The McGill Daily Vol. 108 Issue 21

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contents

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Table of Contents 3 EDITORIAL White Supremacy Caused the Christchurch Massacre

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4 SSMU Candidate Rundown

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NEWS

McGill’s Sexual Violence Policy Unpaid Interns Strike Climate Justice March March Against Police Brutality

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COMMENTARY

Disambiguating Discourse The Subaltern Spoke, but You Called Them Liars

FEATURES

A Sailor’s Ills in the Modern Day

CULTURE

14 Integrating Identity and Music

“A Reason For Our Connection”

16 COMPENDIUM! We The People Must Communize Printer Ink

HOROSCOPES!

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EDITORIAL

Volume 108 Issue 21

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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White Supremacy Caused the Christchurch Massacre content warning: violence, death, Islamophobia, racism, terrorism, antiSemitism, fascism, white supremacy

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n March 15, a white supremacist terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand resulted in the murder of 50 people during Jummah prayers at Al Noor and Linwood mosques. Another 50 people were sent to the hospital with injuries, some of them life-threatening. On March 18, eight McGill student groups organized a vigil to honour the lives of the Christchurch victims, and to denounce the violence of Islamophobia and white supremacy.

This individual act of violence occured within a society that has normalized the oppression and hatred of Muslims. The Christchurch massacre took place within a larger system of state-sanctioned white supremacy that manifests itself daily and perpetuates Islamophobia worldwide.

Fascist leaders, such as Trump, fuel white supremacy through their constant demonization of Muslim people, both within their countries and abroad.

When the US decides to drop a bomb on civilians in Syria, and when Trudeau praises this decision, they both reinforce white supremacy and create a culture in which the Christchurch terrorist attack is horrifically unsurprising.

Andrew Sandock, representing the World Islamic and Middle East Studies Student Association, said at the vigil for the Christchurch victims: “What is the difference between a white man who attacks a mosque in New Zealand with a gun, and a leader of a Western country who drops bombs on mosques in Afghanistan? Why is one called a terrorist attack on ‘peaceful’ Muslims, and the other an unfortunate but necessary event in the ‘fight for our freedom?’” Ensuring that a massacre like this never takes place again means that we must recognize the ways in which Western governments engage in white supremacist terrorism on a daily basis. The state regularly contributes to the mass dehumanization of brown people, to the point that their deaths overseas seem banal.

The Quebec City mosque shooting that occurred in 2016 is also inseparable from the policies that cultivate this hatred. Anti-immigrant sentiment and policies have been increasing across Canada, as have Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric within the government. The CAQ recently proposed banning the hijab for all public sector workers, which was treated as a matter of secularism, rather than being denounced for the racist, Islamophobic policy that it is.

The fact that blatant Islamophobia is now considered a matter up for debate is indicative of the widespread suppression and marginalization of Muslim voices.

Moreover, the white supremacist ideology that motivated the Christchurch shooter cannot be separated from the spread of online fascism. From the violent manifesto the shooter published on 8chan prior to the attacks to the livestreaming of the massacre on Facebook, the Christchurch attack was made by and for the internet. White supremacist ideology is spread through Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, and fascist memes on platforms such as 4chan, 8chan, and private Facebook groups.

This new form of fascist recruiting hides behind the facade of irony. It infiltrates online spaces, specifically gaming communities, to spread racial panic using fascist ideaology and racist rhetoric.

Further, the attacks were livestreamed, mimicking the frame of first-person shooter video games. The popularity of these violent and graphic video games, in which the massacre of brown people is not only normalized but also encouraged, cannot be separated from the global white supremacist movement.

The shooter specifically referred to Pewdiepie in his livestream, a YouTuber who has a worldwide following of over 91 million. Pewdiepie regularly normalizes anti-Semitism, anti-Black racism, Islamophobia and Nazi ideology in his videos. This behaviour is then dismissed as

humour. Subscribers’ refusal to condemn online content producers who mask their intent, and excuse their deadly language as “jokes,” directly contributes to the spread of white supremacist ideology. While personal responsibility in the way we consume online content is fundamental, tech and social media companies complicit in the Christchurch shooting also need to be held accountable for passively condoning this rhetoric. As demonstrated by their purge of ISIS propaganda in recent years, platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Discord have the technological and financial means to ban terrorist propaganda. However, under the guise of free speech, most of these companies allow white supremacist rhetoric to thrive and organize on their platforms. This is evidenced by the publication of the horrifying livestream on Facebook and Twitter, which is still circulating long after the shooting.

Fighting white supremacy also means fighting these insidious, normalized online fascist spaces.

The recent shooting in New Zealand, as well as in Quebec City, is a violent manifestation of white supremacy. White supremacy and xenophobia do not occur in a vacuum – they are systems upheld not only by those who commit acts of violence, but also by those who remain silent about them. White people need to recognize the ways in which they are complicit in white supremacy, and use their platforms and voices to call it out when they see it occurring. Tangible ways of doing this include: reporting white supremacist content when you see it online; boycotting creators who normalize it; pushing social media companies to deplatform and demonetize these creators; calling out family members and professors when they use racist rhetoric; actively opposing racist domestic and foreign policies; and being aware of your own positionality as a white person. We also urge you to donate to the fund for the victims’ families and the New Zealand Council of Victim Support Groups fund.

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News

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

SSMU Elections: Candidate Rundowns Bryan Buraga

Experience Currently, Buraga serves as an Arts & Science Senator, which allows him to participate in SSMU Legislative Council and McGill Senate. Between those two bodies, Buraga has participated in many committees, including serving as director of the Board of Directors and chairing the SSMU Ad-hoc Fall Reading Week Committee.

Platform Buraga’s platform outlines five main points. If elected, he would focus on student advocacy, financial and institutional reform, student space renewal, improved student support services, and concrete accountability measures. In advocacy, Buraga would push for a fall reading week by 2020. Additionally, he is calling for “a policy that includes a clause stating that disciplinary

Billy Kawasaki

Experience Up until February, Kawasaki was serving as VP Internal of AUS, resigning in the midst of the POLI 339 controversy.

He is currently the HR

coordinator of SSMU. In the past he has also acted as the McGill Industrial Relations’ Students Association VP Internal, as the VP Communications and as the chair of FEARC, and sat on the SSMU ad-hoc building committee.

Platform Kawasaki’s platform has five pillars: creating a clubs portal, building a SSMU network, mental health advocacy, keeping the eating disorder program, and working towards food security on campus.

The clubs portal is at “the

Kyle Rubenok

action against professors will stay in their employment file for a period of seven years and will be considered in promotion and tenure.” His suggestions for financial and institutional reform include ending uncompensated student labour within SSMU while ensuring that student workers are awarded a fair wage.

He would also revisit McGill’s meal plan practices, SSMU’s policy on approving course fees, and the biannual General Assemblies.

Student space renewal and improved student support services efforts include acquiring more properties on Peel to host additional student services and clubs. For accountability and transparency measures Buraga suggests monthly Reddit Q&As and bi-weekly Facebook livestreams, along with implementing a SSMU conflict of interest policy.

heart of [his] mandate.” The clubs portal would facilitate communication between clubs and SSMU, as well as improve the registration process for Activities Night. Building “a SSMU network” involves creating a cultural centre and a wellness hub using the space from properties on Peel and the university centre once both properties open. His advocacy on mental health, eating disorders, and food security involves strengthening existing or creating new programs that support students and foster awareness of these issues.

Experience Rubenok is the current president of the Computer Science Undergraduate Society.

He also sits on SSMU’s Finance and Accountability Committees, as well as the Board of Directors.

Rubenok’s experience with SSMU has given him “detailed insight into the workings of this organization and has motivated [his] desire to lead it.”

Platform Rubenok’s platform has three main points: student experience, health and wellness on campus, and responsible governance.

He would advocate for more affordable food options on campus during the renegotiation of food contracts. While Schulich library is closed for renovations, Rubenok wants to make sure student experience isn’t compromised. He plans on

converting areas of the University Centre into study spaces, among other improvements to student spaces across campus.

