The McGill Tribune TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021 | VOL. 41 | ISSUE 8
Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University
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EDITORIAL
FEATURE
SPORTS
Quebec’s new program takes an ignorant course
The human cost of a warmer future
A set, a spike, and a win for women’s volleyball
PG. 5
PGs. 8-9
PG. 15
(Anoushka Oke / The McGill Tribune)
Divest McGill protests RBC’s investment in fossil fuels
PG. 2
Kahentinetha demands a suspension to New Vic Project, calling for further investigation into the site’s history
Mohawk Mother from the Bear Clan suggests that there could be unmarked graves on the site Benjamin Wexler Contributor Kahentinetha, a Kanien’kehá:ka kahnistensera (Mo-
hawk Mother) of the Bear Clan and founder of Mohawk Nation News, is demanding the suspension of McGill’s New Vic project. In a brief posted to the Mohawk Nation News website, Kahentinetha called on McGill to acknowledge In-
Redbirds rugby advance to finals, beating Bishop’s in nail-biter game McGill slips and slides their way to a 30-27 overtime victory Madison McLauchlan Managing Editor On Oct. 31, McGill Redbirds rugby hosted Bishop’s Gaiters for the RSEQ semifinals, winning 30-27 in a brutally competitive double overtime contest
that totalled over 110 minutes of play. Both teams braved the rainy weather and cold winds to vie for the coveted spot in the finals, but McGill brought it home with a penalty kick to break the 27-27 tie in sudden-death overtime. PG. 16
digenous sovereignty and to allow an investigation team— comprised of a surveyor, geologist, search dog, all guided by GeoView Pro software—to search for unmarked graves she suspects may be on the project site. PG. 3
There’s something seductively toxic about ‘You’ season three The latest instalment of Netflix’s hit series follows the happily-ever-after story of murderous newlyweds Fernanda Turcato Contributor Previous seasons of You have presented all the makings of a modern romantic story: Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy would do anything for girl. This time
around, however, boy happens to be an obsessive stalker whose love language includes nothing short of murder—that is, until he meets his perfect match, creating a recipe for a perfectly unhinged love story. This sequence is continued in the third season of You, a Net-
flix original that embraces the villain as the protagonist, ultimately keeping the audience unsure if they should support the brooding-yet-charming Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) despite his sociopathic tendencies. PG. 13
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NEWS
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
me Divest McGill protests RBC’s invest nt in fossil fuels Local climate action organizations showed up in solidarity with Indigenous activists
Protestors dipped fake money bags in black paint to represent the capital invested in oil and other fossil fuels. (Anoushka Oke / The McGill Tribune)
allies of a different nation, the Wet’suwet’en, who are fighting against a pipeline that threatens to ruin their homeland,” Hardie said. “With their permission, we are rallying behind their message, ‘RBC is killing me,’ which is no metaphor, as the land threatened by RBC’s investments is their very basis of survival.” Divest McGill members and other students met at the Y-intersection on campus ahead of the protest. After listening to several speeches from Divest members, students made their way toward RBC,
fossil f u e l investment, Divest members, including Sophie O’Reilly, U3 Arts, believe that going after the largest investor in Canada will send a powerful message. “Calling on RBC to divest from fossil fuels will set an example [for] other banks,” O’Reilly said. “It’s one of the biggest, so [RBC divesting] will revoke the social license to continue investing in the fossil fuel industry. Other banks will follow their lead, and potentially, The [so will] other protestors organizations, took up a large such as space in front of
Anoushka Oke Staff Writer
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embers of Divest McGill, along with other McGill students, joined local climate action organizations such as Extinction Rebellion Quebec and Greenpeace Quebec on Oct. 29 in front of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) office at 1 Place Ville Marie, protesting the bank’s investments in fossil fuels. In front of the building, protestors used their outfits, signs, banners, and shouts to signal their discontent over the bank’s investment. Many showed up in costume, dressed as investment bankers, pipeline workers, and even the RBC lion. Others poured black paint onto the sidewalk in front of the bank, to symbolize oil spilling out of the pipeline. Louis Ramirez, a national organizer with the Banks Campaign of the Sunrise Project—a project that supports social movements that are working toward transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy—spoke at the protest. Ramirez translated
and
Y-intersection, Mikael Branch, U3 Arts and Divest member, emphasized that the protest was an important step not only in safeguarding the environment, but in protecting Indigenous sovereignty and livelihoods. “We encourage [you], most importantly, to learn from and listen directly to the voices of Wet’suwet’en leaders, such as members from the Gidimt’en clan,” Branch said. “This is the true meaning of solidarity and reconciliation. Spread the word. Share the hashtag #RBCiskillingme. Let people know about the atrocities being committed today against the Wet’suwet’en Nation. Now is the
RBC, creating an imposing presence with their chanting. (Anoushka Oke / The McGill Tribune)
delivered a speech written by Emily Hardie, U0 Arts and universities.” Divest member, about their Protestors shared grievances against emphasized the impact RBC. Ramirez explained the these investments have importance of directing on Indigenous communities. climate action toward banks RBC invests heavily in TC in an interview with The McGill Energy, a company that is Tribune. currently building a pipeline “Capital is almost as that runs through the responsible as anyone else for Wet’suwet’en nation without the climate crisis and for [the] their consent. In her speech, colonial crises we are facing Hardie stood in solidarity with today,” Ramirez said. “Among the Wet’suwet’en and urged these institutions, RBC is the attendees to join their struggle worst.” against the pipeline. RBC is Canada’s number “In planning this one bank financing fossil event, we are fuels and number five in the turning up as world, according to the Banking on Climate Chaos Divest McGill 2021 report. It members held has invested their banners high approximately as they walked to RBC, drawing $208-billion honks of support dollars in the from cars driving fossil fuel through downtown. industry (Brian Schatteman / since the The McGill Tribune) signing of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. While other banks also partake in
chanting slogans like “RBC get off it, injustice lines your pockets, you’re making dirty profits, divest from all that’s toxic,” as they marched. At the
time. We the people, united, can make a difference.”
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
NEWS
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Kahentinetha demands a suspension to New Vic Project, calling for further investigation into the site’s history
Mohawk Mother from the Bear Clan suggests that there could be unmarked graves on the site Benjamin Wexler Contributor Continued from page 1. In the Mohawk Nation News post, Kahentinetha argued that because the Royal Victoria Hospital site sits on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, the kaia’nere:kowa (The Great Law of Peace), precolonial Mohawk law, applies. Under this law, the Kanien’kehá:ka kahnistensera are caretakers of the land, and all decisions regarding it
must be made with their consent. Additionally, Kahentinetha claimed that the Canadian government held money from the Iroquois Trust Fund, loaned it to McGill Universityin 1847, and never paid it back. According to a McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle, McGill’s Indigenous Initiatives Unit and the Indigenousowned consulting firm Acosys aimed to include Indigenous peoples in producing the project’s design. “There have been several exchanges, including information
sessions and round table discussions with Indigenous education organizations, Mohawk alumni, and Elders,” Mazerolle wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. In an interview with the Tribune, Kahentinetha argued that the land should be treated as an archeological site until further investigations are completed. “[Rumours of unmarked graves on the property] are becoming more and more serious, so we would like that investigated,” Kahentinetha said. “And certainly there are our
Section 35 of Canada’s federal 1982 Constitution Act recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and treaty rights. (Brian Schatteman / The McGill Tribune)
people buried up there in pre-colonial times, and we want that investigated as well. Nothing can proceed until that is done [….] If there’s going to be any investigation, we want to be involved with that. We want it done to our satisfaction.” Kahentinetha believes McGill’s exchanges with Indigenous peoples should go beyond discussions with select community representatives, and should instead look to gain the consent of each member of the community, according to structures of Indigenous law. “I do not think any one of [the Indigenous groups and representatives consulted] lives by the Great Peace,” Kahentinetha said. “We do not want consultation. You have to get our permission, and our permission we get from the Great Law [....] Each one of us has to have a say in whatever the decision is. Each one of us. Nobody speaks for us.” In the 1950s and 60s, Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron experimented with torture techniques at the Allan Memorial Institute, a former psychiatric hospital next to the old Royal Victoria building. One Mohawk Nation News article features an interview with Lana Ponting, a survivor of these experiments, who says, “I am convinced that there are bodies buried in the property in the interview [....] I was really concerned
about Indigenous peoples. I firmly believe that some of them were in the Allan.” Kahentinetha, too, wants to send a forensic and archeological team to search for the bodies of potential Indigenous and non-Indigenous victims of Cameron’s experiments. Public consultation on the New Vic project is ongoing. The rotisken’raketeh (Men’s Council Fire) will present Kahentinetha’s brief to the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) on Nov. 10. Mazerolle did not specify whether McGill would change the direction of the project to investigate human remains, pointing to prior studies conducted onsite. “McGill commissioned a study on the archeological potential of the Royal Victoria Hospital site in 2016,” Mazerolle wrote. “According to this study, it is unlikely that Indigenous remains will be found on the New Vic Project site. However, McGill remains committed to collaborating with the government and First Nations communities regarding potential vestiges. Should such vestiges be found, it will be made public immediately, the work will be suspended, and an archaeological officer of the Minister of Culture and Communications will be alerted (as stated in the Cultural Heritage Act.1).”
McGill students frustrated with university’s frequent internet issues
Campus-wide issues have made attending live online classes difficult Ghazal Azizi Contributor
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ince October 2017, McGill has been rolling out its Network and Information Security Upgrade initiative. These upgrades seek to improve network infrastructure by installing new equipment and access ethernet cables throughout McGill’s buildings and creating wireless local area networks (WLANs), among other projects. Despite these efforts, students and faculty have experienced regular connection issues. The most recent network failure on Oct. 12, which caused campus wide internet disruptions, prompted IT Services to reboot McGill’s firewalls, which the university claimed successfully remedied the issues. Some McGill students attest that these frequent connection issues are disruptive to their learning and parts of their everyday life. Without stable internet connection, students have trouble accessing their lectures and other class material on myCourses and are cut off from using social media to communicate with classmates, family, and friends. Ciara Balhi, U1 Arts, said she is often left with no choice but to connect to the guest wifi and has had to give up attending her online lectures on campus since her Zoom meetings
regularly freeze. “Cafés are definitely a safer bet,” Balhi said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “When I think I definitely have to watch lectures [live], I go to a café to be sure that the wifi will work [.…] I have to pay for it, instead of just going to the library which is free, as it should be.” The university’s IT Services recommends that students avoid busy areas when connected to McGill’s wifi in order to prevent videos from freezing or being choppy. However, for students living in residence, this recommendation is not always easy to follow. Robert MacLeod, U1 Engineering, shared Balhi’s concerns regarding McGill’s wifi, adding that he frequently has to reprioritize his tasks because he cannot rely on his residence’s wifi. “I did have one case where [the wifi] just disconnected and I tried to [re]connect […] for a solid 10 minutes,” Macleod said. “Luckily, I wasn’t doing anything particularly important at the time. But, had I been in a midterm, that’s one fifth of the entire time that I have to do it that is gone [since most of my midterms are only 50 minutes long].” The spotty wifi has posed an additional challenge for international students, many of whom rely on video call apps such as FaceTime and WhatsApp as their primary methods of
Numerous students’ Google Nest speakers collect dust as McGill’s network is incompatible with Google Home products. (John Schnobrich / unsplash.com) contacting their families. Maisie Wynd Smith, U1 Arts and an international student, depends on McGill’s internet to contact her family at home. In an interview with the Tribune, Smith explained that for her, irregular wifi can mean isolation from her family. “Before I had a SIM card, I would rely on the wifi. When my wifi was not working, I could not contact my parents,” Smith said. “It is just a large problem across the board [...] and I just don’t see why [the wifi] is such a hard issue to fix [for McGill].”
Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, stated in an email to the Tribune that the IT Services team has been working diligently to ensure a sustained internet access this Fall. “We continue to monitor issues as they arise and have implemented a number of changes over the past few weeks to help address these issues and improve service,” Mazerolle said. “[In the meantime] we encourage all users to contact the IT Service Desk to report issues with any McGill IT Service.”
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NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
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McGill reinstates Winter 2022 exchanges
The decision comes just over two weeks after initial cancellation Juliet Morrison Staff Writer
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n Oct. 22, just 17 days after cancelling all student exchanges for the Winter 2022 term, McGill announced that exchanges would be reinstated. This development came a day after Global Affairs Canada lifted the non-essential travel advisory, which McGill based their travel rules on amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the return of exchange programs was met with student enthusiasm, the backtracking was frustrating for some who had made alternate plans following the initial cancellation. McGill Abroad, the office that coordinates exchanges, contacted students on Oct. 22, asking them to confirm whether they were still interested in participating in their planned programs during the upcoming winter semester. Students were asked to make their decision by Oct. 27 and were told that they would receive confirmation about whether their exchange will go forth during the week of Nov. 1, once McGill Abroad coordinates with their partner institution. In an email to The McGill Tribune, Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, explained the implications of Canada’s updated travel advisory, noting that McGill is trying its best to coordinate the exchanges, but that some may not work. “With the removal of the global travel
Travel outside of Quebec for purposes related to the university will no longer require the approval of the Travel Exemptions Working Group. (unsplash.com) advisory, McGill will be able to return to pre-pandemic travel conditions, allowing for freer movement of students, faculty and staff,” Mazerolle wrote. “Although we cannot guarantee that it will be possible, McGill is working with students and partner universities with the aim of making it possible for students to proceed with their exchanges.” Many students were excited by McGill’s announcement, including Juliette Debray, U3 Engineering and co-creator of a petition that called for the reinstatement of Winter 2022
exchanges. While Debray was happy to hear about the reversal, she also acknowledged the negative impacts of McGill’s “hasty” decision to cancel them in the first place. “Obviously, I’m really happy,” Debray said. “But, I know I am lucky in the sense that the only decision I made in between was [changing flights]. I know people that signed leases [in Montreal] for their winter semester and so now will have to deal with that if they [...] go on [an] exchange [....] McGill said they were not going to change their mind [about winter exchanges]
and then they did.” Debray also has a theory that other universities, such as the University of British Columbia, timed their announcements on Winter 2022 exchanges under the assumption that Global Affairs Canada was going to adjust their travel advisory. Debray suggested McGill should have done the same. Some students, like Max Garcia, U2 Arts and the other co-creator of the petition, were worried about meeting the deadlines set by their host university and about obtaining proper immigration documents in time. The application deadline for Garcia’s intended host university, Sciences Po, in France, had already passed when McGill back-tracked on their cancellation. “The office contacted me and all the other students who had planned to go to Sciences Po as we missed the application deadline [due to the cancellation],” Garcia said in an interview with the Tribune. “It is a quick turnaround, so I hope we can all get our visa applications through.” Debray and Garcia’s petition garnered over 800 signatures from students frustrated by McGill’s initial cancellation. Garcia believes it may have played a role in McGill’s decision to reinstate exchanges. “I think [the petition] had a real impact in mobilizing students to express their frustration with the administration’s decision,” Garcia said. “I was really happy along with everyone else [about the reinstation]. I am just glad it all ended well and we are able to go abroad.”
SSMU Legislative Council discusses New Vic Project and approves motion condemning Bill 2
Councillors pressed about the absence of SSMU president at meetings Sepideh Afshar Opinion Editor
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he Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council convened on Oct. 28 to hear from Dean of Science Bruce Lennox, who provided a midpoint update on the New Vic project and answered questions regarding the project’s accessibility, sustainability, and community consultations. During the question period, councillors harkened back to the quality of the first botched Activities Night of Fall 2021, and pressed on the repeated absence of SSMU president Darshan Daryanani.
Councillors also voted on referendum questions and a motion to condemn Bill 2—a bill that proposes to add sex and gender as separate categories to birth certificates, and would also require people to undergo genderaffirming surgery to officiate a sex change on their birth certificate. Lennox, as academic lead of the New Vic project, provided a project timeline and mock-ups of what the interiors will look like. Lennox also shared some insights gathered from consultations with Acosys Consulting Services, an Indigenous consultancy group. “What has come out of these [many] discussions since January
Legislative Council gathered despite the two resignations of the Social Work representative and Environmental representative. (Azwar Ali / The McGill Tribune)
is a series of potential [Indigenous] representations [on the New Vic site],” Lennox explained. “[The New Vic site may include] everything from sculpture, landscaping, garden design, interior artwork, to actual interior shaping of spaces that have their origins in Indigenous culture.” During the question period, council members inquired about Daryanani’s absences and questioned how the society can run smoothly without a president. Vice-president (VP) Finance, Éric Sader, who has taken over Daryanani’s role as signatory on SSMU meeting minutes, stated that the president is not currently active in his role. “The president is on leave at this time and I would ask everyone to respect his privacy,” Sader said. “And I can confirm the society is functioning quite well.” Next, VP Student Life, Karla Heisele Cubilla, acknowledged the shortcomings of the first rendition of SSMU’s activities night, but looked forward to the upcoming activities night 2.0 running from Nov. 1 to 3. “The reason why we did not do an in-person fair event for the first edition is because this was planned in June,” Heisele Cubilla said. “There were no vaccine passports. No venue would take more than 150 people, so it was
a big struggle. For the second edition, we are doing an in-person event [...] for three days, and we are also doing a hybrid option which is via Zoom in Redlands, so we are doing our best.” Further motions regarding SSMU referral service fees, including the Motion Regarding the MUSTBUS Fee-Levy, the Motion Regarding CKUT Existence, and the Motion Regarding QPIRG Existence, all
passed. During the debate period for each motion, Medicine Representative Benson Wan proposed an amendment that would require groups requesting fee increases to provide financial reports. “Councillor Wan, your dedication to budget transparency,” Ashkir started, “I hope it is noted in the minutes and in any article that is written about this.”
MOMENT OF THE MEETING Speaker of the Legislative Council Alexandre Ashkir noted that almost 50 per cent of SSMU workers did not attend the mandatory anti-violence training and explained that follow-ups will be scheduled to ensure those who missed it had valid reasons.
SOUND BITE “It would call on the Quebec government to remove the provisions of Bill 2 that infringe on the autonomy of trans, intersex, and nonbinary people in Quebec [....] If this motion passes, it will show the trans and intersex and non-binary community on campus SSMU’s determination in supporting them. As such I urge all of you to vote ‘yes’ on this motion and condemn the transphobic bill proposed by the Quebec government.” Arts Representative Yara Coussa on the Motion Regarding Condemnation of Bill 2
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
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Editor-in-Chief Sequoia Kim editor@mcgilltribune.com
Quebec’s new program takes an ignorant course
Creative Director Ruobing Chen rchen@mcgilltribune.com
The McGill Tribune Editorial Board
EDITORIAL BOARD
Managing Editors Kennedy McKee-Braide kmckee-braide@mcgilltribune.com Madison Mclauchlan mmclauchlan@mcgilltribune.com Maya Abuali mabuali@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Lily Cason, Ella Fitzhugh & Madison Edward-Wright news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Jonah Fried, Matthew Molinaro & Sepideh Afshar opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editors Shafaq Nami & Youssef Wahba scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Life Editors Holly Wethey & Wendy Zhao studentlife@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Tasmin Chu features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Lowell Wolfe & Michelle Siegel arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Adam Burton & Sarah Farnand sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Jinny Moon & Xiaotian Wang design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor Kate Addison photo@mcgilltribune.com Multimedia Editors Farah Jay & Noah Vaton multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers Abby de Gala & Marwan Shiraz Khan webdev@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Jackie Lee copy@mcgilltribune.com Social Media Editor Taneeshaa Pradhan socialmedia@mcgilltribune.com
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n Oct. 24, the Quebec government unveiled a new education program called Culture and Citizenship in Quebec (CCQ). The new course will take the place of the previous Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) program. Intended to broaden student engagement with Quebec values, the program is currently undergoing a curriculum drafting process for both primary and secondary schools and will be deployed in schools for the 2022-23 school year as a pilot test. The curriculum is slated to be fully implemented by 2023-24. When Quebec Education Minister Jean-François Roberge announced the program, he emphasized that Quebec’s rich cultural legacy should be shared with students but that, at the same time, students could disagree “respectfully.” But instead, the program ends up enforcing an idealized version of Quebec culture that erases cultural difference and breeds xenophobia. In light of criticisms by Indigenous groups and religious leaders, the Quebec government should halt the CCQ’s drafting process. Only by engaging with the various cultural and religious stakeholders on the land now known as Quebec can the
OFF THE BOARD Sepideh Afshar Opinion Editor
Business Manager Marilie Pilon business@mcgilltribune.com
TPS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sequoia Kim, Reem Abdul Majid, Matthew Molinaro, Shafaq Nami, Marilie Pilon, Namrata Rana, Shreya Rastogi
STAFF Azwar Ali, Léa Bourget, Elissa Dresdner, Saumya Gogte, Bronte Grimmer, Arian Kamel, Louis Lussier-Piette, Adam Matthews-Kott, Abby McCormick, Adam Menikefs, Zoe Mineret, Juliet Morrison, Anoushka Oke, Juwel Rana, Mikaela Shadick, Corey Zhu
CONTRIBUTORS Hanna Argo, Ghazal Azizi, El Bush, Charlotte Hayes, Sophia Gorbounov, Avery Haley-Lock, Paulina Kasak, Annika Pavlin, Catherine Plawutsky, Brian Schatteman, Fernanda Turcato, Benjamin Wexler
TRIBUNE OFFICE Shatner University Centre, 3480 McTavish, Suite 110 Montreal, QC H3A 0E7 - T: 519.546.8263 The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Société de Publication de la Tribune, a student society of McGill University. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of The McGill Tribune and the Société de Publication de la Tribune, and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University. Letters to the editor may be sent to editor@mcgilltribune.com and must include the contributor’s name, program and year and contact information. Letters should be kept under 300 words and submitted only to the Tribune. Submissions judged by the Tribune Publication Society to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic or solely promotional in nature will not be published. The Tribune reserves the right to edit all contributions. Editorials are decided upon and written by the editorial board. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the McGill Tribune, its editors or its staff.
