The McGill Tribune Vol. 40 Issue 6

The McGill Tribune WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020 | VOL. #40 | ISSUE #6

Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM | @McGILLTRIBUNE

IN COVERSATION WITH

EDITORIAL

FEATURE

Graduate student workers must not be taken for granted

From across the fence

Noah Eisenberg

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(Marie Saadeh / The McGill Tribune)

Grocery delivery services help communities stay socially distanced

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Native Women’s Shelter’s virtual Spirit Walk surpasses fundraising goal

Annual event highlighted community support and solidarity for the shelter’s clients Wendy Zhao Contributor While Montreal’s entrance into the red zone means an increased period of social isolation for many, the continued spread of COVID-19 has further exacerbated the unhoused population’s daily hardships. As shelter

capacities decrease, unhoused individuals are at risk of being further shut out of the already limited sources for refuge. Events like the annual Spirit Walk, hosted by the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (NWSM), seek to aid these communities.

Indigenous Peoples are overrepresented amongst

Taking a virtual tour of McGill’s stones and fossils Redpath Museum hosts walking tour of hidden fossils in downtown Montreal Ibani Kapur Contributor

The earliest forms of life on Earth date back approximately 4 billion years.

In an attempt to uncover the events leading to the development of life, scientists study sedimentary rocks and the fossils contained within them to uncover and map the history of living organisms through the

ages. In Montreal, evidence of this complex history is present in the stones used to construct some of McGill’s most famous buildings. These buildings preserve evidence of fossilized creatures, some of which are over 250 million years old.

On Sept. 26, McGill’s Redpath Museum hosted a guided online walking tour of building stones and fossils led by Ingrid Birker, Public

Program and Education Coordinator at the Redpath Museum, and Meghomita Das, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. The virtual tour began at the Redpath steps and took the audience around McGill’s downtown campus and the surrounding area, discussing various fossils and the geological periods in which they were formed.

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the demographic of the unhoused population. In 2018, a survey conducted by Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services revealed that Indigenous peoples represent 12 per cent of the unhoused population in Montreal despite making up only one per cent of the city’s general population.

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‘Just For Laughs’ online finds laughter amidst a pandemic The world’s biggest comedy festival adjusts to COVID-19 Deana Korsunsky Contributor On Oct. 9 and 10, Montreal’s annual international comedy festival Just For Laughs (JFL) debuted its first online and free iteration since its beginnings in 1993. Typically scheduled for two weeks every July, the festival

was postponed to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shortening its usual offerings to two days, with its organizers citing that cancellation was not an option.

JFL has always been a staple of Montreal’s cultural scene; moreover, it boasts the title of the world’s largest comedy

festival. Every year, audiences gather to see emerging and established talent from around the world.

This year, JFL managed to fulfill its mandate, offering shows of pre-recorded performances, to virtual industry roundtables, to live interviews with comedians.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

NEWS

BSN believes McGill’s plan against anti-Black racism has room for improvement The five-year plan aims to address racism through focusing on six areas Respina Rostamifar Contributor The Black Students’ Network (BSN) believes that McGill’s Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism is a good start to addressing systemic and anti-Black racism, but that the group will continue to work with members of McGill’s Black communities and the administration to ensure its effective implementation. On Sept. 30, McGill released its 44-page Action Plan which was developed

by Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi and Associate Provost (Equity and Academic Policies) Angela Campbell. The plan outlines McGill’s fiveyear course of action to confront anti-Black racism at the university, with a focus on student experience, outreach, research, knowledge, workforce, and physical space.

The plan was developed in consultation with the Black Students’ Network (BSN), the Dr. Kenneth Melville McGill Black Faculty Caucus, the McGill Black Alumni Association, and the Subcommittee on Racialized and Ethnic Persons.

McGill hopes to increase its percentage of Black students by expanding student aid opportunities and investing in faculty-level initiatives, such as exploring collaborations with other post-secondary institutions in Caribbean and African countries. Additionally, the university intends to implement staff training on how to support a diverse community and understand systemic racism.

McGill’s Action Plan is to make a budgetary commitment of $15 million over five years to confront anti-Black racism. (The Black Students’ Network of McGill University) Notably, the plan states that the James McGill statue will not be removed despite popular demand, but rather fitted with a plaque that describes McGill’s involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and his ownership of enslaved people. The possibility of moving the statue, however, will be assessed.

Heleena De Oliveira, BSN President and a U3 Arts student, views the plan as a good foundation for McGill to build a more equitable future.

“The plan is a good start, but there is always room for further improvement,” De Oliveira said in an interview with the Tribune. “We are committed to making sure that this plan encapsulates the specific needs and demands of Black folk in our university. We are dedicated to not only seeing an

improvement of the plan, but also realizing its implementation. More than anything, we want to make sure that the [promises] the administration commits itself to doing are carried out in full and not left unattended.”

The plan has commissioned the development of a new public report which will be published in the winter of 2022 to explore the university’s historical connections to colonialism and recommend further measures to address systemic racism. McGill will also establish a fellowship to welcome Black scholars dedicated to researching Black life in history. The possible expansion of the African and Black Studies department will be reviewed.

Alexandre Vachon, B.A. ‘19, is an activist who expressed his disappointment in McGill’s failure to establish a robust Black

Canadian studies department.

“Canadian academic institutions, to this day, are not able to acknowledge Black Canadian history, which comprises, of course, slavery [and] colonialism, but also includes Black Canadian academia,” Vachon said.

“McGill was unable to promise the institutionalizing of a Black Canadian Studies department because it insinuates that Black Canadian Studies need to be developed before creating a Black Canadian Studies department [….] McGill is entirely blind to the 400-year-old presence of Black Canadian thought, of Black Canadian academics, and Black Canadians.”

Currently, Black employees only represent 3.4 per cent of McGill’s staff and 0.8 per cent of its permanent academic staff. The university has discussed plans to enhance its recruitment initiatives to improve representation to five per cent by 2025, and 6.8 per cent by 2032.

Dr. Manuel Balán, a professor and director of the Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID), explained how the ISID would use the plan’s recommendations to confront anti-Black racism within the department.

“From our end, we will work to identify how ISID may best contribute to the realization of the plan,” Balán said. “We have a large and diverse student body, and we are committed as a unit to promote and support efforts to better address racism, and particularly anti-Black racism.”

Seminar highlights injustices facing Canadian migrant farm workers Dr. Vasanthi Venkatesh discussed the effects of COVID-19 on migrant workers’ rights Ella Fitzhugh Contributor The Canadian Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley hosted an online lecture on Oct. 6 to discuss migrant farm workers’ rights in Ontario and the pandemic’s impact on labour mobilization. The event featured Dr. Vasanthi Venkatesh, professor of law at the University of Windsor.

Venkatesh explained how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated systemic discrimination against migrant farm workers. She also exposed flaws in the Canadian government’s response to the pandemic, particularly its failure to maintain healthy working conditions for migrant farm workers.

“Within a few days of the farm workers arriving [from the Carribean and Mexico], the outbreaks [of COVID-19] in the farms started, [and] within a few weeks there were at least over a thousand [farm workers infected],” Venkatesh said. “A specific racialized population is getting infected with the virus in the hundreds and in the thousands.”

Even before the pandemic, Venkatesh noted that the farm workers’ living conditions were inadequate.

Many workers have reported living in cramped bunks and receiving poor health care. In Montreal, only half the usual number of migrant workers have entered Canada, despite fears of COVID-19 exacerbated by unsafe working conditions.

“It was obvious [...] when the pandemic hit that none of the underlying conditions of work had changed, so the conditions that I described about those bunkhouses, about the lack of mobility, [and] access to healthcare [were still prevalent],” Venkatesh said. “[The situa-

Migrant farm workers have felt an increasing sense of isolation and fear since the onset of COVID-19. (Jed Owen / Unsplash) tion] was just ripe for the pandemic to spread [limitlessly within] these farms.”

The circumstances of the pandemic have also aggravated racist labour structures that were present long before the onset of the pandemic. Farm workers who tested positive for COVID-19 were still required by the Government of Ontario to work as long as they were asymptomatic.

In addition to their lack of dependable rights, migrant workers hoping to secure permanent residence in Canada are faced with barriers set by the Canadian government. The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), which was established by the Canadian government in 1966, has recently been criticized for failing to enforce safety standards.

“In Canada [...] there’s always a way to get permanent status after a while [...] but the SAWP, is the only group that [has been] excluded from ever applying

for permanent residence since 1966,” Venkatesh said.

“This ensures that you always have deportable workers, and they’re also excluded from essential labour regulations.”

At the end of the talk, audience member Sarah Song, a professor at UC Berkeley, asked about how the existing legal structures governing migrant farm worker rights in Canada could change after the pandemic.

“I wondered about a public health emergency such as COVID-19 providing kind of an external shock that creates an opportunity for legal mobilisation, and I wondered how the literature [...] accounts for contingencies like public health emergencies,” Song said.

In response, Venkatesh pointed out that neither legal nor social movement research literature have prepared for a public health crisis like COVID-19.

Another audience member, Christian Paiz, described mass mobilization of undocumented workers in Canada and how they compare to the mobilization of workers in the United States.

“I was profoundly taken aback by how much mobilization has taken place in Canada,” Paiz said. “I’m wondering [about] the relationship between these temporary workers and undocumented labour[ers], and if that’s a factor in some of the mobilization taking place.”

In response to Paiz’s comments, Venkatesh explained that undocumented populations in Canada mostly reside in urban, rather than in rural areas.

“The biggest difference between the United States and the Canadian mobilization is the undocumented population,” Dr. Venkatesh said. “Everything [in Canada] revolves around the SAWP [...] and the agreement that [Canada has] with Mexico. It’s very much a [three

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

NEWS

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SSMU’s legislative council votes to condemn proposed Quebec LNG project

Council approved question on daycare fees to appear on Fall 2020 referendum Sequoia Kim & Nina Russell News Editor, Managing Editor The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) held its third legislative council meeting of the semester on Oct. 8, approving several questions for the upcoming Fall 2020 Referendum.

At the start of the meeting, the council returned to discussing amendments to the motion to Ensure Equitable Communications from the previous legislative council meeting, and approved the motion with 22 in favour, one opposed and three abstaining. The motion reinforces SSMU’s commitment to equitable communication practices.

Brooklyn Frizzle, VicePresident (VP) University Affairs, then proposed a motion to condemn the GNL Québec-Gazoduq Énergie Saguenay Project. The project seeks to export gas retrieved through hydraulic fracturing by building a 782-kilometer natural gas pipeline between northeastern On-

tario and Port Saguenay, develop a liquified natural gas (LNG) plant to process the gas, and allow LNG tankers to cross Saguenay Fjord and the St. Lawrence River. Frizzle claimed that the project counters SSMU’s position on the environment and sustainability.

“This project is expected to increase our gas emissions by 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, [and] furthermore, endangers riverside communities through the [...] danger of oil spills,” Frizzle said. “This motion is well within the mandate of our sustainability policy, which mandates us to advocate against the increase in quantity or infrastructure regarding extraction and exploration.”

Following the question period, the council approved the motion to denounce the project.

The council also approved a motion calling for a question on renewing the opt-outable SSMU Ambassador Fee of $2.00 per term

until Fall 2025 to appear on the Fall 2020 referendum ballot. Twenty councillors voted in favour for a motion supporting a question on the fee, which is used to support organizations that represent McGill at external conferences.

VP Student Life Maheen Akter moved to renew the mental health fee until Fall 2023. The council approved to have the motion appear as a question on the Fall 2020 referendum with unanimous consent. Akter also motioned to increase the mental health fee by $1.26, from $0.40 to $1.66, explaining that the funds would go towards implementing a centralized, accessible online software to support student wellbeing.

“McGill should be paying for this. We shouldn’t be charging our students any fees ultimately, but we’re [not in that] sort of situation,” Adam Gwiazda-Amsel, representative for the Francophone Affairs Commission, said.

MOMENT OF THE MEETING: In their report to council, SSMU VP University Affairs Brookly Frizzle provided an update on their plan to enable Councillors to be remunerated for their work. While Frizzle had planned to put forth a referendum question on the matter this semester, they said that it is likely that the issue will go to vote in the next semester to make time for more consultation.

SOUNDBITE: “And so the intention behind [the Motion Regarding the SSMU Daycare Fee] is because in the past few years the SSMU daycare has been running, almost at a deficit, due to various reasons related to staffing changes that have happened in the past year, as well as the need for greater operational capacity. Additionally, in the future we intend to expand [services] because of the extremely high demand for places in the SSMU daycare and the SSMU nursery.