If elected, Rubenok pledges to make the 3501 Peel Street Wellness Hub project his “highest priority.” Similarly, he would like to advocate for better health insurance for international students at the upcoming renegotiation of Blue Cross’ contract with McGill. To ensure responsible governance, Rubenok wants to increase advocacy with administrators by fostering a good working relationship with the Deputy Provost Student Life and Learning (DPSLL) Rubenok also wants to improve General Assemblies by making them more digitally accessible, so students who cannot physically attend can still participate.

Adam Gwiazda-Amsel

Experience Gwiazda-Amsel has no previous experience in student government or associated fields.

Platform Gwiazda-Amsel’s platform is broken down into four sections: multi-year projects,

Montreal initiatives, political engagement at the inter-university level, and SSMU governance. He plans to work to change the R*dmen name and prioritize Indigenous voices. He also pledges to support advocacy around sexual violence, and to work with on-campus groups by holding strategic meetings with committees.

Gwiazda-Amsel hopes to “lin[k] McGillians with Montreal, and Montrealers with McGill,” through a SSMU initiative to link off-campus students with those on campus and increasing the representation of Montrealers within

student groups in order to increase community involvement. He also believes that McGill needs to foster more interuniversity relationships.

He intends to create an ad-hoc team to “study how to meaningfully partner with other universities.”

Finally, Gwiazda-Amsel intends to work to increase student confidence in SSMU by acting as an ally and advocating for students, prioritizing constitutionality, representing the interests of all students, and working towards increased centralization, information accessibility, and efficiency.

All members of the Daily Publications Society (DPS), publisher of The McGill Daily and Le Délit, are cordially invited to its

Special Meeting of Members:

During this meeting, an end-of-year report will be presented by the Society’s Chairperson; this is a great occasion to ask questions about what the Society has been up to in 2018-2019, and what direction it’s heading in!

All members of the DPS are welcome to attend, and the presence of candidates to the DPS Board of Directors is strongly advised.

Date and time:

Thursday, April 4th @ 5:00 p.m.

Location:

680 Sherbrooke Street West, Room 110

news

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Sam Haward

Experience Haward currently serves as the Parliamentarian for SSMU. Additionally, Haward has sat on committees such as Finance, Steering, and Comprehensive Governance Review. Furthermore, Haward chaired the Nominating Committee and co-chaired the Accountability Committee.

Platform Haward’s platform is robust and extremely detailed. He lays out many goals for the VP Finance position, including amending student club banking and

Ashar Yahya

Experience Ashar Yahya is the current president and VP Finance of the McGill Students Actuarial Association. He has also served as VP Equity for Solin Hall 2017-2018.

Platform Yahya’s platform focuses on

finances, investing surpluses from McGill Services into future projects, reestablishing the Financial Ethics Committee with new guidelines, and making the mandate of the Finance Committee clearer to maximize their involvement in Legislative Council. On top of this, Haward states that as VP Finance he would increase transparency between SSMU and the student body, make the international student health plan more accessible, and work towards more socially responsible investing and purchasing.

three issues: utilizing the leftover student clubs and services funds, hiring more students at SSMU to oversee applications for funding from clubs, and working with faculties to improve resources for students. The 16 non-profit clubs that collect student fees

Husayn Jamal Experience Jamal has participated in a focus group on the responsibilities of the Dean of Students and Deputy Provost, and is currently a member of the Committee on Student Discipline. He is also speaker-on-call for the Legislative Council and Board of Directors, and a member of the Comprehensive Governance Reform Committee.

Platform Jamal’s platform outlines his three main goals for McGill, for SSMU, and for University affairs. Jamal intends to have fewer and more effective University committees, to implement an annual review for the Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning), to advocate for a policy that no longer requires doctor’s

Sanchi Bhalla

Experience Over this academic year, Bhalla has “worked closely” with the current VP Finance, gaining experience with creating and sticking to budgets.

Platform Bhalla boasts an extensive platform. Her primary goals are making the campus community more accessible and inclusive for all students, starting with updating the SSMU Listserv,

Ahmed Bawany

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Experience Bawany does not have previous experience working in student government. However, he has worked as the Chief Financial Officer for an unnamed organization, and he is the only student in first year to run for an executive position.

Platform Bawany’s platform outlines three main goals: improving spending of SSMU funds, offering a space for students to give feedback, and establishing “better infrastructure.”

The candidate states that with his experience in finance, he will make sure “that the money [students] give to SSMU will be in safe hands and is well spent.” Bawany plans to

focus on creating more scholarship and financial aid opportunities, as well as improving the health insurance plan for students. He also wants to provide more funding for organizations that work to improve mental health awareness and treatment on campus. If Bawany becomes VP Finance, he will prioritize student feedback in his efforts to improve SSMU’s finance department. Lastly, Bawany wants to establish more sub-departments of SSMU and increase student employment within these departments, in order to improve communication between the departments and students/student organizations.

had a surplus of over $400,000.

Yahya would like to work with these clubs to ensure their funds are spent efficiently. Yahya also hopes to create a McGillspecific website similar to Docuum. McGill students would design the website, and collect helpful documents for current

or future students through collaboration with professors and past students. Finally, Yahya would change the table booking system so that faculty clubs would book tables through their student associations. SSMU would oversee the table booking for all other clubs.

Madeline Wilson Experience From 2017 to 2018, Wilson served as VP Academic of the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) and chaired the AUS Library Partnership Committee, AUS Academic Affairs Committee, and AUS Departmental Academic Roundtable. Currently, Wilson serves as an Arts Senator, which has let her participate in McGill Senate, SSMU Senate Caucus, and Enrolment and Student Affairs Advisory Committee.

She has also worked on the universal waitlist policy, antisexual violence advocacy, and divestment from fossil fuels.

Platform Wilson’s platform is made up of two sections: concrete advocacy and academic accessibility. She intends to focus on divestment

notes for class attendance, and to strengthen McGill’s policy on sexual violence to prohibit student-teacher relationships.

Within SSMU, Jamal would aim to restructure Legislative Council and the Board of Directors. He will also work on creating a closer working relationship with clubs, services, and student groups.

In University Affairs, Jamal would help students address violations of their academic rights, create an open portal for SSMU to centralize data, increase student engagement by expanding the Associate Senator program to encourage firstyear participation, and simplify the Library Improvement Fund application process to make it more responsive to student needs.

fostering campus spirit through social initiatives and events, and providing more alcoholfree options. Other priorities include organizing low-budget campus events, creating a “loyalty card” to promote attendance at multiple campus bars, and SSMU representation at Pride and other parades. Bhalla would also continue to work on creating a campus-wide events calendar, an effort started by the current VP Internal.

Aandrianna Jacob Experience Jacob’s Facebook event for her campaign does not mention any previous experience relevant to the position of VP Internal.

Platform Jacob’s primary goal is to make the campus community more accessible to all students, starting with updating the SSMU Listserv, making it a more interesting resource, and allowing it to act as a tool of accountability for SSMU. She wants to create a Frosh experience that isn’t dependent

on club events and pub crawls, but is part of the Faculty Frosh.

She also wants to revamp the McGill app and continue working on a campus-wide events calendar. Jacob wants to hire health staff within SSMU, and promote the existence of these services. Jacob’s campaign focuses extensively on expanding Faculty Olympics. She would like to allow people to collect points throughout the year, centering these opportunities around “expanding social horizons” and environmental awareness.

from fossil fuels, sexual violence prevention, improving the accessibility of University governance, and changing the R*dmen name. Wilson would also like to see increased student representation in University committees and governing bodies like Senate. For academic accessibility, Wilson will work to make SSMU’s biannual Know Your Rights campaign more effective at informing students of their rights. She also aims to integrate Open Education Resources into classes, and to increase the usage of waitlists.

She will also work towards the centralization of academic accommodation policy, and will advocate for students’ interests during the revision of the University Student Assessment Policy.

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News

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

McGill

McGill’s Sexual Violence Policy Timeline of Past Events

Emily Black The McGill Daily content warning: mentions of sexual violence

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he McGill administration’s commitment to issues of sexual violence has historically been controversial, and so is their policy against it. McGill’s response to sexual violence has been challenged by students since 2013, when charges were filed against three students allegedly involved in a sexual assault in 2011. At the time, McGill lacked an explicit policy on sexual assault, deferring only to the Student Code of Conduct.