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rowing up, I never had chicken nuggets or frozen pizza for dinner. Instead, there was a fresh, home-cooked Persian meal in front of me each night––and looking back, I was extremely unappreciative of it. As I have gotten older, I have grown to appreciate that the love of somebody labouring for twelve hours to make your favourite dish is not a feeling that everybody gets to experience, at least not on a regular basis. As silly as it may sound, understanding the
provincial government actualize the program’s goal of dialogue and critical thinking skills. When the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) first introduced the Ethics and Religious Culture program in 2008, the intention was to teach students about the diversity of religions and cultures from an unbiased perspective. Considering how colonial governments used religion to further their imperial projects and how religion often finds itself at the root of global conflict, teaching—rather than proselytizing—religion bridges cultural gaps among students. As the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) began its secularizing mission— infamously embodied by Bill 21, which prohibits public servants from wearing religious symbols— they sought out recommendations on how to best secularize the former ERC program. While Quebec‘s culture certainly remains influenced by secularism and the legacy of the Quiet Revolution—a period during which the province retreated from the Catholic Church––religion still plays an important part in the lives of many Quebecers. Further, the government should not view religious differences as antithetical to Quebec culture, especially as the province sees rising levels of anti-Semitism and disproportionate
OPINION
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EDITORIAL violence and discrimination against Muslims. Under both Bill 21 and the CCQ, female Muslim teachers will continue to be stripped of their freedom of expression and identity, and intolerance and hate crimes toward Muslims risk seeing an even greater increase. Even if secularism belongs in education, students will not become citizens of the world, nor will they grasp the full picture of Quebec’s culture, through the total erasure of religion. A major critique of ERC that provoked its revision was its focus on multiculturalism. A national rightwing promotion of a citizenship “values tests” set the groundwork for a closed-minded approach to Quebec culture. Such an approach has fueled nationalist extremism at the expense of minorities. Similar to comprehensive sexual education, students should be provided space to discuss religion openly. A fear of sharing or expressing one’s religion can create stigma and have disastrous impacts on identity formation. Teachers should be trained to explain religion, ethnicity, identity, and all their complex intersections, to foster a safe and inclusive environment. The purpose of CCQ itself remains suspect, especially due to the government’s lack of consultation with Indigenous groups
to whom the land belongs. Premier François Legault repeatedly denies the presence of systemic racism in the province and the non-Indigenous Minister of Indigenous Affairs Ian Lafrenière claimed that Indigenous groups had been consulted, despite the fact that many groups refute this. Exercises in promoting Quebecois culture and “nation”-building run counter to Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty and well-being. Quebec should move away from settlercolonial pedagogy, and toward championing Indigenous culture. Only then can students, teachers, and the province tap into the tenets of equality, conscience, and selfrespect the CCQ aims to realize. As it stands, Quebec’s redrafting process signals that freedom of expression in the province is only given to those who submit to CAQ’s narrow doctrine, rules, and guidelines. Legislating a strict, “nationally cohesive” culture through the education system may be a clever political move to harness power from rural and suburban Quebecers detached from the religious diversity of Montreal and Quebec City. However, without proper consultation with Indigenous groups and religious minorities, the program will obscure differences to marginalized groups’ harm and majority groups’ ignorance.
Made with love love languages of those around you is vital to healthy relationships. It was through this newfound appreciation for the many different ways of showing affection that I began to value all the little things my dad did for me growing up—even if it just started with a stew. When I was a kid I was a picky eater and somebody who did not understand that different cultures come with different foods. I truly thought that my parents were villains for not letting me have mozzarella sticks for dinner like many of my peers did. When I was served an intricate Persian meal, I would promptly complain and ask for spaghetti. But this never stopped my family from showing their love in the way they do best, and that is how Persian spaghetti entered our home. A combination of Canadian and Persian food that had spaghetti and meat sauce but also incorporated potato tahdig—an addition that my sister and I would fight over—it became a dish my dad made often. My dad is the epitome of what you would call “a man of few words.” You can tell him a 20-minute-long story, and while he will pay careful attention the whole time, there is a good chance that the only response you will get is a nod. When I was
younger this would frustrate me; all I wanted was some kind of conversation. But as I have grown older, I have learned to appreciate the way that he shows his love. To put it in terms that my father would not fully understand: His love language is definitely ‘acts of service,’ and cooking allows him to express his love for our family. A lot changed as I grew up, but the quality and the love that went into the food I ate remained consistent. Even when our family shrank from four members to three after my parents’ divorce, and then three to two when my sister went to university, my dad would spend hours cooking. I did not understand why he spent so much time in the kitchen after a long day at work when it was just us two. Drawing on what I saw from my peers around me, at Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts, I thought that me and my dad at the dinner table,
re-watching Gilmore Girls, was not exactly the right occasion for sabzi polo. But my dad does not need an audience. He just needs one person that he loves at the table, and he is happy to spend 10 hours over the stove, making sure that everything is perfect. Although it sometimes saddens me that I failed to fully appreciate what it meant when my dad would pull out estamboli on a random Thursday night when I lived with him, I know that to him, seeing me hastily finish the food on my plate was more than enough. On the train to my dads, my sister and I talk over what we want to eat at home. I know her go-to is ghormeh sabzi, an herb stew, and mine is always fesenjoon, a pomegranate and walnut stew that takes all day to make. When we get into my dad’s car, we both know that his first question will be, “what dishes do you two want this weekend?”
ERRATA The article published in the October 26, 2021 issue (“RSN hosts debate on individual versus systemic climate action”) incorrectly stated that the debate took place on Sept. 19. In fact, the debate took place on Oct. 19. The Tribune regrets this error. The news article published in the October 26, 2021 issue (“Students speak out about racism at Desautels Faculty of Management”) incorrectly used a photograph of the Career Planning Services centre. In fact, the photograph should have been of the Career Management Services centre. The Tribune regrets this error.
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OPINION
COMMENTARY
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
Pandemic prison conditions emphasize need for reform
El Bush Contributer
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hroughout the pandemic, prisons have faced a reckoning, and Montreal’s Bordeaux prison is no exception. The prison has seen some of civilians’ worst fears play out, from multiple COVID-19 outbreaks, to inadequate resources, and more recently, to more than 1,000 inmates locked in their cells for over 24 hours while staff conducted an institution-wide search. These recent events, along with similar happenings in other prisons around the world, have re-energized calls for prison reform and restorative justice. The discourse was revitalized in the wake of the summer 2020 protests, which saw the Black Lives Matter movement take to the world stage following the police murder of George Floyd. The movement calls upon civilians and policymakers alike to rethink, and even do away with, the current criminal justice system in an effort to revitalize communities. The crisis at Bordeaux prison calls for renewed discussions in the Montreal context and also presents an op-
Though prison conditions may seem beyond the control of McGill students, the inhumane conditions at the Bordeaux prison should make the community reconsider their commitments to justice. (LaPresse)
COMMENTARY Matthew Molinaro Opinion Editor
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n Oct. 26, Governor General Mary May Simon swore in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet. As Canada faces its second consecutive Liberal minority government, the cabinet will become a focal point of debates over the future of the nation. Notably, Trudeau appointed Member of Parliament (MP) Anita Anand to one of Canada’s most prominent portfolios, the ministry of National Defence, and MP Steven Guilbeault, former leader of Greenpeace Quebec and cofounder of Équiterre, to the ministry of Environment and Climate Change. These two appointments rankled observers, who questioned their qualifications for their roles. Regardless of an observer’s political leanings, such comments on Anand and Guilbeault’s resumés deflect from the meaningful policies the Canadian public should push these ministers and the Liberal government to enact. These criticisms, though, relate to a pattern in hiring and protection at universities, in which departments overlook and mistreat those who challenge systems of power, favouring instead those who conform to institutional expectations. Anand, the former Minister of Public Services and Procurement in charge of Canada’s vaccine rollout,
portunity for McGill students to take part in the debate. Although prison conditions may seem irrelevant or out of the control of many McGill students, the community must not turn its back on Bordeaux. It is the responsibility of all those living in Montreal and Canada to take a stance on the injustices festering in the prison system, given that these institutions are funded by tax dollars and have long-lasting impacts on the lives of marginalized youth. One of the most common arguments in favour of prison reform is that the current system is rife with human rights abuses with little to no accountability mechanisms. Throughout the pandemic, many Bordeaux prisoners’ basic human rights were disregarded due to the inadequate allocation of resources. With minimal access to showers, books, phones, or visits, those behind bars faced inhumane periods of isolation and solitude. Incarcerated people andand employees alike protested the conditions, with over 30 engaging in a hunger strike last February to protest a lengthy 14-day confinement measure. In another instance, prison workers called on the government to provide adequate vaccination resources to the prison following a series of outbreaks. The blatant violation of human rights in these cases serve as a stark reminder of the necessity of prison reform. According to the United Nations’ recommendations for criminal justice and prison reform, prison authorities have the responsibility to ensure that the treatment of incarcerated people is in line with the law and respects their human rights. At the end of the day, it is imperative to guarantee incarcerated people, many of whom are jailed for non-violent offenses, the rights with which they were born. In addition to assuring human rights, prison reform can support communities and promote equity and anti-oppression. In Canada, marginalized communities, most notably Indigenous individuals, are disproportionately incarcerated as a result of long histories of systemic discrimination in legal, political, and social spheres. Since systemic inequalities extend to all parts of the criminal justice system, including policing, sentencing, and prosecution, marginalized communities are often overrepresented in prisons. Meaningful prison reform must be accompanied by the adoption of anti-oppressive policies within the criminal justice system, ideally with an emphasis on revitalizing the communities that have been disproportionately affected. Conversations regarding prison reform should not be taboo: Students can take the lead in calling for change in an arena where older generations have often been hesitant to make strides toward justice. Students at McGill and beyond can do this by educating themselves on the issue by engaging with racialized scholars’ work on prison reform and abolition, contacting their local members of the National Assembly and parliament, and starting discussions about what prison reform could look like in the context of their own communities. Ultimately, it is only through continued dialogue about criminal justice that meaningful reform can begin.
Cabinet criticisms coincide with McGill’s concerning treatment of faculty faced both widespread acclaim and criticism from foreign and domestic news sources following her appointment. A now-retitled National Post article announced her appointment by merely stating that “a woman” would replace former Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan. More serious criticisms come from those who highlighted Anand’s lack of military experience, calling her a military “outsider.” Anand herself addressed the optics of her appointment by acknowledging both her position as the first female defence minister since Kim Campbell and her expertise in governance, process, and law. The Canadian Armed Forces is rife with sexual assault and harassment, with countless women and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community encountering a hostile environment within the service. It is surprising, then, that critics would have preferred an official with military experience given the fact that previous ministers with extensive training, including Sajjan, have turned their back to allegations of sexual violence. Anand’s fresh outlook, proven expertise, and extensive legal training should be welcomed in supporting not just the safety, security, and freedom of those serving in the armed forces, but of all Canadians. Guilbeault, the former Minister of Heritage, experienced diametrically opposite reactions from Quebec and
Alberta. Many Quebecers, still upset at Trudeau’s choice to snub Guilbeault of Environment in the last cabinet appointment, were cautiously optimistic to see their climate hero rise to a position of influence. Alberta politicians suggested otherwise, with Conservative Premier Jason Kenney attacking the minister’s “radical activism’” and former New Democratic Premier and current Leader of the Opposition Rachel Notley marking his troubling past statements about oil. A photo of Guilbeault getting arrested while wearing an orange jumpsuit after a climate protest also made rounds on social media. To attack a politician for their previous activism is to silence current activists who apply public pressure on leaders, especially on such urgent issues supported by a majority of Canadians, like mitigating climate change. If the political arena becomes sealed off to civilian activists, politics will return to the traditional, backdoor status quo procedures that only serve to protect the interests of privileged Canadians. Likewise, at McGill, when scholars speak out about divestment, racial injustice, and human rights— issues many of McGill’s esteemed scholars have vast academic and practical experience in—they receive less protection than anti-2SLGBTQIA+ scholars. Instead, they often encounter doxxing, unequal tenure opportu-
Prime Minister Trudeau’s Cabinet was the first to feature women in all major portfolios—Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Treasury—and like McGill, should be held to account. (Global News) nities, and roadblocks to promotion. At the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights program, a recent donor-influenced decision to withhold hiring noted academic Valentina Azarova because of her work critical of Israel presents a too-often occurring phenomenon in the modern university. For scholars, neglecting current issues would be cataclysmic––an arrest of all critical reimaginings of this profoundly unjust world. Of course, Anand and Guilbeault should not be glorified above other Canadians or ministers. In an increasingly centralized Canadian political
system, where the Prime Minister’s Office wields immense power over ministers, Canadians must seek out their allies and hold them responsible, just as Anand and Guilbeault must hold the military and fossil fuel corporations accountable. The same must be stated of the McGill administration, wherein the expansion of Gender, African and Black, and Indigenous studies must proceed handin-hand with feminist, anti-racist, and decolonial practices. When this happens, scholars, students, and politicians can do their best, most authentic and transformative work.
scitech@mcgilltribune.com
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
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Four ways McGill researchers are spearheading pandemic innovation Tracking vaccine uptake and studying the social impacts of COVID-19 Youssef Wahba Scitech Editor
1. McGill COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker
ore than a year and a half has passed since Canada reported its firstever COVID-19 case. From social distancing to online learning, humans have quickly adapted to these new conditions in order to contain the spread of the virus. While the pandemic has posed many challenges in academic and scientific domains, researchers jumped on the opportunity to innovate existing epidemiological techniques to help contain the spread of the virus. Most importantly, the pandemic brought scholars together to produce the best possible work within a short time frame. Over the past few months, many McGill researchers have contributed to key innovations in the fight against COVID-19.
