence has played poorly as of late, and last weekend was no exception. They only succeeded in scoring points during the last quarter. For a unit that was well-praised prior to the season’s start, they have under whelmed many who support the sport, to say the least. The fourthplace team takes the final playoff spot. As long as the McGill Red birds continue to lose, Concordia will accept a consolation entry.

Next game against the McGill Redbirds Oct. 21 at 7 p.m..

Women’s Soccer: Sixth place in the RSEQ

The last place Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or was a much needed punching bag for the Stingers. A 2-1 victory is not domination, but the offensive syn

ergy had clicked of late. Forward Osa Iyare and Captain Bryanna Campbell scored for Concordia. Going forward, the race for the playoffs is still on-going with third and fourth table positions still up for grabs. The Stingers themselves only trail fourth place by two points. The road ahead is not easy, but the playoffs are in sight.

Next game against the Uni versité Laval Rouge et Or on Oct. 14 at 6 p.m..

Men’s Soccer: Fifth place in the RSEQ

The men’s team’s weekend re flects one identical to the women’s team. A 3-1 win over Sherbrooke meant both soccer squads went home with a smile. Unlike the women’s team, the standings in the men’s division is wide-open with second place and fifth place differing by four points. If the women’s road ahead is difficult, the men’s team has a four-car pile-up clustering the freeway. With four matches remaining, the Stingers will need as many wins as they can muster if they want to achieve playoff representation.

Next game against Laval on Oct. 14 at 8:15 p.m..

Women’s Rugby: Finished fifth in the RSEQ

A 48-13 defeat at the hands of the Carleton University Ravens kicked Concordia out of the U Sports top 10. On top of this, Concordia rests in fifth place, only trailing UdeM in point total. Had the Stingers bested the Carabins, they would be prepar ing for the championship semifinal. Alas, Concordia is poised for the eighth place McGill Mart lets in the quarter-final consola tion round.

Next game against the Mc Gill Martlets in RSEQ Quar ter-Final Consolation

Men’s Rugby: Fifth place in the RSEQ

The Stingers’ men’s team strolled into Carleton and shined from the get-go. A 58-0 decima tion bumped Concordia to 3-2 on the year. Only the top four teams make the playoffs, therefore Con cordia will have to win from here on out if they want to nudge their

way into the post-season. If any one is capable, it will be coach John Lavery’s defending cham pionship team.

Next game against UdeM Oct. 15 at 12 p.m..

Women’s Basketball: Pre-Season

The Stingers’ women’s basket ball team continued with a pre-season scrimmage against St. Francis Xavier University on Oct. 8. The 84-67 loss is a nega tive, however, with the plethora of players coming from the recruit ing class, coach Tenicha Gittens’ squad is still building up chem istry. The real test is sure to come in the regular season. For now, the Waterloo Naismith Tournament is the next stage.

Next game against Guelph University on Oct. 13 at 8 p.m..

Men’s Basketball: Concordia Classic Tournament

Three straight losses for the men’s team in the Concordia Clas sic Tournament is bad news to report. The good news is that it’s only the first tune-up tournament of the early year. With plenty of

Despite being a Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec con solation game, the atmosphere will be prideful, nonetheless. Concordia’s contemporary suc cess and healthy rugby com munity will culminate in a bois terously exuberant game from the cheering section. With a historic rivalry entwined be tween the two universities, who have shared coaches and glory throughout the many years of play, this will just bolster the crowd’s excitement even more.

Both teams look to move past this stage of post-season play with a win. Kick-off has yet to be decided.

basketball to be played, team work is a key focal point. Com plete coverage of the tournament and assessment are important as pects to focus on, but for now, the Stingers will have to prepare for the Carleton Tournament.

Next game against Waterloo University on Oct. 14 at 8 p.m..

Baseball

The baseball team was ex ceptional. A 15-2 win over Mc Gill was the perfect Thanksgiv ing weekend treat. Only two games under .500, coach Howard Schwartz’s team is finding its form with a point differential of +20 in their last two games. Pitching and position play are coming into their own, just in time for the On tario University Athletics tourna ment on the horizon.