That winter, the administration failed to take action, despite charges being laid against the students 15 months prior, causing organizations like Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS) to demand action from the University.

This year, on January 1, McGill failed to meet the provincial deadline to adopt an approved policy, as mandated

by Bill 151.

For the next three years, McGill continued without a concrete policy. The first official version of the policy, drafted in September 2016, was not well received by student groups. SSMU and SACOMSS both deemed the drafted

policy insufficient, stating that it showed a lack of commitment to survivors and failed to provide the needed changes to procedures of reporting and recourse. After some adjustments, the policy was officially passed, with approval from students, in November of 2016.

McGill’s policy was brought under scrutiny again in early 2018, when students called for a third-party investigation into allegations of sexual violence against several professors. An open letter penned by SSMU and signed by over 100 student groups and 2,300 individual students expressed dissatisfaction with the administration’s lack of response to repeated complaints of sexual misconduct from five different faculty members. Again, students found the policy to be lacking a clear procedure for reporting and filing complaints of misconduct by faculty. On April 11, 2018, students at McGill and Concordia walked out of their classes to protest the mishandling of complaints by the administration and to call for thorough investigations into the allegations. On April 17, executive members of SSMU and PGSS sent an additional open letter, this time to Quebec Minister of Higher Education Hélène David. The letter reported McGill’s failure to comply with the mandate of Bill 151, a policy aimed at preventing sexual violence in post-secondary institutions, and pointed to how mechanisms of recourse and accountability have failed at the University.

On May 10, 2018, Vice-Principal Christopher P. Manfredi introduced an Ad Hoc Senate Committee on Teaching Staff-Student Intimate Relationships, which was in charge of gathering testimonies and creating a more extensive draft of

Nelly Wat | The McGill Daily existing policies and regulations. In July, 2018, a Gendered and Sexual Violence Policy Report was released, written by students Caitlin Salvino, Bee Khaleeli, and Priya Dube. The report outlined recommendations to the administration to include a revised policy, as well as the history of gendered and sexual violence at McGill. In the December 5, 2018 Senate meeting, the Ad Hoc Committee on Teaching StaffStudent Intimate Relationships delivered their report, concluding that relationships between students and teaching staff would be prohibited with two exceptions.

The recommendation failed to meet students’ previous consensus on the need for a full ban.

This year, on January 1, McGill (along with UQAM and several

CEGEPs) failed to meet the provincial deadline to adopt an approved policy, as mandated by Bill 151. McGill administration argued that it had not, in fact, failed to meet the deadline, since there was a policy in place. McGill’s current policy, however, received a C- grade from student-led advocacy group

The revised policy will be debated in the next Senate meeting on Wednesday, March 27.

Our Turn (now Students for Consent Culture Canada) because it is not a stand-alone policy and still refers to the Student Code of Conduct in regards to disciplinary measures. For a week in February, SACOMMS hosted a series of student consultations as part of ongoing revisions to the policy, in order to compile a report for the administration and the Sexual Assault Policy Working Group. Despite the revisions and consultations, students feel the policy is still lacking, citing the complex procedures, vague definitions, and lack of accessibility for disclosure. Following last month’s consultations, the revised policy will be debated in the next Senate meeting on Wednesday, March 27.

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NEWS

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Montreal Unpaid Interns Strike

Emily Black The McGill Daily

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ast week, thousands of university and CEGEP students across Quebec took part in a week-long strike protesting unpaid internships.

From March 18 to 22, over 35,000 university students in Montreal, Sherbrooke, and Gatineau participated in walkouts. Ahead of the provincial budget reveal on Wednesday, March 20, around 200 students marched through downtown Montreal, escorted by riot police. There was also a citywide demonstration on Thursday, March 21, in which students marched towards the Education Ministry. Last week’s strike comes following the week-long strike in November of 2018 and follows up on the ultimatum issued at the time, which stipulated that students would continue to strike until labour policies changed.

Though McGill’s Social Work Student Association Strike

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n March 15, 150,000 people took to the streets of Montreal to demand climate justice. The demonstration was organized by high school, CEGEP, and university students in conjunction with over a million students around the world.

Montreal’s demonstration ranks among one of the largest worldwide.

Students and demonstrators met at the Sir Georges-Étienne

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From March 18 to 22, over 35,000 university students in Montreal, Sherbrooke, and Gatineau participated in walkouts.

work, and are attempting to put pressure on the CAQ government to respond to their demands in the provincial budget for this year. Calls to abolish unpaid internships date back nearly three years; after a General Assembly last fall, a coalition of students threatened to continue strikes if compensation programs are not put in place by the winter of 2019. The coalition of students protesting includes unions, student associations, and groups from universities and CEGEPs across Quebec.

In the 2016-17 year, almost 100,000 students in Montreal participated in internship programs each year, and only 77 per cent were paid. Many students who are currently participating in internships will be required to make up for lost work, in addition to missing classes during the strike. For degrees in fields such as Psychology, Social Work, Journalism, Medicine, and Nursing,

internships are often mandatory. At McGill, students in the Social Work program are required to complete 200 hours of work in addition to their in-class studies. Nursing students in Montreal were unable to participate in last week’s strike due to their inability to be absent from their internship programs.

Despite promising students remuneration for internships in the provincial budget ahead of his election last fall, recent comments by the Quebec Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, suggested otherwise.

More recently, however, Roberge said he did not expect the budget to include funds for internship salaries, and stated that debates will continue for more than a year before arriving at a decision. A working committee was created by the Quebec government in December in order to find working options for compensation, but is not expected to share their conclusions until mid-April.

While maintaining that current conditions will have to change, Roberge did not offer concrete proposals for compensation, or when the promised plan would go into effect. The 2019 provincial budget did not, in fact, include allocations towards university and CEGEP program internships.

NDP party leader Jagmeet Singh and newly appointed deputy leader Alexandre Boulerice (MP for Rosemont–Petite-Patrie) also spoke out on the issue, claiming intentions to abolish unpaid internships completely. Boulerice expressed his desire to hire paid interns, but cited his budget, standing at $382,150 annually, and the Liberal government for his inability to do so, calling for legislation to demand all internships be paid positions.

According to the Toronto Star, the Liberal and NDP spokespersons stated that their parties do not employ unpaid interns; the Conservative party declined to comment.

Climate Justice March

Shanaya D’sa The McGill Daily

Olivia-Jeri Pizzuco-Ennis News Writer

participated in the walkouts in November, none of McGill’s student associations took part in the demonstrations this week.

During last week’s strike, students called for labour standards to extend to unpaid internships required by degree programs, stating that current lax standards around working conditions leave students at risk. Students are also calling for the Ministry of Education to compensate interns for their

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Cartier Monument at noon, marched through downtown, and rallied at Place des Arts. As protestors marched, they chanted slogans, such as “system change, not climate change,” and “sausau- sau- sauver la planète [save the planet].”

Anne Sophie, a Montreal resident, was asked why she attended the demonstration. She pointed to her son and said, “I’m here because of him, because of my daughter, and because power belongs to the people. When the politicians don’t listen, we need

to make them listen.” Université de Montréal student, Gabriel Hamelin Roussel, emphasized the importance of the government’s role in combating climate change, telling the Daily that climate justice “definitely has a political dimension that has to be addressed.” Many others, including speakers at McGill’s rally, organized by members of Divest McGill, argued that climate change is tied to the current global economic and political system. As a result, combating climate change means drastically changing the status quo.

Many argued that climate change is tied to the current global economic and political system.

UdeM student Camille Abbas said, “I think it’s a really important cause. [...] I hope that people will do this daily. If we do, I believe that we can change things.” Many others echoed the sentiment that while the march was important, sustained pressure was a necessary next step.

McGill student Nivedita Shukla also spoke to the importance of

the rally, saying,“it’s disappointing to know that there are still people out there who don’t believe in climate change, who think of it as a hoax, whilst everything around them actively suffers. This kind of action can be the only way to spark consciousness and make it a universal priority to save what we have left to save.”

