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September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
CONTENTS
3 EDITORIAL No More Platitudes: First Nations Demand Action from QC Parties
4 NEWS
new!
10 isthmus Ebb and Flow
International News Blurbs Local Candidates Debate
11 Features
“Enforce Your Rights!”
Alejandra Zaga Mendez: The Importance of Local Activism
7 commentary
14 culture
Are You Still Watching?
Thus Speak Empowered Women
8 letter
A Victim is Not Their Scars
A Call for McGill to Ban Student-Teacher Relationships
16 compendium! Fuck Tempeh
9 ads
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EDITORIAL
Volume 108 Issue 3
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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No More Platitudes: First Nations Demand Action from QC Parties
O
n September 9, Ghislain Picard, the Chief of the Association for First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL), addressed a letter to the leaders of each party running in the upcoming Quebec elections. The letter criticizes the provincial government for its treatment of First Nations people and details the AFNQL’s demands for the next ruling party. These demands, Picard wrote, are not new. The AFNQL letter states, “we have always been making [our demands] known, perhaps too quietly, perhaps too politely. Until now, it has been too easy for successive governments to turn a deaf ear and direct their attention elsewhere.” Picard made it clear to leaders that they must convene with the AFNQL’s Chiefs Assembly within one hundred days of their new administration. The demands themselves are fivefold. They include the safety of First Nations people, the adoption of a bill which follows the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, meetings with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the development of an economy by and for First Nations, and services to First Nations which respect their cultures and ways of life. The AFNQL expects to be included in all discussions about legislation relating to these topics. To date, party leaders’ responses to the letter have lacked substance, despite Picard’s call for real commitment. In last week’s debate, Parti Québécois’ leader Lisée said that “if we’re going to come up with solutions it’ll have to be together. […] These aren’t just meetings to say hello; we’ll sit down and start to see how
we can tackle these problems.” In short, Lisée called for more than platitudes, yet offers nothing beyond them; Indigenous issues are still missing from their platform. Liberal incumbent PM Couillard has suggested that Indigenous youth could decrease the Quebecois labour shortage, apparently only taking interest in Indigenous rights as long as it makes Indigenous peoples more economically useful. However, he did not address the systemic barriers which Indigenous people face when seeking employment. The Coalition Avenir Québec has reportedly agreed to meet more regularly with Indigenous leaders, though they have not released a statement to the press or publicly responded to the letter. While Quebec Solidaire’s (QS) response has been the most substantial, it also leaves something to be desired. Co-spokesperson Massé reiterated the commitment of her party to support First Nations’ demands and their right to sovereignty. This is a positive sentiment, yet it only serves to promote the QS platform as having always been an advocate for First Nations, and does not acknowledge a need for change within their own party. Without pressure from both the AFNQL and constituents, it seems unlikely that the parties will commit to any lasting action. As settlers on unceded land, we have an obligation to First Nations people. We must vote for people who are likely to follow through on their promises, and we must hold these parties accountable beyond elections. Most of all, we must pressure the next government to actually sit down and work with Indigenous organizers and groups like the AFNQL.
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NEWS
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
International News Typhoon Mangkhut Hits Philippines
Berta Cáceres Murder Trial Delayed
Alexander Taurozzi News Writer
Phyllida Martignetti News Writer
yphoon Mangkhut (Ompong), a category 5 hurricane, struck the Cordillera region of the Luzon province in Philippines on September 15. As of September 19, the death toll has risen to 81 with another 59 reported missing. Authorities predict that the number of fatalities could easily hit triple digits. According to Francis Tolentino, senior advisor to the Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, 5.7 million people were effected nationwide. The typhoon has now crossed into the Yunnan Province, weakening in intensity due to the mountainous region. With regards to those missing, the mayor of Itogon, Victorio Palangdan, believes there is a “99 per cent (chance) that they really are all dead.” Itogon is the most severely affected area, suffering 66 casualties. Many people killed in Itogon were independent miners that had been illegally mining on the site of Antamok. Mining company Benguet Corp abandoned Antamok in the 1990s over concerns of environmental degradation; however, thousands still mined illegally. The workers claimed to have obtained permission to mine from Benguet Corp, but the company has since denied this. As a result of poor mining practices, mountain slopes have become prone to destabilization, leaving the terrain more susceptible to landslides following heavy rain. On September 20, a village in the city of Naga experienced heavy rains which caused a landslide resulting in the deaths of 12 people. President Duterte and his government are considering enforcing stricter regulations on mining in the country in order to try and limit future damages associated with these risks.
he first of the two trials investigating the death of Berta Cáceres has been postponed. The trial, originally scheduled for September, was delayed due to the chaos caused by a formal allegation of corruption and abuse of authority levelled against the three judges set to preside over the case. Cáceres, formally the coordinator of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras, (COPINH), was murdered in La Esperanza, West Honduras on March 2, 2016 at the age of 44. She protested against the installation of a dam in her home country of Honduras, an issue she had been publicly opposed to since the project was announced in 2011. As the coordinator and media figurehead for COPINH, Cáceres campaigned against the internationally funded dam on the Gualcarque River. The trial will also hear the charge of attempted murder on Cáceres’ fellow environmental activist Gustavo Castro. In accordance with Honduras law, dismissals and replacements of the judiciary staff will be released within the 72 hours following the adjournment. Eight men were anticipated to stand trial in these particular proceedings, two of whom are in fact employees of Deserrollos Energeticos (DESA), the company responsible for the damn project. Another suspect is set to stand in a separate trial at an undetermined date. Despite these nine men facing charges, the family of Cáceres have expressed considerable doubt over whether all of the “intellectual authors” of her brutal killing have been caught.
T
T
Toronto City Council to Be Cut in Half Nabeela Jivraj The McGill Daily
I
n September 19, Ontario’s top court ruled in favour of a stay allowing for the reduction of the City of Toronto’s Municipal Council, and the elimination of regional chair elections in several municipalities across the province. Bill 5, introduced by Ontario’s Progressive Conservative provincial government, would reduce the electoral map from the current 47 wards to just 25, effectively reducing seats on council by half. The ruling comes just a month ahead of the upcoming municipal elections to be held October 22. The announcement was made in late July, on the last day to register as a candidate. Legislation was proposed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government in early September, inciting confusion as to potential implications for voters and candidates. With election campaigns already underway in 47 wards, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba found the bill to be in violation of freedom of expression rights for both candidates and voters, and deemed Bill 5 unconstitutional. Subsequently, Ford took the decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause (Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms). The rarely-invoked clause allows portions of the Charter to be overridden and for judicial review to be nullified. The decision was largely met with negative backlash, and has been called both “unnecessary and unprecedented.” The current mayor of Toronto, Progressive Conservative John Tory, opposed the move taking place mid-election. The current stay issued by the provincial supreme court invalidates all concerns raised by the “lower court ruling.” According to the Toronto elections site, the new ward map will be available shortly. In the final judges’ ruling, they stated that “while the change brought about by Bill 5 is undoubtedly frustrating for candidates who started campaigning in May 2018, we are not persuaded that their frustration amounts to a substantial interference with their freedom of expression.” Opponents to the council slashing have raised concerns over the representation of women and people of colour on the Council, two major Toronto demographics that are already disproportionately underrepresented in the current 47-ward council structure.
