The McGill Daily Vol. 109 Issue 1 by McGill Daily

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September 03, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Content

Table of Contents

The Daily Publications Society is currently accepting applications for its Board of Directors. Are you in love with campus press, and would like to contribute to its continuity and improvement? Are governance, bylaws and motion writing your cup of tea? If so, you should consider applying to the DPS Board of Directors. DPS Directors meet at least once a month to discuss the management of both Le Délit and The McGill Daily, and get to vote on important decisions related to the DPS’s activities. They can also get involved in various committees whose purpose range from fundraising to organizing our annual journalism conference series. Positions must be filled by McGill students, duly registered for the Fall 2019 & Winter 2020 semesters and able to serve until June 30th, 2020, as well as one Graduate Representative and one Community Representative. To apply, please visit

dailypublications.org/dps-board-2019

Questions? Email chair@dailypublications.org for more info!

Our popular workshop series is back!

September 10 @ 6 p.m. Check out the details on facebook.com/themcgilldaily

EDITORIAL

NEWS

DISORIENTATION

GLOSSARY

CULTURE

Blame Eco-Fascism and Colonialism, Not Straws

SSMU Executives Talk Upcoming Year A Guide to Free Menstrual Hygiene “Our Shared Spaces” Relaunches “Hawaiiains Are Not Anti-Science, We Are AntiDesecration”

A Guide to Groups on Campus

At The Intersection of Art and Tech

12 SCI+TECH MUTEK 20 Explores Our Digital Futures 13 HOROSCOPES 14

COMMENTARY I Am Not Your Canary

16 AD

EDITORIAL

Volume 109 Issue 1

September 03, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Blame Eco-Fascism and Colonialism, Not Straws content warning: anti-Indigenous violence, fascism

n Monday, August 26, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right president, rejected an aid package pledged by G7 countries to help combat the forest fires in the Amazon. Unlike the recurring forest fires in British Columbia or California, these fires are anything but natural; many of them were lit intentionally to clear areas for soy and cattle farming. They reportedly began on August 10, after farmers organized a “day of fire” to burn tracts of land previously cleared for farming, but the fires have continued to spread at alarming rates throughout the rainforest. According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, over 76,000 fires are currently burning through the Amazon, which represents an 80 per cent increase compared to last year. The Amazon is the largest rainforest on the planet, and its ecological cycles regulate both regional and global climates. The destruction of even a small portion of this rainforest is accelerating the climate crisis and posing devastating environmental consequences that ultimately impact marginalized groups and Indigenous peoples the most. Conversations about the climate crisis tend to frame it as an unstoppable force, and the discourse surrounding the Amazon fires is no different. The blame is put on individuals to adopt different lifestyles and diets, ranging from veganism to the ban of single-use plastic. While these should be encouraged, we must keep in mind that only 100 corporations are responsible for 71% of global carbon emissions. The companies who produce and directly benefit from these fires, mainly within the agribusiness and mining sectors, should be the ones held accountable. These companies work hand in hand with the farright Brazilian government and have a shared interest in not only the destruction of the rainforest, but in the theft of land from and killing of Indigenous peoples. Bolsonaro’s policies, which encourage deforestation for the development of agricultural land, are directly responsible for the spread of fires in the past few weeks. The fascist and antiIndigenous agenda of the government was made explicit in documents recently leaked by openDemocracy. According to the documents, Bolsonaro is promoting specific construction efforts and propaganda campaigns that serve to stop conservation efforts in the Amazon. The leaked presentation expresses the Brazilian government’s opposition to “globalist” efforts working with Indigenous peoples to “relativiz[e] the National Sovereignty in the Amazon basin,” and asserts the need for efforts including “psychological oppression” to oppose this movement. Under Bolsonaro, environmental regulations were also loosened, cutting penalties for breaking regulations and giving greater freedom to deforest. His environmental minister, Ricardo Salles, has also amended the Forest Law to expedite the granting of licenses to clear-cut the rainforest. On August 26, Trudeau announced at the G7 Summit that Canada was pledging “$15 million and water bombers” to help combat the fires. This announcement was received with praise,

as Canada remains seen as a leader in environmental protection. However, Trudeau’s government has simultaneously refused to halt negotiations with MERCOSUR, a South American, Brazilian-led trade block. Other countries, such as France and Ireland, decided to postpone the ratification of any agreement until Bolsonaro takes action to stop the fires, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh demanded Canada halt the negotiations in an effort to apply international pressure on Brazil. Trudeau said at the G7 summit that it is imperative for world leaders to “act for our planet,” and joined other Western leaders in publicly criticizing Brazil for its lack of action. Canada’s blatant hypocrisy not only enables Bolsonaro’s eco-fascist agenda, it also supports it by maintaining trade negotiations that directly concern the same companies that are destroying the Amazon forest. Furthermore, Canada’s actions render it complicit in the theft of land from and killing of Indigenous peoples, whose voices are being deliberately stifled by the Brazilian government. Indigenous peoples who are voicing their criticisms and resisting occupation of their land are being criminalized under Bolsonaro. As a result of the loosening of environmental regulations, farmers and loggers, who are encouraged to seize Indigenous land for profit, have threatened and attacked Indigenous groups. Máximo França, a member of the Baré Indigneous people from the Amazonas state, explained, “we are facing a process of genocide with this government, also a process of ecocide.” “They are killing us every day; they are killing us with the fire that is happening, they are killing us when they displace us from our territories, when they invade our territories.” Any discussion of the Amazon fires should be centred around Indigenous peoples’ struggle for liberation. The theft of land from, displacement, and intentional killing of Indigenous peoples in the region is directly connected to its destruction. Raoni Metuktire, an Indigenous Brazilian environmentalist and chief of the Kayapo people, states that the fires started by farmers across the region are a direct response to Bolsonaro’s fascist propaganda. He calls for international pressure on Bolsonaro and eventually for the deposition of the president through Congress and denounces “the anti-indigenous government of Jair Bolsonaro, who normalizes, incites and empowers violence against the environment and against us.” The most effective way to help combat the destruction of the Amazon is to give space to Indigenous voices who have been relentlessly opposing the eco-fascist actions of the Brazilian government. Further, anti-colonial and environmental activism are inherently linked. Groups have already been organizing protests in front of the buildings of some of the major corporations investing in the Amazon. You can research what complicit companies are in your area and mobilize to pressure them into divesting from projects within the Amazon. You can also donate to Indigenous groups, rather than international NGOs like Greenpeace and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, whose funds are rarely allocated directly to the communities affected.

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September 03, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

NEWS

McGill

SSMU Executives Talk Upcoming Year

Yasna Khademian The McGill Daily

AGM &

Call for Candidates All members of the Daily Publications Society (DPS), publisher of The McGill Daily and Le Délit, are cordially invited to its Annual General Assembly:

Wednesday, October 24th @ 5:30 pm

2075 Robert-Bourassa, 5th Floor Common Room The presence of candidates to the Board of Directors is strongly advised.

The DPS is currently accepting applications for its Board of Directors. Positions must be filled by McGill students, duly registered for the Fall 2018 and Winter 2019 semesters and able to serve until October 31st, 2019, as well as one Graduate Representative. Board members gather at least once a month to discuss the management of the newspapers and make important administrative decisions. To apply, please visit

dailypublications.org/how-to-apply/

The McGill Daily is always looking for new contributors. Interested in writing, illustrating, photo-reporting, video reporting, Instagram story reporting or radio? Pissed about the state of affairs around colonialism, in/accessibility, gender, race, class, or other forms of oppression?