March Against Police Brutality

n March 15, about 250 people gathered at Norman Bethune square at 6pm for the 23rd annual March Against Police

Brutality. The march was organized by the Coalition Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP).

Demonstrators gave speeches, and COBP organizers spoke of police violence by Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) agents against Nicholas

“We will build a better world for tomorrow, as a community, and fight against state violence.”

— March Organizer

Gibbs, a resident of Notre-Damedes-Grâces, who was fatally shot in August 2018 by the SPVM. The COBP also mentioned Pierre Coriolan, murdered by Montreal police in his Centre-sud apartment.

The COBP outlined grievances against the SPVM and agents of the STM in their commencement speech, including excessive use of force with batons and assault weapons, unjustified interventions and searches, and targeting of racialized individuals at metro stations. One organizer said, “we will

build a better world for tomorrow, as a community, and fight against state violence.” The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) had a contingent present, as did Montreal Anti-Fascist.

The demonstrators began marching North on Guy and East on Sherbrooke. While chanting “no justice, no peace, fuck the police,” people began lighting flares and firecrackers.

Within fifteen minutes, the SPVM declared the protest illegal and ordered individuals

to disperse. Nevertheless, the crowd continued to march for another 20 minutes. A number of cars along Ste Catherine were damaged by protestors, as were two banks on Peel. The crowd dispersed shortly thereafter.

Residents and business owners filed complaints to the police to report damaged property. The SPVM is currently investigating, using footage from store surveillance cameras and from CTV Montreal and Radio-Canada coverage of the protest.

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HOroscopes

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

HECKin HOROSCOPES Aquarius

Pisces

(Jan 20 Feb 18)

(Feb 19 - Mar 20)

Other people’s drama is not for your entertainment.

Feelings are an illness.

Taurus

Gemini

(Apr 20 May 20)

Crocheted sundresses fashionable.

are

(May 21 Jun 20)

not

You’re a flake. Stop it.

Virgo

Aug 22)

(Aug 23 Sept 22)

Scorpio (Oct 23 Nov 21)

Read some poetry and don’t be rude.

You’d do well to remember that linguistic prescriptivism is classist nonsense.

Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21)

Explanations are for creatures. Be an enigma.

(Mar 21 Apr 19)

Don’t judge your bad behavioural patterns.

Cancer (Jun 21 - Jul 22)

Tuesday is going to be a good day! Hell yeah.

Leo (Jul 23 -

Take pleasure. Just. Take. It.

Aries

lesser

Libra (Sept 23 Oct 22)

Today, you’re a Gemini.

Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19)

Today, you’re a Libra.

Commentary

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

9

Disambiguating Discourse

On the Way Power Structures Inform Activist Discourse Willa Holt Commentary Writer

“

The discourse,” “no discourse,” “this is a discourse group.”

The word “discourse” is all over the internet, from groups on Facebook to Twitter threads. It’s used in a wide variety of ways, carrying implicit meaning that depends greatly on its context. In some LGBT+ Facebook groups, bans on “discourse” mean bans on discussions of terminology (like who can say the Q slur), and generally imply a ban on topics that are contested within the LGBT+ community. In other online groups, “discourse” just means any conversation about politics. People on the internet, especially activists, seem to have a largely unspoken understanding of the term, to the point where it is frequently used ironically – but what does it really mean?

When it comes to activism and politics, one of the original definitions of the word comes from the work of French philosopher and social theorist Michel Foucault.

The term “discourse” has several meanings, including complex technical definitions for sociologists and linguists. It can refer to conversation in general, or to the vocabulary of a particular field: legal discourse, religious discourse, etc. When it comes to activism and politics, one of the original definitions of the word comes from the work of French philosopher and social theorist Michel Foucault. If you haven’t heard his name before, you’re not alone, although you’ve probably come across his work in your academic career without even noticing it.

Foucault is known for many things, including his discussions of power. The term “discourse” as we understand it today comes directly from his work in this area. His perception of discourse

relies on the relationship between power and knowledge. To him, power is a producing force that isn’t inherently negative. Foucault is frequently cited as saying that “power is everywhere,” meaning that power is dispersed throughout society. Power, to Foucault, doesn’t lie in individual acts of domination, but is always present. We all have power, and the balances of power are always shifting; Foucault even says that all human relationships are ultimately power struggles.

It’s helpful to understand that Foucault was a postmodernist, meaning that he believed that truth and knowledge aren’t fixed, but depend on context, and are manufactured by the dominant force in a given situation. Foucault argued that what is accepted as “knowledge” or “truth” depends on power, and that what is defined as “truthful” is given power. Think of the common saying “history is written by the winners.” When colonial states write their histories, they are exercising their power by defining what is “true history.”

Although it is not an accurate reflection of what happened, it is still given credence and power. By defining what is true, they are also defining what is false.

Foucault argues that discourse defines power and is also constrained by power. In the history example, the discourse of a history text takes power away from colonized groups.

Discourse is the way we speak about things and also the things we speak about. The things that aren’t acceptable to discuss are excluded from discourse. Those who aren’t allowed to speak because of power imbalances are excluded from discourse.

Foucault explains discourse as something that defines, shapes, and constructs the world and everything in it, but also something that is shaped by the exchanges of power within that world.

The weaponization of discourse by settler-colonial states is best understood when looking at the way the Canadian government defines who is and is not Indigenous. The concept of “Indian status” weaponizes the government’s power in order to describe a “true” Indigenous person as compared to a “false” Indigenous person. The use of specific terms to describe Indigenous people is also an example of discourse: Indigenous people and nations reclaim and

exert their power by using their own names, by rejecting the government discourse of a “status Indian,” and by returning to Indigenous forms of knowledge.

This last point is key: rejecting colonial ways of knowing is an explicit rejection of colonial discourse, a rejection of the imposed labels that control and define what is “real knowledge” as opposed to “superstition.” Further, the mainstream acceptance of Canadian hegemonic discourse regarding Indigenous people within academia is often overlooked by non-Indigenous students. While the definition of discourse is a dense one, and difficult to access, it is important to understand in order to work towards deconstructing the power dynamics that inform white settler discourse regarding racialized groups.

In political spaces, “discourse” still retains some of Foucault’s initial concepts about the term.

It still relates to power, and how power moves through the world, and it is still about what is considered “true,” to some extent.

One example is what is known on the internet as “ace discourse:” the debate between those who believe asexuality is inherently LGBT+, and those who believe that it is not. In this example, “discourse” is being used to refer to a collection of arguments surrounding a particular subject.

The conversation here revolves around who is truly LGBT+, and we can see where Foucault comes in. “Ace discourse” encompasses a discussion of what is accepted as truth: whether asexual people are defined as acceptable within mainstream society, or within the LGBT+ community.

The validation of specific terms to describe Indigenous people is also reflective of discourse: Indigenous people and nations reclaim and exert their power by using their own names, by rejecting the government discourse of a “status Indian.”

Nelly Wat | The McGill Daily

When activists use the term discourse, they are often referring to discussions of power and structure. Modern or colloquial understandings of discourse tend to imply that it refers to more philosophical conversations, or conversations more closely linked to identity and exclusion. “The discourse surrounding x” often refers to the discussions that either legitimize or delegitimize x, that determine how acceptable x is, and how the dominant power structures are controlling this determination.

When colonial states write their histories, they are expressing their power by defining what is “true history.”

When talking about the terms used to define people, the ways people are spoken about, and who gets to speak, modern activists rely on “discourse” as shorthand. It’s a versatile term, and is useful in many discussions, but it is important to recognize where it comes from, and what it was intended to do.

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commentary

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Mila Ghorayeb Commentary Writer

The Subaltern Spoke, but You Called Them Liars

content warning: racism, colonial violence, death Critique of Imperial Reason Part 2: Palestine

A

ll people – including Global Southerners, including the colonized, including the enslaved – have an innate interest in being free. Therefore, all people – including Global Southerners, including the colonized, including the enslaved – will oppose conditions that limit their freedom.