As one of the most effective means of protection against the virus, vaccines have played a pivotal role in limiting transmission, reducing hospitalizations and death, and protecting immunocompromised people. With over 100 vaccine candidates and just over 20 approved ones, there is a lot to keep track of. However, a team of McGill researchers led by Nicole Basta, an associate professor in McGill’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Erica Moodie, a professor in the same department, created a tracker to provide up-to-date information about the number of approved vaccines worldwide, their manufacturers as well as the countries that administer those vac-
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cines. The tracker also displays a list of potential vaccines that are currently undergoing trials. As debates around vaccine stockpiling and booster shots continue, tools like this will be critical in mapping access to immunization worldwide.
2. Domestically produced COVID-19 tests Many of the COVID-19 cases reported are asymptomatic, so it follows that the more COVID-19 tests are administered, the more cases are detected. Quick results from these tests allow individuals who were in contact with an infected person to quarantine and curb the further spread of the virus. In partnership with the National Research Council (NRC), a team of McGill and RI-MUHC researchers led by Martin Schmeing, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry as well as Don van Meyel, director of the Centre for Translational Biology (CTB) at the RI-MUHC, secured funding that would allow them to produce millions of COVID-19 tests.
3. Patient sequencing at the McGill Genome Centre
There are more than 20 registered and clinically approved vaccines. (Pan American Health Organization)
Researchers at the McGill Genome Centre recently announced a partnership with Genome Canada to extract the DNA and RNA of those who contracted COVID-19
(McGill University) in order to sequence it. Through genome sequencing, researchers will have a better grasp of what makes one patient more vulnerable to the symptoms of coronavirus than another, allowing those at high risk of developing complications from the virus to be identified so that their care can be prioritized.
4. A McGill-led study that found links between income inequality and COVID-19 mortality Researchers, including Frank Elgar, an associate professor in McGill’s Department of Psychology, have provided evidence revealing that COVID-19 mortality rates could in fact be associated with income inequality, as well
as individuals’ level of trust in the government and healthcare system. The study showed that countries and economies with greater income inequality tend to have higher COVID-19 mortality rates than those with lower ones. Moreover, countries whose populations report putting more trust in the public sector tend to have lower mortality rates compared to those reporting lower levels of trust. While the devastating human and economic tolls of the pandemic cannot be ignored, it is inspiring that researchers from across the globe have been able to collaborate with one another to produce meaningful work. Pandemic-era scientific research has undoubtedly highlighted the importance of cross-collaboration among many scientific disciplines.
The human cost of a warmer future Coping with my anxiety about the climate crisis Madison Edward-Wright News Editor
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his summer, I spent most of my time working and hiking. If I wasn’t running around helping a client find something at the pet store I worked at, I was running around the woods with a backpack full of snacks, coffee, and water. I ventured past the city of Montreal to McGill’s Gault Nature Reserve at Mont St-Hilaire or to Mont-Rigaud, close to the Ontario-Quebec border. For the few hours I was in the woods, I left my earphones in the car and shut my phone off so that I could enjoy the sounds of rustling leaves, streams, and the occasional birdsong. One Tuesday toward the end of July, I was staring out the window at work planning my next excursion when I noticed a haze hanging in the sky. In fact, the sky was more than hazy: It looked smoky. I quickly realized that it was actual smoke, so thick that I could not make out the cars on the other side of the parking lot that were a mere 200 metres away from me. When I looked at the sun, I could barely
tell where it was in the sky. It was like a fever dream. I stepped outside expecting to see a building on fire, but there were no flames—just heavy air, thick with smoke and the scent of fire. When I left that night, the haze had passed, but the moon was glowing a deep orange colour. Later that night, my research revealed the source of the apocalyptic scene as the major forest fires raging across Canada. The moon was orange because the smoke particles blocked shorter wavelengths of light, like blue and green. This year, Canada experienced 6,224 wildfires between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15. The week of July 20 saw the highest number of active fires recorded in a week in 2021 since the start of Canada’s official fire season on April 28. The week I noticed the smoky sky, there were 738 active fires. In those seven days, 580.6 thousand hectares of land were burned. What startled me was that these statistics represented wildfires in Canada in 2021 alone. As I reflected on just how much the natural world is suffering, I was seized by a strong sense of impending dread. That sense of dread made me extremely anxious, depressed even, about the future of our planet. This anxiety was not entirely new to me. It was something I had felt for years, but had buried deep down because I didn’t want to deal with the reality of the ongoing climate crisis. After witnessing the effects of climate change first-hand, however, I understood I could no longer ignore what I was feeling. Throughout my journey of researching the climate crisis, I learned that my anxiety was warranted, and that I was not the only one experiencing it. “For me, it is just kind of like this sense of impending doom every time I think about [the climate crisis],” said Emily Hardie, U0 Arts, in an interview with The McGill Tribune. Hardie describes this feeling as difficult to confront, admitting she simply doesn’t know precisely how to deal with these feelings. Such sentiments, ranging from fear to anger, now have a name: “Eco-anxiety,” or “climate anxiety.”
Research into the phenomenon of eco-anxiety has revealed that an increasing number of people are experiencing it. A study conducted by researchers from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found that in 2018, 29 per cent of Americans said they were “alarmed” by climate change, while another 30 per cent were “concerned.” Statistics on eco-anxiety in Canada are not yet available, but unofficial reports and articles show that many Canadians experience some form of distress. Even worse, research on environmental degradation and climate change only confirms our fears—ecoanxiety does not stem from fake news or faulty science. Rather, the changes occurring around the globe are serious and potentially beyond our comprehension. Nigel Roulet, a professor of biogeosciences and chair of the Department of Geography at McGill, has spent the last 30 years of his career studying the interactions between various ecosystems, climate change, and land-use change. Though he says he has hope for the future, he worries about our ability to grasp the major overhauls required to address the climate crisis.
“I do not think people understand the magnitude of the problem that we are faced with,” Roulet said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Imagine if I said to you, ‘I am going to require you to, over your next 20 years, reduce your carbon footprint by 80 per cent.’ You might say, ‘Sure, I am keen and interested in making the planet a better place. I will try and do that.’ But an 80 per cent reduction in your carbon footprint is huge. I mean, that requires an incredible change in lifestyle.” In the last century, humans have
dramatically changed how we interact with the land. A major finding of Roulet’s research was that one of the largest factors in climate change was land-use change, because such changes can dramatically affect peat landscapes. These landscapes capture a huge amount of carbon, since the carbon in the decomposed plant matter is trapped by the peat. Land-use change puts all this carbon at risk. As peatlands are cleared to make way for infrastructure such as roads and railways, more carbon is released into the atmosphere. Of course, more carbon in the atmosphere traps heat and warms the atmosphere, which leads to more extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and so the story goes. We know it well. There is no escaping the news cycle of headlines reporting on the most recent ecological disasters or meltdowns across the globe. But many people don’t just worry about climate change— they already live with its effects. Melting ice levels in Canada are threatening Inuit communities’ ways of life, as traditional hunting and fishing on the ice becomes more and more dangerous. Other Northern communities around the world have been forced to adapt as well. Mette Bendixen, an associate professor of geography at McGill, explained that throughout her time researching Arctic coastal changes, she has witnessed local men—whose families have sustained themselves for generations by fishing off the coasts of Greenland— move to urban centres to look for less precarious work. Changes that happen in the Arctic don’t stay in the Arctic, however. Rising sea levels will have dire consequences for the more than 600 million people who live in coastal regions across the globe. Future sea level projections estimate that a 0.5 metre increase in sea level would result in the flooding of approximately 24,000 square kilometres of coastal land, displacing many. These individuals make up nearly 10 per cent of the world population. But such changes might not be obvious to those living in wealthy countries with strong infrastructure or regions that are geographically insulated. I often think of how privileged I am to live in a part of Canada that is not as affected as other regions. I am anxious about climate change, but I haven’t had to evacuate my home or abandon my way of life because of it. “It is interesting to think of the differences in how you and I, in a big city, experience climate change [compared to other lessdeveloped places],” Bendixen said. “Being Danish and having lived there most of my life, it is not affecting me. I might experience it, but it’s not really affecting my life because I am rich and privileged.” Over his thirty years working in the field of climate science and geography, Roulet has learned that climate change disproportionately affects those in developing countries. But at the same time, climate change solutions have historically not addressed the needs of developing countries. While rich countries have been able to industrialize by burning fossil fuels with few restrictions, developing countries now face outcry when they do the same. Roulet does not believe that restrictions that unfairly target developing countries will ultimately help solve the climate crisis. “80 per cent or 70 per cent of the world’s population does not live the way most of us live in North America or in Western Europe,” Roulet said. “We have reaped the benefits of [industrialization]. We are wealthy nations, and as individuals we live very, very well. We cannot say to other countries, ‘You cannot develop because our carbon debt has been all used up.’ It is not equitable.” So far, global attempts to solve climate change have failed. Take the 2015 Paris Agreement as an example. The treaty aimed to lower countries’ carbon emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, but most of the 196 countries who signed the agreement have failed to follow through on the commitments they made. In the wake of its failures, world leaders will meet again this November to discuss how to tackle climate change at the UN Climate Change Conference UK 2021 (COP26), with the ultimate goal of keeping global warming as close to 1.5 degrees as possible. I can’t help but find it frustrating that the leaders of our world don’t follow through on the promises they frame as
“revolutionary.” Despite the fact that we need tangible systemic change, leaders seem content with creating plans that will inevitably be modified to match their actions, rather than drive their actions. The upcoming COP26 conference will be a test of world leaders’ commitments to limiting global warming and preserving the environment. I have to put faith in them because I don’t believe we have any other choice. Every year, we get closer to the point of no return—that is, the point when we will have destroyed so much of our planet that we won’t be able to regenerate what is left.