Reach out to us and become part of our staff! Go to facebook.com/themcgilldaily, then click on “Groups” in the sidebar. You’ll find all the current sections’ groups. Section editors post their pitches there weekly, and you can reply to their posts to take a pitch, or propose one!

his fall, we reached out to the SSMU executives to learn about their goals for the year, what challenges they’re expecting, the effect of the last semester’s base fee increase on their portfolio, and to hear about their specific roles. Here’s what they had to say. President - Bryan Buraga Priorities: “My role is to support the other SSMU executives in their work and ensure that things run smoothly behind the scenes […] Among other things, my priorities include getting a Fall Reading Break at McGill, getting McGill to divest from fossil fuels, and revising the SSMU’s governing documents and structure.” Anticipated difficulties: “The University Centre will be closed for another semester. Beside the financial strain that will impose on the SSMU, ensuring that we will still be able to provide space for student groups will continue to be a challenge. Convincing McGill’s Board of Governors to divest its endowment from fossil fuels will also be another challenge, [and] being able to have a healthy work-school-life balance will be a challenge for me.” VP Student Life - Billy Kawasaki Priorities: “Last year, there were some confusion about what the expectations were for clubs […] and this led to sanctions. This year, we are working on implementing a club portal […] that should make it easier for student groups to understand the requirements and to fulfill them. […] I am [also] working on raising awareness about the [mental health] resources available, such as the Eating Disorder Resource and Awareness Centre.” Anticipated difficulties: “With Schulich Library closing, the Leacock building renovations, and the lack of the university centre, there is a serious space shortage on campus. We are working with the various departments, such as Athletics, Residence, Special Events and Enrollment services in order to find as much space as possible for student group activities.” VP Finance - Samuel Haward Priorities: “My main priorities for the year are: working with the VicePresident (Student Life) to ensure that clubs’ requirements are stan-

dardized and resources are easily available to club Execs; revising the Society’s Internal Regulations to match the current practices of the Society and its Services; [and] collaborating with Student Services to see if it is possible to reduce the premiums that international students pay for health insurance.” Anticipated difficulties: “The cost of renting space downtown is incredibly high […] Club banking is another huge task that we need to take on early in the academic year. This is the first full year with RBC, so the process of trying to get everything up and running is brand new.” VP External - Adam GwiazdaAmsel Priorities: “I mostly want to ensure that McGill students are able to connect with Montreal, and that Montreal students are effectively engaged […] this is of course inextricable from political participation, so I’m looking at increasing levels of consciousness around issues that McGill students find important.” Anticipated difficulties: “Provincial representation is always a challenge - it’s almost impossible to get the government’s ear on anything unless we collaborate with other student unions, but students have historically had mixed feelings about joining a federation of associations […] I also haven’t found too many avenues to reach off-campus students, but I’m looking forward to working with Campus Life & Engagement.”

VP University Affairs - Madeline Wilson Priorities: “Forcing McGill to rethink the way it governs itself. This involves increasing student representation on university committees, calling out and dismantling hostile governance environments where they (so often) occur, and publicly holding the administration accountable.” Anticipated difficulties: “Universities are intentionally designed to resist change. So that’ll be a difficulty. Also, as a person, I’m terrified of burnout and tired of institutional power dynamics!” VP Internal - Sanchi Bhalla Priorities: “Broadly, increased involvement! Specifically, higher listserv readership, more alcohol-optional events, a potential collaboration between the first year council, the inter-rez council, and COMunity, and more people being aware of what SSMU is and how it operates. I am […] revamping the listserv to be more visual-heavy than text-heavy and running a couple of alternative events during frosh.” Anticipated difficulties: “The Shatner building was a hub of student-life and one of the only non-library interfaculty spaces on campus. Having that building (and Gerts) would definitely help boost student morale and spirit. Also, finding spaces to hold events - I really want to move the Halloween party back downtown.” These interviews have been edited for length and clarity. For the full version of the interviews check out the online article at mcgilldaily.com

September 03, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

NEWS

McGill A Guide to Free Menstrual Hygiene And Where To Find Supplies on Campus

Yasna Khademian The McGill Daily

n October of 2016, SSMU’s legislative council passed a policy on the provision of free menstrual hygiene products. Shortly after, the student fee for such products passed in SSMU’s 2016 Fall Referendum, with more than 80 per cent of students voting in favor. The fee costs undergraduate students 90 cents per semester and is mandatory. Since then, various executive teams have come and gone, and while some progress has been made in providing these free products, there’s still confusion about their availability and location. So, what exactly is the status of free menstrual products on campus, and where can you find them? Accessing the Products Free menstrual hygiene products — tampons and pads — are provided in baskets and dispensers across campus. A map showing all the locations of the products that SSMU provides was sent out in February of this year, and it’s available online. However, SSMU is trying to move away from providing these specific types of baskets, and move towards dispensers. According to SSMU’s general manager Ryan Hughes, around half of the baskets for the menstrual hygiene products were stolen. SSMU President Bryan Buraga added that “a lot of money” is being used to replace the baskets.

In spite of this, a basket still remains in the SSMU office, in eyesight of the receptionist at the front desk. This fall, if you see baskets containing menstrual hygiene products on campus, it’s not likely that they’re being supplied by SSMU. Healthy McGill, a group offering “peer-led wellness support to McGill students,” provides free menstrual hygiene products as well – they’re available in a variety of locations across campus, although not in washrooms. Though the original policy calls for collaboration between Healthy McGill and SSMU’s VP Internal, Sanchi Bhalla, they did not state that they were coordinating at this time. Currently, dispensers for free menstrual hygiene products are available in McConnell Engineering, Strathcona, the Sir Arthur Currie Memorial Gymnasium, the University Centre, 3471 Peel, and Chancellor Day Hall. On the map provided by SSMU, there are points indicating the availability of dispensers in McLennan and Redpath, which should be partially completed by the time school starts, according to VP University Affairs Madeline Wilson. This is despite the fact that the installation faced several delays – they were initially unsure if the dispensers would be installed by the time school started. Per Wilson, “the installers themselves had actually been

Phoebe Pannier | The McGill Daily

Phoebe Pannier | The McGill Daily ordered for a while and had been waiting at SSMU, but the library was a bit hesitant to cooperate with us initially.” In her statement, Wilson established that the reason for the library’s previous lack of cooperation is unclear, but she has confirmation that the installation will be completed in the women’s washrooms by the beginning of the school year. Availability in men’s and all-gender washrooms As for the men’s washrooms in McLennan and Redpath, Wilson tells the Daily via email that the installation should be completed by mid-September. The products, she says, will be accessible in plexiglass dispensers, which SSMU has decided to purchase instead of providing the old baskets. Per Buraga, this “new system of dispensers” will be bolted to the wall, with an opening where people can access the products. “That way if students would like to get more than one product at a time, that’s perfectly fine, they just won’t take the basket with them.” Wilson explains that since they didn’t order enough of the old type of dispenser for all of the washrooms in the library, they will need to install the new plexiglass dispensers in the men’s washrooms. “Our goal is to have dispensers in as many washrooms as possible throughout campus,” Buraga says. As of now, there’s a gender-neutral washroom in the annexed Brown

building and University Centre that provides free menstrual hygiene products. (A full list of genderneutral washrooms across campus can be found on the website for McGill’s Branches Program. While dispensers have been approved and built in the gendered washrooms in McConnell Engineering, Strathcona (science building), the Sir Arthur Currie Memorial Gymnasium, the University Centre, 3471 Peel, and Chancellor Day Hall, only the University Centre and Chancellor Day Hall have gender-neutral washrooms.