These sentences probably seem trivial to most readers. Of course people desire freedom, and of course that desire is not contingent on their status as a racialized, colonized, or enslaved person.

But these sentences have not always been trivial. In fact, much of the subjugation faced by those in the Global South and by the enslaved has relied on a history of justifications in colonial political thought – some of which I have outlined in my previous piece, “Critique of Imperial Reason.” And this stream of thought relied on the notion that racialized people, particularly those in the Global South, were not naturally constituted for freedom. Instead, they were thought to be naturally constituted for subordination, and were further thought to lack the rational capacities to be free.

Because of this, most of what we knew about this set of people – which I will, like other theorists before me, refer to as the “subaltern” – did not come from their own accounts of their experiences. Instead, they came from elites that were intent on documenting the subaltern as hostile and uncivilized.

In recent history, postcolonial scholars have sought to make a claim we might now consider to be very basic: the subaltern are rational agents that desire to control their own circumstances and live freely – just like anybody else. Scholars like Gayatri Spivak and Ranajit Guha have devoted time to highlighting how mainstream scholarship has perpetuated the notion that the subaltern are irrational and unable to speak for themselves.

Spivak’s famous piece, “Can the Subaltern Speak?” points out how the subaltern have been conceived of in reductionist, simplistic terms, as have their motives. As a result, they are viewed as a homogenous, primitive unit that need Global Northerners to speak on their behalf.

Guha, like Spivak, writes of this reductionism through discussing the documentation of peasant insurgency in colonial India. He argues that some scholars falsely documented the actions of Indians to be motivated solely through

Nelly Wat | The McGill Daily sectarian hatred between Hindus and Muslims, and presents counterevidence of class solidarity between the two groups against wealthy elites.

On the other hand, Guha also points out that left-wing scholars were also reductive, misattributing peasant insurgency solely to class disparities without any attention to ethnic and religious complexities. Either way, Guha rightfully argues, scholars have erred by attempting to simplify the motives of Indian peasants.

While Spivak’s and Guha’s contributions have lead us to rethink our perspectives on the Global South, I argued in my previous piece that racist conceptualizations of the subaltern are able to evolve and adapt to current conditions. That is, they attempt to modify themselves to subvert new critiques, while continuing to rest on the same underlying claims.

This is something I notice all too frequently with the discourse on Palestine. Any perusal of The McGill Daily’s Facebook page, for instance, will reveal people commenting on any article about the Israeli occupation in ways that deride Palestinians for daring to express their grievances, laugh-reacting to the article, and claiming that the accusations made are baseless attempts to single Israel out as a state. And that’s just the surface. In the New York Times, popular columnist Bret Stephens recently chided activists for supposedly only caring about Palestinians when they could blame Israel. Such a critique implies that Palestinian activism is not really about achieving freer conditions, but about demonizing Israel. This is reductionism that baselessly ascribes bad motives to a cause propelled by vulnerable people in unsustainable conditions.

People often forget that the concerns about the Israeli government’s

policies regarding Palestinians do, in fact, arise from Palestinians, which makes it incoherent to complain about a “singling out.” For instance, the Israeli government has over 60 discriminatory laws against Arab minorities. Who should Palestinians complain to? If Israel claims to be democratic, the logical recourse would be to voice a grievance against the Israeli government – and not against every single other government that has violated international law.

When Palestinians are forced to demolish their own homes, is it not natural to protest their conditions and express their pain on the global stage? When children are shot in the face for handing out sandwiches to demonstrators, and when people are shot for protesting – who do they express these grievances to? Is it wrong to ask the world for solidarity when you are mourning the deaths of your family at the hands of the state?

Some seem to think so, though their justifications are hardly convincing.

The dismissal of Palestinian grievances comes in a few forms. One form claims that they seek to destroy the world’s only Jewish state. In other words, the claim is that Palestinians that voice their grievances against Israel are motivated by antiSemitism: a vile, age-old hatred that has subjugated one of the world’s most marginalized groups.

I have no doubt that some people invoke anti-Semitic language – either intentionally or unintentionally – to

speak about Israel. White supremacy is real, and the fact that it is systemic means that the popular language used to speak about oppressed groups often has a bigoted history. But this means that everyone internalizes anti-Semitism; not just Palestinians.

That is, anti-Semitism is not an exceptional feature of Palestinian and Arab communities, but a global system of oppression. To treat it as an exceptionally Arab feature is to treat it as an irrational hatred by violent people rather than an unjust way the world has organized itself for over 2,000 years. Yet, it is to the benefit of white supremacists to treat it as another form of savage, sectarian hatred by groups they believe to be beneath them.

To recognize that criticisms of Israel can be anti-Semitic is very different from claiming that Palestinians are upset with Israel because it’s a Jewish state.

Palestinians would be not be resigned to their conditions regardless of what kind of state was policing them and occupying them militarily.

For instance, Palestinians revolted against the Ottomans for autonomy under Zahir al-’Umar, who fought for religious toleration for all minorities.

The claim that Palestinians protest Israel because it’s Jewish is susceptible to Guha’s and Spivak’s anti-reductionism critique. This is because it frames the issue as a religious-sectarian conflict and buys into the trope that the subaltern fight

Yet, it is to the benefit of white supremacists to treat [Palstinian grievances] as another form of savage, sectarian hatred by groups they believe to be beneath them.

based on age old tribal hatreds, and not because they wish to be free.

But no other group of people would tolerate such subjugation. The history of political protest shows, time and time again, that no other group would tolerate living under discriminatory laws, home demolitions, and statelessness – regardless of who is in charge of facilitating it. To claim otherwise is to reproduce the notion that the subaltern are i) motivated by irrational hatred rather than a desire for freedom, or ii) lying when they claim their circumstances are unfree. Either way, we reproduce the same pernicious discourses that have damaged Global Southerners in recent colonial history.

The next form of dismissal is invoking Hamas – an Islamist group that was historically bolstered by the US and Israel to counter secular nationalism. Critics will attribute all acts of Palestinian protest to Hamas, despite the fact that support for Islamism has significantly decreased in almost all Arab states, including Hamas in Palestine. The invocation of Hamas rests on another trope that silences the subaltern. Namely, it falls back on the notion that fundamentalist irrationality drives Palestinian protests. But Palestinians’ struggle for freedom and liberation existed far before the establishment of Hamas.

As Middle East politics scholars Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel have recently written, it is often elites and officials, such as those of Hamas, that weaponize ethnic and religious identities for their own benefit. They manufacture a conception of conflict that is purely sectarian and de-emphasize other crucial political grievances, such as those that would arise from socioeconomic conditions.

Further, lumping Palestinians in with Hamas rests on another racist trope identified by postcolonial scholars: reductionism. That is, it treats the issue as a conflict between a civilized, democratic group of people, and a savage, fundamentalist, and uncooperative group of Islamists.

Even if people have different visions as to how the state ought to look like, the issue at hand here is the reaction to Palestinian grievances.

You can very easily oppose Hamas, as do many secular Palestinians, while taking the grievances Palestinians express seriously. The only way to counter historically racist ways of discussing the subaltern is to centre their experiences and their voices, rather than letting others speak for them. The only way to discuss this issue in good faith is to stop assuming Palestinians are lying about their own experiences. For it is not that the subaltern don’t speak: it is simply that you choose not to value their testimonies.

features

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

A Sailor’s Ills in the Modern Day The Canadian food Problem

11

12

features

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Sofia Di Gioronimo Features Writer Yasmine Hamdani Illustrator Hey you, You’re losing, you’re losing, you’re losing, you’re losing your vitamin C. -Can, Vitamin C

Scurvy on the Rise Whether we understand it as regressive or cyclical, there is no denying that much of our early sampling of 2019 has tasted eerily of the 18th century: France is undergoing a popular revolt, England is living out an individualistic existential crisis, and the United States is not only disunited, but also have no functioning government. Another element of the 18th century has been leaving a strange flavour in our mouths, one of mineral undertones, the source of which is fluid and viscous in texture. Throughout the past ten years, doctors and clinics across the UK and North America h a v e witnessed an uptick in symptoms such as joint stiffness, muscular weakness, and the telltale bleeding gums associated to a Vitamin C deficiency. In other words, scurvy is on the rise.