NEWS
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Local Candidates Debate
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Candidates for Westmount Saint Louis MNA Position Julia Crowly News Writer
E
lections SSMU organized a debate (held on September 19) with local candidates in anticipation of the upcoming Quebec elections on October 1. The debate included candidates for the Westmount Saint Louis MNA position from all seven Quebec parties, each hoping to gain support from McGill voters. Minimum Wage While all seven candidates agreed that Quebec’s $12/hour minimum wage is insufficient, Liberal candidate Jennifer Maccarone, Coalition a l`Avenir Quebec (CAQ) candidate Michelle Morin, and Conservative Mikey Lauzon were advocating no increase in minimum wage. Instead, these candidates believed that the benefits of balancing the budget, the dangers this might pose for small businesses, and the relative merit of cutting taxes, were more important than raising minimum wage, respectively. On the other hand, candidates from the Parti Quebecois (PQ), CAQ, Quebec Solidaire (QS), Green Party, and NDP all advocated raising the minimum wage to $15/hour as a way of providing a living wage and stimulating the economy. These candidates also acknowledged the importance of supporting small businesses through this process. The NDP’s Nicholas Lawson went even further with his promise for a guaranteed minimum income of $1000/month. Health and Dental Care Liberal Maccarone and CAQ Morin advocated a dental care system of guaranteed free coverage for all those under 18 and for seniors, while both the Green Party’s Samuel Kuhn and NDP Lawson argued for universal dental care, and QS Ekaterina Piskunova cited her party’s plan for 60-80% dental coverage reimbursement for all adults, and free care for all children and seniors. However, neither the PQ’s J. Marion Benoit nor Conservative Lauzon had a direct response to the question of increasing dental coverage. Instead, Lauzon ar-
gued for more privatization of health care and more private insurance to increase competition in the market. Participation On increasing youth participation many candidates offered non-specific responses when asked how they would increase democratic participation by young people, and how they would best represent young voters. However, Maccarone and Lawson indicated that they would investigate the viability of online voting to make it more accessible, Kuhn and Lawson advocated instituting proportional representation, and Kuhn argued for lowering the voting age to 16.
their market competitiveness. On the other hand, Morin, Piskunova, and Lawson all stressed their belief that education should be free and accessible to all Quebecers. Federalism Each candidate responded to a question on federalism by assuring that they would always vote to remain within Canada, except for PQ candidate Benoit and QS candidate Piskunova. Benoit said that Quebec independence would allow the province more independence, arguing that federalism doesn’t work within the Quebec context, and Piskunova presented her sovereigntist position
To a certain extent, each candidate pledged support for environmental causes. Lauzon’s proposal was for the creation of more pipelines as a more environmentally conscious way of transporting oil, and for the abolition of the carbon tax. On the other hand, Lawson opposed pipelines and fossil fuel extraction, as did Piskunova. are people using public transportation). All candidates except for Maccarone and Lauzon opposed this Bill, saying that it is too subjective or inefficient, and needs revision. Maccarone and Lauzon, however, stressed the need for those representing the secular state to remain neutral.
Claire Grenier | The McGill Daily International Tuition When asked about the recent deregulation of tuition for international university students coming to Quebec, all candidates except for Maccarone and Lawson were opposed, citing the importance of inclusivity and the right to affordable education. Maccarone argued instead that universities should ultimately be the ones to make decisions about their tuitions. Lauzon insisted that all university tuitions should be deregulated in order to give more power to universities to adjust tuition to increase
as an opportunity or tool to be able to make more independent and socially just decisions, such as writing a new Quebec constitution more focused on minority rights. Multiculturalism and Immigration The candidates were divided in their views on the role of multiculturalism and immigration . Maccarone, Benoit, and Lauzon stressed the need to accept immigrants into Quebec in order to address the growing labor shortage. Lauzon insisted that the most important cri-
Benoit said that Quebec independence would allow the province more independence, arguing that federalism doesn’t work within the Quebec context, and Piskunova presented her sovereigntist position as an opportunity or tool to be able to make more independent and socially just decisions, such as writing a new Quebec constitution more focused on minority rights.
terion for immigration should be not what language an immigrant speaks, or indeed any other factor besides what economic benefit they will bring. Benoit stressed that 100 per cent of immigrants should speak French before being allowed to come to Quebec. Additionally, both Morin and Lawson also acknowledged the importance of being able to speak French in order to integrate into the province, but believe that providing free French classes to immigrants once they arrived would be beneficial. Piskunova, Kuhn, and Lawson agreed on the importance of welcoming immigrants and working with them to ensure successful integration once they arrive. A related question arose pertaining to the candidates’ opinion on Bill 62, which regulates who can wear religious symbols and garments, and where they can wear them, which many see as a controversial infringement upon religious freedoms (for example, civil servants are prohibited from wearing religious garments, as
Environmentalism To a certain extent, each candidate pledged support for environmental causes. Lauzon’s proposal was for the creation of more pipelines as a more environmentally conscious way of transporting oil, and for the abolition of the carbon tax. Lawson, opposed pipelines and fossil fuel extraction, as did Piskunova. The Green Party’s Kuhn had little to present by way of environmental initiatives, while Lawson, Morin, and Maccarone supported the electrification of transportation, and Benoit proposed increasing urban agriculture. There were similarities between Maccarone, Morin, and Lauzon in their repeated emphasis on economic policy over social policy, often in defense of present systems. For example, Maccarone defended the Liberal government’s austerity measures that affected McGill directly, weakening areas like its disability services and other social services, saying that balancing the Quebec budget must be accomplished. Similarly, Morin repeatedly stressed her focus of building a strong economy, and Lauzon presented himself as a candidate on the side of the customer, interested in lowering taxes and doing away with the Quebec Sales Tax. In contrast, Piskunova advocated long-term social and environmental change in the status quo, while Lawson characterized himself as both “idealistic and realistic,” interested in non-divisive change. Benoit’s focus often fell most strongly on issues of sovereignty and francization, while Kuhn’s main interest lay in the failure of the Quebec healthcare system under Liberal austerity measures.
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NEWS
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
“Enforce Your Rights!”
Law Student Launches Complaint Against University Ece Özer News Writer
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n late August, the Quebec Human Rights Commission (CDPDJ) received a complaint from current McGill law student, Didier Chelin, who has a visual impairment. His complaint noted the poor condition of McGill’s services and accommodations for students with disabilities, despite the presence of the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSd). Didier Chelin, who has been blind since birth, believes the university has failed to accommodate his disability, and as a result, he failed his six law courses last semester. Chelin points to the lack of prior access to his course materials, lack of guidance and inadequacy of the OSD to direct him to the therapy he needs as reasons for his poor performance in school.
Didier Chelin, who has been blind since birth, believes the university has failed to accommodate his disability, and as a result, he failed his six law courses last semester. Didier Chelin’s Experience Meeting in an interview with the Daily, Didier Chelin detailed his experiences at McGill. He spoke of his encounter with the services provided by the OSD, including the effect of waiting two months to receive course materials from the Office. Chelin said this lack of service and his struggle to catch up with his peers caused him to lose sleep, and was a source of high stress and other mental health issues for him. “There is an organization like the OSD in every university in Quebec,” he said, also noting how the Office has a different set of mandates than their equivalents. “The OSD has several mandates, and the OSD has failed every one of them,” said Chelin. He called for the organization, and others like it across the province, to fulfill their mandates: “The first mandate is to make sure that students have access to all the government programs that they are entitled to.” Chelin also says the OSD did not contact either professors, or his rehabilitation center, on his behalf during the school year, and that he even had to find and pay a scribe on his own accord.
Nelly Wat | The McGill Daily About accessing mental health services at McGill, Chelin states that even after his several attempts to receive therapy or guidance from the school, he still was not accommodated. “My primary disability is blindness but my secondary disability is simply called mental health, and the OSD has completely ignored my mental health needs.” Chelin stated. “I was diagnosed primarily with generalized anxiety last December,” he went on, “eventually, I got therapy in May of this year after having needed it over a year ago.” Chelin ended up paying for psychiatric services himself. Overall, Chelin believes that there has been a lack of effort and advocacy on his behalf from his advisor. Chelin, who considers himself an activist, adds that there are various kinds of activism, and the type he engages in does not include any kind of civil disobedience: “It is possible to be an activist without breaking any laws or any rules and without disturbing the peace.” For various people, Chelin’s complaint can have a major and long-term effect not only in the McGill community and
administration, but for other legal and private institutions in Canada. Chelin has met many people with disabilities who are fired from their firms, which had failed to accommodate their needs. Solidarity from Centre for ResearchAction on Race Relations (CRARR) On September 12th, the McGill’s Campus Community Radio (CKUT) interviewed the Executive Director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), Fo Niomi. Niomi is actively helping Didier Chelin in the filing his complaint. The mandate of CRARR is “to promote racial equality and combat racism in Canada and is considered as one of the leading nonprofit race relations organizations in the country.” In the interview with CKUT, Niomi explains how he got to know Chelin, “Mr. Chelin has been [working with] our organization for almost two years. He was involved in many cases dealing with systematic discrimination.” Niomi expresses his and CRARR’s support for Chelin, “We have been following him in his efforts and struggle to do his law studies at
the university, it seems as if there is some sort of regular systemic barriers. That’s why we believe the situation got critical.” Both Niomi and Chelin put emphasis on the effects of systematic discrimination. Niomi describes it as “a multiplicity of barriers.” He applies this to the OSD “[they] seem to have provided inadequate information to [Chelin] despite government policy and program. [Chelin] was not made aware, he was not given the kind of accommodation that is necessary for him to be able to function [...] It appears that professors are not [informed] beforehand on the fact that they are going to have a student with a disability in the class [so] that they could prepare the reading materials before, or adapt some materials to the student’s needs [...] That is one of the gaps.” Chelin’s complaint is expected to be filed in the upcoming weeks, and Chelin is determined to get the help he needs. Fo Niomi believes that every student must have the conditions not only to meet the minimum requirements,
Chelin spoke of his experience with the services provided by OSD, including the effect of waiting two months to receive course materials from the office. Chelin said this lack of service, and his struggle to catch up with his peers, caused him to lose sleep, and was a source of high stress and other mental health issues for him.