Next game against College La flèche on Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m..

Who Can We Trust With the Keys to the Ivory Tower?

The Repeated Failures of Our Black Leaders

Sandra Mouafo

When the Balarama Holness 'scandal' came out, I over looked it. I thought this was yet another Black person in power who failed to meet the bar of Black excellence which is set in heaven.

Right before the 2021 munici pal elections, it was reported that members of Holness' non-profit, Montreal In Action, mass resigned. This included the majority of both his board and executive team. A chaotic and alienating work en vironment and loss of confidence from the board towards Holness ultimately led to five out of six members to resing in late 2019.

Not long after, more resigna tions followed suit. They included the two women seasoned activists Black Catherine Diallo, the former co-chair of research and advocacy, and volunteer Shalaka Shah.

When non-white public fig ures are embroiled in political drama, the criticism always seems to echo the loudest. The media scrutiny and the wrath of social media always become most vio lent when they exit the depths of Twitter and enter our daily con versations and classrooms.

I was also tired of the never end ing blabber of the world, and made a habit of ignoring most scandals or abstaining from commenting in any kind of public format. I had no doubt there was some justification for the social media uproar, but too often, its volume was dispropor tionate for the alleged offence.

But I found myself beginning to relate to Shah and Diallo when I encountered my own Balarama Holness a few months later.

My experience was all too simi lar to the shared experience of many women of color just like myself. A leader in my case—the former gen eral coordinator of the Concordia Student Union, whose regular mis ogyny, unjustifiably large ego and crippling incompetence derailed the goals of the union—I worked for negatively impacted my well being and job satisfaction.

As the Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity manager of the union, it was my job to ensure the equit able treatment of all employees. It therefore, became my job to ask, uncover and document the ac counts of abuse and harassment experienced by many employees, mostly women. This too took its toll on me as the complaints be came a daily occurrence and the

behaviours of the perpetrator dan gerously increased in boldness.

Yet, no one seems to discuss the emotional toll of the psycho logical harassment of being at the mercy of such egoistic leadership. Inevitably, I too reached my break ing point. Despite all the reward ing work I had already put in, the many projects still underway or the indescribable fulfillment my work had once brought me.

This didn't stop him from claim ing all criticism was racist and un warranted. He claimed victimhood despite having never issued an apology to any of his victims, aside from requesting to speak to me once his impeachment became immin ent, which I respectfully declined.

As the brilliant actress, writer, producer and comedian Issa Rae once said, "I am rooting for every body Black." But those same people would not care about me if their positions didn't require my vote or if there wasn't any clout to be gained

from exploiting black suffering and turning it into a commodity.

What would happen if we could conceive of the nuances of a Black man in power? Comment and criticize the individual as a reflection of their character rath er than their ethnicity. Maintain the focus on their poor leader ship skills, communication skills, organizational skills, or better yet, the harm their sheer incom petency can cause, especially when directed at their own people.

Should we not subject our Black leaders to more scrutiny before seek ing to empower them to represent us in rooms most of us will never even have the chance to walk into?

Not for the sake of seeking per fection or (Black) excellence, but rather to ensure the continuous aim for social justice. What is the value of an advocate without community to inform the direction they should lead it towards? One who vague

ly gestures at everything else as the culprit of the criticisms they refuse to face when we dare inquire about motive, competency or objectives. Willfully ignoring the harm they have caused, so that the image of themselves they have so carefully constructed remains uninterrupted.

Sounds like communal nar cissism to me, but what do I know? So what happens once those types of people are given the keys to the ivory tower?

In sociology, the term ‘habitus’ refers to the ways one person's unique experiences influence their perspectives on the world. It helps raise questions like "Who is your loyalty to?" or "How do you define your morality?"

French sociologist Pierre Bour dieu, in his oeuvre of the same name, then adds the notion of dis tinction. In other words, what dis tinguishes those with the upbring ing and resources necessary to be given access to so-called high so ciety. Those without it may never hold the keys to the ivory tower. These proverbial rooms are what Bourdieu refers to as fields—social spaces in which specific discourses and institutions, like a classroom, church or congress, can be found.

