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November 11, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Table of Contents 3

EDITORIAL

• CAQ’s Immigration Reforms are Xenophobic

4 • NEWS On the Migrant Detention Centre

Commentary • Time for Indigenous Autonomy • Thanks, UGE.

• The McGill Daily’s Referendum Endorsements

11 The Archives 8 • From No CBA!

The McGill Daily is hiring!

Sci+Tech • AI and Cancer Research

Culture • A Queer Slice of Life

Compendium • Heckin’ Horoscopes!

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EDITORIAL

Volume 109 Issue 9

November 11, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Published by the Daily Publications Society, a student society of McGill University. The views and opinions expressed in the Daily are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of McGill University. The McGill Daily is not affiliated with McGill University.

CAQ’s Immigration Reforms are Xenophobic

ince the most recent provincial election in fall 2018, Premier François Legault’s right-wing party – the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) – has continued to perpetuate racism and xenophobia. The party’s campaign promise of public secularism resulted in the passing of Law 21, a thinly veiled attempt at erasing visible minorities and subverting religious freedoms protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Additionally, Premier Legault underwent scrutiny in January for denying the existence of Islamophobia in Quebec when he opposed the motion for an anti-Islamophobia day in the wake of the 2017 mosque shooting. The party’s xenophobia is evident in its immigration policy reforms, including Law 9, which was passed in July 2019, revising the current immigration programs. The stated purpose of Law 9 is to meet the demands of the Quebec labour market, a rhetoric which, in effect, scapegoats immigrants for economic downturn. Currently, there are two ways for university graduates and “skilled workers” to apply for a Certificat de Sélection du Québec (CSQ), which is necessary to obtain permanent residency at the federal level: the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) and the Programme de l’expérience Québécoise (PEQ). Law 9 impacts both the PEQ and the QSWP, making the permanent residency process more difficult. The PEQ is the fast-track version of the QSWP; it is available for students who graduated from a Quebec institution or skilled workers who have lived in the province on a temporary work permit. One of Law 9’s main changes to the QSWP replaces the previous immigration application platform with the Arrima system, which matches applicants with a possible employer in Quebec. Applicants can only receive the CSQ if there is an employer who will hire them. The Law’s exclusive focus on applicants’ potential employment commodifies them, reducing them solely to the possible economic benefit of their presence in Quebec. This stance is made explicit by the CAQ’s dismissal of 18,000 pre-existing applications to the QSWP, which were filed but not processed prior to the Law’s approval in July. Applicants will have to resubmit their files, which will be assessed through the new economic framework that values labour needs over all else.

On November 1, the CAQ government announced a tightening of the PEQ, in which only 155 programs remained eligible, very few of which are in artistic fields or the humanities. After appeals from international students, the CAQ government added a grandfather clause on November 5 – currently-enrolled students will still be eligible under the previous requirements. However, new international students will still have to adapt to the list of programs eligible for the PEQ, which is set to change every year based on the labour needs of the province. Through these measures, it has become increasingly obvious that students who are considered less economically beneficial are not welcomed by the Quebec government. The CAQ government has also decided to implement a “values test,” which new immigration applicants would have to pass in order to get their CSQ. Many of the possible incorrect responses to questions included in this test incorporate stereotypes associated with Muslim people. This misrepresentation implicitly positions “acceptable Quebec values” as superior and opposed to “other” values. The fact that these “other” values are associated with certain cultural and ethnic groups is alarming, and the supposed merit of these questions is based on xenophobic assumptions. This “values test” also presents Quebec as a homogeneous population with no differing opinions on social issues, and holds potential immigrants to a different standard than current residents, who have never been expected to unilaterally agree. It is yet another example of the CAQ’s efforts to establish Quebec as a “distinct society” – i.e., one that excludes those who fall outside the white majority. Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi sent out an email to the McGill student body on November 8, stating that the University will be discussing the issue with the Quebec government. Thirty per cent of the McGill student population is comprised of international students, and many of them have a personal stake in the new immigration reforms. We must hold McGill accountable in these discussions with the government – McGill should work to ensure that the rights of international students are protected. We must call on our student associations, including SSMU and PGSS, to promote the voices of international students, especially those for whom the immigration process is costly and inaccessible, and to safeguard their rights.