but to excel. Niomi proclaims that “students with disabilities should have all the institutional conditions in order to be visible and to be heard.” Further Activism During his interview with the Daily, Chelin says that since going public with his complaint he has received many personal messages from people who face similar struggles due to their disabilities. Chelin wishes to provide three pieces of advice to students with disabilities, both within McGill and beyond. First, he would like them to know “[that] it is okay to be different.” Elaborating he said, “many people think that belonging to the mainstream is the most important goal of their life. They basically say as long as I am normal I am fine. [...] You have the right to be different, and the law itself gives us that right. The moment you recognize you have the right to be different: that’s 90 per cent of the process started — it starts within.” Secondly, he encourages students with disabilities to “know your rights! For everybody and especially for the people with mental health issues because you are not sure what to expect, you are living in a world that is not necessarily comfortable for you.” He concluded by saying, “my last advice will be that the moment a single right has been violated, don’t just pocket the insult! Because many students with disabilities are tired, basically it is easy to stay silent. Enforce your rights! It can be hard to make human rights complaints and mobilize but that’s what it needs to be in a democracy.”
Commentary
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Are You Still Watching? Angelina Mazza Commentary Writer
Insatiable and the Problem with Bad Television
S
ure, I get emotionally invested. I spend more time watching Buffy than I would like to admit. I can still hear my mother telling me to stop talking back “like those rude characters you watch on TV.” I press the pause button out of vicarious embarrassment, and I yell at my screen. I am moved to tears, I am devastated… and I love it. But this isn’t a love letter to television. On August 10, 2018, the series Insatiable premiered on Netflix. It tells the story of an overweight high schooler named Patty (Debby Ryan) who loses 70 pounds by having her jaw wired shut after she takes a punch to the facefrom a homeless man (Daniel Thomas May) who was trying to steal her food. Yes, you read that right.
The problem of Bad Television doesn’t end there; Insatiable is but one example of the harmful content that Netflix continues to create. It gets worse: the “new” Patty seeks revenge on anyone that has ever bullied her. She decides to compete in beauty pageants, and teams up with Bob Armstrong (Dallas Roberts), a pageant coach disgraced due to a false accusation of sexual assault and pedophilia. If Patty is crowned Miss Magic Jesus, then Bob can earn back his good name. Which is, of course, just what we need in the era of #MeToo — a narrative that not only mocks sexual assault, but that also features a redemption arc for the alleged assaulter. I could go on, but I wouldn’t know when to stop. Insatiable is fueled by jokes about closeted homosexuality, fatness, statutory rape, and racism. In response to the claim that these harmful jokes are meant as satire, popular culture critic Linda Holmes writes: “Insatiable is satire in the same way someone who screams profanities out a car window is a spoken-word poet.” And renowned feminist author Roxane Gay tweets: “Satire isn’t a free pass for bullshit.”
The series maintains a low 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an online petition urging for a cancellation from Netflix began circulating when the trailer for Insatiable premiered in July 2018. This petition has now accumulated over 235, 000 signatures. And yet. Despite the backlash, and much to my personal dismay, Netflix renewed Insatiable for a second season on September 12. Millions of dollars will continue to be invested in regressive and hateful material. The problem of Bad Television doesn’t end there; Insatiable is but one example of the harmful content that Netflix continues to create. I felt the same outrage when the network renewed 13 Reasons Why, a series about teen suicide and rape that never explicitly discusses mental illness don’t even get me started on the school shooting plot. I felt it when I tried to watch The Kissing Booth, Netflix’s alarmingly sexist romantic comedy. I felt it when Sierra Burgess is a Loser not only romanticized catfishing, but also featured an unsettling scene with a non-consensual kiss, and another where a character pretends to be disabled. Even more frustrating is the feedback on any negative review of this type of content. Articles about Insatiable have received comments like “Don’t like it... don’t watch it. Too many big babies out in the world. Boo hoo” and “if you were slim you would be less angry.” You know, dismissing claims of fatphobia with some more fatphobia. Worst of all, I find comments from viewers who say that these negative reviews are what draw them to the series, that the controversy is responsible for the creation of an active fanbase. This idea — that when writers fight back against Bad Television, they allow it to take up more space in the world — makes me feel powerless. How do I talk about the things that hurt me without drawing more attention to them? Does criticizing harmful content inevitably encourage hate-watching? I started watching Insatiable because of the lack of accurate fictional narratives about people living with eating disorders. I believe in the importance of telling these stories, but they must be told with respect and compassion for the people who live them. Though producer Lauren Gussis claims to have based Insatiable on her own experience with bingeeating and mental illness, she has not considered how her work
Nelly Wat | The McGill Daily
In response to the claim that these harmful jokes are meant as satire, popular culture critic Linda Holmes writes: “Insatiable is satire in the same way someone who screams profanities out a car window is a spokenword poet.” And author Roxane Gay tweets: “Satire isn’t a free pass for bullshit.” might affect a broader audience. Insatiable may have been cathartic for her, but it was painful for many others who were hoping to connect with something meaningful. And when showrunners respond to valid criticism, it’s always with the same excuse: they are very sorry that their art has hurt people, but at least we are now discussing important issues. 13 Reasons Why creator Brian Yorkey believes in graphically depicting traumatic incidents because “talking about it is so much better than silence.” And Insatiable’s Lauren Gussis says that her intention in making art is to “spark conversation through satire and comedy. Because then at least people are talking about it and not brushing it under the rug, and airing it out.” She also feels that growth “comes from discomfort and pain.”
But it doesn’t have to. At least, not from the way in which Insatiable and 13 Reasons Why use discomfort and pain. While both these showrunners’ intentions seem noble, they don’t diminish the harm that Bad Television can cause. There are other ways to break down stigmas. We can make room for thoughtful conversation about tough social issues the way that One Day at a Time, Crazy ExGirlfriend or My Mad Fat Diary make it happen: with humour, sensitivity and empathetic honesty. The reboot of One Day at a Time addresses racism, LGBT experiences, mental illness, and veteran issues through the portrayal of a Cuban-American family. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend tackles feminism and mental illness through satirical Broadway-style musical numbers, and My Mad Fat
Diary succeeds where Insatiable fails — the British series is a raw look at the life of a 16-year-old girl who struggles with coming to terms with her eating disorder and related mental health issues. So where does that leave us with Bad Television? What do we do when all the petitions and negative reviews in the world can’t stop the renewal of a series like Insatiable? This isn’t a love letter to television. This is a call to stop amplifying bad content. I acknowledge that perhaps that is exactly what I have done by writing this article, but while I have provided a list of harmful material, I have also offered relevant alternatives. Do not hate-watch harmful content. Doing so still gives Bad Television the viewership it relies on to get renewed. Don’t make Insatiable your guilty pleasure.