“Our goal is to have dispensers in as many washrooms as possible throughout campus” — Bryan Buraga

The Future of These Products According to Wilson, the next proposed dispensers may be installed in the Music Building and Library. This semester, Buraga says that SSMU is planning a campaign to raise awareness of the availability of free menstrual hygiene products on campus. As for the University Centre, when it supposedly reopens next year, the men’s and women’s

washrooms that previously provided these products should continue to do so. In regards to the possibility of the university paying for the provision of free menstrual hygiene products, VP External Adam Gwiazda-Amsel tells the Daily via email that although they haven’t had this conversation with the administration yet. “It is worth us building up the program so we have a stronger argument for its value to the McGill community.” But they don’t plan to stop advocating at the university level. Gwiazda-Amsel says that he would be open to petitioning the McGill’s city councillor “in November, after the borough election, in case Alex Norris takes a run at Mayor,” in attempts to get funding from the city government. One of the major organizations lobbying for free menstrual hygiene products is En Regle, a group of three McGill medical students that launched their campaign in May of this year. According to the CBC, one of the medical students “submitted a petition to the National Assembly that demanded free menstrual products be offered in Quebec schools,” calling for initiatives similar to those passed in British Columbia. SSMU has been “in support of [En Regle] for the past couple of months [since] they launched their campaign in late May,” says Wilson. “I look forward to working with them in the course of the year to expand that campaign.”

NEWS

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

McGill

“Our Shared Spaces” Relaunches Improvements to “Rez Project” in Full Swing

Emily Black The McGill Daily

he newly relaunched program called “Our Shared Spaces” — formerly known as “Rez Project” — has been running for 16 years, building community and fostering equitable living among first year students as they enter university, and residence, for the first time. First created by a group of McGill Floor Fellows, the project aims to support student development and create space for diverse experiences and environments to coexist. This fall, the program is extending beyond its usual audience and evolving in accessibility, content, and the students it reaches. Equity Education Programs Manager, Eve Finley, described the past year as the newest chapter in the program — all of the proposed changes and resources are coming together this fall. One of the most important changes is how the program gets funded. In the summer of 2018, the project moved from being a student housing program, to being under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Dean of Students. It receives funding from that office, as well as from Bill 151, implemented on campus by Provost Angela Campbell. With this increase in funding,

“It’s so interesting to see a community project to be so strongly backed by the administration, while also maintaining its core values of being supportive of students.” — Christelle Tessono

Our Shared Spaces is now able to employ a mix of 20 graduate and undergraduate students. These are now paid positions, in contrast to the 15 volunteer facilitators that previously ran the program. The paid positions allow for a more in-depth training, as well as the ability to hire more facilitators from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. In addition, they can

now offer workshops in languages other than English, such as French and Mandarin. Similarly, multilingual glossaries are being created and will be available for all students. With regards to the name change, it came out of conversations and dialogue concerning the appropriateness of the use of the word “rez,” as it is a common colloquial word for Indigenous reservations. In addition to the misplaced meaning of the name, Finley described it as an inaccurate fit for what the project has evolved into. “We chose ‘Our Shared Spaces’ because it sounds like what the program is,” Finley explained. “We want it to be about holding space for students to talk about how they can build more inclusive and just communities: how they can share spaces.” The name was also a suggestion of the students, which Finley explained exemplifies the spirit of the program, being created exclusively by and for them. In addition, the project is growing outside of residences this year, holding workshops for offcampus first year undergraduate students as well as first-years entering the school of medicine. The project will also be exploring new collaborations with Black History Month, Indigenous Awareness Week, and Queer History Month. Another initiative they’re working on is in conjunction with the McGill Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (MORSL) — they hope to provide community spaces for discourse around the impacts of Quebec Bill 21 on students. Developments in new programs, such as those in the school of medicine, came directly from the students themselves. The equity committee in the Faculty of Medicine firmly expressed a desire and need for this kind of education. Finley explained that the focus of the current expansions — and all those moving forward — is to respond where students are expressing a need for facilitated conversations in shared community spaces. Charlene Lewis-Sutherland, Equity Education Program Administrator, spoke about plans to expand and cement the presence of facilitators through Q&As and opportunities for impromptu conversations on campus. These efforts carry the community spaces beyond just two workshops and allow conversations to be had throughout the year and across campus. The formulation of the residence workshops has also changed, switching when they take place in order to increase their impact on

Eloise Albaret | The McGill Daily students. Lewis-Sutherland explained that the workshops now begin with race and Indigenous identity, in order to solidify the sense of community and respect for the spaces they can now create and share. “It’s important for [entering students] to learn what it means to create a community with people who are from different backgrounds and different experiences — what it means to share that space. Having a conversation about race, and a conversation about the realities of the land they are on — it’s important to have right off the bat.” The workshops on sexuality, sexual violence, and consent are now in the winter term, to emphasize consent as an “ongoing conversation.” By touching

on it in modules early in the year, and elaborating in later workshops, Lewis-Sutherland emphasized the ability for students to get into more in-depth dialogues as the year goes on. In addition to the reformed sexuality and sexual violence workshops, new modules created by Our Shared Spaces will be mandatory for campus members and students and will be held throughout the year, continuing implemented changes on campus in the wake of Bill 151. In speaking about the growth of the program, Pedagogy and Development Coordinator Christelle Tessono stressed that, “it’s so interesting to see a community project be so strongly backed by the administration, while also maintaining its core values of

being supportive of students.” Above all, the coordinators emphasized the core values of the project throughout its evolution: “Everything we do is written and created by students. Because student centeredness means that students need to have a voice as to what is relevant, what is important, and what makes sense to them. Students need to be at the helm of these conversations, what they’re about, and how they happen. And this will continue as long as the program does.” Students who would like to learn more about Our Shared Spaces, or any student groups who are interested in developing workshop series, can reach them at their website or on Instagram.