Hopefully [the fee renewal] will enable us in the next few years to engage in greater expansion and especially now that [the SSMU has] a general manager, too. I believe that it’s extremely helpful for us to have this extra money in order to expand our capacity, provide for more student parents, and just generally to serve our population better.” - Maheen Aktar VP Student Life on the Motion Regarding the SSMU Daycare Fee

Tribune Explains: Dr. Charmaine Nelson’s Bicentenary Recommendations

The report is dedicated to the Black and Indigenous people enslaved by McGill

dition to the biographies of people enslaved by McGill, suggest that he may have been an inordinately harsh enslaver.

Dr. Nelson’s document uncovered that two Indigenous girls McGill enslaved died at the age of 10, indicating especially brutal treatment.

Maya Abuali Contributor Former McGill Art History Professor Charmaine Nelson, along with some of her students, released a 98-page research document on June 22, titled “Slavery and McGill University: Bicentennial Reccomendations.” The document included an investigation of the connection between James McGill and transatlantic slavery, the biographies of people enslaved by McGill, and a call for the implementation of faculty and student recommendations at the university. The recommendations outlined in this document were composed during Nelson’s Winter 2020 course, “James McGill was a Slave Owner: Slavery and the History of Universities.”

History of James McGill The second section of the document, written by Nelson’s students Lucy Brown and Emma Ridsdale, features a condensed biography of James McGill, McGill’s beneficiary who enslaved at least five Black and Indigenous people, a number well above the average of two in Montreal at the time. The authors note how public records and contemporary scholarship have characterized James McGill as a wealthy Scottish trader who founded McGill University and ran a successful mercantile business, often disregarding darker elements of his past.

The same records denote that the wealth McGill used to found the university was amassed through the exploitation of enslaved Black and Indigenous people and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. McGill began his career in the fur trade, before expanding his wealth through the importation of plantation crops and goods from the Carribean. These endevours were the foundation of his enterprise, which was entirely dependent on the labour and dispensability of thou-

Faculty Recommendations

The report uncovers the identities of five people enslaved

by James McGill.

(Dr. Charmaine A. Nelson and Student Authors) sands of enslaved people, binding him directly to slavery in the West Indies.

“Personal accounts from McGill’s colleagues suggest that he was excessively greedy,” Brown and Risdale wrote.

“This attitude is at odds with the philanthropic persona our university has traditionally crafted for him. Maintaining that inaccurate perception is disrespectful to the memories of the enslaved people that he owned and abused.”

According to the report, McGill did not only enslave people; he was also a proponent of the continuation of slavery within the British colonies. McGill proctored the sales of at least six enslaved people during his lifetime. In 1784, he provided legal representation for Thomas Curry of L’Assomption in the sale of an enslaved man and woman to the merchant Solomon Levy.

The personal accounts from McGill’s colleagues, in ad-

The authors of the report concluded that the demographic composition of McGill’s student body compared to support available to under-represented communities is insufficient. Additionally, of the approximately 5,000 faculty members, only 10 of the 1,726 tenured and tenure-track professors are Black, and only 11 are Indigenous. That accounts for 0.58 per cent and 0.64 per cent of tenured and tenure-track faculty respectively, a statistic that Dr. Nelson’s students deem an overt under-representation of Black and Indigenous faculty members.

To rectify this, Dr. Nelson and her students suggest several courses of action regarding the lack of Black and Indigenous faculty members within the university. One of the recommendations includes the creation of a Department of African and Black Diasporas Studies and an Indigenous studies department. The introduction and expansion of these faculties would necessitate the hiring of permanent faculty members and prioritize the hiring of Black and Indigenous professors. The document also recommends the creation of an advisor and advocacy position for Black and Indigenous faculty members, along with a new office to oversee all academic appointments to ensure the McGill administrations complete adherence to equity, inclusion, and diversity policies. Furthermore, Nelson and her students recommended the establishment of a new mandate for hiring at least one professor in Black and postcolonial studies and/or a Black professor within each department of the university by 2026.

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

SSMU holds sixth annual Mental Health Awareness Week The week-long event featured virtual workshops and activities Pia Mikhael Contributor The Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) annual Mental Health Awareness Week, which took place virtually from Oct. 4 until Oct. 10, consisted of various lectures and workshops that served to deconstruct the stigma surrounding mental illness.

SSMU held many interactive events over the week, such as mental health workshops like “Breaking the Barriers of Eating Disorders” and “Navigating Health Care Q&A,” and an ArtHive virtual event, during which participants learned how to use art to express their feelings. The events both raised awareness on mental illness and informed students on how to to seek help and support.

The Mental Health Awareness workshop hosted on Oct. 8 by the Postgraduate Student Society of McGill was open to both graduate and undergraduate McGill students. Speakers Helen Loohuis, a part-time access advisor at the Student Health Club, and Deven Simpson, a graduate local wellness advisor, explained the importance of mental health and the difference between mental health and mental illness. “[It is important for] mental health and mental well-being [to be] part of the conversation,” Simpson said. “There is a shift [necessary] to destigmatize mental awareness, and conversation is part of that shift.”

Loohuis elaborated on the importance of effectively communicating about mental

Contributor Pia Mikhael attended SSMU’s Mental Health Awareness week to see how the annual event held up online. Between workshops and lectures covering issues such as eating disorders and anxiety the week intended to destigmatize mental illness. (University of York) health.

“When we talk about mental health, we’re talking about our mental well-being,” Loohuis said. “[Mental well-being includes] our emotions, our thoughts and feelings, our ability to solve problems and overcome difficulties, [whereas] mental illness affects the way people think, feel, behave, or interact with others.”

Participant Jen Chenn, a Ph.D student in the Department of Medicine, spoke to the differences in public opinion of various mental illnesses.

“Stigma regarding some mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety are now much lower because these illnesses are more talked about,” Chenn said. “The stigma against schizophrenia or bipolar disorder is much higher, because the symptoms of the illness

tend to push people away. People get scared, and it is not as talked about.”

McGill’s SSMU Mental Health branch also held a workshop titled “Deconstructing the Common Notions about Eating Disorders,” a talk given by Ph.D candidate Kimberly Carriere from the Health Psychology lab.

“Kimberly Carriere [brought] an insightful clinical view of eating disorders to the Mental Illness Awareness Series,” Kristen Mer, the event coordinator for the talk, said. “She took the time to develop the public’s knowledge about eating habits [....] I think Kimberly really helped answer the attendees’ questions regarding the delineation of emotional eating, binge eating, and biological predispositions.”

Another participant of the week-long event, Olivia Feng, U2 Education, agreed that increased knowledge is necessary regarding

lesser-known eating disorders.

“Kimberly’s talk was very informative as she [shed] light on a variety of eating disorders that are not commonly talked about in the media, such as orthorexia, binge-eating disorder, and avoidant [or] restrictive food intake disorder,” Feng said. “She did a great job of deconstructing the common notions of eating disorders, showing that they are not ‘one-size-fits-all.’”

Feng also spoke about the importance of having conversations about eating disorders.

“The reasons for which eating disorders manifest and the behaviours that people engage in are not the same for everyone,” Feng said. “Stereotyping and glamorizing eating disorders and disordered eating can have detrimental consequences, which is why it is so important to have conversations about this topic that go beyond the very little that is portrayed in the media.”

In recent years, mental health awareness has increased substantially, and will likely continue to evolve through virtual resources similar to this. SSMU Mental Health’s virtual events aimed to create an accessible platform for all students to be a part of the conversation, and to learn more about the resources McGill offers. Some of the resources highlighted include the Keep.meSafe counselling service app, which is open to all students 24/7 offering services through online chat or over the phone. Additionally, virtual Wellness Hub appointments are available to allow students the chance to speak to a counsellor.

McGill students start fund for students affected by the Beirut explosion Students are aiming to raise $100,000 to help with education expenses Sepideh Afshar Contributor On Sept. 16, McGill students started the Lebanese Student Relief Fund to support Lebanese students whose access to education has been restricted by the Aug. 4 explosion in Beirut, which killed at least 200 people and injured thousands more. The blast not only severely damaged health infrastructure but also exacerbated pre-existing political instabilities in Lebanon that has affected banking systems, impacting students’ access to funds for their education.

In addition to the explosion, the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has added stress to the Lebanese economy, only worsening the nation’s preexisting socioeconomic crisis.

The dual crisis has hit students particularly hard, and both poverty rates and unemployment are expected to rise 50 per cent this year. Altogether, these factors have hindered many students’ ability to pay for their education, both at home and abroad.

The organizers of the fund hope to raise $100,000 to aid as many

Lebanese students at McGill as possible, who were affected by the explosion.

Yara Coussa, U2 Arts and ambassador and coordinator of the Lebanese Student Relief fund, explained the goal of the bursary to the Tribune. “[This campaign is to] help fund the tuition of Lebanese students [who are] unable to pay for their living and student fees because of the economic collapse of their country,” Coussa said.

“The only way to break Lebanon

out of this cycle of poverty is to invest in the youth’s education.”

The importance of this initiative is personal to those McGill students who founded it. Coussa, who is Lebanese-Canadian, expressed the toll that the recent events have taken on Lebanese communities around the world. “[I have] witnessed from afar the consequences of the explosion and failure of the bank system affect my loved ones and friends who are not able to pursue the degrees of their dreams,

Yara-Maria Coussa, Alexia Chammas and Jade Dagher were part of the founding team. (Owen Egan / giving.mcgill.ca)

and that for me this was simply not acceptable,” Coussa said. “I think that we all deserve to be offered the same opportunities in life. Lebanese students shouldn’t pay the price for someone else’s mistake. They should have a fair shot to succeed in life.”

Alexia Chammas, U2 Management and coordinator and manager of the campaign, explained the significance of supporting international students at McGill.

“I think this initiative is specifically important at a university like McGill because diversity contributes a lot to the students’ education,” Chamas said.

“In the past year, I have learned so much from my international classmates. Their cultures, traditions, and unique way of thinking helped me gain perspective and shaped me to become a better citizen.”

Georges Chaoui, U2 Bioengineering and communications director of the campaign, explained how the funds raised by the Lebanese Student Relief fund will be allocated.

“The fund is going to the scholarship and financial aids

department [....] We as a team are only responsible for the fundraising part,” Chaoui said.

Chammas encouraged McGill students to participate in the fund to show support to Lebanese students, to the country of Lebanon, and to the value and importance of education.

“I strongly believe that if each student takes the time to contribute in any way, whether it’s monetary or not, we can reach our goal and offer our compatriots the education they deserve,” Chammas said.

The fundraiser is set to end on Oct. 31, but may be extended.

In order to reach the campaign’s monetary goal, Coussa, Chammas, Chaoui, and a team of three others are working on gaining publicity. The students are working closely with Jade Dagher, a McGill Alumni and Lebanon native. Additionally, the fund was made possible by both the McGill Lebanese Students’ Association and McGill’s Scholarship and Student Aid office. They can be contacted on their Facebook or Instagram pages to answer any questions or inquiries about their initiative.

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EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Helen Wu editor@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Aidan Martin amartin@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Katia Lo Innes kinnes@mcgilltribune.com Nina Russell nrussell@mcgilltribune.com Kaja Surborg ksurborg@mcgilltribune.com

News Editors Kate Addison, Pascal Hogue & Sequoia Kim news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Jonah Fried & Kennedy McKee-Braide opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editors Sophia Gorbounov & Ronny Litvack-Katzman scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Life Editors Alaana Kumar & Leyla Moy studentlife@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Kevin Vogel features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Vanessa Barron & Jonathan Giammaria arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Adam Burton & Sarah Farnand sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Ruobing Chen & Chloe Rodriguez design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor Caroline Shelton photo@mcgilltribune.com Multimedia Editors Sarah Ford & Alexandre Hinton multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers Benjamin Alexandor & Sasha Njini webdev@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Jackie Lee copy@mcgilltribune.com

OPINION

Graduate student workers must not be taken for granted The COVID-19 pandemic has toppled the higher-education house of cards, scattering vulnerable academic support staff into uncertain workplace predicaments. McGill forced these employees into dire straits well before the pandemic: Overburdened by faculties and underappreciated by students, the university treats teaching assistants (TAs) and other academic support staff like raw resources rather than salaried workers.

With the added pressures of the pandemic, issues like unfair compensation, payment delivery delays, and position reductions are teetering on the verge of an academic support crisis. A cultural transformation is long overdue: The McGill community, from the administrators who negotiate labour contracts to students across faculties, must start treating academic support staff with the respect and compassion that they deserve.