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November 11. 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

News

Montreal

On the Migrant Detention Centre

ASTTeQ and Solidarity Across Borders Host Workshop Sequoia Kim News Contributor content warning: death, colonial violence, racism

new migrant detention centre is currently being built in Laval and is set to be in operation by 2021. This centre will become the third detention centre in Canada; the two other fully operational detention centres are situated in Toronto and Vancouver, respectively. Last week, Solidarité sans frontières/ Solidarity Across Borders (SSF) held a workshop with ASTTeQ (Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transsexuel(le)s du Québec) that discussed Canada’s history of detention, current policies affecting and criminalizing migrants, and key concerns about the detention centre in Laval. It also shed light on many deepseated issues hidden away under the Canadian government’s rhetoric about this development in August 2016.

It should be emphasized first and foremost that the people detained within its walls are not criminals. The centre will detain migrants and refugees who have either just arrived in Canada, who are awaiting a decision regarding their status, or who will soon be deported. Canada’s History of Racist Immigration Policy However, before delving into the concerns about the centre in Laval and current immigration policy, the presenters noted the importance of contextualizing this discussion within Canada’s history of racism, colonialism, and detention. Canada’s exploitation of the “dispensable” Chinese immigrant labour force to build the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), they explained, was capitalist and opportunistic. They specifically noted the Head Tax imposed on Chinese immigrants between 1885 and 1923, which required them to pay a fee of $50 – later increased to

Right now, the world is experiencing the largest refugee crisis ever recorded; an estimated 70.8 million people are forcibly displaced to date.

$100 and $500 – following the railroad’s completion. Further, while the government collected $23 million from Chinese immigrants, they were, at the same time, funding efforts to attract white European and American immigrants to settle the West. Immigration policy delineated any non-British immigrants as “foreign” and neatly excluded white, Englishspeaking immigrants from America from falling under this label, despite the United States having no colonial ties to Canada. The presenters explained that while Canadian immigration policies of the 1800s were unabashedly racist and colonial, these notions still persist in modern immigration policy – simply in a more clandestine manner. Current Refugee Crisis Currently, the world is experiencing the largest refugee crisis ever recorded; an estimated 70.8 million people have been forcibly displaced to date. The numbers projected from governments neglect to tell the whole story; after all, the presenters stated, figures and data projected on televised screens do not account for the lived experiences that each one of those numbers represents.

“What is the prison system purportedly saying that it’s addressing? It’s saying that it’s addressing the fact that many people are moving from country to country. But then we have to ask the question – why are people moving from country to country?” – Representative from Solidarity Across Borders This global crisis reaches into our own backyard, with the Canadian government’s decision to build a detention centre in Laval. At this point in the workshop, SSF called out several caveats and problems revolving around the detention centre – and the immigration system as a whole – that serve as a detriment to those in need of the most help. The Detention Centre The blueprint of the new centre reveals plans for a children’s play structure, indicating that the government is planning to continue to detain children. The imprisonment of children, regardless of the presence of a

flimsy plastic play structure, they stated, is psychologically and physically damaging. Furthermore, the presenters added, even more concerning is the Canadian policy of indefinite detention: there is no maximum length of detention, even for children. Another central aversion to the detention centre is its inevitable and detrimental impact on the detainees’ mental health and wellbeing. For instance, detainees who are suffering from a mental health condition, trauma, PTSD, or who are suicidal, often lack access to proper resources and treatment (especially for the third of all migrants in Canada who are held in traditional criminal prisons).

Brianna Cheng | Illustrator

November 11, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

News

While some may feel that an abolitionist perspective is out of left field, an SSF representative told the audience, “it’s hard to imagine any intermediate answer that is leading us in the direction we want to go in.” Not only are detainees’ mental health often compromised, the presenters explained, but their physical well-being is also at risk. Last year, Lucy Francineth Granados, a Montreal community organizer for the rights of undocumented women and workers, was arrested with excessive force by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), shoved to the ground, hospitalized, and then deported. In addition, the workshop touched on the case of Bolante Idowu Alo, a Nigerian man who died in the custody of the CBSA. To this day, few details about his death are known, and justice for him and his family remain in limbo. Not only do detention centres have physical and psychological impacts on people, but they also

play a role in putting people in precarious situations and keeping them there. For instance, an SSF representative explained, if a worker being paid under minimum wage pushes for higher, legal compensation, their demand could be easily silenced with the threat of detention or deportation. Legal Impediments Similarly, if a person arrives having fled their home out of necessity, they risk being detained and deported because they lack proper ID and legal documents. Although many altruistic lawyers work countless hours to help those in precarious situations, the presenters explained, legal help is scarce and often fruitless. The problems are numerous: the people needing legal help greatly