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letter
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
A Call for McGill to Ban Student-Teacher Relationships
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ver the past year, the question of intimate relationships between professors and students has become a major concern for the McGill community, with the formation of the Ad-Hoc Senate Committee being an encouraging step in the right direction. So far, the question has largely been framed in terms of consent and sexual violence; however—without denying the legitimate concerns surrounding these issues—we suggest a policy ‘bracketing’ these questions and approaching the matter from a different angle. The alternative we propose, in line with principles to which the university is already committed, would be easier to respect and to enforce. We propose that intimate relationships between students and teaching staff be understood in terms of professional misconduct and considered a violation of the trust (or a ‘fiduciary duty’) that must exist within an educational institution for it to be able to provide a positive, productive, and safe academic environment for all students, in accordance with McGill’s existing mandate. We contend that all educators have a professional responsibility, in their interactions with all students at their institution, to act based on what is in the best pedagogical interests of these students (i.e. their interests as learners). Educators should always aim to put students’ interests as learners first in their interactions with them, and have a responsibility not to act contrary to these interests. That is, educators’ own interests in their students must be primarily ‘otherdirected’, putting students’ interests as learners first whenever possible. A personal interest in a student involving some benefit to the educator— including as a potential romantic or sexual partner—renders that educator unable to ensure that they will act in the student’s best interests as a learner, as these personal and other-directed interests are incompatible. McGill’s existing Conflict of Interest policy does not adequately address the conflicts that arise between students and teaching staff involved in romantic or sexual relationships. Not only is the policy designed mainly to apply to matters of professional or academic status or financial benefit, but it requires people to disclose any potential conflicts of interest in advance of a conflict arising. However, an educator taking an active romantic or sexual interest in a student already involves a conflict
of the interests described above, and so already constitutes a violation of a fiduciary duty. By the time the personal interest starts to be an influence on the educator’s interactions with the student, even before any relationship has started, the relevant interests have already conflicted, making reporting the potential for conflict redundant. Seen from the students’ side, a professor, course instructor, or TA expressing personal interest in a student breaches a trust that students must be able to place in those who are teaching them and supervising their education, where this applies beyond their current teachers in a particular term. Students need to be able to trust those teaching, supervising, or advising them (or who might plausibly do so at some point in their academic careers) to regard and relate to them primarily as learners when receiving grades and feedback, discussing ideas in office hours, seeking advice on academic careers, requesting reference letters, inquiring about a course, etc. Students
breach of professional responsibility and fiduciary duty outlined above will still have occurred, and will still negatively impact the academic environment of the university, contrary to McGill’s commitments to its students. In light of these considerations, we call for McGill to create and implement a policy (1) fully banning amorous or sexual relationships between any faculty members and any undergraduate student, and (2) banning amorous or sexual relationships between (i) faculty members and graduate students within the same department or who could influence the graduate student’s supervision or academic career, and (ii) course lecturers or TAs and any student currently enrolled in their courses (not just their conference sections), where these relationships were in any way initiated in or mediated through the involved persons’ roles within the university, or otherwise occurred within the
current definition of ‘University Context’, which includes actions occurring off-campus “where the conduct has consequences that may be reasonably seen to adversely affect ... the right of a member of the University community to use or enjoy the University’s learning or working environment.” A ban such as we propose is in line with articles 4.1 and 4.2 of the Charter of Students’ Rights, which guarantees students freedom from unwanted advances or expressions of interest from university employees. An official ban on ‘amorous’ student-professor relationships that the university was willing to enforce may be the only way to protect this right: one can never know in advance whether an expression of interest will be ‘wanted’ or not, so dis-incentivizing any such advances by prohibiting the goal of such advances (i.e. an intimate relationship) and making it subject to professional sanctions is the best way to avoid such advances
We call for McGill to create and implement a policy (1) fully banning amorous or sexual relationships between any faculty members and any undergraduate student, and (2) banning amorous or sexual relationships between (i) faculty members and graduate students within the same department or who could influence the graduate student’s supervision or academic career, and (ii) course lecturers or TAs and any student currently enrolled in their courses.
who think an educator is actively personally interested in them beyond an interest in their thinking and academic development won’t be as free to express ideas, share knowledge and perspectives, take feedback as impartial constructive criticism, question grades, ask for extensions or accommodations, etc.—all of which present barriers to a positive and effective learning environment. And if an educator is known to be in relationships with students, or even to take an active ‘amorous’ interest in some students, other students in their courses or those who want to study the subject they teach won’t necessarily be able to trust the educator to regard or treat them equitably. These considerations apply regardless of whether it is possible for the student to give consent in such relationships. In a case where, for the sake of argument, the relationship was consensual, the
university context. The last clause is meant to address worries about policing the private lives of members of the McGill community outside of any connection to their positions in the university. For instance, faculty members or students who choose to engage in anonymous consensual sex in their private lives should not be subject to sanctions for ‘honest mistakes’ arising from not knowing the status of their partners. It would also not apply to a professor whose spouse or partner decides to pursue a degree at McGill and thus becomes an undergraduate student after their relationships began—here, declaring a potential conflict of interest under the existing policy would suffice. However, the policy should apply to cases where two people already familiar with one another in their capacities as educator and student encounter one another off university property. This accords with McGill’s
occurring. Although a ban can’t stop inappropriate behaviour from ever occurring, anything less than a ban that includes significant sanctions (e.g. loss of tenure or firing) that are actually enforced will be insufficient as a deterrent, and will conflict with the university fulfilling its existing commitments to providing a positive, productive, safe, and inclusive educational environment. We’ve suggested the policy should apply differently to undergraduate and graduate students. While there is added potential for abuse when it comes to graduate students and professors within their discipline in terms of possible effects on a student’s academic career, the potential for abuses of power and the breach of the fiduciary duty discussed above may not always apply when the graduate student and professor are from different departments where there is no professional or academic relation.
However, because undergraduates take courses outside their majors and have the possibility of switching majors or minors, etc., where this is necessary for their academic flourishing, it seems reasonable to hold the professional responsibility to apply to all undergraduate students enrolled in an educator’s institution. We urge that any policy implementing the above suggestions should clearly outline: which activities and relations the policy covers; which members of the university community it applies to; the procedures for filing complaints of policy violation; and meaningful sanctions for violation, up to and including loss of tenure or termination of employment. With the issue of consent bracketed, less proof would be required to demonstrate an ‘amorous’ relationship than is required to prove that sex occurred, which would make the policy less problematic to enforce while still requiring a standard of proof that would protect individuals from false allegations. With sanctions applying to the educator and not the student, with a reasonable standard of proof for an involved student to meet, and with the question of consent bracketed, such a policy would create the strongest possible dis-incentive for any educator to initiate or pursue such a relationship or to allow one to occur. By banning student-teacher relationships, McGill would join a number of universities with similar bans such as Harvard, Yale, and MIT, and would bring itself in line with policies governing professionals in other fields, such as health care providers. It would also show the administration’s willingness to play a proactive leadership role in addressing inappropriate behaviour in workplaces and institutions. Just as a policy on plagiarism that only “strongly discouraged” it without outlining serious consequences for plagiarizing, up to and including expulsion, would show a lack of any serious commitment to doing as much as possible to prevent plagiarism, anything less than a full ban, at least as involves undergraduate students, will fail to show the university’s willingness to do what it can to prevent inappropriate behaviour that negatively impacts the educational life of its students—and, in some cases, to prevent full-fledged sexual abuse. Sincerely, David Collins, PhD Philosophy, and anonymous members of the Philosophy Students’ Association and the Philosophy Graduate Students’ Association.
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ISTHMUS
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Ebb and Flow Jiawen Wang | Illustrator Sara H. The McGill Daily content warning: death, grieving On June 7th, 2014, I watch my dad die. I’ve been watching him die for months now, maybe even years; his brain cancer returned as quickly as we thought it had left. But this day is different. I’m curled up in a brown leather armchair, Harry Potter and the HalfBlood Prince in my lap. My family has made the West Island Palliative Care Centre our home for the last two months, and I like hiding away in their small library. My sister comes into the room. She stands in front of me for a few seconds before saying something in a strained voice, but I’m somewhere else. I’m drowning. “Hey… and they’re trying to help … he’s probably going to go soon. Do you want to come into the room?” I do. Even when he was sick, my dad would go to work every day at 5 a.m. He would come back at 8 p.m. He would insist on washing the dishes every night. It doesn’t make sense that this is my dad; unable to move or eat or drink in a hospital bed; that I haven’t heard his voice in a month, or that I am sitting in this small white room, listening to him struggling to breathe. It doesn’t make sense that his breathing stops.
way. I knew she was making fun of us, but I can’t remember a time in my life without Selva.
existed. Different men give speeches, until it’s my mom’s turn. Her voice wavers as she says:
There she is, the rest of me, and I cry in her arms, trying “Reza was a great dad, husband, and friend. We moved to Canada with three small kids as students, and he to be whole again. did everything to provide for his family, even as his health got worse. That was who he was… and he’ll be missed by his kids, his friends, and everyone here.” My sister makes her way to me and Selva. She asks if I want to go into my dad’s room, and I shake my head no. We walk to the door where they’re about to bring out Years later, I still look through email conversations I the body. My dad’s body. My dad. The door is opened had with my dad. Most of his emails are of him telling and as my sister steps out, and I catch a glimpse of him me to clean my room and to eat properly in somewhat wrapped in a white shroud. I snap my head away. broken English. Some are replies to little updates about my life, like the time I complained to him about getting There are too many faces standing here. One of them my shoes muddy in a storm. He answered reassuringly. tells me: “You’ll regret not going in when you get older.” I won’t. This isn’t how I want to remember him. I go outside with Selva. Every room here has a small patio that connects to the yard, but this time we have to go out from a separate door. I don’t think my father’s room is ours anymore. The sky is a clear blue, and the warm air hangs around us. We walk towards a pair of lawn gliders. As we swing ourselves back and forth, I mention Iman’s reply to my text:
Condolences. It doesn’t make sense that his sister falls on the floor, saying she should have died instead. The first person I tell is Iman, a boy I haven’t talked to in months. I’m sitting alone at a table in a common area, typing my message.