Despite years of advocacy by their labour union, the Association of Graduate Students Employed by McGill (AGSEM), the administration has still sought to undermine academic support staff’s union rights. Nevertheless, AGSEM

OFF THE BOARD

Social Media Editor Marie Saadeh socialmedia@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Marilie Pilon business@mcgilltribune.com

TPS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Helen Wu, Caitlin Kindig, McEan Taylor,Tara Alami,Yara Shaheen-Abuelreish, Deana Korsunsky, Sequoia Kim, Kennedy McKee-Braide, Shreya Rastogi, Marilie Pilon, Heela Achakzai

CONTRIBUTORS Maya Abuali, Sepideh Afshar, Cassia Attard, Michael Dickinson, Ella Fitzhugh, Emma Gordon, Ibani Kapur, Lucy Keller, Deana Korsunsky, Karan Kumar, Maya Mau, Madison Mclauchlan, Pia Mikhael, Naomi Mirny, Respina Rostamifar, Brian Schatteman, Michelle Siegel, Lowell Wolfe, Mallory Yeates,Wendy Zhao

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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.

Vanessa Barron Arts & Entertainment Editor During the first few days of lockdown in March, I decided that I needed a good hobby to occupy my time, so I bought a sewing machine. When I was a kid, my aunt had taught me how to sew pillows, so I figured sewing dresses wouldn’t be that much harder. I was overconfident, to say the least; it took me around two hours to get the machine working in the first place. Finally, when I had correctly maneuvered the thread through the many loops and pinholes on my Singer, it took me another two hours to sew a square of fabric into a face mask.

I love clothing, so it seemed

voted on Sept. 30 to ratify their collective bargaining agreement with McGill. The new agreement—under which TAs and invigilators secured a pay raise from $29.33 to $33.03 an hour—represents some progress.

But it is not enough.

Many issues remain unaddressed, including McGill’s continued failure to pay some graduate employees for their work. Recently, McGill switched its human resource management software from Minerva to Workday, a more efficient program. However, some TAs still have not been compensated—even though McGill is obligated to pay them within 30 days of hiring them. For McGill to continue to benefit from their labour without compensating them is exploitation.

McGill seems to be bent on implementing anti-union policies. Over the summer, some faculties replaced TA’s with “graders,” who are not unionized, and, in some cases, paid only half as much. These decisions, which McGill has justified as “cost-cutting measures,” are problematic because many graduate students depend on TA positions to make a living and

fund their education.

In addition to their normal duties, the unique challenges posed by online education have forced TAs to work overtime and master new software and pedagogical practices, all while adapting to their own pandemic-impacted courses structures. Moreover, McGill’s administration advised faculties to replace major projects and exams with a multitude of smaller assignments, meaning that TAs have more work to grade. At the very least, TAs should be compensated for any extra hours worked due to the circumstances of the pandemic. Yet, as it stands, graduate employees are typically only compensated for 180 hours of the work they complete each semester. The result is a flat rate that often places some TAs below the poverty line in Montreal.

Further, because TAs are technically McGill employees, they are ineligible for most government unemployment aid programs.

This is not just a McGill issue: It is an indictment on academia itself. Higher education has long been overshadowed by a forbidding, hierarchical culture that diminishes the humanity of those trapped inside of it. Yet,

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EDITORIAL

this cold tradition seems to be accentuated at McGill, where the administration gratuitously works against labour unions fighting to secure the bare minimum for their constituents.

Students are not absolved of responsibility either: TA’s are often unfairly criticized by students for course structure problems and harsh grading policies. Undergraduates tend to forget that their TAs are also students navigating the academic landscape, on top of grading coursework and providing assistance outside of the classroom.

Students can reduce the burden on academic support workers by turning to services like the McGill Writing Center or Computer Science Student Help Desk before reaching out to TA’s. Above all, however, TAs must be respected for their efforts in keeping the semester afloat and assisting students.

Still, these remedies alone are not a solution. COVID-19 exposed the overgrowth of injustice that teaching support staff have toiled through for decades, and the McGill community must rally behind AGSEM’s demands to clear the path towards a more equitable institution.

Reap what you sew like it was only a matter of time until I started sewing my own. Personal style is one of the few parts of one’s outward appearance that can easily be changed. Clothes can directly affect one’s attitude and confidence and reflect one’s interests, cultural heritage, and personality. But there is a transformative magic in this wearable art form, too.

A professional actor in a theatre production or a little girl in a princess dress will both be able to say that when they put on a costume, they become a whole different person. I have been fascinated by this transformative potential of fashion ever since I was that little girl in a princess dress.

However, as a fashion lover, I cannot ignore the immense damage that the fast fashion industry has caused since its beginnings in the Industrial Revolution. Fashion is firmly, unflinchingly rooted in capitalism: With the need for constant novelty, fashion perpetuates an endless cycle of production, consumption, and waste for every season of the year.

Underpaid workers suffer so that others can wear a cheaply-made crop top that will be out of style in a couple of months. The industry has changed little since the 18th century—the only difference

today is that many people choose to ignore its unethical practices because they are not personally affected.

As it stands, it is difficult to find cute clothes that are eco-friendly, ethically produced, and—most importantly—affordable. Thrifting is a good option that I rely on the most, but it is not always a perfect solution. I often end up buying more clothes than I need when they are less expensive, leading to piles of unworn statement jackets and gaudily-patterned button-downs stuffed in the back of my closet.

Luckily, sewing has given me a reason to revisit those items, giving new life to pieces that I might have donated once again.

Because I started sewing during a time when many stores were closed, recycling old fabric was not only my best option to reduce waste—it was the only option. I made my first dress out of tie-dyed bed sheets, using a free pattern that I found on the internet. Supplies like thread, pins, and zippers cost me less than $10, but creating the dress itself took around four days in total. It was at this point that I started to think about the sheer amount of labour that goes into every garment. Both retail or second-hand clothes come

with a long history: Someone made the pattern for your favourite jeans, and someone sewed the buttons onto your comfiest flannel shirt. Sewing and altering clothes has made me hyper-aware of the production behind my favourite pieces, bringing me face-to-face with the production process of something you would typically ignore.

Of course, not everyone should feel the need to sew their whole wardrobe by hand, as it can be a time-consuming and expensive hobby. However, I do recommend treating your wardrobe with care. Mending and making small adjustments to old clothes requires only a needle and thread, and it can greatly prolong the life of a shirt or a pair of pants that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

Individuals are not the ones to blame for the destructive impacts of the fashion industry, but we can still be more mindful of our relationship with the clothing that defines and protects us daily. Fashion is a source of creativity and self-expression for myself and many others, and by acknowledging the history of how our clothes are made, we can reexamine and change the trajectory of their future.

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OPINION

COMMENTARY

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

McGill’s funding system harms international students

Michael Dickinson Contributor In 2018, Quebec controversially deregulated tuition for international students at the province’s universities, allowing schools to set their own rates. Over the past several years, McGill has gradually raised international fees, a trend that has continued during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While tuition this year for most McGill programs increased by 3.1 per cent, some international graduate students have seen their dues rise by 30 per cent. International students bear the brunt of tuition hikes because of both the way McGill is funded and Quebec’s political history, but a more equitable solution is possible: International students can pay more affordable tuition fees if Quebec raises its education budget, and if McGill spends its funds more responsibly.

At first glance, tuition discrepancies based on residency status seem reasonable.

The university’s three largest revenue sources are, in order, the provincial government, student tuition, and the federal government. Quebec residents pay the lowest amount in tuition fees since their families already pay both provincial and federal taxes. Students from other Canadian provinces also pay reduced tuition, although it is more expensive for them than for in-province students. Since international students and their families do not pay provincial and federal taxes, it seems only fair that they pay a higher rate to fund the university.

However, part of the reason why McGill

COMMENTARY Mallory Yeates Contributor The 2023 Canadian federal election will feature new party leaders representing the Conservative and Green parties. Erin O’Toole of the Conservative Party and Annamie Paul of the Green Party are likely to face off against the current Prime Minister, the Liberal Party’s Justin Trudeau, and the New

has to rely on international students for such a large percentage of its funding is that inprovince tuition remains disproportionately low, even after considering taxes. Although Quebec residents pay among the lowest inprovince fees in the country, they have made it clear that they are opposed to significant increases by protesting the provincial

If Quebec’s higher education budget was raised to compensate for its students’ low fees, it would lighten the financial burden of Quebec universities on international students.

Fundraising from student dues is further hampered by Quebec’s agreements with France and Belgium, which allow French

International tuition is not regulated by the provincial government, allowing McGill to charge students from other countries significantly higher rates than domestic students.

(Leanne Young / The McGill Tribune) government’s attempts to implement hikes.

Had the proposed increase of $325 per year for five years been enacted in 2012, by 2017, Quebec’s tuition would have still been the second-lowest in Canada for in-province students. The unwillingness of Quebec residents to pay more has left their province’s universities underfunded.

and francophone Belgian undergraduates to pay the Canadian out-of-province tuition rate rather than the international rate.

Graduate students from these countries are charged even lower in-province rates.

French and Belgian students make up over 14 per cent of McGill’s international student body, and McGill has to recover

the money it loses due to this policy by increasing other international students’ tuition. It is understandable that Quebec wants to promote the French language through immigration from francophone countries, but having all international students pay an equal rate would be fairer and more sustainable. Lower international prices will ensure that Quebec remains a popular destination for the students who pay the most.

The university has struggled with funding for years. It needs more money during the pandemic to remain operational and continue offering support services, such as career planning and student health care, and an excellent education. One way to offset these costs without additional tuition hikes would be using more of the funds raised by campaigns such as “Made

by McGill” to help students pay for their education. At the moment, only 30 per cent of the campaign’s $2 billion goal is dedicated to scholarships and bursaries. If more funding was used for these initiatives, it could help students who might find additional costs financially challenging.

The nature of McGill’s revenue streams and economic stressors resulting from the pandemic has forced the university into a difficult financial situation. However, McGill cannot expect international students to pay even more when others do not pay enough. To make McGill more affordable, administrators and students alike should demand increases in Quebec’s higher education budget, equal tuition for all international students, and a change in the distribution of funds raised by campaigns.

Canada’s new leaders must engage the student voting base Democratic Party (NDP)’s Jagmeet Singh. In the years leading up to the election, O’Toole and Paul have the opportunity as new leaders of their parties to engage Canadian students.

By presenting new platforms, these new candidates can target young voters whose loyalty Trudeau and Singh may lack. To gain support from the student demographic, O’Toole and Paul must heed student concerns and prioritize issues

Annamie Paul is the first Black woman to serve as the leader of a federal political party in Canada. (Sequoia Kim / The McGill Tribune)

that matter to young people, such as student-based fiscal policies, racial inequality, and climate issues.

To attract student voters, candidates must prioritize policy issues that are important to students. Erin O’Toole will be running as the new leader of the Conservative party. In the past, the Conservative Party has run on a student platform of boosting government contributions to Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP), which many families use to save for university. While RESP improvements may be appealing to students, O’Toole’s minimal policy work to change racial injustice and climate reform will likely be a turn-off to young voters. If elected, O’Toole has vowed to criminalize rail blockaders who demonstrate in solidarity with those protesting the occupation of the Wet’suwet’en territory, stating that they impede transport crucial to the Canadian economy. In terms of climate, O’Toole plans to remove the existing carbon tax levied on industries and has failed to set any targets for reducing emissions. To attract student voters, O’Toole must create a more in-depth platform with regards to Indigenous affairs and

make hard commitments to combat climate change.

The Green Party of Canada has historically centred its policies around forward-thinking social systems and the future of our climate. Their new leader, Annamie Paul, has followed suit by putting forward a progressive student platform that aims to abolish tuition and adopt programs that cancel student debt exceeding $10,000. A Green government claims they will build a new relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada by producing a new reconciliation plan. As of their 2019 policy platforms, the party has committed to transitioning to a green economy and fully supports the carbon tax. While issues of climate and racial injustice are of great importance to voters, Paul must focus on creating progressive education policies in the coming election to maximize student support as voters aged 18-24 have stated education as their top priority while voting.

Although both candidates have developed student platforms, O’Toole and Paul must make a point to engage with student bodies on the campaign trail. These

candidates must place the concerns of Canada’s young people as one of the top priorities of their 2023 platforms. This is key to candidates’ success as student voters are becoming increasingly involved, with turnouts of voters aged 18-24 rising significantly in the past three federal elections. Indeed, in the 2019 election, student age voters showed a 68 per cent turnout, up 13 points from 55 per cent in the 2011 election. In fact, voters aged 18-34 made up the largest voting block of the 2019 federal election.

Young voters have a history of showing up to the polls less reliably than older age demographics. As a result, candidates often neglect to acknowledge the concerns of this growing voter base. As fresh faces in Canada’s leadership race, these politicians must prioritize policy issues that matter to young people.