One troubling issue for many migrants is the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). In brief, the STCA assumes that both Canada and the United States are safe countries for refugees, and as a result, turns away most migrants who arrive at the Canadian border due to the agreement stating that the US is a “safe” country for them.

outnumber the lawyers available; the lawyers simply do not have enough time to complete complex cases effectively; immigration law is incredibly complicated; and legal fees can be unaffordable. Another troubling issue for many migrants is the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). In brief, the STCA assumes that both Canada and the United States are safe countries for refugees, and as a result, turns away most migrants who arrive at the Canadian border due to the agreement stating that the US is a “safe” country for them. Solutions and Further Action Although the aforementioned problems are extensive and complex, the solutions are as massive as the problem itself – the SSF advocates for a borderless world, where no one is illegal (especially in Canada, on stolen land). One representative from SSF stated that we’re framing the questions the wrong way: “what is the prison system purportedly saying that it’s addressing? It’s saying that it’s addressing the fact that many people are moving from country to country. But then we have to ask the question – why are people moving from country to country?” “Then we get into even bigger questions,” they continued. “For instance, why is Canada stealing people’s minerals [in Guatemala] and displacing people from small villages, and where are those people supposed to go after they can no longer live in their homes? Is it surprising that they try to come to Canada? Where they know the wealth is, because that wealth is flowing from their country up to Canada?” While some may feel that an abolitionist perspective is out of left field, an SSF representative told the audience, “it’s hard to imagine any intermediate answer that is leading us in the direction we want to go in.” Considering the broader systemic

The problems are numerous: the people needing legal help greatly outnumber the lawyers available; the lawyers simply do not have enough time to complete complex cases effectively; immigration law is incredibly complicated; and legal fees can be unaffordable. issues of colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism, and racism that fuels the roots of the crisis, the SSF has been working diligently to oppose the construction of the detention centre on a substantive and ideological basis, hoping to reframe and reshape our attitudes towards detention. SSF has taken a stand against the centre by writing a declaration that has been signed by over 70 organizations, occupying the site

on a regular basis, presenting workshops across Montreal, and organizing demonstrations and other actions in solidarity with immigrants and migrants If you want to learn more about the actions opposing the Laval prison, you can visit, https:// www.stopponslaprison.info/en/ home/, and if you wish to join the SSF news list, you can email solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com

Courtesy of Solidarity Across Borders

November 11. 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

News aNALYSIS

Fall 2019 Referendum

The McGill Daily Editorial Boardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Endorsements

he voting period for the Fall 2019 SSMU referendum is occurring from November 12, 2019 at 9 a.m. to November 15, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. The McGill Daily editorial board has compiled their endorsements for the following referendum questions. The questions in this referendum are: 7 Creation of the Indigenous Equity Fund and Fee 7 Creation of SSMU Student Academic Support Services and Fee Levy 7 Increase and Nature of SSMU Equity Fee 7 Club Fund Fee Increase 7 Discretionary Funding for DriveSafe

To vote in the referendum, visit: www.ssmu.simplyvoting.com, beginning at 9a.m. on Tuesday, November 12. More information on this and future referendums is available at https://elections.ssmu.ca/currentelections/ and https://ssmu.ca/governance/ elections/ Any questions may also be directed to Elections McGill via email at elections@ssmu.ca. Students should also note that the nomination period for both council-initiated and studentinitiated questions in the Winter 2020 referendum will be from January 6, 2020 at 9:00 AM to March 12, 2020 at 10:00 p.m. Student-initiated questions must collect 500 signatures to appear on the ballot. Student-initiated questions can not alter the composition of SSMU staff or any financial matters related to SSMU.