Every field has power struggles within them to determine what does and doesn't belong in it and

allows gatekeepers to uphold those boundaries and reward or punish people within it. So if economic capital, or money, is not a viable option for Black leaders to get into the fields that hold power over large communities and popula tions, social capital, such as a hurt ing community, must then prevail in its place and grant them access.

From Kanye West to Candace Owens or from Kamala Harris to Meghan Markle, these individuals weaponize Blackness by exploit ing the painful experiences of the Black community out of conven ience, not benevolence. Once they have their set of keys, they rejoice in the money and power that comes with it and leave the rest of us to fend for ourselves. Make no mistake, our collective outrage and hurt is a commodity that rises in value every election season.

They will freely criticize others for doing less than what they never truly intended to do or will inevitably fail to realise. But a seat at the table does not guarantee a plate, and soon they breadcrumb us with unfulfilled promises as they reappropriate the meaning of community out of necessity rath er than care. Where would you guess the allegiance and loyalties of such a person lie.

I never truly understood the depth and toll of the harm caused by this type of false leadership until I witnessed it first hand.

Truly, until it was aimed direct ly at me. It was enough to make me walk away from a position which came with many bene fits, none of which were worth my sanity or health. But the fail ure to properly vet our leaders comes at the cost of the progress of the Black community.

Black leaders especially have often put the emphasis on the ac cumulation of political power (or social capital). The Obama presi dency, for instance, represents the culmination of those efforts for many. But often, Black driv en political clout comes at the expense of true Black economic and social advancement.

Has political success truly been a major factor in the historical upward social mobility of disen franchised groups out of poverty?

Can leaders elected on social cap ital truly have an understanding of the issues at hand? Are they both experienced and empathet ic enough to pursue policies that actually create the change they campaigned on? Are they able to apply pressure regardless of being disliked because they prioritize the importance of its success over the perception of their image?

I have seen a lot of moral entre preneurs and peacemakers in these positions; the self appointed kings, queens and representatives of Black people. But I have yet to see someone who I can fully trust with the keys to the ivory tower.

I personally want a Will Pros per rather than a Canadian Barack Obama to represent me in these rooms. I don't want the promise of change under a guise of benevo lence. I want someone who has been and continues to be in the trenches with the rest of us.

Perhaps then, the ideas of people that look like me are what the polit ical agenda is based on rather than what our labor is exploited over for a talking point or a mere shield for any form of criticism.

Maybe then, the keys are for us all and the kingdom becomes ours instead of at the mercy of a greedy undeserving king whose throne is made of the sweat and tears of the people that got him there.

I know of a certain general coordinator (and self appointed king of Black people) who, once removed by his own people, re fused to give back the keys to the kingdom. Forcing his constitu ents to bear the cost of the re placement of every room he still demands access to.

Debunking Common Period Myths Sex-Editorial:

Breaking the Stigma of Menstruation, one Myth at a Time

All women menstruate

Not all women get periods either—there are a variety of ex ceptions that make this idea a myth. For instance, Transgender women don’t menstruate. Many cisgender women who experi enced menopause no longer have periods either. Additionally, women with underlying condi tions, such as polycystic ovary syn drome or premature ovarian fail ure might not menstruate either. Other causes like eating disorders and specific medications may stop or delay periods. There are also scenarios where women take cer tain forms of birth control to stop their periods all together.

Period blood is unsanitary

PMS isn’t real Premenstrual syndrome is very real, and it affects three out of four people. Society uses PMS pejoratively to justify sup posedly emotional behaviors in people with periods.

PMS is often associated with moodiness and irrationality—but the range of symptoms covers much more than that and varies for every menstruating person.

Tampons will take away your virginity

If anything, this myth re inforces the idea that virginity is a social construct. There is noth ing impure about using a piece of cotton that stops your flow from ruining your favorite pair of pants. Many cultures and com munities view tampons as taboo because of the idea that tampons could potentially break your hy men and take your virginity.