As the malnourished sailors of industrializing Europe could surely have attested, a diet void of fresh fruits and vegetables is not only a scourge to flavour diversity, but also to general health. A certain level of Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is necessary for multiple bodily functions, including the formation of collagen, which is a structure necessary for strengthening skin, bones, and blood vessels. It is also important in immune function, and has even been linked to the production of neurotransmitters necessary for basic brain function.

By the time the link between vitamin deficiency and the symptoms of scurvy had been discovered, sailors

had known for ages the importance of taking in some modicum of citrus fruit when embarking on long voyages. Ships would stow vials of lime juice to tide their crews over to the next land-embankment at which fresh produce would be available.

Another popular understanding of scurvy, before the discovery of the vitamin-deficiency causality, was the belief that scurvy was a result of great physical exertion and mental stress under harsh conditions.

Those embarking on long, cold, and toilsome journeys faced a greater risk of scurvy than those undertaking less arduous trips, even if their access to fresh produce and proper nutrition was equivalent.

The rise of scurvy in the modern West is a confounding one. The year-round availability of fresh produce makes it difficult to believe that vitamin deficiency is on the rise. However, our collective focus on food preparation, as well as the inheritance of intergenerational food culture, have been endangered by the elimination of the need to cook at home.

The high cost of fresh food plays no small role, surely, and the archetypal costefficient student meal of microwaved ramen is vastly insufficient for the nutritional needs of a young adult.

For those struggling to make ends meet, more filling and high caloric foods are a necessary alternative to fruits and vegetables.

It has been noted that for highly food-insecure households, food price becomes a priority over preference, quality, and health considerations.

To this end, f o o d

decisions are often nutritionally insufficient, as more nutritionally adequate foods tend to be higher in price. Food insecurity in low income household corresponds to a lower intake of less milk products, fruits and vegetables, and meats and alternatives. The low nutritional content of the foods purchased and consumed by low income families have been found to contribute to nutrient inadequacies in those low income individuals. Reportedly, women in low income households, particularly single-parent mothers, show a decline in nutritional intake across a given 30-day period.

Mothers of families living paycheckto-paycheck accept the brunt of nutritional decline during the periods between a monthly pay.

Children in low-income households, on the other hand, tend to have a more stable intake of nutrients throughout a 30-day period.

This would indicate that low-income mothers sacrifice their own nutritional needs in order to uphold their children’s s t a n d a r d of nutrition.

An article in the journal Nutrition and Metabolic Insights, titled “Scurvy is Back,” identifies those being most at risk of Vitamin C deficiency as including the elderly, men, those with alcohol dependencies, and those with eating disorders. Additionally, a 2009 study of students at the University of Toronto showed that 14 per cent of students had deficient levels of Vitamin C. If the basic nutritional needs of a population are not being met, it should be up to the state to take adequate measures in order to fulfill at least the basic nutritional needs of households and individuals requiring assistance.

An absence of large-scale measures to ensure food security, as well as a lack in life-skills-oriented education in public schools, have created an environment in which the basic nutritional needs of large demographic swaths are not being met.

Rewriting the Canadian Food Guide The implementation of a well designed food guide should be a key component of any public health system, so as to serve not only the people but also t h e

health system in itself. Holistic health systems understand the maintenance of general health, including dietary health, to be a preventative measure against many illnesses and long-term medical problems. An appropriate food guide, fitting the needs and capacities of a population, with a supporting set of policies and programs intent on fostering nationwide food security such as school lunch programs and food subsidization for low-income households, should drive down medical costs both short term and long term.

Health Canada is the government department responsible for national public health. Over the past few years, they have announced the upcoming release of an updated food guide. The original Canadian food guide was released in 1942, in order to provide guidelines to households to properly manage their wartime food rations. Since then, it has largely been an advertisement for Canadian produce, with meat and dairy being historically suggested as “pillars” of a healthy diet. The food guide has never been free from the lobby of Canadian producers, although this most recent edition of the food guide allegedly striveds to be less biased t h a n its predecessors. There has been pushback from the meat and dairy industry, due to the focus away from meat and dairy as sources of protein, and while the new food guide is not strictly vegetarian, it has drastically shifted towards alternative sources of protein, such as beans, nuts, and tofu.

The new edition of the Canadian food guide has opted out of the iconic four food groups, as well as its enigmatic, if not borderline occultish, pyramid design. Gone are the delineated portion sizes and specific recommended d a i l y consumption of fruits and vegetables, grain, dairy, and meat. Instead, we see a plate made up largely of fresh fruits and vegetables, along with smaller

amounts of whole grain foods and protein foods.

Given that the prices for fresh produce, fruits, and vegetables are more volatile than those of packaged g o o d s , there is speculation that

individuals who strive to live by the food guide will be spending more on groceries than they might have previously.The “budget” section of the food guide is rife with timeand-effort-consuming strategies, stating that “there are many ways to enjoy your food while eating on a budget.” It suggests checking prices at multiple stores before buying, and stocking up on goods while they are in-season or on sale in order to freeze them. While this advice may be applicable to some low-income households, it neglects those who have no extra time to ‘shop around,’ those who have no surplus budget with which to ‘stock up,’ and those who have no home in which to store, freeze, or cook. Already, individuals shopping for food-insecure households are four times

more likely to report using a budget. A study on food insecurity from the University of Toronto indicates that neither an increase in food skills (i.e. food preparation) nor budgeting skills would bring down food insecurity.

The assistance provided to lowincome households

features

is insufficient to meet the nutritional needs of low-income Canadians: food insecurity afflicts a reported 70 per cent of households receiving social assistance. A quarter of Canadians believe that following the new food guide will increase their food costs over the next year. Some analyses report that the new guide will decrease food prices, due to its shift away from expensive animal produce such as meat and cheese.

However, Canada’s Food Price Report indicates that the increased demand for fruits and vegetables will drive up food costs in the next year, with the average Canadian family expected to pay $411 more on food in 2019.

The new Canadian food guide is well-intentioned. It is simple, but not to the point of condescension.

It makes recommendations based on age, without being overly prescriptive. A national food guide’s intention is to provide, in broad strokes, a nutritional ideal which the population can strive towards. In this, the food guide has succeeded. However, in its generalizations, it ignores diversity. Food diversity is, of course, cultural.

It is also territorial, social, and

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

sharing as not only a mechanism for forming a positive and social environment around food, but also as a means for the transmission of food traditions and cultural heritage.

Intergenerational food sharing is the transmission of food knowledge or food skills associated with a given culture or background. It can take the form of re-establishing traditions such as hunting and fishing.

It can involve grandparents or great-grandparents sharing recipes and ingredients with grandchildren.

I n t e rg e n e ra t i o n a l food sharing connects young people with old traditions, and can aid in the reclamation of elements of culture that have been lost or weakened as a result of colonialism.

Food Security in Canada

economic. The food guide has been criticized for its lack of representation for the major cultural groups of Canada. Feasting days, fasting days, white rice, plantain, and most all, any mention of spiciness are absent. The problems underlying loneliness and isolation in old age are mentioned, but the proposed solution boils down to “try harder.”

A series of statements and recommendations are included in the guide, such as “Cook more often,” “Eat with others,” and “Enjoy your food.” The health benefits of the social element of preparing and sharing meals is brought into focus in this edition of the Canadian food guide. In fact, the ubiquity of malnutrition in old age is largely attributed to the fact that many seniors eat alone, a type of social isolation which often leads to food losing its importance. The guide accents the importance of intergenerational food-

The issue underlying the food guide has little to do with the food guide itself. Instead, it calls to a larger issue which is food insecurity and poverty in Canada. Canada is the only G7 country which does not have a national school food program, and nearly one in six children are affected by household food insecurity.

Although the food guide has been updated seven times since its release, Canada has yet to implement any school food programs, help subsidize

outrageous food prices in Indigenous communities, or provide people with precarious or under payed work liveable wages.

It is estimated that food insecurity in Indigenous populations ranges from 21 per cent to 83 per cent.