November 11, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

News Analysis

Creation of the Indigenous Equity Fund and Fee The McGill Daily editorial board endorses a “yes” vote to the Indigenous Equity Fund and the non-opt-outable $1.00 fee per semester. The fund in question serves a multitude of purposes, including supporting Indigenous students in need of financial aid for living expenses, providing autonomous funding for Indigenous student groups on campus, providing funding for the costs associated with Indigenous student mobilization, and hiring an Indigenous Affairs Campaigns Coordinator and an Indigenous Equity Researcher.

Creation of SSMU Student Academic Support Services and Fee Levy The McGill Daily editorial board endorses a “yes” vote to create SSMU Student Academic Support Services (SASS) and the accompanying opt-outable $0.93 fee. According to SSMU President Bryan Buraga, SASS “would be an integrated office for the expansion of Open Educational Resources, SSMU Tutoring, and SSMU MiniCourses, as well as the creation of fairly compensated notetaker positions and examination prep courses at a more affordable price than for-profit companies such as Prep101.” SASS will make academic help more accessible, especially for first-year students who often do not have the financial means, networks, or resources to access tutoring services. The fee levy would “go towards paying for the salaries of notetakers, as well as a full-time coordinator to manage all administrative aspects of SASS.”

Increase and Nature of SSMU Equity Fee The McGill Daily editorial board endorses a “yes” vote to increase the opt-outable SSMU Equity Fee from $0.50 to $1.00. The SSMU Equity Committee is a group of students who “promote equity education and tackle equity issues on campus.” According to SSMU Equity Committee Member Caroline Pease, the SSMU Equity Fee “would enable greater equity mobilization and coordination across campus, while allowing the SSMU Equity Committee to better support equity-related student groups.”

Club Fund Fee Increase The McGill Daily editorial board endorses a “no” vote to increase the opt-outable Club Fund Fee from $2.75 to $7.75 per semester. The Club Fund Fee increase will go towards building an online interface for clubs (a “Clubs Portal”), the estimated cost of which would be “to the tune of $20,000 [a year] plus tax,” as well as a more comprehensive insurance general liability plan. Because the funds of the drastically increased fee are not going directly towards funding clubs, the Daily is endorsing a “no” vote.

Discretionary Funding for DriveSafe The McGill Daily editorial board endorses a “yes” vote to allocate five per cent of SSMU DriveSafe’s annual budget to be used as discretionary funding for environmental stewardship and carbon offsets. DriveSafe is committed to being an accessible service for McGill students and staff and plans to be carbonneutral by 2030. DriveSafe’s constitution requires that the service “monitor[s] the environmental impact of all its events and operations” and “attempt[s] to utilize the services and resources available at SSMU to maximize capacities for equitable decision-making and environmental stewardship.”

November 11, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Archive: Winter 2000 Referendum

Commentary

November 11, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Time for Indigenous Autonomy

An Indigenous Equity Fund is the Best Way Forward in Order to Protect Indigenous Student Organizations from SSMU’s Domineering Nature

Benjamin Kinsella Commentary Contributor

“D

o the fucking dishes.” — Chelsea Vowel (qtd. in INDG 401, 2019) If Allyship is doing the dishes, then SSMU has “forgotten” to turn on water to the house. Although there is no benchmark or final criterion for what is takes to be a full-fledged ally, there is certainly a clear standard where one fails to be an ally. In SSMU’s most recent transgression, where Vice-President (VP) Internal Sanchi Bhalla failed to send out a listserv which effectively restricted Indigenous student activist activities, they have more than satisfied this standard. Whether SSMU intentionally recants an email or not is wholly beside the point as the effect remains the same: Indigenous peoples were prevented in carrying out their critical labour. If anything, this scandal has shone a bright light on the lack of autonomy that Indigenous student groups, clubs, and organizations have on campus – how autonomous can one be if a single email can bring your whole organization to a standstill? In fact, I think I speak for many — I hope SSMU is included in the many — when I say it is appalling that one email can prevent some of the most vulnerable students on