As young voters are becoming a key voting group, O’Toole and Paul should target them in campaigning to optimize their turnout at the polls. Squandering the opportunity to engage and mobilize Canada’s largest voting block would be a great loss to both O’Toole and Paul on voting day.

STUDENT LIFE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

7

Spotlight on Montreal’s Black-owned restaurants Tasty spots for takeout and delivery Lucy Keller Contributor As restaurants and coffee shops shut their dining rooms due to Montreal’s re-entry into the red zone, students are increasingly turning to takeout meals. Whether as a special treat or a weekly habit, students often find themselves in a take out rut, ordering from the same restaurants instead of taking advantage of the wide range of delectable food Montreal has to offer. Here is The McGill Tribune’s recommendations of Black-owned restaurants to support throughout the city.

Black Ninja Pizza

After serving as a chef in the Canadian military for 11 years, founder James St-Louis created Black Ninja Pizza to reconnect with the kitchen. StLouis was inspired by his love for Italian food, Black culture, and martial arts. With the spunky cartoon inspired mascot, Black Ninja Pizza serves up a wide variety of unique pizzas. The menu offers creative twists on

these amazing, nostalgic goodies from Haiti, for the connaisseurs and those wanting to discover Haitian food,” Geneste wrote in an email to the Tribune.

In 2019, Geneste began offering cooking classes and has transitioned the classes onto Zoom since the onset of the pandemic.Not only a fun activity for students during quarantine, these classes can also expand students’ repertoire in the kitchen.

With restaurants’ and coffee shops’ dine-in options now closed due to Montreal’s re-entry into the red zone, it’s a great time to order in.

(Eve Cable / The McGill Tribune) the classic pie, from the Black Summer in Mexico pizza, topped with jalapeno cheese, corn, coriander, and ground beef, to their dessert pizzas, featuring toppings that include chocolate to marshmallows. Black Ninja Pizza is available for delivery through UberEats or Doordash.

Cuisine Lakay Lola

Cuisine Lakay Lola was founded by Lola Geneste, a proud mother, sister, daughter, and

friend with a mission to promote Haitian culture in Montreal.

Lakay Lola serves a wide range of traditional Haitian dishes, including pikliz, the classic riz collé, and Geneste’s famous “red sauce.” For a uniquely sweet and creamy alcoholic beverage, try the kremas, made with coconut and rum. Greneste started her business by selling Haitian Fudge and continues to grow her restaurant despite the pandemic.

“The goal was to really offer

Liya Fe

With a degree from the International Culinary Center in New York City and a passion for everything pastry, Zuleica Joao founded Liya Fe bakery in 2018. Liya Fe offers pastries that are made to deliver, allowing customers to personalize their orders with a wide range of sizes and flavours, including salted gianduja for macarons and chocolate pumpkin bars.

Every order placed is made fresh upon request and is delivered directly to customers’ doorsteps by the bakery. From holiday goodies to breakfast

treats, the sweets from Liya Fe are hard to beat. Additionally, gift cards can be purchased on the website—a great way to pass along the joy of Liya Fe’s baked goods to your friends and family.

DJ Poulet

Founded by Christelle Mbaya, DJ Poulet is inspired by a mix of African cultures. Mbaya was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and briefly lived in the Ivory Coast, but grew up in Montreal. She and Mohammed Toure, the head chef who is from Mali, came up with the perfect spice mix that is rich with a blend of different flavours.

“You can not find these flavours anywhere else in Montreal,” Mbaya wrote in a message to the Tribune. “It is inspired by our mix of African backgrounds and is flavoured by the charcoal added from the cooking process.”

DJ Poulet’s juicy, crispy chicken is a must-try, with its distinctive charcoal flavour the star of the restaurant’s show. DJ Poulet is available for order on Skip the Dishes and Ubereats.

Grocery delivery services help communities stay socially distanced

These six establishments have made staying home easier for Montrealers Wendy Zhao Contributor Before the pandemic, buying groceries online seemed like a bizarre, if not completely strange concept. With Montreal now in the red zone and multiple reported cases of COVID-19 being transmitted in grocery stores, online supermarket delivery services have become essential in helping students stay socially distanced while keeping their pantries and fridges stocked.

As the demand for remote grocery services has increased, stores have embraced this new reality by expanding their e-commerce strategies. To help students narrow down the innumerable options, The McGill Tribune investigated six online grocery delivery services in Montreal.

1

IGA IGA has more than 100 locations in Montreal. Depending on the distance, delivery and assembly fees can vary from free to $10. Students living near McGill will find that delivery costs do not usually surpass four or five dollars. IGA promises to deliver within 48 hours of ordering, although delivery times can differ. For those looking to reduce delivery trips, IGA’S Prix Club offers a selection of bulk products at reduced prices.

2

Provigo Another familiar and staple grocery chain for Montrealers, Provigo offers delivery services through their PC Express Delivery system, which requires a membership to the PC Optimum program. Orders can be placed through the Provigo website, PC Express phone application, or by phone call.

Although there is no minimum order value, the flat rate delivery fee on all orders is $9.95, and additional costs can vary depending on the delivery time. For those looking to become regular customers, Provigo provides an effective shopping experience by offering personalized deals.

3

Costco Costco’s seemingly boundless selection makes it a great option for those with roommates who are looking to stock up on essentials in bulk quantities. Costco offers two-day delivery services for non-perishable food and household supplies. Free delivery is available for orders exceeding $75 before taxes. Otherwise, there is a three-dollar charge.

Possible disadvantages are the longer delivery times and limited timeframes—in order to get groceries delivered in two days, orders must be placed before noon from Monday to Friday.

For students without a vehicle or simply the willpower needed to transport bulk groceries by public transit, Costco’s online delivery service allows individuals to enjoy the perks of the membership from home—with at most a trip to one’s laptop.

4

Supermarché PA Known for its low prices, Supermarché PA offers delivery services from three locations in Montreal. For the two locations closest to McGill, delivery hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. everyday. To access PA’s delivery services, the minimum order value is $35. Delivery fees vary depending on the price of the purchase: Seven dollars is charged for orders under $50, five dollars for orders between $50 and $100, and $3.50 for orders over $100.

5

Metro Metro expanded its online delivery services in April through a partnership with Cornershop, an on-demand grocery service available through their phone application or website that allows orders to be received in as little as an hour. Additionally, orders can be made through Metro’s online grocery site. This avenue requires a minimum order of $50 before taxes and a delivery fee is $11.99 plus HST.

Lufa Farms’ weekly food baskets are stocked with hyper-local produce and can be picked up or delivered. (Ruobing Chen / The McGill Tribune) Although its surcharges are more expensive in comparison to its competitors, Metro offers same-day delivery and is the best choice for urgent grocery needs. Deliveries can be reserved between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.

6

Lufa Farms Lufa Farms is a Montreal company known for building commercial rooftop greenhouses and expanding urban farming. Online services formed the base of Lufa Farm’s business even before the pandemic. Subscribers can customize weekly food baskets with fresh, rooftop-grown fruits and vegetables along with staple products from their partner stores. Orders are delivered to customers’ homes for a five-dollar fee or to selected pick-up points across Montreal.

Although Lufa Farm’s options may be limited compared to larger grocery chains, using their service is a great way to support sustainable, local farming practices.

From across the fence Examining the overlapping lives of next-door neighbours Marie Saadeh, Social Media Editor Don’t lie—I know you’ve observed your neighbours without them knowing. I do it, too. Montreal is full of neighbours peeking into each other’s lives, often without acknowledgement; after all, we are all strangers thrown into a shared space and compelled to coexist. And we all have windows, so naturally, we look out and look in.

Cait, Nathan, and Isaiah, Mile End Cait: “The neighbour above us often can see into our window because we don’t close our shades, and he mentioned to our friend, who’s his coworker, that he just sees us doing things all the time. We have dinner at our kitchen table, we sit on the couch, we make breakfast in our underwear and it’s not a big deal to us, but he just sees all of it. I don’t feel like I’m being watched, but there is [always] an element of ‘Oh, Mateo can see us anytime.’ ” Nathan: “There’s a guy that has two teeth [left], and he’s really old. I don’t know what language he speaks, [but] it’s not English or French. He kind of mutters. He’s really old and a little bit scary-looking. So, we became friends with him. He walked past today and I said, ‘Are you having a good night?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, oh you live here?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I live here!’ and he said, ‘Nice!’ And then he kicked our garbage can three times and kept walking. I like this guy, he’s a total character.”

Isaiah: “People’s lives in these tightly packed apartment buildings really do spill out in the summer, into the front and the back [of the units].The alleyway is crazy.”

Cait:“There’s a gang of children out there who play Nerf gun games and ride their bikes around. One of them is clearly the ringleader. He has a mullet and runs the show.They’ve learned to swear.They’re really quite active.”

Nathan: “So when you’re sitting out here you just hear screaming, starting at like 7 a.m.”

Isaiah: “One kid will come barrelling down [swearing].”

Chai and Josie, Mile End Chai: “We definitely know when [our neighbor Lorenzo] is out on the balcony because our kitchen looks right out at it. I feel like I can weirdly tell what’s going on in his apartment based on [the] music. Like, I can obviously tell when he’s playing the saxophone, and then his music will change when he has different people over. And I can hear him from my room when he has people out on the balcony.”

Josie: “I do appreciate being serenaded by the sweet stylings of Lorenzo from his balcony, so that’s been an unexpected plus. You know the movie Rear Window, [by] Hitchcock? Basically he’s confined to his room because he broke his leg and it’s summer and he’s watching all of his neighbours’ lives play out. That’s how I feel because I have a really good view of his entire house and we kind of know his patterns of when he gets home from work and what he’s doing and when he’s cooking dinner. It’s partially invasive but it’s also kind of this mutual agreement where we know the most intimate inner workings of each other’s lives. I guess that’s true neighbourship.

“It is such a power dynamic, it’s his ivory tower of obscure Japanese music. I’ve only seen him on the street one time, which was kind of jarring, like ‘Where do I know you from?’ Our relationship is only within the confines of this courtyard. The one time he came down here it was so weird precisely because we were on the same level and having a conversation as peers, which was outside the context of what a neighbour relationship [usually is].

“I feel like Montreal neighbors [share] such a specific kind of experience because [...] the [houses are] so close together. I think the core ethic of Montreal [living] is that you have to be okay with this bizarre invasion of privacy and you are also getting to invade other people’s lives.

You’re kind of always on display, whether you like it or not.”

Elenne saw my roommates and I on the fire escape and yelled from her backyard, offering to give us one of her papaya plants because she had grown too many.We graciously accepted; we could never have enough plants, especially as the winter was approaching and the trees outside our apartment were beginning to lose leaves.

We told her we were out there all the time, and it was true: Our pandemic days were filled with watching the little world that was our beloved Plateau alleyway. Now, that world had expanded to include Elenne with her papaya plants.

The incense drifted into the outside air like a ghost fleeing the dark kitchen window. I knew he was home when I would wake up in the morning and see it across the alley from my bedroom, just as I took in my first glimpse of the new day. I would often catch him lighting the incense like it was some sort of ritual. A tray sat by both windows and he would move from one to the other, grazing the flame to each joss stick with a peculiar sense of urgency. When he looked up, our eyes would meet immediately, as if he already knew I was there. I would always look away. Of course, I couldn’t blame him—our windows were aligned in a way that was naturally invasive. But, I wished he didn’t shift his gaze and interrupt my innocent observation of him. I wanted to be invisible in my bedroom, taking in the little world around me without having to be a part of his too.

Photos: Marie Saadeh / The McGill Tribune

Design: Chloe Rodriguez / The McGill Tribune

Susie Napper, Milton Park “We moved in here in 1987. Our neighbours Lynn and Robbie had been next door for the previous at least five years, so they were well-established in the neighbourhood. In the beginning, it went well. We spoke to them about many things, and at some point, Lynn mentioned that there seemed to be a break in the bricks on her side on our wall. So, we went to look and indeed, there was a huge gap developing.The deal was that we had promised our neighbours that we would take down the back shed of the house which cast a shadow on their garden.When this schism in the wall arrived, we had to prop up the house and fill in the gaps between the props.They were furious, and the next thing we knew we had a letter from their lawyer saying they were going to sue us.This is between hippies, right? This is unheard of. We weren’t on speaking terms anymore for a couple of years. But at some point during that period, Lynn had her first baby, and we already had two. By the time Emily was big enough to play, the kids were working on taking down the fence between the two houses. And finally they broke it open, and then we were forced to be friends after that. It’s very wonderful [that] the power of the kids was so much more powerful than their anger with us. It was just brushed aside.We never actually talked about it.