“He can’t even get something right in this fucking situation, how Iman of him.” We laugh. Life goes on. The funeral is two days later. It’s a hot and sunny day, and my black clothes are sticking to me. My friends are here, and I try my best to be normal around them. Hey guys, welcome to my dad’s funeral! I keep a water bottle in my hands, taking sips whenever I feel the lump in my throat that tells me I’m about to cry.
Too casual. My uncle and brothers carry my dad’s casket. My family and I stand in front of the hole in the ground together, with a crowd of 50 people behind us. They lower the casket. My mom keeps throwing in roses, keeping her hands busy. It’s over. “Died” is so… dry.
Send. I don’t know why I choose him to be the bearer of my bad news. Maybe it’s because I feel like he should be the first to know. Or maybe I don’t want anyone else to know. Maybe a part of me just wants to hurt him with my pain. I get a text from Selva asking me where I am. Fifteen minutes later, I see her come in, and she rushes towards me. Whenever I would go to the mosque without Selva, this girl would ask, “Where’s the rest of you?” My usual answer was that the rest of me was on her
When I was 11, I would sign my emails with “LIFE’S GOOD.” I cry when I read these emails now, but I’m not sure why. Maybe they’re little pieces of advice I wish he could give me today, or just reminders that I still miss him.
I lose control. Two days after my dad’s funeral, I have my final history exam. My brain is racing through the questions in the overheated classroom, and I leave the second I’m done. I wait for my friends outside, and as we’re leaving school, I start crying. They place their hands on my shoulders, which is, I guess, meant to reassure me, but I can’t help but notice the discomfort on their faces. They don’t know what to do with me. Neither do I. Two weeks later, my family and I travel to Iran to attend a ceremony held for my father at a university. As we’re walking to the auditorium, my mom points out different buildings: “Your dad built this;” “your dad made them put that there;” “do you see all the things your dad did?” The auditorium is filled with people I never knew existed, in honour of a side of my dad I never knew
My dad would always start imitating a character after watching a movie. When we went to see Toy Story 3, he pretended to be Buzz Lightyear for a week. He’d suddenly pretend to start shooting at me, or would freeze up as I was walking behind him. I make my mom watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer with me. Afterwards, she pretends to be a vampire, feigning to bite me. But I’m older now, and something about it feels empty. Grief is tidal. One minute you’re sitting at your friend’s graduation show, nearly three years later, and the next there are tears streaming down your face because two girls are singing “What a Wonderful World.” Your dad’s favourite was the Louis Armstrong version, not the Israel Kamakawiwo’ole medley they’re singing, but it still reminds you of him. It pulls you in, it pulls you out.
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September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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ALEJANDRA ZAGA MENDEZ: THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL ACTIVISM
A PROFILE OF QUÉBEC SOLIDAIRE’S CANDIDATE IN BOURASSA-SAUVÉ
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September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
ALEJANDRA ZAGA MENDEZ: THE Athina Khalid The McGill Daily
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ugust’s oppressive humidity hung in the air. As I got off the bus at the intersection of Sauvé and Boulevard Saint-Michel, the thick air clung to my skin and seeped into my lungs. Northward, the sky was grey. Southward, it was still clear and blue. Thunder echoed off of the concrete six-lane street, as did the neighbouring children’s half-scared, half-excited yells in response to each celestial bellow. I was a block and a half from Alejandra Zaga Mendez’s campaign office when it started to pour. Sheets of rain broke the air’s humid seal. I ran to the office, but I still arrived soaked. Alejandra and a member of her team, Ricardo, were trying to figure out if the power had gone out. It had. Alejandra and I sat down by the window in the dark office as the rain came splashing down onto the street. Alejandra Zaga Mendez is a Québec Solidaire candidate for the riding of Bourassa-Sauvé, situated in Montréal-Nord. Montréal-Nord is situated at the Northern edge of the Island of Montreal. It is an immigrant-heavy borough; 42 per cent of residents were born somewhere other than Canada and 14 per cent of residents do not have Canadian citizenship. The borough is also one of the poorest parts of Montreal; 42 per cent of people earn less than $20,000 per year and low income households comprise 21.7 per cent of all households in the borough. Alejandra grew up in the riding, just a bit further east than the campaign office. In our interview, Alejandra told me that she has been politically active since a young age. In August 2008, she
was moved by the death of Fredy Villanueva. Villanueva was an 18-year-old Honduran immigrant who was killed by SPVM officers in Montréal-Nord’s Henri-Bourassa park (now known to locals as Fredy Villanueva park). Alejandra said that she and many other residents of Montréal-Nord felt connected to Villanueva’s death: “we felt that he could have been one of us, growing up here, coming from an immigrant background.” Villanueva’s death sparked protests in Montréal-Nord, and led to the birth of Montréal-Nord Républik and Hoodstock. MontréalNord Républik is a community organization that describes itself as “a popular movement born in the crossfires of revolt in Montréal-Nord in August 2008;” Hoodstock is a yearly conference run by Montréal-Nord Républik held on the anniversary of Fredy Villanueva’s death. Alejandra was involved with both.
“We felt that Fredy Villanueva could have been one of us, growing up here, coming from an immigrant background.”
expense for families living on lowincomes. Alejandra had to move in order to study at MacDonald campus; the commute between MontrealNorth and the West Island takes over two hours in each direction via public transportation. She felt something she describes as somewhat of a “cultural clash” at McGill, something she also noticed while studying the Arts and Science at Collège Bois-deBoulogne. She noticed the difference between her public school education — Alejandra Zaga Mendez and the private school education of In 2009, Alejandra moved to the many of her peers in CEGEP and at West Island to study Agriculture and McGill. She noticed the discrepancy Environmental Sciences at McGill’s between the cultural cues she had MacDonald campus. She recalls been exposed to and those of her receiving her acceptance letter in her peers. But, Alejandra did not see second year of CEGEP and thinking either as a barrier. Rather, she saw this “I’m not going.” Without scholarships, “clash” as a challenge to overcome. her family would not have been Over time, Alejandra realized that able to afford to send her to McGill. she had “[another] knowledge:” a McGill’s tuition is a substantial knowledge she now shares with
Athina Khalid | The McGill Daily
Athina Khalid | The McGill Daily many kids who grew up in MontréalNord. This knowledge, she explains, is a strength that many of those growing up in Montréal-Nord build in response to their experiences. To her, this “other knowledge” is a treasure. Alejandra, half-jokingly, discusses how, while other students were overwhelmed by midterms, she was able to keep academic stress in perspective. Midterms might mean pulling an all-nighter studying, but to her, that in itself was a privilege. And, while she felt a “clash” at McGill, her university experience gave her the opportunity to “learn about what was going on out there — what other people think.” During her time at McGill, she met people from around the world. She learned about issues elsewhere through peers who were open to learning about local issues in Montreal. “There’s a whole world out there,” she said. “We don’t all have the same background, and we can learn from our different experiences.” Alejandra was also at McGill for the student protests of 2012, which opposed tuition hikes for Quebec students. Her and a few other students organized protests on MacDonald campus. To her, a major challenge during the protest movement was articulating what it meant to be a Quebec student to those who came from outside of the province. To Alejandra, being a Quebec student is not defined by not having a CSQ;* it’s defined by living and studying in the province. Alejandra argues that “international” students should be concerned with local issues because they live and study at partially publicly-funded institution. Alejandra emphasizes the importance of solidarity: “it wouldn’t advantage [international students] personally,” she says, but out-ofprovince students could have, and
were allies to the protest movement during the spring of 2012. “There was a lot of explaining to do,” but Alejandra argues that the protests brought out-of-province students into contact with local movements. After completing her undergraduate degree, Alejandra did a Master’s of Science in Renewable Resources at McGill. She also attended the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 2012 and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Lima in 2014. As she spoke with groups from across South America about poverty and ecological justice, she was reminded of the poverty she saw in Montréal-Nord. While acknowledging the different degree of poverty in Quebec and in Brazil, she noticed a pattern: both in Rio and in Montreal, those living in poor communities have little access to opportunities beyond the neighbourhood where they are born. Seeing how environmental policies directly exacerbate inequality in South America, it became clear to Alejandra that those who have the fewest opportunities are paying the highest price for a global lack of consideration for the environment. Nevertheless, she says it was inspiring to see Indigenous communities from Peru, Ecuador, and Chile articulate environmental issues not only as priorities, but as their rights. She recalls the words of an Indigenous elder from the conference in Lima: “we cannot negotiate life.” To her, this statement crystallized the ways in which the Global North, and the governing classes in the Global North, are exporting the impacts of their negligent environmental policies. Today, Alejandra is a key member of Québec Solidaire. She is running to be the Member of National Assembly (MNA) for Bourassa-Sauvé. Despite the fact that she’s running as a
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September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL ACTIVISM A Profile of Québec Solidaire Candidate in Bourassa-Sauvé of sovereignty, she would not be a part of the party. However, her answer focused on the positive, and perhaps theoretical, aspects of such a campaign, rather than on how to avoid entanglement with ethnonationalist rhetoric. To Alejandra, the nationalist sovereignty views Quebec’s independence as an end in itself, whereas independence to Québec Solidaire is a means to a more progressive and empowered Quebec. She went on to discuss the process through which a referendum would happen under Québec Solidaire. The party would instate a constituents assembly, a body of elected nonpartisan representatives from across the province, to draft a constitution. Then, the Quebec public would vote on a sovereign state as outlined by the constitution. This clear and democratic process, to Alejandra, is the key to building a progressive Québecois state. The Québec Solidaire policies that are most important to Alejandra are those she sees impacting her community most directly:
health replicates social inequality, so providing universal dental care is a key facet of alleviating inequality. The third central policy priority of Alejandra’s campaign in BourassaSauvé is public transportation. As STM passes can be a significant expense for low-income residents of the constituency, Alejandra sees an importance in halving public transportation fees, in accordance with Québec Solidaire’s campaign promise. But, she also sees the importance in increasing funding for public transportation, especially in order to improve access to areas like Montréal-Nord. “We’re really far from downtown,” Alejandra says. For reference, it took me nearly an hour to get to the campaign office — on the Western edge of the riding — from Mont-Royal metro station.