campus from operating. Whether academic and social environment they intentionally reneged on their for Indigenous students at mandate or forgot is beside the point. McGill, it should go without saying that it is time for greater autonomy so as to prevent SSMU from unintentionally hindering Indigenous students’ pursuits. Greater fiscal autonomy through an Indigenous Equity Fund would be a critical step towards this autonomy. The Indigenous Equity Fund would serve three primary purposes. It would fund the activities of the SSMU Indigenous Affairs Committee and the salary of the Indigenous Affairs Commissioner; it would be used to finance projects that support Indigenous students at McGill, as deemed appropriate by Indigenous students, and Indigenous students only; and, As such, it is time for a change. finally, it would be used as a critical I want to wholeheartedly believe source of financial support for that SSMU does not wish to stand Indigenous undergraduate students against Indigenous students, so at McGill. These three purposes I, possibly naively, will venture would go towards efforts such as to say SSMU will welcome supporting Indigenous students any change to keep this from who struggle to pay for groceries happening again as they have and rent. As this funding would failed to be an ally. Considering be free from external influence of the aforementioned, granting SSMU, it would allow Indigenous autonomy for Indigenous groups, student groups to plan concrete and clubs, and organizations should sequential mobilization strategies for be the first objective of SSMU. As activities and campaigns that would Indigenous students understand be hermetically sealed from every best what support mechanisms incoming SSMU executive body. are necessary for an accessible It can be used to hire additional

If SSMU wishes to stand in solidarity with Indigenous students, it is time they relinquish control over Indigenous students.

student-staff under the Indigenous Affairs portfolio, as well as to pay expenses associated with Indigenous student mobilization, including offering appropriate honorariums and gifts to Indigenous Knowledge Holders, Traditional Drumming Groups, Urban Indigenous Activists, and Indigenous professors. The equity fund, in tandem with being

Thanks, UGE.

that critical first step in achieving the long overdue autonomy Indigenous students require, will also go to promote and support the well-being of Indigenous students on Indigenous students’ terms. If SSMU wishes to stand in solidarity with Indigenous students, it is time they relinquish control over them.

A Love Letter to the Union for Gender Empowerment Kate Ellis Coordinating Editor

hen I was looking at universities, the first thing I looked for was LGBTQ+ organizations and resources on campus. As a queer student, and the former president of my high school’s GenderSexuality Alliance, I knew that I couldn’t go to a university that wasn’t LGBTQ+ friendly. Most colleges and universities have LGBTQ+ centres or gay student groups – but McGill was one of the few that had a space dedicated to trans individuals. The Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) was a central part of my first year. As a staffer, I got to spend a few days each week in the office: a beacon of hope in a campus that’s not always welcoming to trans people. I got to provide people with products that make them

feel more comfortable in their body, share anti-oppressive book recommendations, and make adorable pronoun buttons (my favourite is the one that another volunteer gave me – it said Enbee). In the comfort of the fifth floor of 2075 Robert Bourassa, and now a shoebox-sized room in the back of 680 Sherbrooke (we miss you, SSMU building), I found hope surrounded by the rad zines, pronoun buttons, the corner co-op shop (with binders, packers, and other gender-affirming products), and a trans-inclusive library. Within these walls, I met dozens of trans people and allies that reminded me that McGill is somewhere I can be myself. Even though I do not volunteer for them anymore, knowing that the UGE exists on campus gives me hope everyday. Any time I send them a Facebook message, see their listserv, or see them tabling, it

makes me feel a little better about all of the times that I’ve gotten weird looks or been misgendered.

I found hope surrounded by the rad zines, pronoun buttons, the corner co-op shop [...], and a transinclusive library. So here’s a thank you to the UGE. Thank you, UGE, for everything. To learn more about the Union for Gender Empowerment and access their services, visit https:// www.facebook.com/UGEMcGill/.

November 11, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

SCI+TECH

AI and Cancer Research

McGill Scientists Explore High-Tech Diagnostics Leslie Brown Sci+Tech Contributor

rtificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning might have some cool tricks up their sleeve, but they’re now also revolutionizing the way we diagnose and treat patients. McGill-based machine learning researchers met on October 30 to present a public lecture, hosted by the Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre, on the future of cancer research and the essential role AI plays in it. The speakers, whose backgrounds ranged from medical physics to radiation oncology, collaborated to present the various aspects of this cutting-edge intersection of artificial intelligence and medicine.