“So we’ve been through many rough times together now after 30 odd years. In fact, when my partner died they were the only people who, in a sense, forced their way into the hospital and brought food for the four of us.

They did the best thing they could’ve possibly done for Bruce, my partner, for his last three days of life. He was intubated [and couldn’t speak], and they said ‘[Write] him an alphabet [so he could then point to letters and talk to us]!’ As soon as the alphabet was made, Bruce was just in heaven, [as] he could communicate.

“In the interim period, the kids became teenagers. There were all sorts of difficult periods between the teenagers, but we went through that with them, trying to figure out how to be good parents. In the meantime, the kids were always friends.The kids made it all okay. From a very difficult beginning, we’ve ended up being the best neighbours.”

Some evenings, I would quietly observe the young couple that lived across the alley from above. From my third story window, I could look down into their ground floor apartment and only see their hands chopping vegetables, their feet pacing around the kitchen floor as they cooked. I would notice them while cleaning my room or reading out on the fire escape, and I would try not to stare when they’d bring out their dinner and sit in the same seats they always did on their patio, facing one another with a candle lit on the table. But I couldn’t help it:There was something so comforting about the way they ate together.They always had wine and their food always smelled good.The tuxedoed cat always sat by their feet and, when the meal was finished, the cat would jump back inside through the same small gap in the window.Though we had never spoken, they were my favorite neighbours of the alley. I liked to imagine what their lives were like together beyond those dinners. together beyond those dinners.

Heela, Milton Park apartment complex “I’ve been living here for a year and I don’t really know a lot of my neighbours. When COVID started I was alone in my apartment, and one day I was walking, [...] I saw two of my neighbours with their friends, and they were laughing and making jokes and I thought,‘Wow, that must be nice to be with someone during the lockdown.’ I smiled at them but obviously they didn’t see me because I was wearing a mask. One night, I heard a knock at the door. As soon as I walked out they were here with a little pasta jar and they were like ‘Oh, we weren’t able to open this and we saw you that day, could you help us?’ And that was so human.

It was very reminiscent of how home is. There is a lot of connection, people just casually show up at your door.The community is very different and close-knit back home. I felt a bit of home in that experience.

“I definitely do miss [Pakistan] and the neighbour vibe.

Also, this was during Ramadan, so that’s a holy month for Muslims. What we do is that we go around and take food to other neighbors and talk to them and sometimes have them over. I think that was a very key part of my childhood and growing up, so definitely I do miss that [here]. I do miss seeing people, knowing what they’re up to and who they are.”

Mason, Rosemont

There was screaming coming from the apartment next door. I was just sitting on my fire escape, reading. I wondered what could upset someone so much that they’d want to speak to anyone that way.

Just as I was considering what to do, a woman emerged from the apartment and sat on the fire escape next to me. She lit a cigarette and said nothing.

I wondered if I should acknowledge her but allowed the silence.

“What are you reading?” she asked, breaking it.

I answered and asked if she was okay. I heard the yelling and was alarmed.

“Oh yeah,” she said. “That’s my boyfriend and his roommates.They do that all the time.”

“I have friends whose family is defined by people who live in their village. I feel that too where I’m from, [in Fitzroy Harbour, unceded Algonquin-Anishinaabeg aki]. If you’re from where I’m from, then we’re family. It’s weird how that changes in an urban setting. There’s no ‘Oh, we both live in Rosemont, so we’re family.’ The idea of neighbours is so disconnected from family, but how I grew up knowing it, it’s very different. “[In Rosemont], it seems [it’s] all three-story houses and multiple units, so I’ve never gotten the vibe that it’s one family in one house. It’s like a clown car, every house. I think there’s nine people that live in my house, and so many of them I haven’t met. Which is really interesting to me, the fact that we live in the same house and we haven’t interacted.

“I have this one neighbor. Her name’s Vivian, which is a weird name because it’s the name of my favorite neighbour [who is like] my second mom from my home village. But anytime I see her, I feel like we both feel that COVID anxiety where we don’t really want to be in the same space, so it’s always a really quick interaction.”

It’s fall now and we’re in lockdown again. From across the alley, Elenne’s cat watches the strangers walking down below with me. She is like just another one of the neighbours. We occupy different apartments and live different lives, but we find a mutual amusement in watching the squirrels dance along the electric wire. Our shared moments of peace are often interrupted by the men fighting next door. We both come and go to our respective windows, curiously looking outwards as we’re stuck inside.

10 STUDENT LIFE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

Native Women’s Shelter’s virtual Spirit Walk surpasses fundraising goal

Annual event highlighted community support and solidarity for the shelter’s clients Wendy Zhao Contributor Continued from page 1.

Since 1987, the NWSM has been the only shelter in Montreal providing services solely for Indigenous women and children. The shelter supports its residents by supplying them with basic needs such as food, clothing, hygiene products, and dignity along with traditional and contemporary healing techniques.

This year, the NWSM’s seventh annual Spirit Walk, a fundraiser designed to raise pledges for the shelter, has transitioned to an online platform. In previous years, the Spirit Walk took place in the summer and participants would gather at Mount-Royal to walk together in solidarity. This year, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 9, community members were instead invited to go on their own socially-distanced walks, post a selfie, and share online why they chose to support the shelter. On Oct. 5, the fundraiser surpassed its initial goal of $45,000.

Indigenous Peoples are overrepresented in the unhoused population relative to the proportion of the general population that they make up. (www.nwsm.info.jpg)

Despite the absence of a physical gathering, the strength of the shelter’s community has persisted online. Nakuset, executive director of the NWSM, describes the support and solidarity participants have shown.

“I am pleasantly surprised at the initiative that everyone has taken,” Nakuset said. “I know one person that is paddling and getting sponsors [....] People are doing it, and it’s powerful that this continues.”

This year’s Spirit Walk will support those navigating the child welfare system by empowering Indigenous women to advocate for themselves, their children, and their rights as mothers. Nakuset described the significance of this year’s walk and its intergenerational focus both for herself and for the shelter.

“I myself am adopted, and The Seventh Generation Prophecy says that those who are taken away will be the ones that empower and lead the way,” Nakuset said. “The Prophecy thinks about the kind of work you need to do in order to make sure things are good and safe for the seven generations ahead of you, that things will be easier for them.”

The NWSM’s mandate—to not only help each resident with their unique hardships but repair the shared systematic roots that perpetuate them—is embodied in this prophecy.

Nakuset described the Canadian government’s exclusion of the unhoused population while disseminating information about the pandemic.

“When the Prime Minister was making

messages in the beginning of COVID, they were geared toward the middle class, not the homeless population,” Nakuset said. “They were left out, literally left out into the streets [....] We would see people bawling their eyes out like children, so devastated they have nowhere to go. I’ve never seen that before.”

The NWSM closed for two weeks in May when seven of its staff members became ill, a microcosm of the pandemic’s effects on atrisk populations. The shelter reopened after meeting with Architecture Sans Frontières Québec to implement safety measures and now offers specialized therapy services for its clients through phone calls.

Nakuset noted the difficulties that the shelter has endured but remains optimistic for the future.

“With the second wave, it’ll continue to be challenging, but I feel like we have a leg up in terms of putting all these protocols in place,” Nakuset said. “Everything’s changed.

We’re adapting the best way that we can but it’s certainly not easy.”

Due to safety protocols, the NWSM can no longer accept volunteers or non-monetary donations. Nakuset asks individuals, however, to consider the power that they have to effect change.

“It’s looking around you, seeing what you can do for Indigenous peoples,” Nakuset said.

“Have you read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports? If you see someone who’s homeless, can you give them a sandwich, a smile, a resource?”

Tribune Explains: Accessing virtual writing resources

Handy ways to seek writing help during the remote semester Alaana Kumar & Leyla Moy Student Life Editors

offered via Zoom throughout the semester, on topics ranging from writing fellowship applications to writing an academic book review. The Writing Commons, which provides a space for graduate students to exchange tips and write in the company of peers, will also be held online. It offers two recurring weekly events: Rise and Write in the Morning from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays, and 120 Minutes of Writing from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursdays.

Many students buckle under the stress that comes with writing and rewriting essays and term papers, and in the absence of in-person exams this fall semester, professors are increasingly dependent on written assessments to evaluate students. Whether you are new to McGill, still acclimatizing, or just need a boost, essay centres and tutors on campus are here to help. To ensure students are aware of all their options, The McGill Tribune has compiled a few ways to access writing resources remotely.

How can I get additional help to improve my writing?

How can I get someone to look over my writing?

The McGill Writing Centre (MWC) is McGill’s central internal resource for writing. For the Fall semester, all MWC appointments will be held online. Students can schedule a 30or 60-minute tutoring appointment through the MWC online schedule.

For Arts and Arts and Science students, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) Essay Centre provides feedback on essay structure, grammar, citations, and general clarity, and will edit essays in both English and French. Interested students can make an appointment online.

“Students can [...] join on the call and get their essays edited by our tutors, or just ask questions,” Natalia Savkovic, Internal Coordinator of the AUS Essay Centre, wrote in an email to the Tribune. “We have had a few people come in and just ask questions about overall essay structure and citations [...], so that’s also okay.”

Where can I access scholarly sources?

McGill students and alumni have access to thousands

There are a number of options available to students seeking online writing help, including tutorial services, library resources, and writing classes. (Cordelia Cho / The McGill Tribune) of electronic publications through the McGill library system.

Current students can access e-resources through the library catalogue or Databases A-Z, and alumni can borrow e-books and e-audiobooks on the OverDrive platform. To help students navigate this plethora of resources, the campus library hosts numerous free seminars and events. These events are often offered in association with the Friends of the Library and serve as a way to spotlight the rich collections of the McGill library.

What resources are available to graduate students?

Graphos is a branch of the MWC that provides writing resources for graduate students and postdocs with a specific focus on research, funding, and publication. These offerings include one-credit writing courses, workshops, peer writing groups, and the Writing Commons. Graphos workshops will be

For students in STEM, the McGill Scientific Writing Institute (MSWI) was recently started by Marina Nysten and Joyce Wu, two U3 Science students who wanted to create a hub for scientific communication resources. Their website features a useful ebook, A McGill Guide to Scientific Writing: Volume 1, penned by Nysten and Wu in collaboration with faculty members. Beyond their guide, the MSWI holds events featuring science communication experts who engage in panel discussions and educate students on various topics to bolster their scientific writing, including how to annotate scholarly texts. Students can view past workshops and discussions through video recordings uploaded on their website.

In addition to looking over specific essays, the MWC offers credit courses on English writing and communication skills.

These classes are available for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as through the Department of Continuing Studies. Many of these classes are geared toward non-native English speakers and require a placement test, but Research Essay & Rhetoric (CEAP 250) focusses on strengthening undergraduates’ essay-writing skills more broadly and is open to native and non-native speakers. The MWC also offers courses for graduate students. In addition to perfecting the art of scholarly writing, these graduate courses provide assistance in mastering oral communication skills.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

A look into Robert Pattinson’s twisted sonic world

British leading man continues to shock audiences with bizarre accent-work Michelle Siegel Contributor In 2005, Stephenie Meyer released Twilight, making waves in young adult literature. It was the novel’s 2008 film adaptation, though, that truly cemented The Twilight Saga in the teen cultural landscape. A major player to emerge from the series was Robert Pattinson, the British actor who portrayed vampiric protagonist Edward Cullen and was poised to become the next Hollywood heartthrob. Pattinson donned a stilted American accent for the role, inadvertently setting a precedent for the rest of his career.

Rather than capitalize on his major studio presence, Pattinson then starred in a string of independent movies with auteur directors, showcasing the full potential of his acting talents. Over the last few years, though, Pattinson has slowly returned to large-scale movies with wider audiences, developing an unlikely reputation for his craft: A chaotically aloof presence known for outrageous performances bolstered by unforgettable accents.

Any actor can do an accent—not necessarily well, and nothing to make note of either. But for Pattinson, his staggering array of accents have added to the mystique of his public persona.

There are roles where his accent is clearly well-researched: His role as a Queens native and frenetic bank robber Connie in 2017’s Good Time grounds his character with

realistic gravitas. And then, there are roles where Pattinson’s accents seem to stand in stark contrast to the rest of the film, almost slapping the audience in the face with their surprising grandeur.

In 2019’s The King, Pattinson plays the Dauphin of France. While the movie is not necessarily memorable, Pattinson is easily the film’s biggest standout, in part due to his outrageous affect. On the surface, his accent might just be an extravagant—albeit incorrect—French caricature that Pattinson allegedly based on several Dior employees with whom he had previously worked. Pattinson’s ridiculous accent, complemented by his equally ridiculous long and wavy wig, elevates the Dauphin to unprecedented levels of comedy in an otherwise grim, slow, and brooding movie.