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

news

Beyond

“Hawaiians are not anti-science, we are anti-desecration”

Laulani Teale | Photographer Nelly Wat The McGill Daily

n August 18, Hawai’i Senator Kalani English spoke out against the construction of the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) on the top of Mauna Kea, the tallest peak in Hawai’i, and a mountain considered sacred to Native Hawaiians. Senator English stated “the Thirty-Meter Telescope controversy atop Mauna Kea is not a new issue. It is a part of a forty-year struggle to address the University of Hawai’i’s mismanagement of a sacred and environmentally significant site.” Former State Representative Kaniela Ing has also expressed his objection to the TMT, citing massive environmental destruction as a result of similar projects in the past. “What I keep hearing is, ‘it’s just a telescope, it’s not a pipeline’ – no,” says Ing. “This is an 18-story massive structure that has a footprint of at least six football fields in a county that only allows six-story buildings. And it’s in a conservation district. So even if [...] you care about the environment at all, this is a really dangerous precedent and our Mauna has already seen oil spills from past telescopes.” Mauna Kea is a sacred burial and ceremonial site, known as the piko, or “umbilical cord” of Kānaka Maoli, the Indigenous

people of Hawai’i. On July 10, after the construction of the TMT was announced to begin the following week, a group of activists arrived at the base of Mauna Kea to peacefully protest the $1.4 billion project and protect Mauna Kea from further desecration. The protesters included Native Hawaiians known as kūpuna, or “elders,” and k’iai, or “protectors.” For the past six weeks, between 1,000 and 2,000 anti-TMT activists have gathered and camped at the base of the mountain, blocking the Mauna Kea Access Road. On July 17, police in riot gear arrested 35 kūpuna, who were protesting peacefully by blocking construction vehicles from passing through the access road. The kūpuna were released shortly after and charged with “obstruction of government operations.” That same day, Hawai’i governor David Ige issued an emergency order that granted greater authority to police to remove activists from Mauna Kea. The TMT, if built, would be the world’s largest telescope, situated on a 13,796-foot summit. However, Indigenous activists and k’iai emphasize that this project would further desecrate Mauna Kea, as the mountain is already home to 13 telescopes in 12 research facilities. Since 1964, the land on which these facilities were built has been managed by the University

of Hawai’i, which leases the land from the State of Hawai’i for $1 a year, and subleases this land to multi-national, government funded research facilities for the same amount. The university originally leased the area for the purpose of building one telescope, but has since mismanaged the land and ignored the concerns and protests of Native Hawaiians.

Activists highlight the ways in which the TMT project exemplifies how the US continues to benefit from colonial violence enacted against Native Hawaiians. Pua Case, a Native Hawaiian activist who has been fighting against the construction of the TMT for the past decade, shared on Democracy Now! that despite failing to meet the eight criteria required to build in a conservation zone, the TMT project permit was approved

by the Hawai’i Supreme Court in 2018. Case also clarifies that Native Hawaiians are not against science, as the media often suggests, but against the destruction and desecration of a sacred mountain. Kēhau Lyons, another Native Hawaiian activist, agrees: “Hawaiians are not antiscience, we are anti-desecration.” Anti-TMT activists also emphasize that their demonstrations are part of a greater struggle for Indigenous sovereignty, as well as ongoing resistance against colonialism. This resistance extends back to 1893, when the US government illegally invaded Hawai’i, overthrew the Hawaiian government, and violently stole the land from Kānaka Maoli. Activists highlight the ways in which the TMT project exemplifies how the US continues to benefit from colonial violence enacted against Native Hawaiians, the historic suppression of Native Hawaiian culture and language, and the continuous desecration of Indigenous land. In the 1970s, a period known as the Hawaiian Renaissance was marked by Indigenous resistance and political activism as Native Hawaiians fought for autonomy and sovereignty, as well as an end to the US military occupation of the island of Kaho`olawe. The island was being used as a target for bombing drills, a practice the US military only ended in the 1990s. Some Native Hawaiians who were present at

the protests in the 1970s are also present at the demonstrations on Mauna Kea today. From Standing Rock to Wet’suwet’en, many more activists defending sacred Indigenous land and water across the globe have expressed solidarity with those at Mauna Kea. As the Indigenous resistance against TMT continues, the defenders of Mauna Kea encourage those abroad to stand in solidarity with their struggle against the desecration of sacred land and for Indigenous sovereignty. Indigenous activists have also encouraged students from universities that are members of The Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), such as McGill, to urge their universities to divest from the TMT. Ashley Bach, former president of the Indigenous Student Alliance at McGill, stated, “just because it isn’t happening in Canada, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter.” Eve Tuck, a professor at the University of Toronto, added, “universities cannot claim to be reconciling with Indigenous communities when they are using armed police to intimidate, arrest, and threaten Indigenous peoples in the name of research.” For more information on Mauna Kea and how to get involved, visit protectmaunakea.net

September 3. 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Disorientation

A Guide to Groups on Campus Activism

QPIRG McGill (Quebec Public Interest and Research Group)

McGill SPHR (Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights)

“The Quebec Public Interest Research Group at McGill is a non-profit, student-run organization that conducts research, education, and action on environmental and social justice issues at McGill University and in the Montreal community. With such a broad mandate, QPIRG brings together a wide range of activists interested in many different issues. QPIRG-McGill is opposed to all forms of discrimination on the basis of: class, gender, race, sexual orientation, and dis/ability.”

“McGill Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR McGill) is a non-hierarchical, studentbased organisation that advocates on a strong social justice platform to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people in the face of human rights violations and all forms of racism, discrimination, misinformation and misrepresentation.”

Office: 3647 University, 3rd floor Montreal, QC H3A 2B3 Mon-Fri 12-6 PM Telephone: 514-398-7432 Email: info@qpirgmcgill.org Website: http://qpirgmcgill.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/QPIRG.GRIP.McGill/

Health & Wellbeing SSMU WalkSafe “Walksafe is a volunteer SSMU service that provides free night-time accompaniment for those who are feel uncomfortable, or who are unable to walk home alone. Our service is available to anyone in Montreal, and we will walk to and from any destination on the island. You can call us at anytime during our operating hours, which are 9pm to 12am on Sunday thru Thursday nights, and 9pm to 3am on Friday and Saturday nights.” Telephone: 514-398-2498 Email: executive@walksafe.ca

DIAL hotline service: (514)-398-8500. The Montreal Sexual Assault Centre: 1 888 933-9007 Tel-Aide: 514-935-1101 Crisis Text Line: text ‘CONNECT’ to 686-868

Email: mcgillsphr@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/sphrmcgill/

IJV McGill (Independent Jewice Voices) “IJV McGill is a group of Jewish students and community members who stand in solidarity with Palestine. Join us for Shabbat, or come to a campus event!” About IJV Canada: “Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) is a grassroots organization grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism and advocates for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine. Our strength comes from our members. IJV has active chapters in cities and on university campuses across the country. IJV recognizes that the lands on which we live are the territories of many Indigenous nations and communities across Turtle Island.” Email: ijvmcgill.gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/ijvmcgill/ Website: ijvcanada.org

Divest McGill

“The science is clear: carbon emissions are causing rapid climate change worldwide. Native peoples across Northern Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia have refused the exploitation of the tar sands. In light of our obligations to the planet and to each other, we call on McGill University to divest its holdings in fossil fuels companies.” Email:divestmcgill@gmail.com Website: https://divestmcgill. wordpress.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/DivestMcGill/

CKUT 90.3 FM “CKUT is a non-profit, campuscommunity radio station based at McGill University. CKUT provides alternative music, news and spoken word programming to the city of Montreal, surrounding areas, & around the world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Hear us at 90.3 MHz on the FM dial, 91.7 by cable, or listen on-line. CKUT is made up of over 200 volunteers working with a staff of coordinators, not just to make creative and insightful radio programming, but also to manage the station. The station operates on a collective management system that includes volunteers in decisionmaking.” Office: 3647 University Montreal, Quebec Get involved at https://ckut.ca/en/ get-involved Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/RadioCKUT

SACOMSS (Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Students’ Society) “The Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS) is a volunteer-run organization committed to supporting survivors of sexual assault and their allies through direct support, advocacy, and outreach. Our services include Drop-In and Line (DIAL), Support Groups, Advocacy, and Outreach. Additionally, we offer sexual assault sensitivity training to McGill and Montreal groups, provide information and referrals, and organize events to raise

awareness about sexual assault.” Email: sacomss@gmail.com Drop in centre: ground floor of 680 Sherbrooke. You can access the room by walking through the lobby of 680 Sherbrooke and through the glass doors. The drop-in centre is the first door on the left. The building is wheelchair accessible. There are no gender-neutral bathrooms in 680, but there are some located in 688 Sherbrooke.