That is compared to 3 per cent to 9 per cent for non-Indigenous

Canadians. Food prices in farNorth communities are immense and unmanageable for many. A Facebook group, called “Feeding My Family,” has been created for people to share the outlandish and inaccessible food prices in Nunavut, displaying pictures of $22 heads of lettuce and a leg of lamb for over $100. One of the Liberal government’s 2015 election promises was to increase food security for the Indigenous populations of Canada.

However, attempts at consulting with Indigenous groups, through the Nutrition North program, have been labelled as “tokenism and optics” for the party, with no clear goal or obvious intention of listening to Indigenous food experts.

As stated earlier, the social assistance programs

available to low-income Canadians are largely insufficient in meeting the nutritional needs of its recipients. In addition to social assistance programs, there exists a family-specific program which intends to bring Canadian children above the poverty line. The Canada Child Benefit program is an incomesupplement program for families, providing a sliding scale of assistance with the greatest financial aid being to families making under $30,000 per year. The program is relatively new, which means that little is known yet about how it will affect childhood poverty and family food security in years to come. However, the program has been criticized for its difficult application process, which relies heavily on an applicant’s ability to

provide information about previous tax years. This has had a disproportionate effect on Indigenous communities, where tax-filing rates are low. According to reports, many Indigenous families qualifying for the Canada Child Benefit program are unaware of its existence. Given the rates of food insecurity in Indigenous communities, the dissolution of the barriers blocking Indigenous families from receiving the benefits is an urgent matter. Non-

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governmental organizations such as Canadian Feed the Children have been working in partnership with Indigenous communities in order to ensure the food security of lowincome Indigenous households. The programs they are implementing include school nutrition programs, community gardens, and landbased education programs focusing on sustainable gardening and the preservation of traditional food practices such as hunting, fishing, and preserving.

There is debate about how a sustainable, food-secure Canada would look.

The argument for Community-Supported Agriculture is compelling, but implementing it countrywide would mean drastic changes in food production, and immediate diversification of crops for many farmers.

Food sovereignty is another possible solution, in which each

the marketing of unhealthy foods to children – unhealthy foods being those elevated in saturated fat, added sugars, and salt. This would include sports sponsorships, and would affect ads targeted to children. The

community has the resources and capacities to meet their own food needs. Allowing each community to be food-sovereign would have implications on trade and transport, and would involve massive greenhouse investments for the majority of Canadian climates.

Regardless, a reworking of the food-distribution system in Canada is necessary in order to improve f o o d security nationwide.

The food guide is important in that it provides Canada with a framework by which it can make concrete food goals for the population. Taken not as a set of rules, but instead as a governmental plan of action, the food guide shows promise. It is important, then, that it be implemented along with policies aiming to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition.

Two accompanying steps to the food guide are currently being negotiated, aimed against food marketing, specifically to children. The first involves banning

financial s e c u r i t y.

To ensure food security and sufficient nutrition, the plan must educate and prescribe, but it also must provide.

Providing could involve funding for greenhouses and school meal programs, or creating community centres and intergenerational spaces for seniors to partake in the social aspects of eating. Providing should entail guaranteeing income to lowincome individuals that is sufficient to meet their basic nutritional needs.

If food is central to wellness, whether culturally, socially, or physically, it should be the role of the nation to provide its population with the resources by which their food needs can be met.

second would be the implementation of a food-warning label program, which would pinpoint the aforementioned unhealthy foods, and warn purchasers of their associated health risks.

A nationwide nutritional program should inhabit a space in which goals and ideals are balanced against obstacles and practical concerns, including those related to culture and

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culture

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Integrating Identity and Music An Interview with Singer Prateek Kuhad

Lavanya Huria Culture Writer

P

rateek Kuhad writes and performs music in English and Hindi. He credits both his upbringing in India, and the time he spent in New York after graduating, as sources of inspiration behind his work, but says he aims to keep a purposeful distance between his identity and his music. Kuhad recently released an EP, titled cold/mess, and is currently on tour in support of it.

The McGill Daily interviewed him in anticipation of his upcoming show in Montreal on April 2.

The McGill Daily (MD): It seems like our generation is rediscovering vulnerability, and what it means to be lost and burnt out, often through pop culture.

We know about working hard, but we are also learning that privilege is what makes most people successful. Are you reflecting on this during your journey?

Prateek Kuhad (PK): Yeah. A lot of people have been saying that about millennials, and everybody has high expectations for themselves too.

Either you get there, or you crash and fall. There’s definitely a lot of

privilege across the board, whether it’s race or gender, or your place economically in society. So many different things – anything can be a privilege in that sense.

MD: Now that you are establishing yourself as an artist, you are gaining the freedom and power to be more vulnerable. Can you speak a little to this change?

PK: When I started doing this, I had a lot of social anxiety. In India, growing up I was pretty comfortable.

The first year in New York caused me a lot of stress because I went from a very small town in India to New York City, and culturally, it is so different.

The vulnerability in my songs – it was the only way I knew how to be. I was extremely socially anxious, and I have suffered from mild depression and anxiety. Nobody talks about mental health issues in India; you really don’t know how to describe it or talk about it. You’re either feeling good or feeling bad. Writing songs was a way to deal with all of that anxiety. I’m the kind of person that can’t really project or fake stuff. In the beginning when I started being a musician, people were saying, “you should be like this; you should talk like this on stage; this is what you should say in interviews; this is how you should look; this is how you

I want my music to be the focus.

I don’t want people to judge my music based on the fact that I’m Indian. I’m not white, so I’m already coming from a relatively less privileged position if I’m trying to be a musician.

– Prateek Kuhad

should smile.” I couldn’t do any of it, so I would just end up looking awkward and anxious on camera and onstage. And then I started realizing that there are some people who get that, and they’re cool with that – they’re pretty much only concerned with my songs and my songwriting, and that’s what it’s about anyway. So I just didn’t really try to change it, and now because so many people accept that side of me, or accept me like that, I’m more confident in being like that.

It’s kind of made me more social, less anxious, and less concerned with a lot of those things, strangely.

MD: Do you think you’re going to use your platform to have more conversations about your identity and your mental health?

PK: I mean, I kind of talk about these things every now and then in more subtle ways. For me, I started doing this because I love music.

That’s what I’m doing, that’s my job, so I want that to be the focus. I don’t want people to judge my music based on the fact that I’m Indian. I’m not white, so I’m already coming from a relatively less privileged position, especially in North America, if I’m trying to be a musician. I don’t want there to be a focus just on that. It should just be about the songs, and no one should really be concerned whether I’m Indian. I’m writing these songs, here are my songs, I play live – and if you like it, then you should listen to it and that’s about it.

MD: I guess. But I’m Indian too, and because I’m far from home, when I found your English music (and I also know your Hindi music), it meant something different to me.

It was like, “this is a person that I see myself in, not just because he is Indian, but because he is singing about the themes that I like, and he is trying to break out of the distinct box that Indian musicians are put in, i.e. Bollywood.” I think for me,

the fact that you’re Indian and an indie musician is very important.

PK: Yeah of course, and it’s bound to be. It’s not that I’m trying to run away from the fact that I’m Indian.

I’m grateful to have been born in the country that I was, and it’s not like I have an issue with that. I just feel like every human being is born to do something, and there’s a certain role that they play out. It sounds very spiritual, but it’s what I feel. I felt that way about being a songwriter, and to me, that’s the most important thing.

There are a lot of things that I do or care about, but I’m not completely convinced about connecting it to my music. I haven’t reached a point where I feel like I have a voice strong enough to have conversations that carry a lot of weight, and I’m not ready to make that a big part of who I am as a musician. I just want all the focus to be on being a good songwriter. But when I do reach that point, it would be a much better time to bring up that conversation and be outspoken about it.

MD: You grew up in India, moved to New York, then returned to India and released EPs. Did you have a backup plan in case music didn’t work out?

PK: The back-up plan was to just go back to doing what I was doing.