In 2019’s The Lighthouse, Pattinson adopts an archaic New England accent to play an isolated lighthouse keeper who starts to lose his mind. The film received great critical acclaim, inadvertently melding Pattinson’s penchant for insanity with his impressive acting chops. Further, in 2020’s The Devil All the Time, Pattinson created a heinous and incorrect American Southern accent on his own, as he refused to work with the on-set dialect coach. As with his French accent in The King, Pattison’s absurdity should again feel out of place alongside more grounded vocal work, but it somehow improves the film by adding unintentional bouts of levity.

It’s difficult to pin down what about

Robert Pattinson’s staggering array of accents have added to the mystique of his public persona, amplifying the notion that the guy is a genius or simply eccentric. (Chloe Rodriguez / The McGill Tribune) these accents cement Pattinson so distinctly.

Maybe Pattinson just exudes a leading man charisma. Maybe it’s his self-aware humour. Maybe it’s the way that his physical appearance remains distinct no matter how unrecognizable his character’s voice is. Perhaps the cultural resurgence of Twilight has brought renewed attention to Pattinson’s early accent work. Perhaps Pattinson is this generation’s Nicolas Cage, immortalized by internet culture regardless of the caliber of work in which he is found.

Pattinson, simply put, is by no means easily definable. In a recent GQ feature, the actor stated he had almost blown up his kitchen by putting a tin foil ball filled with pasta, cheese, cornflakes, and sauce into the

microwave—and made it sound delightful.

Pattinson’s bizarre roles and accents have always seemed to fit hand in hand with his own ludicrous public persona. Even dating back to his Twilight days, the films’ ridiculousness was offset by many press interviews in which Pattinson expressed his dislike of the franchise and his own role. Along with his career choices, Pattinson’s life has always seemed serendipitous despite his unpredictability, and he has remained at least moderately relevant.

Nobody really knows where Pattinson will venture next, or what new eccentric accent he will undertake—maybe not even Pattinson himself. But, whenever it comes, the world is ready and waiting.

Avleen Kaur Mokha’s “DREAM FRAGMENTS” impresses with emotional depth McGill alumna’s debut poetry chapbook touches on complex topics with effortless grace Naomi Mirny Contributor On Oct. 1, McGill alumna Avleen Kaur Mokha, also known as Mirabel, released the 40-page poetry chapbook DREAM FRAGMENTS through Cactus Press. A collection of personal poetry and confessional writing, Mokha’s chapbook highlights her journey growing up neurodivergent, processing trauma, and learning to find beauty in her dreams and darkest moments.

Mokha is a Montreal-based poet who was born and raised in Mumbai, India. She graduated from McGill University in March 2020 with a dual degree in Linguistics and English Literature, and she currently works as a writer and blog curator at Carte Blanche with a focus on featuring content from BIPOC writers in Quebec. Postgraduation, she worked under the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) grant as a reporter, writing about the COVID-19 outbreak for a variety of local news outlets. She spoke about how the emotionally strenuous work she did during the workday pushed her towards poetry as a creative outlet.

“I probably wrote the most while I was also writing 4,000 words of journalism every week,” Mokha said. “[Investigating the COVID-19 outbreak] really encouraged me to finish my book.”

DREAM FRAGMENTS presents a beautifully folded soul unfurled across a map of pages.

Through its mesh of interwoven poems, Mokha’s collection features stories of serene and nightmarish dreamscapes, aching hearts, brutal memories, and entangled lovers. Her language is one of dreams and mirages, with an undertone of animalistic desire, deep loneliness, and inescapable violence. With a Mary Oliver-esque focus on natural imagery, “Melatonin” gracefully explores the psyche of a sleepless night. In the final poem, Mokha tells readers to trust their dreams.

“Soften & release: / like loose clay becomes / pottery, / I become anew at night / Tighten & release: like hot hands on wanting chests, / I am pressed between seasons / of half-done delight [.…] You, / one moving part of an endless part, / are a stubborn knot tonight. / Soften & release, / tighten and believe / your animal heart.”

As a child, Mokha was active-

ly engaged in songwriting, and took these experiences into her later life as a professional poet; some of her current inspirations from pop culture include Billie Eilish, Mitski, Aurora, and particularly, Lorde’s album Melodrama. Mokha noted that she has special respect for the storytelling abilities of female pop artists.

“We’re kind of taught to hate

pop culture figures, [but] I’m really inspired by mainstream pop artists,” Mokha said. “There’s something we envy in pop artists in that they’re able to say things and it sticks.”

Mokha also spoke of how her education at McGill influenced her creative work and gave her the academic infrastructure and mentorship opportunities that she needed

Mokha spoke to great lengths that poetry was an essential part of her life, and that she started writing at a very young age, in childhood. (Rozlyn Henderson)

in order to write professionally; the works discussed in her modernism and poetry-centric seminars “The Making of Modern Poetry” (ENGL 361) and “Women and Modern Poetry” (ENGL 414) with Professor Miranda B. Hickman were the most influential. One article entitled The Wise Sappho, by the modernist poet Hilda Doolittle, inspired the chapbook’s title by presenting the idea of writing between fragments, or at least those that remain of Sappho’s work.

“I don’t think this book would exist without me going to McGill and meeting the people I did there,” Mokha said.

Mokha advised aspiring writers to search for community in literary circles, and to not be afraid of talking to other creatives in search of connections.

“A lot of being a poet is the kind of poets you surround yourself with beyond the page,” Mokha said. “There are a lot of mentorship opportunities. [If you] learn how to approach people, [they] will tell you what’s going on in the city.”

Readers can purchase DREAM FRAGMENTS on the Cactus Press poetry website.

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‘Only For Dolphins’ is excessively flavourless

Action Bronson takes listeners on another high-caloric, psychedelic journey Lowell Wolfe Contributor

While each track delivers witty one-liner after one-liner, there is little in the way of memorable hooks and originality. (pitchfork.com) Action Bronson is a man who wears many hats: As a chef, author, entrepreneur and hip-hop musician, Bronson’s creative proclivities bleed across mediums. His most recent album, Only For Dolphins, reflects Bronson’s multifaceted artistry over its half-hour runtime, while remaining true to its identity as a hiphop album. However, while the album is diverse in terms of its culinary references, world music samples, and allusions to exotic

drugs, Bronson’s excessive boasts and egotistical displays border on clichéd self-parody.

Throughout the album, “Young Baklava”’s brags about his hedonistic drug use, taste for expensive clothing cars, and womanizing skills as he spits over a collection of diversely themed instrumentals. On “C16H16N2”—the molecular formula for the popular psychedelic DMT—Bronson brags about eating entire sheets of what is assumed to be LSD. The string-plucked chords of“Mongolia” and the Yung-Gravy-esque disco samples on “Splash” are colorful, playful, and reflective of Bronson’s eclectic interests. The breadth of Bronson’s imagery is on display in lines such as “Just models sniffin’ coke off mirrors, talkin’ ‘bout, ‘Do Domino’s deliver?’”

As much as Bronson’s lyrics strive for thematic diversity, the raps are repetitive, lacking in structure, and have little to no flow. Daringer-produced “Shredder,” is a two minutes long track but only with 19 lines of free verse, without a hook or chorus, demonstrating a lack of effort on Bronson’s part. Here, the aura of ease which Bronson has always had as an M.C. feels lazy and careless. While each track delivers witty one-liner after one-liner, there is little in the way of memorable hooks and new content with rhymes. There are only so many times that Bronson can repeat how much he loves taking LSD and driving cars before listeners begin to roll their eyes. Bronson forces his identity as a drug-taking, food-cooking, womanizing fat-man on every single track.

Perhaps, Bronson’s platitudes could be balanced by a manifold collection of features, but only two of the tracks (“Capoeira” and “Mongolia”) show Bronson letting another artist take the mic. While the tracks’ features take on different vocal qualities, they offer little to no difference in a substance other than what Bronson already provides in the album as a whole. Despite the short run-time and diverse instrumentals of Only for Dolphins, the album still becomes a bore due to repetitive song-writing.

Bronson’s strengths as a man who dips his hand in many pies occasionally shines through, but Bronson needs to find some new pies, or dip his hands deeper.

McSway Poetry Workshop & Share Try your hand at some prose poetry in a calm virtual atmosphere.

Oct. 15, 6-7:30 p.m.

Online Free

Au Contraire Film Festival 2020 Montreal-based festival dedicated to erasing the social stigma around mental illness.

Oct. 5-23 Online Free

Deana Bowen in conversation with Kimberly Phillips

Panel discussion highlighting OBORO’s new auto-ethnographic exhibit about Black family histories across 20th century North America.

Oct. 15, 12-1 p.m.

Online Free

Discussion - Zines, Counter Cultures, and Public Debates Examines how small press publications can instigate big discussions about social issues and justice.

Oct. 22, 6-8 p.m.

Online Free

‘Just For Laughs’ online finds laughter amidst a pandemic The world’s biggest comedy festival adjusts to COVID-19

Deana Korsunsky Contributor Continued from page 1.

The festival kicked off with a live conversation between comedians Kevin Hart and Judd Apatow, streamed across all three virtual rooms available on the JFL website. Hart and Apatow discussed the effects of the pandemic on the industry, and reminisced about their beginnings in comedy. Although this Zoomcall-esque conversation offered an intimate glimpse into the lives of two comedy giants, it set a precedent of disappointing redundancy, as nearly every question pertained to comedy during the pandemic. Whether it was actor Titus Burgess or drag queen Trixie Mattel, conversations often lingered on the same platitudes of taking time during the pandemic to relax and rework material. Coupled with occasional Zoom freezes, audio glitches, and awkward silences, many unscripted interviews proved to be duller and more repetitive than previously anticipated for the comedy festival.

Yet, despite the lack of natural jokes and live audience reactions, JFL proved relatable and at times even inspirational. In one room, comedian Nicole Byer sipped on wine from a straw as she chatted with Mattel. In another, comedian Andy Kindler acknowledged the

Despite disjointed and glitchy formatting, the festival still managed to bring laughs amidst a pandemic. (twitter.com/justforlaughs) uncomfortable awkwardness of giving his 25th annual State of the Industry speech online.

“I’m holding for the applause I hear in my head,” Kindler joked after introducing himself.

In an interview with comedian and JFL part-owner Howie Mandel, comedian Ms. Pat discussed her unlikely debut in stand-up com-

edy—a creative outlet suggested to her after she was released from prison. Ms. Pat spoke about her past with drug dealing, abusive relationships, and her desire to give her children a better life. When advised by her caseworker to pursue comedy as a hobby, Ms. Pat discovered a therapeutic outlet in stand-up.

“Find a way to laugh at the darkest thing in life,” Ms. Pat advised Mandel.

Comedy, Ms. Pat suggested, is more than an income or a source of entertainment: It is a way of processing emotions and showing others that even comedians are not exempt from traumas.

Besides divulging comedian’s personal anecdotes, JFL hosted several panels for industry professionals to discuss the current state of comedy and touring. In the roundtable, “Now What,” viewers learned about the adverse effects of the pandemic on stand-up comedy, like canceled sources of income, but also about the hidden positives, like the industry coming together to uplift comedians in a time of need. Producer Brian Dorfman pointed out the necessity of comedy during COVID-19, emphasizing the importance of finding joy in these tumultuous times.

“We might be the most essential business in this issue that’s happening with the world,” Dorfman said.

As most industries and technologically unsavvy individuals have learned, translating in-person events to online mediums is tricky.

Though awkward and disjointed at times, JFL proved that this new format could still be comforting and familiar. JFL presented the best version of itself that it could have, reminding viewers that during a pandemic—in the words of Ms. Pat—we must know how to laugh at the darkest things in life.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

13

Taking a virtual tour of McGill’s stones and fossils

Redpath Museum hosts walking tour of hidden fossils in downtown Montreal

Ibani Kapur Contributor Continued from page 1.

Gastropod fossils are the remnants of an ancient group of invertebrates that can adapt to life in varying environments ranging from land to sea to forests.

(Brian Schatterman / The McGill Tribune) Das presented the audience with images of various stones containing fossils. As she pointed out, Trenton limestone, one of the materials used in the construction of the Redpath Museum and other buildings in downtown Montreal and across Canada, contains shells from a group of invertebrates called Brachiopods.

“Trenton limestone is very commonly used for building purposes and is about 470 million years old,” Das said.

Next, the tour moved to the geological rock garden situated right outside the museum’s steps. Ammonite, an invertebrate fossil that dates from the Jurassic period 200 million years ago was one of the many displays in the garden. The modern-day relatives of this fossil are cephalopods like squids and octopi.