Others don’t even share my checkered optimism. Hardie, a member of Divest McGill—a student group that has been pushing for McGill to divest from the fossil fuel industry since 2012—is cynical about COP26’s prospects. To Hardie, COP26 will likely end up as another performative measure against climate change. Even protests don’t hold real weight if they aren’t followed up by concrete systemic and individual change. “Personally, I am against any symbolic action towards the environment,” Hardie said. “I think that is very unproductive if it is not actually action-based [....] For example, Montreal had half a million people go to [the climate strike on Sept. 27, 2019]. I think that is a lot of people, but how many people are going to actually take action?” I agree with Hardie’s emphasis on action. Nowadays, I strive for concrete action in addition to community organizing. I have reduced the quantity of meat I consume; I use a reusable water bottle and Tupperware for my lunches; I use public transit and carpool when I can. These are my little remedies, my own individual actions. It doesn’t feel like enough, and it can’t be enough without larger shifts. But they help me cope from day to day as I struggle with the prospect of an unlivable future. Still, unless we collectively start making changes to protect and improve our relationship with the environment, I know my anxiety will only keep rising.
Design by Jinny Moon, Design Editor
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
scitech@mcgilltribune.com
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
Just one lifetime away: Mapping climate change beyond the year 2100 New study urges scientists to consider long-term solutions to climate crisis Mikaela Shadick Staff Writer
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he year 2100 has frequently served as a benchmark for climate health projections. Yet, more than half a century has passed since 2100 was first used as a horizon, and the year is no longer a marker of an abstract and dystopian future, but rather a time that will be reached by some alive today. Christopher Lyon, a postdoctoral researcher at McGill, joined scientists from the University of Leeds as a visiting researcher to help create a new experimental model for a climate warming curve continuing beyond 2100 and into the year 2500. “We keep saying 2100, and don’t look past 2100,” Lyon said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Someone might be forgiven for assuming that whatever is going to happen by 2100 is the stopping point for climate change, but it keeps going after that.” One of the greatest impacts that climate change may have past 2100 is the substantial warming of the equatorial regions around the globe, which would render places such as the Midwest or the Indian
subcontinent too hot for human habitation. Humans could be forced to migrate to the poles and scientists would have to develop new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in farming to adapt crop production to these high temperatures. “If, and it’s a big if, we don’t manage to meet our climate objectives, and the world does get that much hotter, we may have to reprioritize our aims,” Lyon said. “It could be that we end up in a kind of triage politics where we have to think about sustaining [human] life, rather than some of the places and ecosystems we hold valuable now.” The crux of climate change negotiations of the future could lie between allocating resources toward either conservation or adaptation. For instance, extensive irrigation and water conservation systems designed to be controlled remotely could benefit areas such as the North American plains, where water could become scarce. There is also a very real possibility that personal protective equipment will be needed to safely venture outside in equatorial regions. “If we delay, […] it gets
much harder to do,” Lyon said. “The planet will be warmer, there will be more CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and we will need a much greater level of technological intervention to stop emissions.” While Lyon’s research is mostly aimed at modelling the climate crisis further into the future, his team nevertheless takes time to highlight the challenges climate change poses to current governments. “Maybe we need to think about how we structure our institutions for the kind of decisionmaking that needs to happen to mitigate climate change,” Lyon said. “[This system is] responsible for producing the emissions [...] but it’s also the system we’re trying to solve [climate change] with.” While a complete restructuring of our political systems might seem daunting, or too large a task to be completed before the Earth warms by two degrees Celsius, Lyon remains optimistic about humanity’s prospects for overcoming these obstacles. “We are kind of missing an opportunity right now to do something collectively as a species
The group of researchers predict that personal protective equipment will be needed in equatorial regions such as the Indian subcontinent by the year 2500. (James McKay / The Conversation) to address a challenge facing us that could provide a lot of meaning to people’s lives,” Lyon said. “The generations that meet this
challenge can tell their grandkids about [it] when [they] might ask ‘What did you do in the climate crisis when it was really bad?’”
The ebb and flow of fish biomass over the decades
McGill study quantifies ocean fish biomass with links to deep ocean chemistry Adam Matthews-Kott Staff Writer
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he oceans once held what humans considered to be a limitless supply of fish—populations were so abundant that it was nearly inconceivable that the waters would ever run out. That viewpoint was challenged in the ‘80s and ‘90s as overfishing caused fish stocks in the North Atlantic to rapidly collapse. According to a recent study published in Science Advances led by Eric Galbraith, a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at McGill, the number of fish in the world’s oceans has plummeted in recent
years, reducing the rate at which nutrients are cycled. The study aimed to quantify the amount of economically viable fish biomass in the ocean and the effects that changes in the biomass would have on ocean ecosystems. “I think what was really unique about our [study] is [that] we were able to constrain it, at least, by using satellite data,” David A. Carozza, a research associate at UQAM and co-author of the study, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “At least we know that our model represented peak [fish] harvest [....] It was a different approach, but still of a comparable magnitude to other studies.” The researchers used fishery data to estimate the historical biomass of fish, molluscs,
There are over 300,000 species of organisms in the deep ocean, many of which rely on fish populations located far above them to survive. (exoprotein.com)
and crustaceans at different time periods. They found that pre-industrial biomass hovered around 3.3 billion tons, but that it had dropped by approximately 47 per cent by the 1990s. “The scale that we worked with was large marine ecosystems, mostly coastal ones, around peak harvest,” Carozza said.“And using that information, we were able to [...] literally backtrack into the past so we know that the model worked into the present day.” Fish biomass today is slowly increasing as it recovers from the global overfishing crisis of the ‘90s. This recovery process, however, is extremely fragile: Although fishing is far more regulated now, the severe reduction of fish biomass means that population levels are more sensitive to perturbations from fishing activities. “On the policy side, there’s been a lot of imbalance between different countries. Larger fisheries are able to travel farther out in the ocean where there’s less oversight,” Carozza explained. “Although there are some promising statistics, I’m still concerned about the state of fisheries globally.” The study’s model elucidates how changes in fish biomass affect deep water respiration and carbon levels at the ocean’s surface through carbon sequestration. “If you were to add fecal pellets, you [would] reduce oxygen content since bacteria use oxygen in this respiration process,” Carozza said. “We observed the opposite, where when fecal pellets are reduced, deep water respiration is also reduced.” Fish contribute to carbon sequestration in
a fascinating way. Abundant phytoplankton in the ocean creates a large draw on carbon from the atmosphere. Phytoplankton is consumed by larger organisms, and this consumption continues up the food chain until the carbon content reaches fish. The excrement that fish produce then drops to the ocean floor. This process is very efficient, with pre-industrial fish populations accounting for 10 per cent of organically sequestered carbon. “There’s no point in counting phytoplankton, they don’t have a part in [sequestering carbon in the deep ocean],” Carozza said. “And they are quite small, very little [carbon] is exported. Even smaller fish are able to release fecal matter that can escape the mixed layer of the ocean, where that matter would otherwise reside for hundreds of thousands of years.” Although there are other factors that cause fish populations to decrease, the study found overfishing to be the predominant driver. “For drivers other than catch, the ecosystem-level impacts, over a variety of marine ecosystems, were simply not known and could not be integrated into our modelling framework,” Carozza said. The study stresses the importance of fish biomass not only for human consumption, but also for its role in sustaining ocean chemistry and regulating carbon sequestration. It also highlights the importance of computer models in broadening our understanding of ocean processes and mitigating the human impact on the planet.
studentlife@mcgilltribune.com
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
STUDENT LIFE
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The Tribune tries: Haunted Montreal ghost walk Ghostly histories of the city uncovered in guided tours
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fter the sun went down on October 24, we joined a group of 30 people near Concordia for a ghost tour of downtown Montreal led by Haunted Montreal. After we arrived, Jason McLean, our tour guide, abruptly adopted the animated persona of a ghostly storyteller and led us through the dim streets of Montreal, where we would soon be immersed in a narrative journey filled with harrowing
Holly Wethey / Student Life Editor
At the Old Sainte Antoine Cemetery, Haunted Montreal hosts paranormal investigations hosted by professional ghost-hunter Dominique Desormeaux. (Holly Wethey / The McGill Tribune)
As someone who avoids horror movies at all costs, I wasn’t
sure how I would handle a ghost tour of Montreal. Though there are multiple locations, downtown seemed like the best option, with the bustle of the city to distract from my paranoia. But alas, it turned out that there is still horror lurking amidst the busy downtown streets. We began at a haunted bar where the ghost of a tall, muscular man allegedly lurks, bumping into customers and knocking drinks out of their hands. We then moved on to the Concordia Grey Nuns residence, once a convent housing the order of the Grey Nuns. Gazing out across the dark courtyard at this ominous stone building across the dorms, I was glad I stayed in Douglas Hall. The tales of fires, death, and a crypt beneath the building reaffirmed this sentiment. A later stop on the tour took us to what was once Le Cinq, a popular nightclub in the city. I immediately felt a connection to that place, as two of my best friends worked at the coat check in first year. This made the stories of haunting apparitions all the more chilling.
The final stop on the tour left most of the group at a loss for words. As we stood in the middle of Dorchester Square, the guide informed us that we were standing over the graves of 60,000 people who died in one of the city’s cholera outbreaks. People exchanged looks of horror as the guide described the disturbing acts committed there.
Wendy Zhao / Student Life Editor Like Holly, I’m usually not drawn to horror. Neither am I a believer of ghosts or the supernatural, though I’m often jealous of those who have a paranormal experience to share with friends. As we started the tour, I expected fun and exaggerated storytelling, but was willing to suspend my disbelief. Though our tour guide’s theatrics were indeed cheesy at times, the haunted histories of the city are surprisingly chilling. We learned about the legend of the Murderer’s Cross at the intersection of Guy and Rene-Levesque W, where a convicted murderer was reportedly killed in a torture wheel, and the reported hauntings of the
Quote of the night: Despite the sombre nature of the stories, McLean infused humour into the tour.
(Holly Wethey / The McGill Tribune)
prestigious Queen Elizabeth hotel. Hearing ghost stories the oldfashioned way with the absence of technology, our group huddling around our tour guide’s voice, felt akin to a sort of exclusive campfire experience. As we made our way around the city, from GuyConcordia to the downtown centre, I felt like I was in on some of the darkest secrets of the city. While listening to all these real-life witness encounters and reported hauntings throughout the city, there were moments where I wondered if claims of ghostly orbs and lingering screams were really just coincidences and tricks of the mind, or if something more unexplainable was behind the tales.
“To get [to the next stop], we’re going to go through something that’s been haunting Montreal for decades: Construction,” McLean joked.
Spookiest moment: Standing in front of the former Le Cinq nightclub, the tour guide informed us that the business owners had to board up the windows after passersby complained of seeing strange faces in the windows. We looked up, and sure enough, wooden boards covered the window panes of the empty building.