of poverty reduction. And, while she had access to scholarships, she discussed the importance of making university more accessible. Alejandra supports Québec Solidaire’s vision for the future of Québec. She supports the party’s plan for a drastic economic transition, which would reorient the economy around better environmental practices. To her, the government ought not be subservient to corporate interests, nor should it exclusively focus on balancing budgets and minimizing debt. Alejandra argues that after fifty years of governments that passively respond to crisis, Québec needs a government
$15 per hour minimum wage, health care, and education. In MontréalNord, where over four in ten residents earn less than $20,000, the impacts of a raise in the minimum wage are clear: people will have more money to spend on things like rent, groceries, and school supplies. Furthermore, Alejandra argues that raising the minimum wage will boost the local economy. Merchants and local entrepreneurs want to open business in the area, but, Alejandra argues, “there is insufficient demand because people don’t have enough money. People are choosing between buying their groceries locally or at Costco.” To that end, Alejandra suggests that “raising the minimum wage up to $15 per hour will cause people to distribute their money locally,” which, in turn, helps lead to local job creation. In terms of health, Alejandra says that the need for universal dental care is clear. “People on the street tell us — show us — that they don’t have teeth because they didn’t have the money to pay for one dentist appointment per year.” Alejandra argues that lack of access to dental
“If you don’t have a car and you have a job downtown, you don’t have a good way to get downtown,” she continues. Like Québec Solidaire, Alejandra links higher access to public transportation with a decrease in the usage of cars. To her, therefore, investing in public transportation is important for the mobility of people in her community and for the environment.
that is proactive — a government that engages in ‘nation-building’ projects, such as HydroQuébec or the CEGEP system. With its economic and environmental transition plan, its policies about universal education and dental care, and with its emphasis on expanding public transport infrastructure, Québec Solidaire is reviving this approach to governance in Quebec politics. While Québec Solidaire only has three members in the National Assembly (MNA), Alejandra says the party is growing. She’s right; Québec Solidaire is rising in the polls, having reached an all-time high of 14.6%. Relative to the number of MNAs, Québec Solidaire has a disproportionate amount of members: 20,000, while the governing party, the Liberal Party of Québec, have 30,000. The party is set to retain their seats in Montreal, gain a few more on the island, and potentially expand to the riding of Taschereau in Québec city. At the very least, their campaign has made them far more visible than in previous years. Alejandra says that it’s up to “the people
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candidate, Alejandra acknowledges that there is validity in certain forms of cynicism. “Over and over again,” she says, “we have given power to the same elites who are not working for us.” Alejandra found like-minded people in Québec Solidaire: people who had backgrounds in community organizing, people who had worked from the ground up. As an example of Québec Solidaire listening to the grassroots, she cites her experience drafting policy for the party’s $15 per hour campaign promise. She, Manon Massé, and others, first met with activists lobbying for an increase in the province’s minimum wage, namely non-unionized workers and workers without status. Then, they met with unions and other proponents. After receiving the input of various proponents, Québec Solidaire drafted their bill. To Alejandra, this approach is important on two fronts. First, the party must respond to and reflect the wishes of activists and community organizers as informal representatives of their respective communities. Second, the party must also be held accountable by independent grassroots movements. While the party ought to draw inspiration from grassroots movements, Alejandra believes that it should not co-opt them; “we need people on the ground fighting for each issue so that we have a balance between the government and independent social movements,” she says. Working at the provincial level is important to Alejandra because of its legislative jurisdiction. “All of my political involvement has been with provincial issues: economic justice, health, education, even the environment. They’re all under provincial jurisdiction.” Provinciallevel politics are also important to Alejandra in terms of the project for sovereignty. Interestingly — to my anglophone ears, at least — she argued for sovereignty from a decolonial and ecological perspective. Alejandra finds it unacceptable that Canada continues to exist as a settler-colonial state. Sovereignty would force negotiations between the Quebec state and Indigenous people, on whose land we reside. While many see this as an insurmountable barrier to the project for independence, Alejandra has faith in cooperation between the Quebec state and Indigenous keepers of the land, citing Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador leader Ghislain Picard’s positive response to meetings with Manon Massé. When I pressed Alejandra on how to disentangle ethno-nationalism from the separatist movement, Alejandra made it clear that if Québec Solidaire were interested in an ethno-nationalist conception
“They couldn’t pay for one dentist appointment per year.”
— Alejandra Zaga Mendez
Finally, Alejandra emphasizes Québec Solidaire’s policies on education when talking to people in her riding. The party proposes free education, as they put it, from CPE* to PhD. “You see so many families with three kids who don’t have the $21 per day [to send their kids to CPEs].” To her, this too is a matter
to decide,” but she suggests that Québec Solidaire does not have anywhere to go but up. While, inevitably, the Liberals, the Coalition Avenir Québec, or even the PQ will form government after October 1st, Québec Solidaire is building an alternative movement and is keeping leftist principles alive in the political sphere. To paraphrase the speech Amir Khadir gave at Alejandra’s campaign launch in early September, winning elections is about hard work and defying odds. But, even in the ridings that aren’t won, the groundwork for the next election, or the following, is being built. In Bourassa-Sauvé, a Liberal stronghold, Alejandra thinks she has good chances. “People here don’t trust the Liberals,” she said in a speech at her campaign launch. “They feel forgotten.” She said that she had not crossed a single candidate while campaigning. Regardless of the outcome, she said that she was “ready to make this Liberal fortress tremble.” It was no longer raining when I left the interview, but the power was still out. I stopped in a grocery store on the corner of Fleury and Boulevard SaintMichel. People were walking around, using their phones as flashlights. It felt childishly fun to be pulled out of the ordinary — to be exploring a grocery store as though it were the site of a scavenger hunt. I walked down Saint-Michel and waited for the bus. I watched kids play on a balcony above a strip mall. The bus didn’t come for some time. I was in no rush; it was summer, and soon I would be back in the Plateau, where I would have plenty of metro stations and frequent bus lines, and where I would be close enough to bike to most places I venture to in under thirty minutes. Others there, however, were getting increasingly impatient — pacing, tapping their feet, scrolling indefinitely on their phones. When the bus came, there were three in a row. We shuffled on and were shuttled to the metro. I re-emerged, out from the underground, at Mont-Royal. The sky was clear. It felt like it hadn’t even rained. *Quebec selection certificate: a certificate that allows students, permanent residents, or other immigrants, to work/study in Quebec. **Centre de la petite enfance; a public daycare/preschool for children under the age of five.