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Disorientation Resources for Racialized Students BSN (Black Students’ Network) “BSN offers social and political events by and for Black Students, in addition to hosting discussions and providing mentoring and resources. The mission of BSN is: 1) To sensitize the McGill community to issues concerning Black peoples 2) To work towards making the McGill campus safe and accessible for Black students in order to support their academic success as well as mental and physical well-being. While dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of Black students, all interested students, irrespective of race, culture or creed, are encouraged to participate in the organization’s numerous events and activities.” Email: bsnmcgill@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/BlackStudentsNetworkOfMcGill/

Labour AMUSE (Association of McGill University Support Employees) “The Association of McGill University Support Employees is a labour union that represents ‘casual’ or ‘temporary’ employees at McGill. This includes both students and non-students in part-time and fulltime positions. In fact, around 35 per cent of casual employees are nonstudents. In total, our approximately 1500-strong members make up about 55 per cent of McGill’s nonacademic employees. The union was founded and is administered by casual employees at McGill. We ground our advocacy on the principles of shared humanity, respect, and fairness, within the specific goals of protecting and improving working conditions and labour rights.” Office: 515 Avenue des Pins Ouest #224 Montréal, QC H2W 1S4 Telephone: (514) 282-9555 Not wheelchair accessible. Email communications.amuse@gmail.com to arrange an appointment at an alternate location.

MASS (McGill African Students Society) “The McGill African Students Society (MASS) is a full status club whose mandate is to promote and present the diverse and rich African cultures to the McGill community and the greater Montreal area. We are a diverse group of students who are not solely African but who are passionate about Africanoriented topics. We host a range of events each semester, each targeting different facets of African culture and life, and hoping to spread knowledge and inspire passion about African culture and issues both on and off campus.” Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/McGillMASS/

ISA (Indigenous Student Alliance) “The Indigenous Student Alliance provides integrative support for Indigenous peoples’ attending McGill University to connect and share our unique, authentic indigenous ways of knowing with each other and with nonindigenous peoples within the community. Our vision is to develop and maintain on-going networking and partnerships with University student groups and organizations through learning–teaching relationships that foster real and meaningful human development and community solidarity.” Email: isa@ssmu.ca Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/Indigenous.Student.Alliance/

AGSEM (Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill) “The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) is the oldest Teaching Assistant Union in the province of Quebec. As a labour union, AGSEM represents TAs and Invigilators at McGill. AGSEM has bargained with the McGill administration to produce TA and Invigilator Collective Agreements, which are legal documents that protect student workers.” Office: 515 Avenue des Pins, 2nd floor Montréal QC H2W 1S4 Telephone: 514-398-2582 Not wheelchair accessible. Email: mail@agsem-aeedem.ca to arrange an appointment at an alternate location.

SSA (Syrian Students’ Association) “We are a student group of the SSMU, an undergraduate student society at McGill University, committed to helping Syrians in Montreal and beyond. Our website reflects our commitment to newly arrived Syrians by offering guidance on many resources available to help them settle and integrate into the Canadian society.” “• Social mission: assist newly settled Syrians in Montreal by helping them with social integration and navigating available resources, from applying to University or finding language classes. • Humanitarian mission: support Syrian refugees, both locally and abroad, through supporting organizations that provide humanitarian relief and raising awareness on McGill campus about the Syrian refugee crisis and conflict. • Educational mission: empower Syrian youth by supporting organizations that offer educational resources. • Cultural mission: bring the Syrian community in Montreal together by holding cultural and social events.” Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/ssamcgillu/

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Glossary

8 : :

avigating radical circles — in print, on the internet, in casual conversation — can often be inaccessible. These discussions often seem closed off to people not familiar or experienced with the terminology. To address this, the Daily is working on a public glossary of terms used in

8 8 Glossary :

anti-oppressive activism – including in our pieces – to be available on our website permanently. This glossary will be by no means exhaustive, but we hope to help make our articles easier to understand for everyone. The definitions included won’t and can’t be perfect and the glossary will continue to evolve as our language

Zionism A modern political movement advocating for the colonial establishment of a Jewish state in the biblical land of Israel. Zionism’s ideological roots can be traced to the nationalist and European colonial movements of the 19th century. Two-thirds of the Palestinian populace were displaced in the war that led to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Zionism has come to represent a racist attitude and violent practice towards Palestinians that recognizes only Israeli/Jewish hegemony and legitimacy to self-determination in Palestine. (For more depth and historical context, The Daily recommends visiting the website of the BDS movement.)

does. We encourage you to use our definitions as a tool to read the Daily and hopefully better navigate challenging but important conversations. As we work on creating an inclusive and helpful glossary, we invite your input and your questions! Because it will be a public and changing document,

Gentrification The process by which lower or middle income neighbourhoods are appropriated by higher income populations, usually resulting in the displacement of immigrant and low-income residents. Signs of gentrification include rent hikes, increasing police presence, the use of euphemistic terms such as “redevelopment” by real estate agencies that cover for the expulsion of long-time tenants, and the opening of shops catering to a higherincome class, amongst others.

Sex work Sex work refers to any labour within the sex industry. The term “sex worker” is used instead of “prostitute” as it carries less stigma, and recognizes that sex work is legitimate work.

Heteronormativity

Racialization

The structural idea that all people fit into the gender binary and that heterosexuality is the default sexual orientation. It also assumes that men and women have specific and separate roles within romantic partnerships and even socially. This is often supported by political biases, e.g. restricting marriage and its economic benefits to heterosexuals, safety in public as a heterosexual couple due to heteronormativity, etc. Heteronormativity is coercively upheld by state institutions.

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we invite you to fill out the submission form at www.mcgilldaily.com/glossary if there are any terms you’d like to see clarified and included in the document. This form will stay open indefinitely for corrections and further submissions. Thank you for helping us make activism more approachable!

8 9 :

The process of ascribing racial identities to a group, with social, political, cultural, and/or economic consequences of privilege and marginalization. In contemporary North America, racialization is a product of white supremacy, with the purpose of continued domination. Racial groups sometimes come to identify with the identity imposed by this domination, out of pride in their background or for other reasons, and thus, that racial identity becomes a self-ascribed characteristic.

Capitalism A political and economic system wherein the workers do not own the means of production and are isolated from the results of their labour.