As for the original definition of virginity, it has been passed around for years, shutting women down for being sexually liberated. Today, virginity is often linked to the intercourse between a man and a woman—excluding the LG BTQ+ community. Tampons have been intrinsically associated with penetration since their creation, putting at equal level both tam pons and male genitalia. Whether someone chooses to wear pads, tampons or other sanitary prod ucts, these are purposely meant for periods—menstruation and sex are separate topics!

Only women get periods.

Respecting people's identi ties is crucial, especially now that education surrounding marginal ized gender identities is becom ing more accessible and younger generations feel more confident about coming out.

Many people experience per iods—and not all of them are women. Transgender men, non binary, intersex and genderqueer individuals (the list goes on) can have periods too.

Advertisements tend to por tray cisgender women when pro moting sanitary products, which can be alienating for those who don’t feel part of the accepted norm. Using gender inclusive language when talking about per iods, particularly on a university campus where students are more likely to face sexism, transphobia and bullying, will create a safer environment for everyone.

The stigma that period blood is dirty or unhygienic has been around for decades. Individuals have been taught to be embar rassed about bleeding, when this bodily function is normal and perfectly healthy. During men struation, the uterus lining sheds blood and tissue, a natural pro cess in response to not having a fertilized egg. All of our organs contain blood, so why is period blood any different?

A part of this misconception comes from the idea that the color of your period shows how clean it is—but the range in color actually shows the blood’s level of oxida tion. During periods, blood and tissue are excreted, so they are usually less liquidy than regular blood cells. Yet, red blood is still preceived as taboo and dirty. Up until 2020, when Kotex released a period ad with blood-like liquid, the infamous series of ads por traying blue liquid on sanitary products were a perfect example of the stigmatization of periods.

Premenstrual symptoms in clude tiredness, headaches, low mood and tender breasts. Some people can experience mild symptoms, some more promin ent symptoms, and others none at all. Regardless of your experience with PMS, this myth invalidates people who menstruate as well as those who don't menstruate, common with IUDs. This can often discourage them from seek ing help, even in extreme cases such as endometriosis, a pain ful disorder where cells from the uterus' inner lining develop out side the uterus.

While progress is being made surrounding period myths, they continue to perpetuate the lack of menstrual products as well as educational resources for young people with periods. These myths are only some of the many out there, and because they are per petuated throughout generations, it makes it harder for many gov ernments to validate the need for sanitary product funding and proper menstrual education. By openly talking about periods, we can end this worldwide stigma surrounding them.

GRAPHIC MAYA LM

Immigrant’s POV: The CAQ Win may Determine my Future

Immigrant Struggles will Continue in Quebec

Maria Cholakova

Quebec society. On top of that, learning a new language isn’t easy—it takes months, even years to do, especially on a higher level. The pressure of learning is even higher when it affects your study ing, work and health.

away from Quebec. It isn’t their task to preserve French or to take the brunt of the false narratives thrown their way.

T

he results of the elections may not seem surprising to many, but for immigrants like me, and for those who haven't mastered the French language, the looming future remains daunting.

In mid-May, the Quebec government proposed Bill 96. If passed, the bill would mandate French in business operations and transactions, bring changes in English CEGEPs by limiting the number of students who can attend, impose more French class es, and coerce immigrants to learn French within the next three years.

Even after massive protests and outrage from residents across the country, on June 1, Bill 96 was passed. Since then, I have been wor ried about my future in the province.

After the provincial win of the Coalition Avenir Québec, a list of promises was posted online ad dressing what the party is planning to achieve in the next four years.

The most damaging one, of course, is regarding immigration.

According to Global News, the government will cap immigrants at 50,000 per year, claiming, “the province has reached its capacity to integrate immigrants and teach them French.” If people who have newly immigrated have not learned French within the next three years Legault has vowed to revoke their immigration certificate and report them to the federal government.

Whether that promise is kept isn’t important. What is import ant is the fear and pressure im

Where do the Lesbians go?

The Lack of Lesbian Bars in Montreal is Absurd

Zélie Martin

migrants feel to learn a third language. Having a future in the province and not getting deported is what matters. Imagine leaving your home and coming to a coun try for a better future, just to be offset by a government’s refusal to be bilingual. These new rules hurt newcomers as well as students, store owners and many others.