The objective, Dr. Arbel explains, is to enable computers to develop artifical perception and interpret the visual world much as humans do.

Phoebe Pannier | Illustrations Editor

stills or family photo albums. The applications of the software are limitless, including analyzing surveillance footage or, most pertinent to Dr. Arbel’s work, medical diagnostic imaging. The objective, Dr. Arbel explains, is to enable computers to develop artificial perception and One speaker in particular, interpret the visual world much as Dr. Tal Arbel from McGill’s humans do. Examples of ongoing Department of Electrical and advancements in computer vision Computer Engineering, explained include facial recognition and how AI is being used as a crucial tracking of moving objects. tool for optimizing detection and treatment of cancerous lesions, in a wave she hopes will move the healthcare system toward imagingbased precision medicine: a system that can offer more personalized treatment based on highly-accurate imaging tests. Harnessing Computer Vision What is artificial intelligence? Simply put, AI is any computerized technique that mimics human intelligence. A highly popular subfield is machine learning, which aims to train computers to recognize patterns in data to optimize their performance over time. Even more specialized developments are emerging in deep learning: a technique that enables computers to train themselves to perform a task. Dr. Arbel’s research focuses on computer vision, another subfield which involves developing programs that can automatically analyze and understand the content of digital images through machine learning. Images used for training can be as light-hearted as movie

Dr. Arbel stressed that these machine learning models [...] have immense potential to benefit all cancer detection and research.

How Artificial Eyes Can Help Us Leaps in the sophistication of computer vision have significantly optimized the accuracy, usefulness, and timeliness of medical imaging in healthcare. Instead of having a clinician sit down with the laborious task of reviewing brain scan after brain scan, researchers like Dr. Arbel

are training computers to search for the possible malignancies in an image themselves, and to do it better than a human can. In the field of brain tumours and multiple sclerosis, her technology has already had clinical success. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease in young people; its hallmark is the presence of brain lesions, which are often diagnosed through Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images. Using large datasets retrieved from the Montreal Neurological Institute, Dr. Arbel and her team have developed computer programs that can accurately distinguish healthy tissue in an image from possible MS lesions, through an imaging process referred to as segmentation. Segmentation of a tumour is highly important for staging diseases (classifying degree of severity) and predicting their progression, as well as planning surgeries. Dr. Arbel’s team later sophisticated this technique even further by feeding the program sequential scans of the same patients over several years, making her research group the very first to develop machine learning methods that can track MS evolution and distinguish between stable, growing, and shrinking lesions. But this milestone is just a foot in the door. In her talk, Dr. Arbel stressed that these machine learning models are highly generalized; a common drawback of these sorts of models is that they are too specific. This means they have immense potential to

benefit all cancer detection and research – and could even be taught to project damages into the future.

Leaps in the sophistication of computer vision have significantly optimized the accuracy, usefulness, and timeliness of medical imaging in healthcare. Pushing the Boundaries of Patient Care As medical imaging analysis programs become more sophisticated, so does their predictive power. Artificial intelligence doesn’t just have the opportunity to improve diagnostic aspects of medicine, but can add an entirely new dimension to it: providing data-driven predictions on patient outcome. Dr. Arbel’s research team is now focusing on sharpening AI’s ability to accurately predict tumour progression, while also experimenting with conveying confidence intervals about the accuracy of predictions back to the clinician. If the latter technique is successful, it would mean a huge leap toward crafting a healthcare

system rooted in personalized or precision medicine: the tailoring of treatment for an individual based on their predicted response to a disease. As Dr. Arbel puts it, adding uncertainty to the machine learning framework throws the ball back into the clinician’s court; it would only function to accelerate workflow, rather than attempt to replace it. If artificial intelligence can honestly reflect on its own shortcomings, human judgment will still be able to provide a safety net. Implications in the Field of Medicine Imaging-based precision medicine has the potential to pave the way for many improvements in patient care. While it provides a more accurate diagnosis and a better understanding of cancer evolution, integrating AI into medical diagnostics also offers the opportunity to provide precise personalized predictions to patients and clinicians, a largely uncharted territory in the field of medicine. With the increasing reliance on machine expertise to detect, diagnose, and manage our illnesses, we must ask ourselves: where will be the point where we can trust artificial judgment over a clinician’s? “AI and the Future of Cancer Research” is one installment of many in the Goodman Cancer Research Centre’s annual public lecture series. Look out for their next lecture on November 20, “HPVinduced cancers, immunization, and cancer prevention.”