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Culture
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Thus Speak Empowered Women
Exploring Feminism Through Magical Realism
Nadia El-Sherif Culture Writer
T
hus Speaks Mother Simorq , a collection of sixteen short stories, is Azadeh Azad’s latest release. A sociologist, psychotherapist, art therapist, and self-proclaimed feminist based in Montreal, Azad lends her Iranian-Canadian identity and experiences to the stories she tells in her anthology. I had the chance to interview her prior to the release of her book, and the conversation easily moved between discussions of Thus Speaks Mother Simorq, Iranian folklore, art therapy, and modern feminism. The conversation was in equal parts admiration of the perseverance of women and questions about her work as a feminist author and artist. The stories she shared situate her as an outspoken, self-assured MiddleEastern woman, navigating her way through North American society.
Azad tells tales of female resilience, female imperfection, and female bonds, interweaving Iranian folklore with magical realism. Simorq, a mythical bird in Persian folklore who often exists as either male, female, or sexually ambiguous, is entirely feminized in Azad’s version of the tale. She is an all-seeing and all-knowing entity that appears throughout the stories of other women in the collection, to guide or to share her wisdom. Azad’s decision to make Simorq explicitly female subverts the common presumption that a mythical, sexually indistinct bird-person should be male. In addition to falling back on Iranian folklore, the book weaves aspects of magical realism into the stories of the 16 different women and their experiences of the patriarchy. Many of these stories, set between Iran and modern day Montreal, are authentic illustrations of the different aspects of womanhood. Azad tells tales of female resilience, female imperfection, and female bonds. In her depictions of female emotions, Azad celebrates the power of vulnerability and the importance of self-expression. In the second story from the collection, Safa of the Spring, the title character becomes so overwhelmed watching an emotional scene play out in front of her that every cell in her body
Sophie McKenzie | Illustrator begins to shed tears until all that is left in her place is her “fountain of tears.” When asked about whether the choice not to conceal negative emotions throughout the book was a conscious move, Azad responded, “I just wrote it that way to show the depth of her sorrow. That was my only goal. [The tendency to hide our emotions] applies only to Western societies; expressing emotions too intensely is not viewed as good here, but in the Middle East, outbursts, especially crying, are very normal.” The sixteen short stories are filled with unwavering messages of female empowerment, and while some are more explicit than others, the book believes in the power of every patriarchy-defying move women make. These moves range from a wife walking away from her husband after a fight in Her father’s portrait, to a woman dressing up as a man from 20th century Tehran and fully integrating into male social circles only to narrowly avoid arrest through a combination of luck and careful strategy in Outside of the Box. No act of defiance is too small or too radical to be meaningful, and though never explicit in its call for action, these stories of female
strength are a constant reminder of the need for feminism in big and small situations alike. At times, Azad’s stories are deliberately provocative, and when asked about which story she enjoyed writing the most, she cited the final tale — a modern and controversial take on the story of Siavosh, a figure from Persian mythology. She explained that “Iranians are very sensitive to their mythical heroes. You can’t say anything against Rostam. He was a male chauvinist, a mythical national hero of Iran. He and Siavosh are very misogynistic; they are womenkillers. I enjoyed showing them as they were. Especially Siavosh, as he shows signs of [mental illness] and exhibits schizophrenic behavior in Ferdowsi’s The Book of Kings. So, I made him a schizophrenic in this story. Many Iranians won’t like it when they read it. And that’s okay with me.” As the conversation moved from Thus Speaks Mother Simorq to feminism and life as a woman, Azad proudly announced that she was a feminist, saying, “I have always been a feminist and I still am. What I have seen and felt since I was very young is the basis
Azad explained that Middle Eastern women “are, and have to be, stronger than Western women.”
of my feminism. My feminism didn’t come from reading books, it came from my observation of my environment.” This prompted a conversation about the differences between Western and Middle Eastern feminism. She debunked the cliché of Middle Eastern women being more submissive and more oppressed than Western women, explaining that Middle Eastern women “are, and have to be, stronger” than Western women. For her, men envy the authority women have in the household as it represents a threat to their power and perceived superiority outside of home. Azad said that the individual efforts women take to shift traditional gender roles are a source of collective female power, ranging from political to personal subversions of these views. She went on to explain that the reason she felt it was important to write this book was not to declare the superiority of one sex over the other, but to bring light to the collective struggles and strengths of women around the world, all of whom are ultimately fighting the same struggle but in different ways. Her feminism, as she explained, is not bound to literature. Azad is also a painter, and has worked on art that is “beautiful, but at the same time says something.” There are many shapes with which she expresses her activism
in art, ranging from images of domesticated brown women to work that is more overtly political and which directly subverts the patriarchal expectations of Middle Eastern women. An example of the latter depicts an Afghan woman sitting on a hill, using her burqa as a picnic blanket while wearing Western clothes. Azad expressed her conviction that portrayals of female strength are crucial, as they dismiss the idea that female characters only fall into categories of “good” or “evil.” My discussion with Azad highlighted that vulnerability isn’t inherently bad: emotional nakedness can be a source of strength for women and for all people. I asked the writer what advice she would give women navigating modern society. Her reply was a confident affirmation of the power of self-love as the basis for all other relationships. Azad also stressed the power of female solidarity in allowing women to persevere through patriarchal social barriers to succeed. Azad’s words, both in conversation and in Thus Speaks Mother Simorq, were welcome reminders of the power of female empowerment and resilience and its importance in our collective stories. Thus Speaks Mother Simorq is now available in bookstores across Canada.
Culture
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
A Victim Is Not Their Scars
15
Redefining Narratives: Laura Bari’s Primas
Gabriela Rey Culture Writer content warning: sexual violence, assault, incest
P
rimas is a documentary film that follows the stories of Roccio and Aldana, two Argentinian girls whose early lives are marked by hardship and trauma. At age ten, Roccio is kidnapped, raped, set on fire, and left for dead. Years later, Roccio’s cousin Aldana shares her own story of abuse — in her case, incest. Laura Bari, the director and producer of Primas, is also the aunt of Roccio and Aldana. Together, they embark on a journey of transformation, guided by the belief that visual poetry, art, and selfexpression have the power to redefine them. Primas goes far beyond telling the story of what happened to Roccio and Aldana. It is not a story of merely what happened, but of who they are, who they want to be, and the journey they must take in order to grow. The film’s central themes are resilience and imagination as therapy. When I spoke to Bari, she explained how she strived to create a space of autonomy and safety to avoid re-victimizing the characters. In the official statement on the film, Bari explains that “[The girls and I] worked together on this project: a project of self-expression for these two young women, and the construction of a film for me. They introduced me to their worlds, and I in turn exposed them to a multitude of stimuli. I designed and proposed imagined situations, creating a miseen-abyme for them to explore and play. They turned their reality into dreams, in order to dream up a new reality tomorrow.” “I would not use the word healing to describe the filmmaking process, but it is transformative. It is as if Roccio and Aldana are little onions, and we are slowly pulling back layers. As we peel them, they get to embark on the adventure of exploring themselves. This is the experimental part of the film, as we jumped into it without knowing where it will take us. But it began as a project where we wanted their bodies to tell a story their mouths couldn’t. They knew it was a process through which they would experience many things, but despite the fear, they thrived, and it was marvelous. “The film is a form of therapy, in the sense that Roccio and Aldana found themselves in it. When thinking about how to tell the girls’ story, I thought about ethics. For me, ethics and aesthetics go hand in hand. When I heard Roccio’s story, and when I found my characters, I asked them about their dreams, which led them
to think about what they imagine for themselves. Our work together was always evoking the imaginary. The girls would tell me about their dreams, and in Roccio’s case, I told her, ‘what if you are a crocodile girl - your skin would be incredible. You would have planets and galaxies all over your skin.’ I would look at her skin and say ‘you have moons and constellations.’ She would just laugh in reply, and I would tell her, ‘what if you’re a teenage crocodile girl who goes to Paris every night and comes back to tell us what she has seen.’ “These conversations helped us to establish a sense of trust, a partnership. After that, we could create a film. Roccio expressed herself through art; she used sounds and images to tell her story. I showed her how the mics on the set worked, and I would schedule times for her to tell me her story. This way, I could create a mosaic of Roccio’s narrative, and avoid re-victimizing her. Of course, there has to be moments where we show the reality of her trauma; its impact had to be shown, but the challenge was to achieve that without voyeurism. There is a scene where Roccio says ‘I thought he was killing me,’ and later on we see just how young she was when this happened. In these moments we see how crucial it is for us to know the truth. We need to not only remember this instance,
Agustina Salvador | Photographer but also think of everyone this has happened to, including the ones that stayed quiet, and the ones who never made it to police stations. “The family and our concept of it can also be problematic, many children who suffer abuse, be it physical, psychological, or sexual, are coerced into never broaching the subject, because it would hurt their loved ones if they knew. There is this sense that it would destroy the ones that made them; it’s quite perverse.” Set between Argentina and Montreal, Primas intertwines the
Azul Bari | Artist
girls’ imagination with the reality of their stories, allowing Roccio and Aldana to redefine their lives and narratives through art. The film not only speaks about the community that women can create for one another, but also about the communities that we as humans can make. It is within us to create, to live surrounded by love and the people that allow us to believe in the potential of our dreams. The stories of the two girls are by no means easy to hear. Primas possesses an astounding ability to dive into stories that have caused immense pain only to showcase resilience. The crux of the documentary is in depicting the girls as they are: teenagers living in rural Argentina, trying to figure out how to share what cannot be said, and struggling to create a narrative that belongs to them. The awe we feel when we witness the autonomy and growth of Roccio and Aldana towers above any initial sympathy we might have for their pain. “It is a challenge as a director to navigate my way through such delicate topics, but respect to me is the fundamental base. I make film like I breathe - I can’t stop - and when I do it, I know it is a process of transformation for both the crew and the characters. In the case of Primas, the girls are teenagers, which is already such a complicated time. The transformation of the body is hard at this age, and there are many responsibilities. Thus, when I film, I create a space where we feel safe, and dive into these complexities with trust in each other.” When we hear about terrible crimes, it is easy to think about victims as just that, without realizing that in doing so, we dehumanize and rob them of their identity. We replace the person with a hollow story of trauma. Primas not only challenges, but completely obliterates the notion that a victim is only their scars. In no way is this a
story about victims. It is a story about survivors, and girls who forge life out of pain; girls who were not the authors of their past, but who are now the authors of their future.