McGill students know how to throw a (themed) party
Halloween is over, but themed parties are here to stay Hanna Agro Contributor
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n “anything but clothes”-themed event may be considered generic these days in comparison to the niche parties McGill students throw. Though a century removed, post-lockdown parties channel the explosive energy that characterized the Roaring Twenties with their unique and creative themes. The return to in-person socialization has ignited a lively atmosphere throughout the city, and despite the fact that Halloween is over, costume parties are still in. Party themes range from “dressing as something that starts with a specific letter of the alphabet” to “off-duty Adam Sandler,” and the more creative the better. On Oct. 28, versions of Britney Spears in her different eras could be spotted along St. Laurent Boulevard at the Students’ Society Programming Network Britney Spears Halloween Pub Crawl. Not only do these events bring together friends distanced by the pandemic, but they also give people a reason to dress up in homemade costumes they’ve thrown together, allowing them to express themselves and share their experiences with others. JP Ponce, U2 Science, described a themed party he recently attended in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “The last themed party I went to was actually my girlfriend’s birthday party,” Ponce said. “The theme was ‘dress as your favourite reality TV star’ [.…] The fun thing about it was the specificity. Nobody knew what anyone was wearing, which made it quite interesting.” These parties also create a new kind of social environment that allows attendees to forgo awkward introductions. “Themed parties are much better for making small talk,” Ponce said. “It’s normally hard to approach strangers [at parties] but if you recognize someone in their costume, you can instantly make a connection that you wouldn’t otherwise [make], especially if it’s a niche party.” For those in search of people with similar interests, themed parties are a goto. The music, atmosphere, and ambience are all determined by the theme; if one is looking to grab a bottle of rosé and cry their hearts out to Taylor Swift classics, they can do so. Fans of the 1980’s John Hughes cinematic universe can indulge in a wide array of iconic soundtracks and character costumes. A 2019 poll of 2,000 Americans found that 23 per cent of participants were drawn to an event with a unique theme. A similar theme can be observed at McGill, if not more pronounced. Perhaps there will be a resurgence during the post-isolation period. In the last two months students have been able to spend time familiarizing themselves with a post-quarantine lifestyle; the result is a heightened emotional response attached to celebrations and gatherings.
SSMU’s Britney Spears-themed pub crawl reportedly sold out in just five minutes. (theboar.org)
There is also an element of escape associated with the themed party that allows its participants to choose a different identity––doubling the escapism of a typical party by incorporating the added layer of costume. “It’s that fantastic aspect of trying to pull yourself away from reality,” Ponce explained. “Maybe that’s what the themed party is providing.” Though it can be said that these events reinforce the performance inherent to superficial social interaction, there is also an aspect of the themed party that isn’t so superficial. As people show up to parties dressed as their favourite TV character from the 2000s, their major in an alternate universe, or their nostalgic childhood candy, perhaps they are revealing to us the hidden aspects of themselves that we might not otherwise have known.
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STUDENT LIFE
studentlife@mcgilltribune.com
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
Digging in at Opiano
Visiting one of downtown Montreal’s most popular Korean restaurants Abby McCormick Staff Writer
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idden beneath the sprawling Le Cartier Tower among the hustle and bustle of downtown Montreal sits Opiano, a relaxed cafeteria-style Korean market offering a variety of dishes, from ramyun to bibimbap. Located just a five-minute walk away from campus at 1115 Sherbrooke St. W, this––
(Abby McCormick / The McGill Tribune)
literally––underground spot is a quintessential lunch destination for many McGill students. Upon entering Opiano at lunch hour, one is instantly greeted by the warm, savoury aroma of Korean cuisine and the chatter of McGill students, office employees, and families. Visitors can be seen enjoying both vegetarian and meat-based options or picking up food to go in this cozy, laid-back environment. Especially in the winter months, Opiano provides students bowls of comfort and warmth with a variety of stews, including their soft tofu soup (sundubu jjigae), and slow-cooked spicy pork bone soup (bbyeo haejangguk). Those who might be looking just for a quick snack can enjoy refreshing bites of kimbap and, if feeling more indulgent, can dig into a plate of flavourful stir-fried rice cakes. Samuel Nyandwi, U3 Science, discovered Opiano in his first year at McGill. He has since introduced friends to the restaurant, all of whom are now regulars. The spot holds many memories for him. “Opiano gives me nostalgia since it was the first restaurant I went to in Montreal,” Nyandwi told The McGill Tribune. “[The atmosphere] is very welcoming, there are always people there eating out with friends.” Nyandwi recommends the spicy fried chicken stir-fry plate and the pork kassu. “[They’re] honestly a 10 out of 10,” Nyandwi said of the dishes. “The presentation is fantastic, portions are big, and prices are
Opiano’s kassu dishes are a favourite among students, only $12 a plate with rice and salad on the side. (Abby McCormick / The McGill Tribune)
affordable. You really get your money’s worth.” It’s no surprise that Opiano has become a go-to spot for McGill students. The restaurant’s large yet relatively inexpensive portions are a much-needed comfort for busy students who might not always have the time to cook. Ari Cho, U1 Management, shares Nyandwi’s fondness for the restaurant. After hearing about Opiano from other McGill
students, Cho decided to give it a try. She now frequents Opiano two to three times a week with her friends, thanks to its high quality and proximity to campus. “The [bone] soup and kassu are both huge portions and really good. [They] taste fresh and [the kassu] is crispy,” Cho said. Although frequented by regulars, the spot continues to draw newcomers at McGill. Upon visiting Opiano for the first time recently, Sophie Cohen, U0 Music, felt comforted by the restaurant’s laid-back, casual atmosphere, noting how its bright red and black wooden chairs, beige benches, and numerous plants behind the counter create a homey and youthful feel. While Opiano may not provide a finedining experience, it offers a space for students to chat freely with friends and escape from McGill’s dining halls. “The ambience is very lowkey,” Cohen said. “It really caters to the students and downtown office workers […] which I think it does successfully.” Amelia Waters, U1 Arts, recently discovered Opiano and has since introduced her friends to the restaurant. The passion and dedication the staff have for their small business is evident to any frequent customer. “[One of Opiano’s biggest draws is] how friendly the staff are,” Waters said. Opiano remains a beloved venue where students can reliably find comfort and friends.
Love and relationships IRL
How expressions of intimacy have changed with the return to in-person activities Isabella González Staff Writer Small acts of love and affection were most certainly taken for granted before the pandemic hit in 2020: No one ever thought that we would be denied dinner dates or hugs for a year and a half. With rising vaccination rates in Montreal allowing for the return of some in-person activities, many students are once again embracing their loved ones and exploring new relationships. COVID-19 anxieties still linger, however. How have love and relationships changed in this new transitional context? Stephanie Munn, U2 Arts, definitely thinks things are different. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Munn explained how her expressions of love have changed to make up for lost time. “I think I’ve added physical touch [to my expressions of love],” Munn said. “I was lacking it for so long, that now pretty much anytime I see one of my friends, it’s always a hug.” Munn’s not the only one placing newfound importance on the physical aspects of relationships. Sabrina Vidal, U1 Arts, took the chance to express her physical affection with her friends as soon as she could. “During the summer, after we got vaccinated, with my friends, we would just be so physical with each other,” Vidal said. “[We were] holding each other’s hands, hugging, sitting on each other’s laps, holding each other.” Pandemic loneliness has also played a significant role in people’s desire for physical
affection. While it might be assumed that increased vaccinations would prompt a rise in hook-up culture, yet many still prefer more tender expressions of intimacy. Kristiaan van den Hoeve, U2 Arts, for example, recalled having a hook-up-turned-cuddling session. “One time, I invited this guy over to my house, and we literally just ended up cuddling, and that was it,” Hoeve said. Although many are rediscovering the importance of physical touch as they reunite with loved ones, the pandemic has nonetheless left its mark on relationships. Munn looks
forward to meeting new people on campus as the vaccination rates among the McGill community continue to increase. However, many are still skeptical of widening their social circles. Vidal likes to keep her social circle intimate because she feels more comfortable when she knows where her friends have been. Not only has the pandemic encouraged people to express their love through their bodies, but it has also influenced people to reevaluate their love lives and seek out more long-term relationships. “Relationships are actually going to be
During the pandemic, virtual sex parties, sexual educational Zoom workshops, and remotely controlled sex toys allowed people to find fulfilling alternatives to physical intimacy. (Avery Haley-Lock / The McGill Tribune)
more intimate and more focussed on inherent values and priorities,” said Felicia Gisondi, founder of Sex and Self, a McGill non-profit organization that provides resources for a comprehensive and well-rounded sexual education. “Because people have been in isolation for so long, they’re really seeking out those intimate relationships and they’re being punctual about it.” On the other hand, Gisondi also believes that some will return to the casual dating scene. “It’s very individualistic depending on what your experience was like during the pandemic,” Gisondi said. Gisondi appreciated the rise in virtual sexual relationships––such as sexting or phone sex––over the pandemic, and hopes that it will continue. “It’s been really beautiful to have a hybrid approach,” Gisondi said. “We’re not 100 per cent there yet, so definitely integrating safety precautions and discussing vaccine passports with your partner [is important].” It’s fair to say that an event as impactful as a pandemic is bound to change aspects of our lives—with love and relationships being an integral part of them.Although the pandemic separated many couples, or drastically changed their relationships, it also served as an awakening for many people to reassess how they express their love for others. Vidal believes that this learning experience will lead to fulfilling connections. “Now, when we look for a partner or any sort of relationship, it’s gonna be people that we value and who we know will value us for what we care about,” Vidal said.
arts@mcgilltribune.com
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
There’s something seductively toxic about ‘You’ season three The latest instalment of Netflix’s hit series follows the happily-ever-after story of murderous newlyweds Fernanda Turcato Contributor Warning - Spoilers ahead!
all while trying to integrate into a privileged upper-middle class milieu, suppressing their aversion to their neighbour’s “woke,”
status-driven lifestyles. Though the dark secrets harboured by the new residents risk alienating the couple from
Continued from page 1. Following the twist ending of the second season, this latest instalment strays from the similar structures established in the first two seasons of the show. With the murderous and psychotic tendencies of the main characters exposed, the episodes follow newlyweds Joe and Love QuinnGoldberg (Victoria Pedretti) attempting to settle into domestic bliss in the suburbs of Madre Linda. Joe and Love navigate the difficulties of marriage and life with their newborn child, Henry,
You critiques the superficiality inherent to white-picket-fenced suburbia. (netflix.com)
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
their community, the show’s narrative never fails to recognize their privilege as a white, cisgendered heterosexual couple, whose cushy lifestyle is funded by Love’s family fortune. Neither Joe nor Love would have been able to maintain the illusion of the American dream had it not been for the safety net of wealth and influence provided by Love’s family, which allowed the two to narrowly escape run-ins with the law. The genius of the series lies within the duplicity of their lives as criminals and as blissfully engaged community members. This dynamic creates a vehicle for social commentary, despite the absurdity of the contrast between serial murderers and athleisurewearing, gossip-hungry yoga moms. Even in such a bizarre setting, the show still uses its protagonists to critique different aspects of society. Viewers know that Love killing her neighbour in a burst of rage is wrong, but they can’t help but agree with her disgust toward the hypocrisy of the neighbourhood women, who profit off of
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her victim’s disappearance to gain sympathy from their masses of online followers. In one of her many impulsive homicidal outbursts, Love assaults a fellow Madre Linda resident and locks him in a cage in the basement of her bakery upon hearing about how his anti-vax opinions led to her son’s hospitalization. His child, who hadn’t received the measles vaccine, was around Joe and Love’s son and passed the disease onto him. Despite the condemnable act of violence perpetrated against a fellow parent, the transmission of political messages—in this case, on the importance of vaccines—succeeds by vilifying a character described as the person for whom “World’s Greatest Dad” mugs were created. Ultimately, the contrast of the plastic purity of Madre Linda and the gruesome hobbies of their newest residents provides a channel for social commentary of the real world that ultimately ushers in a reckoning of our own morality—by succeeding in making us root for the villain.