Heading down McTavish Street to the McGill Faculty Club, Das explained the geological history of the materials used to make the building. “[The Club] has red clay bricks, which were left to dry in the sun, and some cat from 100 years ago decided to walk on it and left behind its paw prints,” Das said.

Though the clay bricks that compose the building’s facade are synthetically produced, Das pointed out that, under close observation, some naturally formed fossils are still apparent.

“Blemishes that stand out enable differentiation of fossils from normal rocks,” Das said in an email to The McGill Tribune. “The purpose of this tour was to guide people and show them how the intricate patterns and shapes of fossils give an account of their history.”

Demonstrating this idea, Das showed the spirals of a sea snail present along the sidewalks of the Mount Royal Club.

Holt Renfrew on de la Montagne Street, the next stop on the virtual tour, provided another example of captivating patterns.

“Looking closely at the sidewalls, tiny broken calcite discs can be seen, which belong to crinoids, also known as sea lilies,” Das said. “[The] closest Crinoids today are urchins and sea cucumbers.”

Moving on to the Le Chateau Apartments on Sherbrooke Street, Das expressed her excitement for the location’s many potential fossil hiding spots.

“This [is] my favourite fossil hunting spot,” Das said. “Every wall has a different kind of fossil, namely gastropods, corals, cephaloods, all from different time periods.”

Das also pointed out the brown patches on the wall, which were burrows made by animals that eventually became fossilized.

The tour concluded at the Peter Lyall House, which was built using 260-million-year-old sandstone brought to Canada from Scotland in 1889.

Though the stones of the Peter Lyall House do not have fossils, Das explained that the building has other geological features that make it significant to scientists.

“It has an interesting weathering pattern like an onion peel,” Das said.“This pattern is often developed due to continuous freeze thaw cycling action.”

In closing, Das provided her own expert advice for amateur fossil hunters.

“For anyone [interested in] fossil finding: If you do find one, take a picture, if [that’s] possible.” Das said. “Identify the shape and use guides online, which sometimes help you load images, thereby identifying what fossil it is.”

CARTOON Ruobing Chen Design Editor

Revealing the burning truth about droughts and heatwaves

Extreme hot and dry weather events set to intensify as global temperatures rise Madison McLauchlan Contributor Throughout the 1930s, horrific dust storms swept through Western North American, eviscerating agricultural fields and leaving the livelihoods of millions of underprepared farmers in peril. This period, known as the Dust Bowl, was characterized by severe drought and wind erosion. Since then, scientific advances have helped farmers develop more resilient farming practices, but experts anticipate more frequent extreme weather events as the climate crisis continues to worsen.

In a new McGill-affiliated study, researchers found troubling patterns connecting hot and dry weather events with anthropogenic climate change.

The increase in frequency and geographic size of dry and hot weather patterns leads to intensified heatwaves and droughts.

McGill scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Utah and the University of California at Irvine, analyzed over a century of average seasonal temperature and precipitation data. They found increases in the intensity,

range, and clustering of “dry-hot extremes.” Such events, though not new, are occurring at a much greater frequency than in previ-

study, emphasized that these extreme weather events mutually reinforce each other to cause disastrous consequences.

Increased demand for water due to a warmer climate will put pressure on government infrastructure, as droughts intensify in the coming years.

(Sequoia Kim / The McGill Tribune) ous decades, leaving vast areas susceptible to intense drought and facilitating the spread of wildfires.

Mohammed Reza Alizadeh, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Bioresource Engineering and the lead author of the

“We looked at two important processes of land-atmosphere feedback: Self-propagation and self-intensification,” Alizadeh said in an interview with the The McGill Tribune. “We are mostly [dealing with] self-propagation, which refers to the movement of

systematic aridity and heat from one region to another.”

Arid regions are characterized by a severe lack of available groundwater and are a growing issue for agriculture in places like the American Southwest. Systematic aridity, another term for large-scale moisture deficiency, can propagate from one habitat to another, especially if precipitation patterns are dependent on the levels of ground moisture. As these dry-hot extremes become more clustered together in space, ecosystems can become overwhelmed by heat stress, incapacitating their ability to recover over time.

Due to global temperature increases, heat waves can propagate quickly and widely; when these heat waves are combined with drought, the threat of wildfires grows considerably.

Human safety, agricultural output, and ecological health are all put at risk, resulting in dire consequences for the economy.

These disastrous events have already ravaged a significant portion of the North American West Coast. This year alone, over 4 million acres of land were burned, destroying ecosystems and displacing 96,000 people

from their homes.

Alizadeh insists that policy makers must do more to prepare for inevitable heat extremes and subsequent wildfires. Those living in high-risk fire zones are already vulnerable to housing insecurity and health problems.

“The recent heatwave events in California caused extensive brown-outs for millions of residents, leaving them with no electricity for air conditioning in scorching heat,” Alizadeh said. “This is compounded by the health orders to stay at home to avoid [the] spread of COVID19.”

The findings of this study, however sobering, can help high-risk regions like the West Coast of North America and southeastern Australia to adequately prepare for droughts, heat waves, and potential wildfires. If enacted in time, policies intended to curb these warming trends can help lessen the scale of disaster.

“We have to realize that our infrastructure design and social norms may not be proper in a changing climate,” Alizadeh said. “We will have to make hard decisions now to avoid future disasters.”

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

UN member nations fail to meet decade-old biodiversity conservation targets Not one of the 20 goals for the conservation of biodiversity has been met Cassia Attard Contributor In October 2010, 190 countries agreed to commit to reaching the Aichi Targets, a set of 20 goals developed to protect earth’s biodiversity. The targets encompassed multiple areas of biodiversity conservation, including sustainable fishing, land use rights, reforestation, public awareness, and more.

On Sept.14, the UN announced that the world did not meet a single Aichi target, marking the second consecutive decade of failure to protect earth’s biodiversity. Since 2010, the outlook for endangered species has only worsened. Coral bleaching has seen a devastating increase, deforestation rates have remained high, and Earth has continued to inch towards the sixth mass extinction as wildlife populations plummet.

Many scientists have attributed this failure to the dip in government funding allocated to biodiversity conservation. In the decade since the Aichi Targets were signed, funding for these efforts has plateaued in many countries. Annual funding allocated to projects related to the Aichi goals is an estimated $78 to $91 billion USD. The UN report states hundreds of billions of dollars will be necessary to meet the Aichi goals.

In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Andrew Gonzalez, Professor of Biology at McGill and Founding Director of the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, explained the

global neglect of the Aichi Targets and the importance of biodiversity.

“There’s no doubt [that] this is an emergency,” Gonzalez said. “These targets are very important. They are the centerpiece for international collaboration and they provide focus for national efforts for conservation.”

While none of the targets were fully achieved, six were partially met, including those related to invasive species and protected lands. Forty-four per cent of biodiverse areas are now protected, an increase from 29 per cent in 2000. Two-hundred invasive species on islands have now been eradicated.

“It’s easy to motivate countries to achieve that target,” Gonzalez said. “Progress

towards goals is made easier if the targets are easy to implement and progress can be easily assessed. Invasive species are very easy to quantify for economic impact. Many of the other targets are harder to quantify.”

Preserving biodiversity is not solely for the benefit of endangered species. Changes in species richness, the number of species present in a given area over time, is known to have a drastic effect on the human systems that depend on biodiversity. Ocean wildlife provides 50-80 per cent of earth’s oxygen and absorbs 28 per cent of the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. At least 40 per cent of the world’s economy is derived from biological resources.

Biodiversity can even help to slow climate

Aichi Targets aimed to halve habitat loss between 2010 and 2020, yet deforestation rates decreased by only 17 per cent globally. (Alamy Stock Photo)

change.

“Climate change is impacting biodiversity on land and in the oceans, but the flipside of the coin is that ecosystems are a sink for carbon,” Gonzalez said. “Terrestrial ecosystems have been a sink for around 20 per cent [of] fossil fuel emissions over the last 30 years. But the destruction of this carbon sink will exacerbate climate change and prevent humanity’s efforts to keep global warming to below two degrees celsius.”

When the Aichi Targets were first set in 2010, they were immediately criticized for lacking ambition. Continuous failure on the part of national governments to meet global sustainability targets has left many people wondering if setting such goals is worthwhile, or if taking a different approach is necessary.

Gonzalez argues that global goal-setting remains key.

“People will come together around the targets,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a good thing that people are saying that [the targets] are not effective. [The] process is patchy and partial, but it’s progress nonetheless [....] I believe we need to offer policy and decision makers the knowledge they need to take action and make effective policies. This is about supporting bottom-up approaches in addition to the topdown ones.”

Hope for Earth’s biodiversity can be found in the new Aichi Targets set for 2030, although the looming fear of a third consecutive decade of failure remains.

Science Rewind: How supercomputers became personal computers

A glance into the history of computers, and the people driving its development Sophia Gorbounov Science & Technology Editor In 2017, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) claimed to have built the world’s largest single-memory computing system, boasting a machine that could hold 160 terabytes of memory. In comparison, the iPhone 7 only has two gigabytes of randomaccess memory—electronic data that can be accessed at the same speed regardless of its location in the device’s storage—less than one per cent of HPE’s prototype. The history of computing power is humbling, and a glance into its evolution demonstrates the considerable improvements that technology has undergone in a relatively short period of time.

The first digital computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), was built between 1943 and 1945, after University of Pennsylvania physicist John Mauchly had the idea for an all-electronic calculating machine.

Luckily for Mauchly, his concept of a digitized accountant caught the attention of the United States Army; through the Army’s funding, ENIAC was born, and was put to use first by the military to calculate artillery firing tables. Composed of 18,000 vacuum tubes, occupying 1,800

The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the first digital computer, operated for over 80 thousand hours in total, providing calculations for everything from ballistic measurements to atomic energy. (Chelsea Xitian / Twitter) square feet of space, and weighing 30 tonnes, ENIAC was the first general-purpose digital computer.

The word “computer” took on a different meaning in the mid-twentieth century. ENIAC was, at its core, a glorified calculator, capable only of simple arithmetic. ENIAC also had no central memory. Instead, it had a series of twenty accumulators: Temporary storage locations which could each store one 10-digit decimal number. At the time however, this was the pinnacle of computing technology.

Speaking with The McGill Tribune, Michael Smith, a profes-

sor in the Department of Sociology, explained the drive behind the development of computers.

“ENIAC was a contract between the University of Pennsylvania and the [United States] Defense Department,” Smith said. “The next big step [in computer development], however, came from a private company, a part of AT&T called Bell Labs. [Their invention of] the transistor made it possible to use much more compact switches than the vacuum tubes in ENIAC.” Smith noted that the American government strongly supported AT&T in improving their technology.

“At the time, AT&T was a regulated monopoly, which meant it was a company that had a monopoly supported by regulation,” Smith said. “AT&T, through Bell Labs, was buying off the Justice Department by providing innovative work […] in exchange for the Justice Department refraining from suing them for anti-trust violations. They were able to [keep their regulated monopoly] by demonstrating their utility as a source of innovation.”

These partnerships, Smith said, illustrates that the development of computers and their uses have depended on the interests of the U.S. military and private industries.

The question naturally arises of how computers transitioned from military uses to the personal uses we have today. This, explained Smith, came from the continuous exchange of ideas between the people responsible for developing computer technology and the eventual numerous users exploring its possible functions.

“Computers can be considered something called ‘general purpose technology,’” Smith said. “They have multiple potential uses, but it takes a while to figure out what those uses might be, and how to use the technology efficiently [….] At the same time, you also have users exploring

its possibilities. In the case of the mainframe computer, universities played a role not so much in developing all of the parts […] but also providing an intellectual link between commercial users and the military.”

On Sept. 12, 1958, Texas Instruments released the first integrated circuit, or microchip. Microchips are made using photolithography, a process where geometric shapes are transferred onto a semiconductor surface. They could hold 1000 transistors—devices used to convert electronic signals. These advancements made computers faster and smaller, and also increased their ability to function properly.

Today, the evolution of computers is evident. To celebrate ENIAC’s 50th anniversary in 1995, the University of Pennsylvania redesigned the computer using modern integrated circuit technology. The once gigantic machine could now fit in the palm of a hand.

Science Rewind is a new column from Science & Technology that explores the evolution of the inventions that shaped modern society, guided by a set of three questions: What did we know then? What do we know now? And how has our society changed because of it?

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

2020 NBA Bubble superlatives

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Celebrating the alternative accomplishments of bubble basketball Adam Burton & Alec Regino Sports Editor, Contributor With the NBA Finals finished, it’s time to reflect on an exceptional and unique season of basketball.