Don’t get me wrong, I would gladly learn a third language, but being forced to do so brings a sour taste to my mouth. Nobody should be forced to do anything, especially when it affects their livelihood. Purposefully mak ing it harder for newcomers is counter-intuitive to the idea of immigration, but more so, re stricts them from adapting to

In these moments, I appreciate my voting power back home, which I unfortunately can’t exercise here. Sadly, the elections do not high light and account for all voices. Many immigrants do not have any voting rights but are a huge part of Quebec society. They are the reason for the province's multicul turalism and diversity. The govern ment should embrace that rather than turning its back on it, not only for their benefit but for us all.

It is a shame that Quebec, in the next four years, will be under the control of a party that has made sarcastic and degrading comments about immigrants not working and has associated im migrants with violence and ex tremism. Last week, Jean Boulet, Quebec’s immigration and labor minister claimed that 80 per cent of immigrants don’t work or speak French, which he later retracted as a statement. Not only does the statement create a false narrative, but is completely inaccurate.

According to statistics, every 1 in 5 jobs is held by an immigrant. Such statements push newcomers

Immigrants aren’t the only minority group that have been disregarded by the CAQ. Reli gious groups, indigenous com munities, women and the LG BTQ+ community, marginalizing them, through harmful policy and political rhetoric. It’s discour aging to see thousands of people protesting, voicing their opinions on social media and sharing their concerns about the future of Que bec, to only be ignored. Sadly, this is all connected to one message: “You aren’t welcome.”

If you ask me now if I will continue living in Quebec after I graduate, I won’t hesitate to tell you that I won’t. It’s devastating to see the direction in which the province is going, especially for one which claims to pride itself on being multicultural. The feeling that a governmental power has so much control over my life has had its toll on me both physically and mentally. So, where the future leads me, I don’t know, but I high ly doubt it would be in Quebec.

I

have known that I’m into women since my second year of high school, when my friend in physical education class said un prompted, “when I first met you, my gaydar went off.”

My hometown, California, was filled with white cisgender heterosexual individuals. None theless, I thankfully found other queer people by chance in school.

Upon arriving to Montreal in 2021, I made a plethora of queer friends and acquaintances, and I had the pleasure of experiencing queer events here and there. Before com ing to Montreal, I looked up “gay bars in Montreal” on my computer, and the results were disappointing.

The Gay Village should be called ‘The Gay White Cis-Male Village’ since there are no spaces to be found for Lesbian, Bisex ual, Transgender, Non-binary or people of color in this supposed homosexual haven. I was sur prised to find that the last Lesbian bar in Montreal closed in 2014.

Recently, Champs, a sports bar on St. Laurent, has been slowly transitioning into a Lesbian bar. It hosts Lesbian events curated to wards different demographics and interests like oil wrestling, sports nights and DJs. These specific queer events, however, are the only time when the space is purely queerbased. On most nights, it’s just like any other heterosexual bar.

In reality, queer events are the main source of gathering for the women-loving women, trans, and queer Black and Indigenous people of color community at the moment. While these events move around to bars and create a welcoming and enjoyable environ ment, they do not solve the issue of having a space you can depend on for queer fun and mingling.

What irks me is that while gay men can go to any gay bar to find hookups, maybe kiss a little or just dance with someone they’re attracted to, I need to plan to go to a Lesbian event to do that. I want a go-to place where I can interact with people like me, not a dance party/oil wrestling/poetry slam event that happens once every couple of months.

I am tired of going to regu lar (straight) bars with all of my queer friends. It is always notice able how out of place we are, but our options are either that or a gay bar that opens at midnight with bad techno music.

Last semester, I went to a very straight club on a second date with a girl I met on Tinder. It seemed like we were the only gay people there and the ambiance was sub-par at best.

I think one of the main reasons for the decline of Lesbian spaces in Montreal and the United States, is because gay white men have

always been at the forefront of the queer community. As always, when women and trans people of color fight for their right to love who they love and identify how they want, gay white men dom inate and take all the credit. Sure they are gay and face prejudice, but they are also cis, white and male, which gives them almost as much privilege as the next guy.