Person-first language The practice of writing “person with disabilities,” as opposed to “disabled person.” Many find the convention of writing “disabled person” to be disrespectful, since it grammatically positions the disability as primary to the person. Pay attention to whether someone identifies as a person with disabilities or a disabled person and avoid labeling someone otherwise than how they choose to. Sometimes, people prefer to be referred to as a “disabled person,” because the outside environment actively “disables” them.

BIPOC/IBPOC

: 8

(1) Black and Indigenous and people of colour, a synonym for POC (people of color), which is meant to emphasize the specificity of Indigenous peoples’ and Black peoples’ struggles. (2) Some people use BIPOC as an acronym to refer specifically to Black and Indigenous people of colour. For the purposes of consistency, The Daily is choosing to only use BIPOC as a synonym for POC.

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

culture

At the Intersection of Art & Tech A review of McCord Museum’s The Polaroid Project

Kate Ellis The McGill Daily

he McCord Museum is hosting the Canadian premiere of The Polaroid Project, an international exhibit organized by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, until September 15. Located steps away from campus, the McCord is Montreal’s museum of social history, housing exhibitions such as Wearing Our Identity: The First Peoples Collection and an artist-inresidence program. The exhibit focuses on the Polaroid, an innovative medium for its time that rested at the intersection of art and technology. The first form of instant photography, it changed the way artists could interact with their work. Unlike any camera before, Polaroids provided instant feedback in the form of a physical object in one’s hands. This physical object allowed artists to experiment

Gagnon’s work rounds out the exhibit, exposing visitors to a variety of uses for the Polaroid and revealing its potential as a medium.

with the way they displayed their photographs just seconds after, leading Polaroids to become popular among photo-collage creators. The Polaroid Project allows visitors to witness the evolution of the camera itself alongside the evolution of the work it produced, showing how art and technology were intertwined in every step of the process. As the cameras became more affordable in the 1970s and 80s, individuals began to purchase them for personal use. For the first time, a photo medium became accessible to the general public – they could capture personal moments and retain memories without hiring a photographer. Since there was no developing process or third-party photographer in the way, individuals were able to capture and exchange personal photos with a degree of privacy not afforded by traditional photographic methods. For this reason, LGBTQ+ communities also became drawn to the medium. In many ways, the Polaroid revolutionized photography for both artists and amateurs. Although the Polaroid corporation closed in 2001, its legacy continues to live on. While the exhibit does display work from renowned artists such as Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe, the McCord Museum chooses to focus on Montreal photographers in particular, including Louise Abbott and Benoit Aquin. Abbott’s work focuses on rural and Indigenous communities and the struggles that they face as a result of environmental changes. The photographs provide a first-hand look into experiences that are not typically well-documented.

Marilyn Aitken | Photographer However, some aspects of Abbott’s work are troubling: she equates the minority status of Inuit and Cree communities with “the English-speaking community in Quebec” and rural communities. This comparison diminishes the real struggles that Indigenous communities face as a result of colonial practices – something that is wildly different from the inconveniences that English speakers and rural inhabitants of Quebec face. Aquin’s contribution to the exhibit, on the other hand, is a series of photographs depicting sex workers in Montreal, featuring commentary from the women themselves. Unlike other artists’ depictions of sex work, visitors are able to connect with their

Marilyn Aitken | Photographer

thoughts and feelings, humanizing an often stigmatized profession. “To be an escort, you have to love adventure, people, and ass,” one Polaroid reads. Another says, “[you’re] all scum BAGS… everyone knows pussy’s FREE… that’s why they’re called TRICKS.”

The McCord allows visitors to interact with and contribute to the exhibit. Just outside the main exhibition room, The Polaroid Project ends with a mosaic of Polaroids compiled from donations to the museum following a request in April. Personal moments, like trips

Aquin’s contribution to “The Polaroid Project” is a series of photographs depicting sex work in Montreal, featuring commentary from the women themselves. Another artist whose work is featured in the exhibit is Evergon, a Canadian photographer/photocollage artist and professor at Concordia University who focuses on themes such as sexuality and gender expression. He is known for challenging norms through unconventional depictions of male figures. A big fan of the Polaroid, Evergon said that “the closure of Polaroid in 2001 was the day the music died.” The final artist spotlight in the exhibit is Charles Gagnon, who is known for analyzing formal structures of visual representation. His work differs from the other artists as he focuses on art forms and techniques rather than a human subject. His pieces in The Polaroid Project are also examples of his research on formalist structures. Gagnon’s work rounds out the exhibit, exposing visitors to a variety of uses for the Polaroid and revealing its potential as a medium.

to Atwater Market and childhood memories, hang from multi-coloured ropes, providing contrast to the fine art in the other room. The museum also offers a drop-box for photographs and provides Polaroid cameras on loan to continue with the creation of this installation. Preceding and throughout the run of the exhibit, the museum has hosted photography workshops in partnership with community organizations, such as Gender Creative Kids, to expand the collection and show the diversity of Montreal’s continued social history. Overall, the exhibit provides insight into a period of significant social, artistic, and technological change. The Polaroid Project exhibit can be experienced at the McCord Museum until September 15. Student tickets are $14, with a period of free admission after 5 pm on Wednesday nights. For more information, visit https://www. musee-mccord.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/ the-polaroid-project/.

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Sci+Tech

MUTEK 20 Explores Our Digital Futures Re-examining Our Space on the Internet

Nabeela Jivraj The McGill Daily

o close out the summer Festival season, MUTEK Montreal saw its 20th Edition run from August 20-25, bringing a suite of live audiovisual, electronic music, and performance experiences to the city. As part of MUTEK 20, Forum IMG brought together a range of industry professionals, creatives, practitioners, and citizens engaged in digital spaces to discuss our digital futures: how to imagine art, technology, and society moving forward. This piqued our SciTech curiosity, so we took the opportunity to drop in on the keynote and several subsequent sessions. We weren’t entirely sure what to expect – ravers, academics, hackers, activists? Finding ourselves in the midst of all of the above, we got the chance to reflect on the intersections of science, art, tech, and activism. Moving into a fresh year of SciTech, we want to share with you some of our favourite questions, answers, some highlights, and some stuff to check out, for if you missed the fest, if you love sci-fi, or if you’re also kind of curious own the internet – that its whole about our digital futures: purpose was creativity and selfWhat do we do when the whole expression. That is, until, (surprise) entire world is ending, and it was recognized as a good way we seem to no longer own the of holding people’s attention, and was co-opted by corporations. internet? In the keynote, theorist/writer/ Not to scare us too much, but the lecturer/cyberculture critic Team Human podcast host wanted Douglas Rushkoff wanted to to remind us that so much of remind us that we originally did what we see online is predicated

Sava Saheli Singh presents her films at Studio des 7 doigts | myriam menard | Photographer

Ali Eslami (ALLLESSS) presents his virtual reality art. | Bruno Destombes | Photographer on principles of “captology” – i.e. that computers can be used as persuasive technologies. Apparently everyone in CompSci at Stanford takes a course on this. Behavioural finance, according to Rushkoff, essentially revolves around us being dependably tied to clickbait. But he also wanted to remind us that we’re all on “team human,” that establishing rapport will save us all, if we all just remember that we all have emotions. Right. Also, opening up the possibility that we can reclaim our space on the internet as its original forum for creativity and self-expression. Someone asked about how detrimental the tech and internet industry is on an environmental level and if we should really be developing further given all that. Unconfirmed. Are we really being controlled by the internet? Answer: yes, definitely. As Rushkoff established, spooky though it is, a lot of how we interact with the internet now is through a design intended to hold our attention. As artist/activist Bill Posters and collaborator Daniel Howe show in their artinstallation “Spectre,” we are all being surveilled and manipulated in response to our previous behaviours online. As activist and hacker Paolo Cirio discusses with his project “Sociality,” there are even patents on algorithms that have the express intent of manipulating internet user

behaviour one way or another (which you can report and have banned, if you want). All this to say, definitely yes – all of which points to a dire need for media and marketing literacy from all of us.