While the talking heads of basketball media will be dissecting the winners and losers of the Bubble for months to come, The McGill Tribune pays homage to some of the more unique accomplishments of the post-season.

Biggest Quarantine Glow-Up: Nikola Jokic Staying in playing shape during their five-month hiatus from the NBA was not only difficult for players, but also seemed impractical, considering the uncertainty of a restart. While some players got out of shape, Nikola Jokic came out of quarantine looking like a new man. Jokic has always been an incredible player, but his stature is not typical of an NBA athlete. While Jokic usually lumbers awkwardly out of the tunnel for tip-off, in his Bubble debut on July 30, he sauntered out with a youthful spring in his step.

It’s fair to say that Jokic beat us all in the self-improvement race during quarantine.

Most Likely to Become a Business Owner: Jimmy Butler The entire Miami Heat team deserves major props for their extraordinary Cinderella run, but it is Jimmy Butler’s gumption, both on and off the court, that exemplified this grit. Recognizing the abysmal coffee options at Walt Disney World, Butler started his own coffee shop, Big Face Coffee, out of his hotel room.

For good coffee, caffeine-deficient players were apparently willing to pay up, given the whopping $20-a-cup price tag. It seems like Butler’s oncourt tenacity has found its way into his side hustle.

Social Distancing Defense: Hassan Whiteside Delusional fans hopped on the Portland Trail Blazers bandwagon after a game one victory against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers proceeded to break the Blazers’ hearts, dominating center Hassan Whiteside. Modern NBA centers are expected to switch on screens, keep guards from driving, and prevent easy layups in the paint. Instead, Whiteside showcased subpar defense, letting guards blow by him, tripping his

teammates, and fouling every single time it looked like the Blazers had a chance to regain the lead.

Most Punctual: LeBron James While fans may continue to chide James for coasting through the regular season, it’s clear that he has a knack for showing up at just the right time. Playing his ninth finals in 10 years, the 35-year-old has not only been a dependable leader for the Lakers, he’s also delivered a masterclass performance in nearly every game this post-season. In terms of sustained dominance, LeBron is second to none.

2020 All-NBA “Team Beard” The resumption of play on July 30 wasn’t just about basketball, it was a chance for the players to flex the facial hair that they have been growing during months in quarantine.

Starting at power forward, LeBron James leaned even further into his “Honest Abe” chin strap, adding a James Harden-esque amount of volume. Next at small forward is Gordon Hayward, who came back looking more dapper than ever. His slight stubble served only to accent his

Jimmy Butler has taken the role of barista in his new bubble side-hustle.

(Today Show) sleek moustache—a bold statement in a league dominated by more and more beards. Shooting guard James Harden has commanded the league for years with his carpet of a beard, but managed to outdo himself, adding even more length to his already Santa Claus-level facial hair. Joining him

in the frontcourt is Seth Curry, who balances out Harden’s wiry mane with a patchy beard that works surprisingly well. Finally, at center we have Joakim Noah, who took some time off from the set of Cast Away 2 to make an appearance in the Bubble.

Sports and social justice movements come together in the NBA Bubble Lessons on activism from players and the league Maya Mau Contributor There have been many defining moments of the 2020 NBA season, from the successful restart of the season inside a bubble to LeBron James’s fourth Finals MVP title. In the face of a global pandemic, the NBA found a safe way to allow players and franchises to continue making basketball history. However, finding solutions in the face of adversity was not limited to finding a way to play basketball in a pandemic—the league’s facilitation of players’ social justice activism was a large part of what made this season so significant.

Since the restart of the season in Orlando, the league gave players the opportunity to share phrases—such as “Equality” and “Black Lives Matter”—on their jerseys. Activism for social change continued throughout the Bubble as many players and coaches kneeled for the national anthem at the beginning of games, an action that was popularized in professional sports by NFL player Colin Kaepernick.

NBA franchises have a history of diversity across organizations, from players to team ownership, and the basketball community has always been vocal in supporting social justice movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement. A significant moment in this season came in late August, when the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks, decided to boycott game five of the first-round series against the Orlando Magic. This boycott came as a

Several NBA teams boycotted playoff games in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters.

(Ashley Landis / Wall Street Journal) response to the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Other teams subsequently boycotted their own playoff games in solidarity with the Bucks and the Black community, and the league temporarily paused the season. The question of whether playing in the Bubble was contributing to the fight for racial justice, or distracting players from addressing these issues, was prevalent.

This season was certainly not the first time that NBA players chose to take a political stance. For example, after the Golden State Warriors became champions in 2017, they broke the tradition of winning teams visiting the White House, refusing to visit newly-

elected President Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly denied that systemic racism exists and condemned professional athletes who take political stances.

Most players have since agreed that making full use of their platforms is critical when it comes to standing up for their values.

No NBA championship team has visited the current president.

As the world outside the Bubble reckoned with anti-Black racism, players, led by the Milwaukee Bucks boycott, seriously considered cancelling the season. However, after several days of discussions, including consulting former President Barack Obama,

players, coaches, owners, and the league reached an agreement to continue the season while continuing to promote racial equality.

In the Eastern Conference, the fifthseeded Miami Heat defeated both the Bucks and the third-seeded Boston Celtics to become the third-lowest seeded conference champion since 1984. The Heat faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals, and it was the first time neither finals contender made the playoffs in the year before. Heat rookie Tyler Herro became the youngest player to start in the NBA Finals, while LeBron James made it to his tenth NBA Finals, tying for third in finals appearances with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

As basketball history was being made in Orlando, conversations from the Bubble were making an impact on the world outside. There were several new initiatives, mostly aiming to increase voter turnout both within and beyond the NBA. Only 22 per cent of eligible NBA players voted in 2016, whereas more than 90 per cent of eligible players are registered to vote as of Oct. 4 2020, including all players on 15 of the league’s 30 teams. In addition, 20 teams across the United States have turned their arenas into polling locations, making it easier for basketball fans and non-basketball fans alike to cast their ballots.

Players share a love of basketball and a commitment to their values. In a tumultuous time, their actions can serve as examples that show that people don’t necessarily have to choose between their careers or taking action to advocate for their values—they can do both.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 2020

SPORTS

October brings drafty weather, Quebec talent goes first overall The virtual NHL Draft made history for more than its online format

Sarah Farnand Sports Editor While this year’s virtual NHL draft had a number of delays, it held a special place in the hearts of many Quebecers. The first overall pick for 2020, Alexis Lafrenière, is a Quebec native from Saint-Eustache. The last time a Quebec-born skater was selected first overall was in 1988, when the Tampa Bay Lightning drafted Vincent Lecavalier.

In a Zoom interview with sportscaster Sam Rosen, Lafrenière explained how excited he was to be selected by the New York Rangers.

“It’s a dream come true for me, obviously,” Lafrenière said. “I am really honoured to join the Rangers and I am excited to come to New York and play some hockey.”

Lafrenière was also the first Canadian to be drafted first overall since Connor McDavid was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in 2015.

Another defining moment in this year’s draft occurred when Quinton Byfield was selected second overall by the Los Angeles Kings, making him the highest drafted Black player in NHL history. Byfield hopes to help expose more young Black athletes to the game of hockey.

“I think [the NHL] is really moving in a good direction [...] and I am definitely excited to help out and spread as much awareness as I can,” Byfield said in a Zoom interview. “It just shows that there is a lot of opportunity for everyone in the world. You can play

[any] sport and be successful [at] it.”

While Byfield says that being in the record books for anything is exciting, he wants to focus on achieving his lifelong dream of playing high-level hockey in the NHL without the emphasis on his background.

Many teams took advantage of the online setting of the draft, coming up with creative ways to announce their picks, but the Ottawa Senators had the most innovative announcement. With the third overall pick, the Senators enlisted the help of University

of Ottawa Alumnus and Jeopardy host, Alex Trebek, to announce their decision.

“With the third pick in the 2020 NHL draft, the Ottawa Senators choose this player,” Trebek read from the on-screen prompt.

The answer was “Who is Tim Stützle?”

Stützle is an 18-year-old German player currently playing for Adler Mannheim in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). One of two Germans selected in the first round, an NHL record, Stützle explained how thrilling and overwhelming draft night was.

The New York Rangers selected Alexis Lafrenière, from Saint-Eustache, Quebec, as the first overall draft pick. (NHL.com)

“[Being selected] was extremely exciting,” Stützle said in an interview with Deutsche Welle. “It was also pretty stressful right after [being picked]. I had to do a whole lot of interviews. I hardly had a chance to speak to my family and friends.”

With the final pick of the first round, the San Jose Sharks chose Ozzy Wiesblatt, a Calgary native whose mother has a hearing impairment. To announce the 31st pick, the Sharks’ director of scouting, Doug Wilson Jr. used American Sign Language to sign “Ozzy” so that his mother could see that he had been selected.

“That means a ton, especially to my mom and the deaf community in general, I think,” Wiesblatt said in an interview with NBC Sports. “It’s a very nice gesture for him to do that. My mom will never forget that.”

Wilson explained how the life-changing experience of being drafted is important for the whole family.

“In my life, my mom is a huge, huge factor,” Wilson said to NBC Sports. “If I was in this moment, I would want to be able to share it with my parents too.”

Although it was certainly not the draft that these athletes had dreamed of, participating from home instead of in Montreal—where the draft was supposed to take place—the organization did their best to make the night memorable. Despite odd camera angles and delays in reactions, the NHL’s ability to provide an inclusive virtual experience for everyone was commendable.

In conversation with Noah Eisenberg

Professional soccer player for Llangefni Town FC talks inspiration, training, and play styles Karan Kumar Contributor Born and raised in Montreal, Noah Eisenberg is the first Canadian to sign a contract with a professional soccer team in Wales. The 22-yearold will be playing for Llangefni Town FC as a centre attacking midfielder. The club was promoted to the Welsh second division in 2018 and currently has one of the youngest squads in the league.

Eisenberg has wanted to be a professional soccer player since he was young. His parents enrolled him in a soccer club when he was only three years old, and he has been playing competitively ever since.

“As a career, it is [all] I ever wanted to do,” Eisenberg said in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

At 17 years old, Eisenberg received a scholarship to attend Tilton School, a college-preparatory school in New Hampshire, where he was exposed to opportunities that helped his professional career trajectory. He played in the United States for three years before a chance to play in Europe came up.

Noah Eisenberg recently signed with Llangefni Town FC, the first Canadian to sign in the Second Division in Wales. (Noah Eisenberg / The McGill Tribune)

After moving to Europe, he spent time training in Belgium with First Division club Waasland-Beveren, and in Northern Ireland with Derriaghy FC and Lurgan Celtic.

Eisenberg noted key differences between soccer in Europe and North America.

“Europe is on another level [in] the way they play, the system, the way the academy feeds into the

main team,” Eisenberg said. “I had never experienced anything like this [.…] I decided not to go back [to the United States].”

Even between countries within Europe, Eisenberg found notable variation in playing style.

“Every country has a different style [….] In Belgium, it was super technical and tactical [....] Northern Ireland was a very physical test. The

players were like rugby players,” Eisenberg said.

Eisenberg is currently in Wales, but he has not been able to play a game for Llangefni Town FC due to the temporary suspension of the season during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The season hasn’t been announced yet,” Eisenberg said.

“This is terrible [for the teams] as they make all their money on spectators. There are [usually] derbies of 3,000 people in the games.”

Although there is uncertainty about the coming season, Eisenberg is still looking forward to playing in friendly matches over the next few weeks. On Sept. 13, Llangefni Town FC lost their match against a rival club, Bangor City FC. They will be looking forward to the rematch on Jan. 18.

For inspiration, Eisenberg looks up to David Beckham, a retired English soccer player, as well as Alphonso Davies, a young Canadian soccer sensation in Europe. “[Like Beckham], shooting is my forte,” Eisenberg said. “I

have a great shot. I can shoot from pretty much anywhere. [Alphonso Davies] is an amazing player. He has really made it for himself. To be a Canadian and to go and play in Europe is incredible.”

Although Eisenberg is currently playing in Europe, he believes that soccer in Canada has an exciting future. In order to cohost the 2026 FIFA World Cup, FIFA required that Canada have a domestic professional soccer league. Thus, The Canadian Premier League was founded in 2017, with the first season played in 2019.

“They averaged 7,000 in the games,” Eisenberg said. “It was teams like Hamilton, Halifax, and York. This league is a good opportunity for Canadians. It’s a league I would love to play in too.”

However, Eisenberg believes that for now, Europe provides a better platform than Canada for starting one’s career as a professional soccer player.

“For the average Canadian [soccer player, they have] to come to Europe,” Eisenberg said. “In Canada, [soccer] is an activity, and Europe, it’s a culture.”