Culture

November 11, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

A Queer Slice of Life

A Review of Meat and Bone by Kat Verhoeven

Nelly Wat Culture Writer

CW: eating disorders

riginally published as a webcomic, cartoonist Kat Verhoeven’s book Meat and Bone beautifully weaves together the social and personal lives of three women, highlighting their struggles, and personal growth. Verhoeven’s praiseworthy use of colour and light transitions the reader from one familiar Toronto backdrop to another, carrying them through dreamlike scenes and personal fantasies, and captivates them at critical moments of clarity and urgency. Meat and Bone is a queer drama that follows Anne, a young writer who struggles with an eating disorder, and her growth alongside her friends Gwen and Jane. The story begins with Jane, a fellow writer and close friend from university, moving in with Anne and Gwen after spending two years in Switzerland and breaking up with her partner. Gwen quickly moves on from her ex-boyfriend, and begins to explore polyamory. The three women, all having recently broken up with their lovers, decide that this is a chance for a fresh start. Gwen is still on amicable terms with her ex, Lawrence, and communicates openly with him about her new relationships and endeavours. However, she soon realizes that communication is lacking between herself and one of her partners, and must address her own dishonesty. Unfortunately, her dishonesty comes with messy consequences – consequences that she does not deserve, but must handle with maturity to move forward. In her exploration of polyamorous relationships, Gwen learns about herself, her needs as well as others’, and the importance of open communication in a polyamorous relationship. Verhoeven’s illustration and narration of Gwen’s character development is refreshing; representations of healthy polyamorous relationships are rare, and often overly sexualize and sensationalize these relationships. While Verhoeven doesn’t shy away from depicting sex or a messy storyline, she gives Gwen opportunities to explore her own boundaries, as well as recognize and respect the boundaries and needs of her partners. As Jane adjusts to life back in Toronto, she searches for employment, writes, and cares for her friends, but rarely shares her own troubles. Jane is nurturing,

Illustration Courtesy of Kat Verhoeven warm, and compassionate, and works through her own problems independently. She begins to go to the gym, encouraging Anne to do so as well; however, Jane and Anne differ in what they hope to achieve by exercising. Jane initially signs up at the gym to become “revenge skinny,” in order to spite her infidelitous and fatphobic ex-boyfriend, but soon realizes her goal is to build strength, both physically and emotionally. She develops self-confidence and selflove that Anne admires yet fears. As Anne reminisces about once having lost weight, she moans to Jane, “You remember how it felt, don’t you? The compliments. The attention.” Jane responds calmly, “and I wasn’t any happier. I don’t want it. I want to be strong.” Jane asserts, “I’m fat. I have always been fat. It wasn’t news.” A recurring entity that Anne fantasizes about throughout the novel is one of Barbarella – a fictional character played by Jane Fonda from the nominal film, about an astronaut from the 41st century. Barbarella is Anne’s model of ideal beauty, a symbol of sexual liberation, and her obsession; in incorporating the Barbie-esque character into Anne’s imagination, Verhoeven touches on the ways in which the media upholds unhealthy and fatphobic beauty standards. In an interview with Them, she connects Anne’s idol

to Jane Fonda, who spoke openly about her experiences with an eating disorder and, quite problematically, her struggles to maintain her image as a “sex icon” in the 60s. Then Anne meets Marshall. “Wow. Is she real?” As she sees Marshall for the first time, smoking a cigarette on her balcony one floor below, her hair billowing around her, “Could I date a girl that thin?” Anne ponders. Marshall is a trans woman and model/actress struggling with an eating disorder and meeting cisnormative standards of beauty. Throughout the novel, she is portrayed as something of a “bad influence” on Anne, and Jane scrutinizes their relationship almost immediately. Marshall encourages Anne to take up a stricter diet, exercise, enforce self-discipline, and provides her with weight-loss drugs, all the while making critical comments about Anne’s “willpower” when it comes to food. Anne is enraptured by her, and they develop a dangerous co-dependent relationship. One day, while on a run together, Marshall stops to catch her breath and makes a pointed comment: “I know what you’re thinking... you want to save me.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Anne responds, “I want to be you.” In many ways, Marshall, in Anne’s mind, is Barbarella. To Anne, Barbarella is seen as “perfect” in every way, embodying the Eurocentric