A lot of how we interact with the Internet now is through a design intended to hold our attention [. . .] we are all being [. . .] manipulated in response to our previous behaviors online. Is our basic wellbeing inextricable from being online? Sava Saheli Singh, a postdoctoral fellow at the Surveillance Studies Centre at Queen’s University, explores this in a series of short films meditating on surveillance and its impacts. These near-future fiction pieces offer a grim look into how tied we really are to the internet, and what implications this might have. Which really made us think: can we go offline entirely?

Should we? You can check out the Screening Surveillance films, entirely written, directed and starring Canadian artists, here. We had the chance to speak with Sava and get her own thoughts on digital futures, and we will be putting out that interview shortly. Is the dystopia coming? It feels pretty 1984 in here. ICYMI, it’s already here. Dismissing that as fiction is useless to all of us. But as panelists on the Counter Narratives panel (writers Tim Maughan and Ingrid Burrington, VR artist Ali Eslami, and new media artist Dietrich Squinkifer) highlighted, science fiction as a tool for imagining alternate futures, iterations of our current reality, and fleshing out the interconnectedness of issues that are otherwise siloed is something writers and readers today can take great solace in. Final Thoughts Paradoxically, in the midst of all this talk of what to do in the case that algorithms take over entirely, conference attendees were forced to enjoy some local coffee and each other’s company as technical difficulties plagued the facility. Just in case all of us forgot that tech is fallible, and we’re not robots, there’s always space for a conversation. All the best to all of you moving into the new school year – reach out to us if you want to join the team, go to stuff like MUTEK, and/or write for SciTech!

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Horoscopes

DisOrientation HOROSCOPES Aries (Mar 21 Apr 19)

Stop fooling yourself. OAP cannot fill the black hole that is your soul. Go read a book.

Cancer (Jun 21 Jul 22)

Shave your head and get your nipple pierced. Walk into the first day of classes like a badass.

Taurus (Apr 20 May 20)

Everyone is looking at you because let’s face it...you’re smokin’...own it baby

Leo (Jul 23 Aug 22)

I love you, but fix your posture.

Libra

Scorpio

(Sept 23 Oct 22)

(Oct 23 Nov 21)

Are you hydrated? And no iced coffee doesn’t count… feed your organs, you need them.

Was dedicating your energy to Hot Girl Summer™ really worth it? Do better.

Gemini (May 21 Jun 20)

Shhhhh. You’re being too loud.

Virgo (Aug 23 Sept 22)

We know it’s your season, but don’t get too cocky. Focus on yourself rather than giving advice to that friend who’s not even going to take it.

Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21)

Colourful pens and expensive notebooks are not going to suddenly make you organized.

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

(Dec 22 - Jan 19)

(Jan 20 Feb 18)

(Feb 19 - Mar 20)

Go dancing at Bar Notre-DameDes-Quilles this weekend and don’t wear underwear. ;)

Stop spending the night out and do your goddamn skincare routine.

Sometimes you’re wrong and that’s okay. Let someone else speak.

Commentary

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

I Am Not Your Canary

How McGill Added $3,120 to My Costs This Year Rine Vieth Commentary Writer content warning: mental illness, suicidal ideation, misgendering

here’s a saying that goes something along the lines of “a canary in a coal mine,” meaning a warning of things to come, a red flag that there’s danger ahead. Until around thirty years ago, miners would bring along small birds, kept in tiny cages, down below the earth. If the birds became sick or died, it was a warning to the miners that there was toxic gas, and they needed to get out. Unlike McGill’s heraldic martlets, canaries are real birds — small yellow creatures whose bright bodies became sacrifices. This is my message to McGill University: I am not your canary. I am still alive. Last year, McGill administrators made the decision to stop “offering” – their wording, not mine – long-term counselling. This unannounced change came after many restructurings of the fractured pieces that make up the “McGill mental health system,” making it more difficult for students to access services, and more difficult for staff members to provide assistance. I initially found out about this most recent change when I met with a point-of-contact in what had previously been called Counselling Services. After our third meeting, and consistent pressure to switch to group workshop sessions – group meetings which had done more harm than good, a previous counsellor agreed – she handed me two pieces of paper. She told me they were no longer offering long-term counselling, and that I should use community resources instead. She told me to keep trying the EmpowerMe website, though I had told her that EmpowerMe had never called or emailed me back the many times I had contacted them. She was surprised when I told her that EmpowerMe does not offer support beyond a few sessions. She said that of their own initiative, the Counselling Services office had created the two sheets of paper with contact information to aid students in finding help, and she circled a few offices that she thought would be particularly helpful. She told me good luck, and I left. I cried. The papers are still on my coffee table. From early December 2018 to the end of May 2019, I found myself on a waitlist for a slidingscale appointment at two different

Eloïse Albaret | The McGill Daily Montreal therapy centers. During that time, I changed medication – at the suggestion of my psychiatrist, due to a complex medical situation – and became increasingly suicidal, depressed, and anxious. I spent most of the months between March and June sitting on my sofa, watching YouTube videos, trying desperately to write, or grade, or do anything to distract myself from the choppy seas of suicidal ideation. I reached out again to Counselling Services, and was told I could have a one-off appointment, but would be unable to access any kind of regularized care. My partner became my de facto support system, putting immense pressure on him. Floating in an SSRI/SNRI-shift-inducing haze, I was consistently told there would be no long-term counselling option, though this was not and is still not noted on any McGill website. I was repeatedly encouraged to find resources in a nebulous “elsewhere.” On days when I could get myself out of my apartment, I did everything I could to advocate for myself (even while being consistently misgendered, both by administrators and whenever I sought help through the now “Wellness Hub”). Previous experiences in my own department (my Graduate Program Director losing my disability paperwork, faculty complaining about students with mental illnesses in department meetings, and receiving pushback in regards to necessary

accommodations) dissuaded me from seeking out support there. I had a meeting with Graduate and Postdoctoral Services (who asserted it would simply be “better” for students to take time off, without medical insurance and away from support systems), a meeting with the Office for Students with Disabilities (who said that graduate student accomodation effectively ends when coursework does), and a few meetings with the Deputy Provost of Student Life and Learning (who complained about students “faking” mental illnesses and “clogging” the system). I participated in a number of McGill-hosted surveys and focus groups about mental health, with those running the groups pushing back when I shared my own experiences.