After college, I worked at a consulting firm for a few months. Then I came back to India and started pursuing music. I decided that I was going to do this for one year. I had some savings from work, borrowed some money from my parents, and put out my first record, Raat Raazi. I decided that I was going to do the best I can with it – I planned a small DIY tour

around a couple of cities, played some shows in India, and reached out to journalists on my own. My manager and I did whatever we could in those six or seven months. Raat Raazi got a lot of attention, and we started getting a bunch of calls, getting reviewed by Rolling Stone and a bunch of other publications in India. It just felt like it made sense to continue doing it. The next year was a little bit better, and then the following year was better, and then the year after that as well.

MD: I understand, and you must also understand, that you were in a privileged position – you had your savings and enough support around you to be able to take the risk to do this. Do you have any thoughts about the industry in this sense, or about the inability of other musicians who may come from a different background, to do the same?

PK: Part of the reason I decided to jump is because I had the security of knowing that I could fall back on something. A lot of the calls that I made in my career, like making the kind of music that I do and doing all of this in India, are not what most musicians have done. There’s no question about it, I had some privilege that allowed me to be able to do what I did.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Prateek Kuhad will be performing in Montreal at Le Ministère on April 2.

You can get tickets at evenko.ca.

Photos courtesy Patwal.

of

Gorkey

Culture

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

15

“A Reason For Our Connection” Hannah Claus’ Exhibit at the McCord Museum

Atenas Odriozola Culture Writer

H

annah Claus’ solo exhibition opened to the public at the McCord Museum on Thursday, March 7.

Claus’ exhibit is titled “there’s a reason for our connection” and is part of the Museum’s annual Artist-in-Residence Program. Through this program, a selected artist is given access to the Museum’s collection and is able to create new works of art from their own perspective, influenced by and using the existing archives.

Claus comes from English and Kanien’kehá:ka (also known as Mohawk) heritage, the latter of which heavily influences her latest work. Her exhibition explores the notion of relationships, an important concept in Iroquois culture, and focuses specifically on people’s connections with the objects they’ve left behind. In exploring the museum archives, Claus was able to create an exhibition that relates the past to the present.

Claus’ exhibition is a multidisciplinary experience.

Upon entering the exhibition, two of her influences are immediately presented: a display of Haudenosaunee beadwork and a collection of North West Company fur trade booklets.

While trying to decipher what the text on the booklets reads, Claus imagined the difficulty faced by Indigenous peoples in taking part in these trade transactions.

Lining the walls of the exhibition are dark blankets with copper pins, representing the writing found in the fur trade booklets. Claus revealed during a press conference that, while blankets have had a negative connotation due to their role in the passing of diseases, they hold an important place in Indigenous rituals and were used as currency in fur trading.

In another part of the exhibition, the gallery floor is covered in cups, organized in a circular formation. The cups are made of beeswax and inspired by Claus’ mother’s own collection.

They were repurposed from

Marilyn Aitken | Photographer

the colonial cups found in the Museum and rethought from Claus’ perspective. She centers her Indigeneity in the colonial cups by lining the ground around them with cranberries and medicinal teas.

At the opposite end of the room is the piece that Claus is most known for, titled fancy dance shawl for Sky Woman. The work acts as a metaphor for the creation story of the Iroquois people, in which the Sky Woman fell on the Great Turtle, which then became the earth. Strings of disks, which contain close-up details of the other objects in the collection, hang from the ceiling. Air blows on the installation, creating moving shadows projected on the wall behind it. Claus describes this installation as a “shawl.”

In observing this work of art, visitors have the opportunity to sit down and reflect on the Iroquois creation story.

“there’s a reason for our connection” will be on display at the McCord Museum until August 11.

Hannah Claus | Photographer

Through the Museum’s Artist-inResidence Program, Claus was was able to create new works of art from her own perspective, influenced by and using the existing archives.

Marilyn Aitken | Photographer

16

compendium!

March 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Lies, half-truths, eggs, and vaginas.

Comrade 1 & Comrade 2 The McGall Weekly

M

We The People Must Communize Printer Ink

y friends: how many times have you, an honest, humble, pas-d’hygienede-la-vie proletarian, trudged wearily into your local Best Buy, purchased a single cartridge of printer ink, and woefully plodded home, feeling robbed of your money produced over three hours of labour? $56.75 for a tri-colour ink cartridge from HP? Who do

I look like, Jeff fucking Bezos?

Comrades, I say that we must no longer tolerate – nay, suffer under – a system that commodifies the bare resources we require as human beings to survive, and forces us to labour endlessly to purchase these resources and sustain our own existence (by that I mean printer ink...just printer ink…an allegory? What?).

I believe that it is time for a revolution. And that revolution, my friends, begins with

Crossword

dismantling the printer industry.

Seize the means of production of printer ink! Let us produce our own ink! Radicalize your neighbours, your family, your cats, your friends in STEM! We will produce our own printer ink and ensure that this resource is free to all (thanks friends in STEM!) until the private companies, who profit off our desperation to print a hard copy of an essay that we wrote three hours before the 8:30am class where we

were supposed to hand in the tenpage, Chicago-style, 12pt, Times New Roman fruits of our labour, realize the threat of our resistance.

And when that time comes, we will have communized the very resource they commodified. We must withhold our ink from the bourgeoisie oppressors – they will only ensure that it is, once again, commodified, and that it is assigned monetary value. This is how we will incite the revolution.

Without its proletariat patrons,

Jay Van Put Official Crossword Wizard 54. Buddy 55. Help, in Morse code 56. Abounds 58. Small town in northwestern Quebec 61. Classic Pontiac musclecar 62. Fannie ___ 65. Delivery vehicle 66. Sign for a trail with jumps 71. Abbreviation for a company 72. Crest of the pelvis 73. American symbol 74. Colour, as a shirt 75. Fresh, as toothpaste 76. Groups of three

Down

Across

1. Doing well on a test 6. Butter up?

11. Dirty washcloth 14. Kayak’s relative 15. Didn’t go out for dinner 16. Tres - dos 17. Sign when the slope is too dangerous 19. Simpson’s Disco ___

printer companies will sell their commodity to the rich at a ludicrous price, and the contradictions of the system of capitalism will make themselves clear. Printer ink is already more expensive than oil – have you ever thought about that?

Withhold our resources from the rich until they hear our demands!

Take advantage of the instability of the system of capitalism and uproot it entirely! Fuck the rich!

Abolish all private property! That’s not your printer, it’s ours!

20. One sitting on Capitol Hill, abbr.

21. Like a dead bomb 22. “Check this out!”

23. Computer acronym 25. Tokyo, formerly 27. Part of a window 30. Sign right before unloading the chairlift 35. Deprive of a weapon 37. Mound in the Mojave

38. Lincoln on an American $5 39. Genetic carrier 40. Breakfast main dish 43. Body ink, abbr.

44. Prefix for negation 45. “Hold on a ___!”

46. Fable 48. “Paradise Lost” character 50. Sign atop a Black Diamond trail

1. “Hamlet” has five 2. Worry about 3. “Back ____ hour” sign 4. “There’s ___ in team” 5. Neuters 6. Insult to a hairless man 7. From ___ z (2 words) 8. French possessive 9. Cravate 10. Opposite of beginning 11. Nickname for Crowe or Brand 12. Aardvark’s food 13. Joint problem 18. One being cheated on, informally 22. __ goes the weasel 23. ___ lingus 24. Makeshift bombs, abbr.

25. Sicilian volcano 26. Capitalist weight loss methods 27. Satchel 28. Add on 29. Civil rights org.

31. Place 32. Holly Jolly man 33. WWII German submarine

34. Pasta type 36. Montreal subway 41. Pistols, abbr.

42. Day-___ Color 47. Tolkien tree creature 49. Mornings, for short 51. Type of turn on the road 52. Gift by will 53. Abominable Snowman 57. “Haystacks” painter Claude 58. Showing enthusiasm 59. A bunch of 60. “___ bitten, twice shy” 62. “The Gift of the ___” 63. Folk singer Guthrie 64. Barely gets, with “out” 66. Comedian Allen 67. One of the Manning brothers 68. ___ Tin Tin 69. Snitch 70. Goal in golf Dedicated to 11-down, 65-across, 31-down.