Halloween movies: When holiday culture meets the horror film genre What makes a Halloween movie Halloween-y Paulina Kasak Contributor
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andy Meeks from the cult classic Scream once said, , “There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie.” In Meek’s words: “You can never have sex, you can never drink or do drugs, and never (ever, under any circumstances) say ‘I’ll be right back!’” These survival tips almost become common knowledge during the Halloween season, when horror films abound. In this respect, the Halloween film is not its own genre. It is necessarily connected to the greater world of horror. Halloween movies became popular not because they present a unique category in film, but because they became attributed to a cultural fascination with normative violence. One of the earliest Halloween horror movies is the aptly titled 1978 Halloween, directed by John Carpenter. This cult classic follows the story of Michael Myers, who escapes from a mental hospital 15 years after murdering his sister on Halloween and returns to his small town to kill again. The movie’s intrigue lies not in its most outlandish moments, but rather in its ability to distort reality in a terrifyingly realistic way. Myers is not only a fictional representation of a man at a loss for humanity, he is a killer in the ordinary world; he could be the viewer’s neighbour, their teacher, or their local grocery store clerk. What Halloween shows us is that the “Halloween movie” is not bound to the supernatural—quite the contrary. What is most alluring about movies like Halloween is their imitation of reality and perversion of the ordinary in the most twisted, ridiculous, unbelievable, and ghastly ways. The 1992 film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s iconic novel Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, can serve as further evidence. It’s been suggested that Stoker’s Dracula was based on Vlad the Impaler, a real-life 15th-century Romanian king. Dracula, like Myers, is a physical representation of our darkest fears: A person stripped of all humanity, now on the hunt for blood—more of an empty void than a monster. Horror films that lean toward the realistic can evoke sympathy for the monster. Mary Shelley’s famous Frankenstein,
adapted to film in 1931, is an example of this; the viewer is drawn in because they witness a monster who, deep down, still has a heart. The aforementioned films, Halloween, Dracula, and Frankenstein, air yearly around Halloween. All three are labeled as either horror or thriller, but not as “Halloween.” This is because
Spilt Red Wine Poetry + Art Night
Let your emotions loose at round 11 of Spilt Red Wine Poetry. Nov. 6, 7 p.m. Location TBA Free
Cinéma L’Amour x Hampton Gallery Art Exhibition
Celebrate 40 years of Cinéma L’Amour and 100 years of vintage posters and stills from the Hampton Gallery. Nov. 4, 6 p.m. Hampton Gallery Free
McGill Architecture Brown Bag Lecture
Olivier Vallerand discusses queer space, political activism, and queer theory in architectural ethics and aesthetics. John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween reveals the Halloween franchise’s ability to draw from reality, but in the most horrific way possible. (Corey Zhu / The McGill Tribune) the so-called Halloween movie is not defined by the film industry, but is instead a projection of popular demand for horror. The final nail in the coffin suggests that the “Halloween movie” is best animated through the audience’s reaction. A scary movie is not a “Halloween movie” unless its fans come to associate the film with the holiday. The ordinary alongside the gruesome, however terrifying to admit, is inexplicably fascinating. After all, the spirit of Halloween, through its many permutations, originates in a weakened veil between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead—Halloween movies simply transport this magic into the power of film.
Nov. 4, 12:30 p.m. Virtual Free
World Fantasy Convention 2021
Guests of honor include Nisi Shawl, Yves Meynard, and Brandon O’Brien. Nov. 4–Nov. 7 Hôtel Bonaventure Montréal At-The-Door Rates TBA
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arts@mcgilltribune.com
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
‘Eternals’ takes forever to almost achieve greatness The film is Academy Award winner Chloe Zhao’s follow up to ‘Nomadland’ Michelle Siegel Arts & Entertainment Editor
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fter numerous iconic filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Denis Villeneuve made disparaging comments about the standards of superhero films, Marvel Studios faced extra public pressure to create innovative and exciting iterations of the familiar genre. Eternals follows several members of an immortal alien race who secretly lived on Earth for several millennia to protect humanity from the dangerous and predatory Deviants—another group of animalistic alien creatures. Following the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame and the return of half the Earth’s population, the Eternals reunite after Deviants resurface and start hunting down the longseparated group. The film’s vision clearly comes from the creative sensibilities of writer-director Chloe Zhao, who won multiple Academy Awards this year for her film Nomadland. Zhao brings a more grounded, humble approach to Eternals’ massive scale and stakes. While other TV shows like HBO’s Watchmen and Amazon Prime’s The Boys tell darker stories about super-powered individuals with grittier, more realistic dynamics, Eternals embraces a traditional superhero story without the genre’s usual pomp and circumstance. The film’s cinematography is expansive and engaging, with the many geographic settings serving as a calm, yet powerful, backdrop to the adventures of the titular team.
There is lots of natural chemistry and diversity amongst the cast, which makes it easier for audiences to believe the sensational fantasy of the plot. The film’s themes of community, destiny, and self-empowerment are potent and inspiring, and are just as present in countless other Marvel films. At a runtime of 157 minutes, Eternals is a viewing commitment, but for the most part, the film earns its length. The size of the ensemble cast and broad scope of conflict necessitate the duration, providing space to accommodate the characters’ many interwoven stories. It isn’t completely successful, however: The sheer number of characters and
plotlines lead to several of them feeling underdeveloped. The ingenuity of Zhao’s direction and the dynamic explorations of human settings, superhuman emotions, and nuanced moral quandaries round out the better aspects of the film. Yet, the countless juxtapositions of the film’s intentions and finished product compromise the film’s overall quality. The movie is stuck in a type of fandom limbo—it isn’t extravagant or sensational enough to fit in with the majority of Marvel movies, but it’s not indie enough to please cinephiles either. While these aren’t the only categories of filmgoers, they are the most likely to see
Eternals is the 26th film entry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), adding extra pressure to uphold the studio’s reputation and standards. (thedirect.com)
a Chloe Zhao-directed Marvel film. In light of Scorsese and Villeneuve’s comments, it is understandable why Zhao would try to break from Marvel films’s traditional format. The final product, however, is bogged down by the more formulaic aspects of the film—the romances between characters and the ending, in particular—making the tone feel inconsistent. Another frustrating aspect of Eternals is its unconventional approach to common superhero film tropes—rather than subverting them, Zhao subdues them. The diminished tropes work to varying degrees of success: While the lack of melodrama is a fresh take on fantastical storytelling, this humble approach lessens the stakes of conflict. Lacking suspense and anticipatory energy, many moments in the film feel wrongfully constructed and anticlimactic. Some character arcs are both derivative of other Marvel films and only occasionally given dramatic weight, making certain scenes feel out of place. The logic behind these choices make sense, but ultimately lead to the film not living up to its full potential. Eternals is a very enjoyable film overall, but its fallacies and contrasting elements prevent it from being truly great. The long runtime is needed to accommodate all of the ensemble cast’s stories and talents, but leaves certain necessary plot points to the muddled imaginations of audiences. It may not become a beloved Marvel classic, but the pieces of Zhao’s vision that are able to shine through make it well worth the eternally rising price of cinema admission.
‘The French Dispatch’ is the height of the Wes Anderson aesthetic Critics call the hyper-stylized version of 1950s France a ‘love letter to journalism’ Charlotte Hayes Contributor
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early three years after his last feature, beloved American filmmaker Wes Anderson is back with The French Dispatch. Premiering in Toronto
to journalism,” and it is just that. Drawing upon the eccentric cinematic style and storytelling techniques that audiences have come to expect from the idiosyncratically comedic director, The French Dispatch is sure to be popular among Anderson fans, but risks losing ca-
Timothee Chalamet stars alongside Frances McDormand in the section entitled ‘Revisions to a Manifesto’. (variety.com) and theUnited States on Oct. 22, the film was released in theatres across Canada on Oct. 28. Anderson described it as a “love letter
sual viewers with its confusing plot and excessive stylization. Set in the mid-20th-century French offices of an American trav-
el journal, The French Dispatch is a collection of vignettes that comprise the articles featured in the titular magazine. The film follows a team of journalists—Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand), Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright), and Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wilson)—as they pitch their stories to editor Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Bill Murray). The articles explore each writer and their different journalistic subjects: An artist sentenced to life in prison, a student chess riot, and a kidnapping solved with the help of a chef. The French Dispatch is ostensibly five different movies in one, as each article presented by each character creates a world of its own, allowing the audience to tap into a different side of the small fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé. This technique, although narratively interesting, quickly becomes confusing. With such complex smaller segments of the film—each of which could almost pass for its own feature film—the audience can easily forget the overarching narrative. The film requires that the audience do some work in uniting separately constructed worlds to
piece together a continual narrative. Frequent Wes Anderson collaborators Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody all appear once again in The French Dispatch, each delivering excellent performances. The best performance in the film comes from Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio Del Toro), who plays an imprisoned artist who is in love with Simone (Léa Seydoux), a prison security guard. Del Toro delivers the most entertaining and hilarious scenes of the film, despite limited dialogue. A staple of Wes Anderson’s films is witty dialogue with deadpan delivery. The French Dispatch and its fictional French village provide the perfect canvas for this, ashaving the characters in the utmost absurd stories behave with complete sincerity. The juxtaposition of these quiet journalists against larger-than-life characters strengthens the film’s comedic edge. The film’s rapid pacing and light tone is a saving grace for general audiences who might otherwise become confused by the film’s structure. The French Dispatch contin-
ues in the same stylistic tradition as Wes Anderson’s previous work. With eccentric set pieces, perfectly symmetrical shots, and rigid colour palette, Anderson’s films instantly transport the viewer to another world. However, this intensely surreal cinematographic style may go too far, at times feeling nearly satirical in its execution. The world of the film is so perfectly symmetrical and vibrantly saturated that it almost feels as if it loses touch with reality, diverging from a hyper-styled version of real life into a fantasy that more closely resembles a dollhouse. This style can become frustrating. The film is ultimately Wes Anderson’s style at its peak. With its perfectly symmetrical shots, distinctive colour palettes, and eclectic 1950s fashion, The French Dispatch is sure to capture the aesthetic attention of fans of Anderson’s work. Although it isn’t without its flaws, it is a creative and dynamic piece of work that stands out amongst the largely indistinguishable films from this year. Its witty dialogue, talented cast, and beautiful scenery makes The French Dispatch well worth a trip to the theatre.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
SPORTS
sports@mcgilltribune.com
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Know Your Athlete: Matthew Beaudet Cross-country star finds his stride as McGill’s first male RSEQ individual champion since 2005 Sarah Farnand Sports Editor
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atthew Beaudet has had a successful cross-country season, to say the least. On top of winning an invitational and being named RSEQ athlete of the week, Beaudet won gold at the RSEQ Championships on Oct. 30 and was named rookie of the year. Although fairly new to competitive running, Beaudet has quickly found his stride on the Redbirds cross-country team. “In high school, I played more team
Beaudet’s favourite athlete is Kenyan runner Timothy Cheruiyot, one of the world’s fastest 1500m runners. (Matthew Beaudet)
sports like hockey, football, and soccer, and during the winter we would have speed and agility training. Once I got into my last year of high school, I was enjoying that more than [...] going to the gym or playing football,” Beaudet said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “So I decided that I was going to continue in CEGEP. I started with sprints, but […] I think I have a better aptitude for long-distance, so now I run the 1500 metre [for track] and five kilometre for cross-country.” With all the running he does, Beaudet finds that listening to artists such as Arlo Parks or Ninho helps the kilometres go by a little easier. “I know some people say it is better if you don’t, but I find that it is so much easier to get through the run listening to music,” Beaudet said. Although races can be very difficult, Beaudet uses post-race rewards as motivation. He often stopped at Lemaire, a traditional poutine restaurant, on his way home from races in Quebec City this past summer. “They make the cheese curds there and it’s fresh and really good,” Beaudet said. “So if the race was good, it is a celebration to get a poutine, and if it was a bad race, to console myself I would also stop to get a poutine.” As a second-year student studying electrical engineering, Beaudet has a
busy schedule. Despite this, he often runs twice a day—before and after a full day of challenging courses. Outside of running, however, Beaudet also finds time to make a difference in his community.After a longterm injury forced him to take a six-month running hiatus, Beaudet started coaching and found the experience extremely gratifying. “A lot of kids find running track and field pretty difficult, so it’s nice to see them become more confident,” Beaudet said. “It’s nice to see and to know that you might have played a small part in that.” In his free time, Beaudet likes to read. One of his favourite books is The Emperor of All Maladies, which looks at the history of cancer from the perspectives of patients, physicians, and government lobbyists. He also enjoys books about spies during the Cold War. “I read this book recently called Agent Sonya about this USSR agent who was the greatest female spy,” Beaudet said. “Her life was crazy—you couldn’t make it up.” For anyone looking to start running, Beaudet sees patience and consistency as key to overcoming the initial hurdles of training. “You are definitely out of breath on your first runs, but you improve really quickly in the first month and you surprise yourself,” Beaudet said. “Discipline and consistency are the most important things
(Matthew Beaudet) because you are bound to get stuck at some points. But if you keep going, it could be three months, it could be six months, but you are going to break through at a certain point.” And if you want an extra boost, Beaudet swears by drinking beet juice the week of a race to enhance his performance. For now, Beaudet looks forward to the U Sports Nationals, which will take place on Nov. 20 in Quebec City. And one thing is for sure—win or lose, he will be getting poutine after.