The other reason is an ob vious one: the patriarchy. Society is catered toward white cis men and probably will be until they go extinct. People think they need to provide men with more spaces when they already have every thing! In Montreal, there are over two dozen gay bars and currently zero lesbian bars.

My question is, why were there more lesbian bars when homophob ia was more socially acceptable ver sus now? It could be because you can now go to a regular bar with your girlfriend and not get hatecrimed or arrested. But would it not make sense that there be more queer spaces in this time of acceptance?

I guess for now I will need to settle for sports games and Ed Sheeran but I can only handle that for so long. .

GRAPHIC PAUL-EMILE LANDEZ

CAQ Celebrates While Women Die

Nine femicides in nine weeks. That is nine times where the provincial gov ernment failed women by not providing enough resources to end conjugal violence. An estimate of 11 women in Quebec have died from this in 2022 alone.

The rise of conjugal violence is a grow ing epidemic in Quebec and politicians have yet to address it. Even during the campaigning period of Quebec’s 43rd provincial elections, candidates merely expressed their frustrations and sorrow towards the deaths of Synthia Bussière, 38, and her two children—the most recent victims at that time.

And yet, this problem is not new in Que bec nor in Canada. Domestic violence cases hit record highs last year. In 2021, Quebec reported the second highest number of fem icides in Canada, with a total of 26 women killed. One hundred and seventy-three fem icides were reported in the country, of which 32 per cent of the victims were racialized and 19 per cent were Indigenous.

Domestic violence cases will not end without a concrete solution.

A study conducted by University of Sherbrooke found that this spike in con jugal violence is strongly related to the confinement measures and ongoing health crisis. Researchers found that stress from confined living situations, increased job losses and the cancellation of activities led to a higher risk of abusers turning to vio lence to as an outlet.

Even during the heights of pandemic waves, François Legault, Quebec’s re-elected premier, was greatly criticized for his actions

towards the issue despite claiming that stop ping domestic violence was a priority.

The Coalition Avenir Quebec original ly pledged $22.5 million in 2021 over five years to finance shelters for victims and help curb domestic violence. After critics calledout Legault for the small funding he gave to women’s shelters, the government an nounced that it would increase this budget to $222.9 million. While this action could be a step in the right direction, Legault’s inten tions are questionable as it seems like he only made this decision to appeal to public pres sure, amid the upcoming elections. While Public Safety Minister Genevieve Guilbault announced that $92 million of that budget would go to funding women’s shelters, the rest of the budget’s allocations are unclear.

Moreover, Legault’s implementation of curfews throughout the pandemic dispropor tionately harmed women in abusive relation ships. The curfew trapped them in houses with their abusers, making it harder to escape.

While COVID-19 confinement meas ures certainly worsened the situation for women in abusive relationships, domestic violence won’t just go away once the pan demic is fully eradicated. Domestic violence was around prior to the pandemic, except the reported cases were significantly lower.

How then, can we stop the ongoing pat tern of domestic abuse?

Throwing money at the problem isn’t the solution. Rather, politicians must fol low through with their promises and en sure that the funding is being used wisely.

In 2020, Legault announced that $120 million would be invested to create more

safe spaces for women fleeing abuse. This money, however, was never used to open up more shelters for women escaping un safe homes. The premier has since prom ised to take matters into his own hands, but has yet to take responsibility for his neglect of the situation.

Domestic violence cases continue to rise, and we must question whether the CAQ has done enough and ever will. Our premier con tinues to kiss his own ass for the bare-min imal work he has done.

How then, can we stop the ongoing pat tern of domestic abuse?

On one end, the CAQ is prioritizing so cial programs, help lines and shelters. But are these solutions adequately funded and truly helping victims escape abusive relationships? Or are more radical steps necessary?

Some suggest reforming the justice sys tem, which oftentimes penalizes women who denounce their abusers by evoking their al legations in custody disputes.

How many more women must die for their lives to be taken seriously?

Concordia University

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