In no way is Primas a story about victims. It is a story about survivors, and girls who forge life out of pain; girls who were not the authors of their past, but who are now the authors of their future. Cinema is transcendent. In just a few hours, it has the power to transform an audience, be it through the stories it tells or the ideas it relays. Bari reflects that “the documentary spans 3 years of the girls’ lives; that’s the amount of time we needed to really showcase their transformation. Then, we had to wrap it into 1.5 hours! In that sense, we barely have 2 hours to get into a person’s mind and to also transform them.” Primas will be screened from September 28 to October 1 in several locations around Montreal. You can follow the event page “Cinérencontres avec l’équipe - Primas” on Facebook for more information about screenings.
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Compendium!
September 24, 2018 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Lies, half-truths, and BONK BON K BONK.
Snowbert McFlake The McGall Weekly
Fuck Tempeh
Fuck stressing about grad school to the point of endangering your undergrad ‘success,’ fuck success, fuck LinkedIn, uck patriarchy, fuck islamophobia, fuck marketability, fuck ‘flexibility’ when fuck Pantone, fuck stress, fuck back- they really mean precarity, fuck cutting to-school madness, fuck Bell and spending for the poor and slashing taxes capitalism ripping off mental health for the rich, fuck trickle-down economics, activism, fuck abusers returning to their fuck Reagan, fuck Thatcher, fuck Trudeau, fame with zero accountability, fuck white fuck Trudeau’s “rule of law” when he means people who think I’m exotic, fuck the white dude in that literature class and that tone he adopts when he gives a ~deep analysis~, fuck profs taking attendance during add/ drop, fuck ~neutrality~ and ~objectivity~, fuck “I don’t like politics”, fuck anxiety, fuck the academia circle jerk, fuck tokenism. Fuck Instagram, fuck fragile male egos, fuck those people who only hit you up when they see you doing better, fuck those people who only hit you up when they need shit, fuck the rat race, fuck falling out of a window “I’m going to pipeline unceded territory and breaking your arm, fuck the wait time and call the army on Indigenous land for counselling services, fuck watered-down defenders,” fuck Canadian exceptionalism, filter coffee, fuck cheap landlords, fuck fuck Trudeau’s selfie politics, fuck Macron, $80 non-refundable course packs, fuck the fuck neoliberalism. Fuck using the word neoliberalism to McGill smoking ban, fuck kombucha. Fuck running after a bus and seeing the sound smart, fuck academic elitism, fuck driver say goodbye and for a second regretting self-righteousness, fuck small bladders, fuck saying you support the STM strike but then blisters on your heels from new shoes, fuck the remembering that you hate the bourgeoisie erasure of class in discussions of oppression. Fuck McGill residence for tricking first and you should not hate on this driver who’s just doing their job and probably gets hated years into overpriced meal plans and closeton by a bunch of random commuters in size rooms, fuck the Redpath vending addition to their managing executive, fuck machine for stealing my $20 bill, fuck that inflatable tube man on Redpath that McGill taxis, fuck ferries, fuck private jets.
F
tofu, fuck tempeh. Fuck intergenerational trauma, fuck ancestral language loss, fuck sleep, fuck meaningless sex, fuck post-coital depression, fuck writing fuck lists when u should really be sleeping, fuck meat, fuck astrology, fuck men who don’t believe in astrology but still believe in patriarchy, fuck Chad, fuck the NSA, fuck I*, fuck borders, fuck Grimes and Elon, fuck benevolent capitalism, fuck Jeff Bezos, fuck Trump. Fuck handwritten love letters three years later, fuck Netflix, fuck Tinder, fuck InDesign, fuck people who can pronounce “Nietzsche” but not my name, fuck folks who love my food but not my people, fuck Sheryl Sandberg, fuck professors who tone-police, fuck anti-homeless architecture, fuck blaming climate change queers pressuring other queers to perform on individuals instead of corporations queerness better, fuck femmephobia, fuck and governments, fuck single-use plastic masc4masc, fuck your racist “it’s just a bottles, fuck mediocre white men getting preference,” fuck your Oriental fetish, fuck credit for being woke, fuck that woke boy neglecting self care, fuck saying sorry for who would still prefer you to shave. Fuck homophobic parents who are no reason, fuck saying yes when you really “worried you’re still single,” fuck expensive wanted to say hell no. Fuck not sleeping so you can finish food on campus, fuck disordered eating, your readings, fuck GPA, fuck white male fuck exploiting students through unpaid professors who smell like mayonnaise from internships, fuck not acknowledging your across the room, fuck feeling incapable of own white-passing privilege, fuck knowing affecting change, fuck cops, fuck crêpes, your prof is a predator and still having to fuck the French, fuck students who refuse take his class, fuck being sick, fuck entitled to engage with Montreal outside the jerks in poli sci classes, fuck, fuck, fuck, bubble, fuck chia seeds, fuck avocado, fuck fuck, fuck. spent our tuition on, fuck University Center renovations, fuck construction delays, fuck the red tape on McTavish covering up construction gone wrong. Fuck liberals, fuck fedoras, fuck cishet men dressing like queer boys to be edgy but who will never know what the prostate is about, fuck queers judging each other’s performance of queerness, fuck
FUCK
Crossword
Jay VanPut Official Crossword Wizard
For answers to the crossword, check out our website at mcgilldaily.com
Across
Down
1. It’s easy as 123 4. Things you can slide into 7. Tv spots 10. Place to grab a pint 11. Addition to an “on the rocks” drink 12. King of France 13. Here, to 12 across 14. “Act your ___!” 15. Ashes holder 16. ___-eyed 17. Container 18. Lighter/pen brand 19. Be all and _____ (2 words) 21. Dash 22. “Have a holly ____ Christmas!” 24. Big brass instrument 27. Make bigger, as a hole 31. Underground element 32. Small type of battery 33. “Mr. Blue Sky” rock grp. 34. Draft org.? 35. Quebec’s Fleur de ___ 36. “___ the season ...” 37. Organ on the side of the head 38. What might be served at a 10 across 39. Summer in Quebec 40. ER workers 41. Scientist Bill 42. Hi ___ monitor
1. Accept, as a law 2. Breakfast sizzler 3. Yelled 4. Spanish devil 5. Newspaper that we love so dearly 6. Caught in the act 7. Caribbean island 8. Column style 9. Because 20. 1977 double-platinum Steely Dan album 21. “The Catcher in the ___” 23. One renting an apartment 24. Contents of some cartridges 25. Opposite of rural 26. Endures 28. Emmy award winner Dinklage 29. A-list 30. Honkers 32. M*A*S*H star Alda