A set, a spike, and a win for women’s volleyball Martlets dominate over Montreal Carabins, winning 3-2 Sophia Gorbounov Contributor
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cGill women’s volleyball (3–2) faced the Montreal Carabins (2–3) in their second meeting of the season on Oct. 31. With confidence in their every move, the Martlets won 3-2, marking the third win of their campaign so far. Charlene Robitaille, a fourth-year nutritional science student at McGill and middle blocker for the team, noted that this confidence stemmed from the team’s earlier victories. “We were really excited because of our game from the previous week against the Carabins,” Robitaille said. “When we were practicing this morning, we had very good control. We were really looking forward to [the game].” Despite their high hopes, however, the first set did not entirely go according to plan. The game was neck-and-neck, with both teams proving to be fierce competitors. The Martlets were deliberately forceful from the start, with sheer power behind every attack. “Our biggest goal for this
Libero Catherine Vercheval contributed 11 digs to the Martlets’ defensive effort. (Matt Garies / McGill Athletics) game was to be aggressive,” Robitaille said. “Mostly in terms of our hitting, but also for our serves [....] No one on our team was scared of the other team’s blocks.” Ultimately, the Martlets’ efforts were in vain, as the Carabins’ tactical play and point-saving digs led them to overpower their opponents. A slew of back and forth points eventually led to a 23-25 set win for the Carabins. The first set loss sparked
a fire in the Martlets, and they came back with a searing energy that spurred on an immediate change in the team’s strength. Their focus was up, everyone was communicating effectively, and the entire team moved as one. To start off the second set, the Martlets carried out relentless blocks and spectacular spikes. Clara Poire had a particularly strong spike that paralleled the net as it jetted towards the ground. The constant pressure
allowed the Martlets to gain an advantage of 16-5 before the referee called a technical time out. The Martlets continued their rampage throughout the second set, winning 25-18. The third set saw this trend persist, and though the Carabins were keen to block their opponents’ powerful serves, the Martlets won 25-16. Endurance on both sides was needed as the fourth set began, with the score at 2-1 for McGill. Though they had the window open to winning it all, the Martlets unfortunately fell short, finishing 20-25 and forcing the game into its fifth set. The final set had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Even though the Martlets bested them in their previous match, the Carabins did not go down without a fight. There was no clear winner in sight when the set began, but diamonds are made under pressure, and the adrenaline of the tie fueled the Martlets. The Carabins seemed to adopt the same aggression tactic as their opponents, but to no avail. The Martlets blocked left and right, and finished off the game 15-11, winning both the set and match.
MOMENT OF THE GAME A cut shot by rightside hitter Clara Poire grazed the other side of the net as it sped to the ground, making it impossible to return.
QUOTABLE “Each win is important [....] We have to concentrate on every game. We focus on the game at hand before looking too far ahead.” —Fourthyear middle blocker Charlene Robitaille
STAT CORNER Martlet power-hitter Brook Brown led the team with 15 kills.
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SPORTS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2021
sports@mcgilltribune.com
Equal access to recreational facilities is vital
Montreal athletic services are unevenly distributed across the island Sepideh Afshar Opinion Editor A recent Montreal-based CBC study found a direct correlation between a borough’s average income and the number of sports and recreation facilities in the area. This inequity leaves youth who are unable to pay for private sports facilities or gyms with little opportunity to get involved with their communities in an active way. Equal access to athletic services is an essential step to providing youth in lower-income boroughs with better opportunities. Reducing the distribution gap of sports and recreation facilities throughout Montreal is imperative to an increased quality of life for youth. In Montreal, the economic disparities between different boroughs are massive. Côte-desNeiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, one of the lowest income areas in Montreal, also has the highest number of children, with about 27,000 kids under the age of 14. Despite this, the region only has 13.2 recreational facilities per 10,000 inhabitants. To put things into
perspective, one of the high-income neighbourhoods, Île-Bizard–SainteGeneviève, boasts 53 facilities per 10,000 inhabitants. The areas that are most in need of access to public recreation centres are those that have the least—and this opportunity gap only widens as children grow older. Access to community sports services is fundamental to youth development and is even more vital in low-income boroughs. Participation in sports comes with a plethora of benefits for young people, from better test scores to increased graduation rates to happier home lives, to decreased drug and tobacco use in high school. All of these benefits are less about the direct impacts of, say, soccer to a young person, but are more about the positive externalities that accompany athletic involvement. Playing on a sports team, or even participating in a fitness class at a community centre, builds skills that are pivotal in a child’s development, such as teamwork. This supportive space also allows young people to integrate and meet one another organically, regardless of racial or
economic differences. These are vital social and interpersonal skills that can heavily improve quality of life as these young people transition into adulthood. Community-based activities promote positive growth and can prevent vulnerable youth from falling into criminal or illegal behaviour during adolescence. Access to sports facilities and involvement opportunities have a chance at changing Montreal’s crime trajectory. Even the United National Office on Drugs and Crime has acknowledged that access to sports is an effective method of crime prevention. Physical activity in supportive social contexts, such as those fostered in community facilities, can act as safe spaces for vulnerable youth and can provide healthy ways to pass time. While police in Montreal are increasingly imposing invasive crime prevention measures, such as security cameras, communities should look toward structural change for meaningful long-term effects. Policing does not reduce crime—social reform does. Instead of enabling further policing of youth in susceptible regions, there
Officials have yet to comment on the CBC report detailing how access to athletics is linked to the average income of an area. (Adam Burton / The McGill Tribune) need to be more resources that support young people’s growth in all Montreal regions, but especially low-income ones. Children should not be penalized because of the financial situations they are born into. Deprivation of adequate sporting and recreational facilities directly hinder the development of valuable life skills. With the upcoming election,
it is important to call on city officials to commit to enacting meaningful change on this front, such as reallocating funding toward public recreational facilities. Policing lowincome areas without addressing root causes will not result in longterm improvement. Montreal youth deserve the opportunity to thrive in athletics and in society, and it is up to the government to provide it.
Redbirds rugby advance to finals, beating Bishop’s in nail-biter game
McGill slips and slides their way to a 30-27 overtime victory Madison McLauchlan Managing Editor Continued from page 1. Early in the first half, it became clear that the rain would not help with ball handling, as the Gaiters struggled to hold possession long enough to get deep into McGill territory. Despite this and McGill’s fast-paced attacking drives, the Gaiters were the first to open up the scoring on a penalty goal at 14:21 on the clock. The Redbirds’ consistent offensive pressure did not culminate in a try until the 38th minute, when prop Jeremy OckoMichalak squeezed past Bishop’s defence to touch down. Not even two minutes later, secondyear Brad Hunger scored another try. Scrumhalf Owen Cumming successfully converted both despite the tricky angles, bringing the score to 14-3 for McGill at halftime. “We defended well and maintained possession of the ball most of the half and didn’t give [Bishop’s] real opportunities
The Redbirds are hot on a four-game winning streak headed into the RSEQ finals. (Kennedy McKee-Braide / The McGill Tribune)
(Kennedy McKee-Braide / The McGill Tribune) to score,” head coach Ian Baillie said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. The second half saw the Gaiters raring to redeem themselves, refining their attacks and scoring three penalty goals in 10 minutes. Despite the extra pressure, the Redbirds added another try, penalty goal, and conversion. Things took a turn for the worse at the 64-minute mark when Bishop’s brought the score to 24-19. In the very last minute of extra time, McGill was unable to fend off the Gaiters’ onslaught, and they scored a try with no conversion, forcing the match to overtime. “It was a tale of two different games,” Baillie said. “[Bishop’s] took control of the game [with] a couple of penalty goals and some good retention on the ball. They put us under heaps of pressure and levelled it up to send us into extra time.” The drama did not stop there. The first two 10-minute periods of overtime brought physical play and one penalty goal apiece, extending the match past the 100-minute mark into sudden-death overtime. Finally,
a steal by second-row Jacob Davidson led to a penalty opportunity directly in front of the goal posts. Cumming stepped up to the plate and the conversion was good—the rainsoaked crowd went mental. In a post-game interview, Cumming credited his teammates for their hard work leading to the ultimate win. “Rugby’s too much of a team sport to say that [I was the deciding factor], my job is to kick at the end of the day,” Cumming said. “I’m just very lucky to have teammates to get the job done so we can score like that.” Fullback Benjamin Russell admitted that the Redbirds let their guard down in the second half, but was thrilled with the game’s turnout. “We’ve worked so hard for it […] so we’re just so happy,” Russell said. “Obviously, it was a very, very tight game in the end, we kind of let them come back into it, but we closed it out and saw them off. They put up a great fight, so hats off to them.” There is only one team standing between the Redbirds and the RSEQ championship: The Concordia Stingers, who shut them out at the semifinals in 2017. “We’re looking forward to going up against Con U in the final. Everyone’s excited for it,” Russell said. “As long as we are sticking to our game plan and following it, then we have the personnel and the skills that we […] need to beat them.” The Redbirds will host the Stingers on Nov. 6 at Molson Stadium in the RSEQ finals, where they hope to put on a show for McGill fans and to secure a championship title.
MOMENT OF THE GAME Fourth-year scrum-half Owen Cumming nailed the final penalty kick to clinch the win for the Redbirds, sending the crowd into a frenzy after nearly two hours of gruelling, rain-soaked play.
QUOTABLE “I’ve been here four years, [and] we’ve always lost to [Concordia]. It’s a chip on our shoulder that we want to get off, but we just gotta play our game. Today [...] we let Bishop’s play to their strengths, we dipped down a bit, [but] we just have to be calm, composed and play our rugby.” —Scrum-half Owen Cumming
STAT CORNER McGill and Bishop’s fought dirty, with both sides racking up a total of 11 penalty kicks and three yellow cards.