ideal of beauty: blonde hair, skinny but curvy, strong, and able-bodied. In some ways, Marshall-as-Barbarella is reminiscent of the “manic pixie dream girl” trope. However, in Anne’s fantasies, Barbarella is immortal – she cannot speak, does not have feelings, and only exists for consumption. Marshall disrupts that ideal; as Verhoeven notes, Marshall is not a distant, fictional character or an object of fantasy that solely exists in Anne’s imagination but a human being with her own agency. She has moments of weakness, and though her true emotions are heavily guarded, in brief and tender moments between her an Anne we are offered a glimpse of her true nature. Marshall is a complicated character, despite how quick the reader may be to antagonize her; she is defensive, distant, and deeply hurt, essentially human and flawed. Marshall’s relationship with Anne is unhealthy and rooted in trauma, no doubt, but their care and affinities for one another are deep. Their relationship, while platonic, sometimes hints at the potential of something romantic between them – Anne’s attraction to Marshall, however complicated her reasons, is undeniable, particularly in the brief moments they exchange affection. “Somehow she says the right things,” Anne thinks to herself after Marshall embraces her, “When she does this kind of thing, is she flirting? Is Marshall into girls?”

Anne’s uncertainty and angst likely resonates deeply with many queer women. “I’m so confused,” Anne confesses to her sibling, “she’ll hold my hand or hug me too tight. Then says stuff like – designed to be read as platonic. Then she’ll turn around and call me babe!” Verhoeven’s captivating and gorgeous storytelling, as well as her unwavering representation of flawed, complex, and difficult characters, unabashedly address eating disorders, polyamory, and queer love in a powerfully relatable and accessible way. Ultimately, Meat and Bone shines light on the complexity of human emotions and on the sorrow and joy of difficult relationships. As we follow the trials and tribulations of Anne, Marshall, Jane, and Gwen, among many of Verhoeven’s other unique characters, we watch them struggle with self-image, confidence, and interpersonal strife, and we watch them grow and mature. Verhoeven is unafraid of exploring complicated and tumultuous friendships, and of depicting relationships that are messy and uncertain – trajectories very much like many of our relationships in real life. Kat Verhoeven is an illustrator and cartoonist based in Toronto. For more of her work, visit her website http:// verwho.com/about.php or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @verwho

Horoscopes

November 11, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Lies, half-truths, and the Quebecoisie.

HECK’in HOROSCOPES Aries

(Mar 21 Apr 19)

Have you ever heard of sleep? This might be the week to try it.

Cancer (Jun 21 Jul 22)

I know that school is stressing you out. Consider this: blankets, hot chocolate, and San Junipero.

Taurus (Apr 20 May 20)

Your fridge is getting gross. Clean it out.

Leo (Jul 23 Aug 22)

I bet that you’re secretly really good at making soup. Wanna test that theory? ;)

Libra

Scorpio

(Sept 23 Oct 22)

(Oct 23 Nov 21)

Feeling off balance? Don’t fall down on the job!

Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19)

Your social media game is going to be on point this week...

You’ll make eye contact with a cutie while pouring yourself a coffee in Snax. Take them to the Divest walkout.

Gemini (May 21 Jun 20)

You’re in the market for a new sex toy, love. Check out the Shag Shop!

Virgo (Aug 23 Sept 22)

Missing the samosas? Pushap does have a physical location, and it’s by a Value Village.

Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21)

That pink sweater looks good on you. Wear it tomorrow.

Aquarius

Pisces

(Jan 20 Feb 18)

(Feb 19 - Mar 20)

Tip your local drag queen.

Dance in the snow. Or the rain. Or your pajamas. Take a chance to let loose this week.