This is my message to McGill University: I am not your canary. I am still alive. “It couldn’t be that bad,” I was told, over and over again. I am so grateful to the staff in what was formerly known as Psychiatric Services for their support – I am

I fully support people whose wellness is improved through exercise or meditation, but switching long-term counselling for cheaper alternatives is yet another violent, neoliberal act parading as “care.” not the only one who has put a line dedicated to the Psychiatric Services secretaries in a thesis! – but mental illness cannot be “solved” through medication alone. Or spin bikes. Or yoga. Or TEDx talks. Or handing someone with a long history of mental illness a list of tips that border on insulting. Or yet another restructured system, forcing those of us with chronic illnesses to exhaust ourselves by bouncing between short-term fixes. I fully support people whose wellness is improved through things like exercise or meditation, but switching long-term counselling for cheaper alternatives is yet another violent, neoliberal act parading as “care.” We have too many administrators for it to fall on me to figure out a way forward for supporting students with disabilities. I have met with a number of administrators, including Martine Gauthier (Executive Director of Student Services) and Vera Romano (Director of the Wellness Hub). I have been told that McGill is

“shifting to short-term, episodic care,” with few details on what is left for those of us who don’t fit that model. I have been told that McGill staff are “referring” students out of McGill and towards community resources – but when I asked about specifics guidance for students who had been part of this “referred out” process, I was told that things are “in development,” with no firm date or plan. I have been told that there is “no cap” to counselling appointments, but that it’s been “limited.” I have been told that the decisions to use approaches not backed by research are part of an “evidence-informed” strategy. I have been given numbers of students who accessed McGill’s mental health care services when I pointed out the economic burden and privilege of accessing care, as if more students accessing free care somehow cancelled out those of us who pay thousands to access care that keeps us living. I have been told that changes “only affect a few students,” thereby justifying violent

Commentary and bureaucratically-quantified collateral damage. I have been told that “transparency is key” when the current Executive Director of the Wellness Hub has a history of cutting vital services without notifying students who use them. I have been given conflicting accounts about services like access to EmpowerMe and Peer Support, while in reality these are student-run initiatives, not something the Wellness Hub should take credit for, and not a substitute for long-term medical care. When I brought up the issue of financial hardship in meetings with senior staff of the Wellness Hub, I was met with confusion: they had no idea how insurance for international students works, though almost a third of McGill students are from outside Canada.

I have been told that changes “only affect a few students,” thereby justifying violent and bureaucraticallyquantified collateral damage. After these meetings, the director of the Wellness Hub later reached out to my psychiatrist to have her (my doctor) try to talk to me about my administrative concerns during an appointment about my medical care. I do not believe that my feedback to administrators necessitates contacting my care provider, and

efforts like these are similar to ableist attempts to discredit concerns about healthcare by painting those who complain as “crazy.” Breaches of ethics – and perhaps law – like this have added to my anxiety, have made me unlikely to suggest that students contact the Wellness Hub to give feedback. They also mean I cannot support programs like McGill’s Early Alert System, a way for teaching staff to anonymously refer students to the Dean of Students through e-mail or a MyCourses widget. It also means that I might need to leave yet one more care provider in order to seek support outside McGill, further adding to my financial strain. After so many meetings with administrators, I still do not know who made the decisions to stop students from accessing long-term mental health care, or why those who need long-term care for chronic needs have not been informed. I also do not know how (or if ) we disabled people were included in the Wellness Hub’s restructuring. What I do know is that my budget for the 2019-2020 academic year is a constant source of stress, as the Wellness Hub’s lack of a clear plan – as well as sudden lack of services – means that as a disabled student, I have had to take on a second job to pay for my medical care, while also trying to write my thesis. I calculate that I will need an additional $3,120 to cover the outof-pocket costs just for my therapy (not including medication costs, for which I’ve paid up to $1,000 upfront). According to my own research, I can reclaim a maximum of $750 from the Blue Cross insurance that I pay for as an international student, and StudentCare will pay for a maximum of $500, which means that I can hopefully get half of my projected costs eventually covered. These recouped amounts are not

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily guaranteed, and do take time to process, but will go some distance to help make ends meet. My current budget also came with a very real cost to my wellbeing: when I was suddenly pushed out of Counselling Services, I made the decision to wait for a slidingscale appointment at a therapy center recommended by a nonMcGill friend. Counselling Services originally referred to me services that would have been at least $150 an appointment, totalling $7,800 for the academic year. Making a serious financial decision while in crisis – and afraid of future, uncertain medical costs – I decided to wait until I was off a waiting list. This choice meant that I spent months waiting for an appointment until I finally was accepted at a Montreal-based therapy center. While I now have an amazing care provider outside of McGill, over the summer, I did end up in the Emergency Department of a local hospital. No one should ever have to do what I did. In full disclosure, I am lucky. I have an amazing partner who literally saved my life. English is my first language, I speak advanced French, and I know how to quickly rattle off my medical history and current medications. I know how to navigate the Montreal hospital system. I have parents who can loan me some money to tide me over, ensuring I could still access care when my medical needs suddenly spiked beyond my graduate student budget. But all of this does not mean what is happening to me is okay, acceptable, or even that I’m the only one. Substituting spin bikes for therapy, quietly removing access to evidence-based mental health services, and relying on local units’ initiatives to create printed handouts in order to solve complicated, long-

Making accessible mental health care a low priority means that there will be preventable deaths, alongside the pain and distress that comes with fighting for medical care when just fighting to live is overwhelming enough. term medical problems will result in casualties. Making accessible mental health care a low priority – when there is so clearly and desperately a need for it – means that there will be preventable deaths, alongside the pain and distress that comes with fighting for medical care when just fighting to live is overwhelming enough. In making the case for accessible mental health care, I have had people ask me for specific information, for statistics. I could refer you to the fact that 37 per cent of OSD-registered students are registered for a mental health disorder (not including those who are registered for multiple reasons). I could continue to shout about how forcing students to take leaves of absence is ableist nonsense. I could quietly tell you that every time I see an article about the Wellness Hub’s “integrated” approach to mental health, or McGill’s rankings, my stomach drops. I could print out yet another article about mental health in academia – including how neoliberal approaches like McGill’s don’t work – and slide it over. I could send you an op-ed about how mental health shouldn’t be an issue of institutional reputation, but of care. I could pull up the Canadian Association of College and University

Student Services (CACUSS) website on campus mental health, to illustrate how McGill’s mental health support pales in comparison to their recommendations. I could e-mail you the most recent NCHA/ ACHA data, showing that over 20 per cent of university students have been diagnosed with depression, and nearly 12 per cent of university students – at McGill, that would be almost 5,000 students – have seriously considered suicide. I could also explain that for transgender and non-binary young people, rates of suicide attempts hover at around 50%. I could pull up the Wellness Hub website, and point to the 12-13 week wait time to see a psychiatrist. I could show you how there is little data behind the very broad apps that McGill promotes, and how these apps raise serious concerns about privacy, as well as very serious questions as to whether they are even appropriate for certain mental illnesses. But, unpaid and unasked, I have done this over and over again, and I am so, so tired. Instead, what I will say is this: I am still here. Thanks to my partner, a close friend, and the Emergency Department at St. Mary’s, I am still here. I have not died yet. For now, I am not your canary.

September 3, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily