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The commodification of fitness p. 15
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Contents
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11. PIxel identity: on race,
4. Editorial
gender, and image
5. art essay
14. CITY OF SPORT
6. Ssmu council
15. ON COMMODIFYING FITNESS
7. international news
16.Proteosomes in medicine
8. community engagement day; Mcgill housing issues impact students
17. cell transformation
9. Forensic architecture
18. concert for Native women’s shelter
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EDITORIAL
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Harsh realities face Haitian asylum seekers in Canada
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I
n recent months, an unprecedented number of asylum seekers have entered the province of Quebec. These immigrants, the majority of whom are of Haitian origin, cross the U.S.-Canada border without documentation and subsequently approach a border patrol agent to declare asylum, a legal request for protection by the Canadian government. This recent influx is in part due to the U.S. government’s decision to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to Haitian asylum seekers in the United States following the earthquake in 2010. According to Canadian law enforcement, roughly 7,000 people have entered the country this way since June 1. The recent influx of asylum seekers has sparked xenophobic rhetoric in Quebec and across the country— far-right groups organized protests in Montreal and Quebec City in August, which were met by counterprotests in solidarity with refugees. Many right-wing political parties have also engaged in dehumanizing rhetoric which describes asylum seekers as burdens to the Canadian government and people. In reality, Canada has both the capacity and the ethical imperative to welcome them, many of whom have risked death to escape unstable conditions. The Canadian government should also make reparations for their role in bringing down the democratically elected Aristide government in the 2000s, as well as for the increase in deportations after the lifting of the deportation ban in 2016, which has resulted in the deportation of more than 5,000 Haitian refugees in the first half of 2017 alone. In the majority of cases, asylum seekers are not made aware of the reality of the Canadian immigration process, and are instead led to believe that Canada is a welcoming haven for immigrants. This misconception is exacerbated by Justin Trudeau’s public image and lip service to refugees. By opportunistically posing with refugees and echoing empty ideas about the importance of diversity, Trudeau maintains a position of liberal superiority without actually pushing legislation that facilitates immigration into Canada. The proposed immigration
policies outlined on the Liberal party’s website state that the government intends to open its borders only to 25,000 refugees from Iraq and Syria—less than 0.5 per cent of the more than 5 million refugees who have left Syria alone. Policy proposals reuniting families favour refugees who receive financial sponsorship from family members already partially immigrated to Canada. Family or spouse sponsorships bear the brunt of the socioeconomic cost of settling in a new country. Immigration Canada uses a point based system largely based on economic merit, rather than acknowledging an ethical duty that Canada has to open its borders. For many Haitian asylum seekers leaving the U.S. at this time, entrance into Canada can in fact prove to be even more detrimental to their circumstances, given that the Canadian government is deporting Haitian refugees back to Haiti, as opposed to the U.S., where they still have status until January 22, 2018. Canadians must become aware of the way their country treats asylum seekers. They need to speak out and advocate for more ethical and compassionate immigration laws, and hold politicians accountable to their claims. Most importantly, they need to actively support asylum seekers by showing up to rallies, donating money and clothing where appropriate, and creating safe spaces for undocumented people. Last spring, for example, Concordia undergraduate students voted to make the university an official sanctuary campus, formally adopting a policy of non-cooperation. This includes, but is not limited to, refusing to share “any information on its current and past staff, faculty and students, or allowing the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) on its premises, in order to protect undocumented community members from threat of deportation.” More must be done to put this into practice, as Concordia’s security personnel still collaborate with the CBSA, but the vote was a good start. It’s time for SSMU to do the same by pressuring McGill into adopting a similar policy. —The McGill Daily editorial board
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Art essay
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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My Dying Tomato Plant Ironic artistic devotion to plant I neglected
Nora McCready | The McGill Daily
News
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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SSMU Council holds first meeting of the year Guest speakers discuss finances Marina Cupido The McGill Daily
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n September 14, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council convened for its first meeting of the year. Socially Responsible Investment fund Council heard a detailed presentation from Vadim di Pietro, the Chief Investment Officer of Desautels Capital Management (DCM). According to its website, DCM is “Canada’s first university-owned, student-run registered investment firm.” At Thursday’s council meeting, di Pietro discussed the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) VP Finance Arisha Khan’s plan to create a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) fund for the Society, which would be managed by DCM. In essence, the SRI should ensure that a portion of SSMU’s funds is invested in sustainable, ethically-run companies. “For one, you want to [invest in] things that are consistent with your own moral values,” said di Pietro, “but on top of that, you’re actually trying to have an impact that will [...] do good for society, and for the environment.” In a message to The Daily, Khan explained that she chose DCM to manage the SRI fund because of their student-run status,“SSMU’s accountants do not handle investments (you have to be licensed specifically for that purpose),” she wrote. “Our investment portfolio is managed by Lester Asset Management which is [an external] company. [SSMU has] no choice [but] to go with [an external] company and this way we are supporting student learning in sustainable investing and promoting it heavily at McGill.” When asked how corporations’ ‘social responsibility’ will be determined, Khan told The Daily that SSMU’s SRI fund will use the index of a company called Sustainalytics, known as a global leader in ESG analysis. ESG
refers to “environmental, social, and corporate governance,” a standard of a company’s operations concerning the range of factors that shape the impact of an investment. ESG analysis takes into account ecological sustainability, labour practices, employee diversity, and human rights, among numerous other factors. “[Sustainalytics is] the leader in ESG analysis but with anything else investors must do their own deeper research,” explained Khan. So how exactly will the creation of an SRI change SSMU’s investment portfolio? SSMU is constitutionally committed to “demonstrating leadership in matters of human rights, social justice, and environmental protection,” and to “[being] mindful of the direct and indirect effects that Society businesses and organizations have on their social, political, economic, and environmental surroundings.”
SSMU is constitutionally committed to “demonstrating leadership in matters of human rights, social justice, and environmental protection.” The SSMU Sustainability Policy requires that the Society “be stewards of students’ money in an ethical manner,” and “prioritize funding to initiatives that will [...] lead to
considerable social and/or environmental benefit.” Finally, the Climate Change Policy mandates SSMU to “continue to avoid all investments in the fossil fuel industry.” Despite these provisions, explained Khan, SSMU’s current investments aren’t as ‘socially responsible’ as they could be. “Right now, we just invest in what is returning well,” Khan told The Daily. “There is no ‘positive screening’ done [to determine] how [we can] not just invest for a return but rather in companies that are doing good things and treating people and the environment right.” Regarding the specific issue of divestment from fossil fuels, Khan commented that the above policies had not been entirely respected. “SSMU was not divested fully [from fossil fuels] when I came in [to the position of VP Finance],” wrote Khan. “There is one pipeline company left that I submitted a request to divest from. Some of the other companies [in which SSMU invests] are sort of questionable, but [...] you are limited when it comes to the Canadian landscape because most of Canada’s [wealth] is miningrelated,” said Khan. Sustainability Projects Fund In addition to Di Pietro’s presentation, Council also heard from guest speaker Krista Houser, the administrator of McGill’s Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF). SPF was established in 2009 as a three-year pilot project funded by SSMU, the PostGraduate Students’ Society (PGSS), and the Macdonald Campus Students’ Society (MCSS). Houser explained that the SPF, which allocates funding to members of the McGill community interested in starting new sustainability-themed projects, will have to run a referendum campaign this semester to have its non-opt-outable $0.50 student fee renewed. The McGill adminis-
tration already matches this fee dollar for dollar, and will continue to do so should the fee renewal pass. Houser also announced the forthcoming creation of a “tiny stream application process,” intended to make it easier for smaller-scale projects to receive assistance from the SPF. This initiative is expected to be operational in the next few weeks. Motions Passed Following the guest presentations, two motions were debated and approved. The first, a “Motion Regarding the Adoption of the Standing Rules for the 2017-2018 Legislative Council,” consisted of a series of minor modifications to Robert’s Rules of Order intended to streamline this year’s Council meetings. The motion passed after relatively little debate, with only a few minor adjustments to the proposal’s wording. The second motion on the table, a “Motion to Change the Status of the Students’ Society Programming Network,” aimed to move the aforementioned network (known as SSPN) away from Legislative Council for ethical reasons. According to the motion’s “whereas” clauses, SSPN has historically had looser membership requirements than other committees of Council, while simultaneously providing “many more incentives for its members than other committees.” This, apparently, had been a source of tension between SSMU councillors who were part of SSPN and those who weren’t. In order to address this problem, the motion proposed changing the three SSPN seats currently reserved for SSMU councillors into more seats for members-at-large. Additionally, it proposed that, while councillors will still be allowed to join SSPN, doing so will “not fulfill their mandate of joining a committee of Legislative Council.” The second motion also passed with minimal debate.
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INternational News
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Brazil launches investigation into murders of Indigenous people Marina Cupido The McGill Daily
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razilian federal prosecutors launched an investigation this week into the reported murders of ten Indigenous people by miners in the country’s remote Javari Valley. The violence first came to light in early August when FUNAI, Brazil’s federal department of Indigenous affairs, received reports that a group of gold prospectors had been overheard bragging about killing the indigenous persons.
These murders come on the heels of massive funding cuts to FUNAI, carried out by Brazil’s conservative Temer administration as part of nation-wide austerity measures. The department saw its budget slashed by nearly 50 per cent earlier this year, forcing FUNAI to shut down many of its regional offices. The Javari Valley, where the reported killings took place, is a vast reserve home to roughly 20 uncontacted Indigenous tribes; due to these recent budget cuts it is patrolled by only ten government officials.
Legislative attacks on FUNAI have made it easier for illegal prospectors to gain access to Brazil’s Indigenous reserves. The men whose boasts of violence sparked the current investigation had been dredging local rivers for gold. Since late August, the federal government has reportedly shut down four other illegal mining operations in the Javari Valley alone. This forms part of a broader trend that has sparked protests both within Brazil and abroad: Michel Temer’s embattled ad-
ministration, facing corruption charges and a flagging economy, has made a concerted effort to court powerful mining corporations. To this end, Temer attempted to cancel the protected status of a vast area of the Amazon rainforest to the north of the country in late August, only to be temporarily blocked by a federal judge. The region, home to several vulnerable Indigenous communities, is thought to contain valuable deposits of gold, nickel, and iron ore. International observers have
decried the lack of protections for Brazil’s substantial Indigenous population, particularly in the wake of this year’s cuts. Earlier this June, a United Nations press release stated that “the rights of Indigenous peoples and environmental rights are under attack in Brazil,” noting that over the past 15 years, no other country has seen more deadly attacks on land defenders, many of whom are Indigenous. With material from The Guardian and NBC.
Hurricane Irma ravages the Caribbean Marina Cupido The McGill Daily
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eginning on Wednesday, September 6, Hurricane Irma wreaked a path of devastation across the Caribbean. As of Friday evening, the storm’s death toll stood at 84. It may continue to rise in the coming days, as the affected communities continue to assess the scale of the damage. For many island nations, the damage caused by the storm has been apocalyptic. In Barbuda, the first island hit by Irma, 90 per cent of buildings were destroyed, and 50 per cent of the population left homeless. The French-administered territory of St Martin was reported to have been 95 per cent destroyed, while more than a million Puerto Ricans were left without power. One of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic ocean, Irma initially ranked as a category 5 on the Saffir–
Simpson scale, meaning its wind speed was over 252 kilometres per hour. By the time it made landfall in Florida on September 10, Irma had become a category 4 storm, but it did substantial damage to the state nonetheless, destroying one in four homes in the Florida Keys and causing widespread power outages. The devastation caused by Irma has reawakened controversy over the American Red Cross (ARC) and its handling of donations. Much of this controversy stems from a 2015 report by NPR and ProPublica, which charged the ARC with diverting tens of millions of dollars raised to support vital humanitarian efforts in Haiti. The ARC has denied mishandling relief funds, but has found corruption rumours difficult to shake. As the storm ravaged one Caribbean island after another, many of the region’s inhabitants took to Twitter to beg international observers not to donate to the ARC,
and instead to channel much-needed funding to local relief organizations. Both in the U.S. and across the Caribbean, Irma’s impact heightened already vast disparities between wealthy and impoverished communities. In Florida, where the wealth gap is significantly higher than most other states, Miami Beach millionaires left their securely hurricane-proofed mansions in compliance with a mandatory evacuation order. A few miles away in the primarily Black neighbourhood of Liberty City, many residents rode out the storm with limited supplies and little or no protection for their homes. On the island of St. Martin, a wellknown tax haven, an outcry erupted after multiple reports described evacuation boats prioritizing wealthy, white American tourists over the island’s local population. It was also alleged that Air France initially tripled its ticket prices for flights out of St.
Martin and nearby St. Barthélemy, rendering them inaccessible to most locals. Arriving in the immediate aftermath of hurricanes Harvey and Katia, and followed closely by hurricane Jose, Irma has also sparked much debate over the role played by climate change in these consecutive disasters. The consensus seems to be that while climate change cannot be said to have caused any of these storms, it certainly made their impact deadlier. Notably, rising sea levels exacerbate the storm surges (devastating waves and flooding) caused by hurricanes, and warmer temperatures result in more evaporation, and thus heavier rainfall. Many scientific authorities are predicting that the coming decades will bring hurricanes of Irma’s calibre with increasing frequency. With material from The Guardian, Reuters, RT, and Vox.
Nora McCready | The McGill Daily
News 8 SEDE prepares for Community Engagement Day September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Organizers strive to move beyond the “McGill Bubble” importance of the event series and what to look forward to in the coming days. Barbe stressed that one of the most valuable things about CED is the opportunity to do hands-
Nora McCready The McGill Daily
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he McGill office for Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) is hosting their seventh annual Community Engagement Day (CED) next week. Despite its name, CED actually takes place over a number of days, starting on September 25, with most of the events scheduled for September 28. Programming for the CED is comprised of a variety of workshops, talks, and volunteer opportunities intended to facilitate community engagement. SEDE emphasizes the importance of building relationships with local community groups as a pillar of diversity education. As the largest initiative undertaken by SEDE to encourage community involvement, CED requires support from the administration, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), and a long list of local groups who want to strengthen the relationship between McGill and the wider Montreal community. Monika Barbe, the CED Program Coordinator, spoke to The Daily about the
SEDE emphasizes the importance of building relationships with local community groups as a pillar of diversity education. on volunteer work. “[CED] is going to be a chance for people to see the everyday reality of a community organization and the importance of [...] the manual work and [to see] that [...] change happens there,” said Barbe. “Yes, it’s [CED] very interesting to sit down and reflect and criticize, which I think is super important, but there’s a lot of people working in the community organizations with actual physi-
cal jobs […] and interacting directly with the people who benefit from the different organizations, and I think that’s a powerful thing to focus on in terms of social change.” Barbe also described some of the workshops being organized, including the “Equity 101” event hosted by Shanice Yarde, an Equity Educational Advisor at SEDE. According to the CED website, the workshop “is designed to give participants a ‘101’ understanding of equity, and how society is shaped by power and oppression.”
“[CED] is going to be a chance for people to see the everyday reality of a community organization” Monika Barbe, CED Program Coordinator
“In a very introductory way [Yarde] is going to present […] the main issues that the office works on, so in that sense I would say that if you’re in any way interested in what SEDE does, that is that workshop is fundamental,” Barbe told The Daily, before finishing with a call for participants from the entre McGill community. “In a very emphatic way I invite everyone to be part of Community Engagement Day,” she said. “Not only students, because I think with the profile of a student, [...] the interest and the initiative to be part of this thing [follows], but also to faculty and staff, because McGill is not only students.” SEDE has a website listing all the events taking place during CED. People can access the time, location, and description of the events, as well as register for the events they find interesting. The program covers a broad range of topics, from an outdoor movie screening of Demain, a film about the ecological and social challenges posed by climate change, to food distribution for the Welcome Hall Mission food bank. The events are happening all over Montreal and there are still spots available for many of the events.
McGill housing backlogs into EVO
Students given “temporary residence” waiting list Claire Grenier The McGill Daily
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cGill’s housing system have historically allowed numbers to exceeded the capacity of the residence system. This year, McGill partnered with EVO to meet application demands in time for the school year. McGill guarantees housing for all first year students aged 22 years and under. The student’s residence is determined by a lottery system, using randomly generated numbers assigned to students who have paid their residence deposit fee. Students who are able to pay the deposit in advance receive a lower number, which increases their chance of being placed in their preferred accommodation. However, despite paying a $1500 deposit, a secure placement in residence is not a guarantee for all first year students. Temporary housing Every year, around 100 to 200 residence applicants are waitlisted on temporary housing assignments, then are given permanent assignments as residence spaces become available before the school year. This summer, incoming students were given “temporary housing” status until mid-August, which left them less than two weeks to make travel arrangements and move into residence. This backlog was a result of an administrative system intentionally accepting more residence requests than the available capacity. McGill depends on a certain number of cancellations to be able to meet demands for accommodation, which means that the lottery system accepts residence applications regardless of capacity, expecting many students to ultimately cancel their applications. Until this happens, however, the number of applications exceeds the housing space available in McGill’s residences. While students
are guaranteed a place in McGill residence, they do not know where they will be placed. According to Monique Lauzon, a marketing and nutrition consultant for McGill Housing and Student Services, this kind of delay is a common occurrence. “Many more students apply for admission to McGill (and request residences) than actually end up attending McGill in the fall,” wrote Lauzon in an email to The Daily. “Once residence rooms are assigned in the lottery, there are always some students assigned a ‘temporary residence’ or who are put on a type of waiting list while we wait for cancellations to come in up until classes start.” However, it appears that McGill received fewer cancellations this year than in previous years. As a result, students with temporary housing status remained on the waiting list longer than usual. Phoebe Pannier, a U0 student in the faculty of Arts, shared her experience of getting stuck in bureaucratic limbo. “Waiting was the worst,” she told The Daily. “It was beyond inconvenient to not have any information about my living situation. I didn’t know for sure what I needed to bring, or if I was going to be living with anyone else.” Additionally, students who received temporary housing status do not have the option to choose between a single or a double room, and have been calling themselves the “rezjects,” having been backlogged in the system. Partnership with EVO In response to the housing delays over the summer, McGill partnered with EVO, a privately-owned housing complex run by a joint venture between two equity firms: Campus Crest Communities Inc, and Beaumont Partners SA. “Under Student Housing and Hospitality Services [students living in EVO] are entitled
to the same programming and community services as [the] other residence students,” Lauzon explained. This means that EVO will be part of McGill’s residence programming for the coming school year, with access to floor fellows and representation on Inter-Residence Council. EVO is currently housing 163 first year students in a dormitory-style housing complex located downtown on Sherbrooke street. EVO is an upscale living space with private bathrooms, an indoor heated pool, a game room, a 24-hour gym, and various other luxury amenities. For an individual student, rent for a double occupancy room at EVO starts at $775 per month, excluding meal costs and other costs of living. McGill students at EVO are paying $1100 per month for the same double room
“It was beyond inconvenient to not have any information about my living situation.”
Phoebe Pannier, McGill U0 student
McGill residence fees McGill’s residence fees are notoriously high. According to an article by the Huffington Post, McGill has the most expensive on-campus housing in Canada, at an average of $1,885 in living costs including utilities in 2015, followed by University of Toronto. This is partly due to the mandatory meal plan that must be purchased along with residence accommodation. Many students do not finish the meal plan in their first year, and carry over their credits to the next year. This has sparked criticism from many
Claire Grenier | The McGill Daily students, with advocates of a voluntary meal plan emphasizing the value of responsibility and choice. “I think I’m saving money by buying my own groceries although sometimes I end up [...] buying food on campus,” said Darian McCabe, a U0 student in the faculty of Arts. Juliane Chartrand, also a U0 Arts student, echoed the sentiment. “I think that at our age, being for the first time alone, [...] being responsible for our meals is a hard, but important experience,” she said. “I think that the meal plan is a very bad idea, [since] you pay too much at the end.” When asked about future housing partnerships, Lauzon replied “There are many factors which affect the demand for residence rooms and it can vary from year to year. We may or may not need additional rooms in the future. If we do require rooms and EVO has rooms available, then there is that possibility.”
news
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Architecture as a sensor Eyal Weizman gives lecture at McGill on Forensic Architecture Jude Khashman The McGill Daily
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n Thursday September 14, The McGill Architecture School kicked off its annual lecture series with a talk by Eyal Weizman, Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London and Director of the Centre for Research Architecture. Most significantly, Weizman has been directing Forensic Architecture, a project funded by the European Research Council, since 2011. Weizman initiated Forensic Architecture and has been able to employ it as a function of humanitarian and social justice. His lecture focused on the use of architecture as a powerful method in forensic science. Titled, “Democracy, Space and Technology”, it was an unprecedented study of “architecture as a sensor.” Through the representation of Forensic Architecture projects over the past few years, Weizman posed questions about the multiple layers of witness testimony, the threat of the ‘fake news’ phenomenon, and the difficulties of navigating the political realm of architecture. He first explained that Forensic Science functions as an investigative unit that uses architectural principles and modeling to research crime scenes on a global scale. The cases under investigation are usually inaccessible due to political, geographical or even systematic reasons. Yet, by studying the space as a function of people’s interaction with it, Weizman and his team are able to reconstruct the scene in a way that allows further information to be collected and analyzed. This is done through the use of computer programs that facilitate the analysis of digital data, large-scale modeling that recreates the intended scene, and the collection of metadata evidence (data concerning the time and place). Weizman demonstrated the use of this process in warfare architecture. He presented the case of drone strikes in Waziristan, a region in Pakistan under strict military control. After providing a visual survey of the region’s topography, Weizman showed how ineffective the use of satellite images is in surveying an area affected by drone strikes. As a result, before and after images of a strike yield no evidence of the attack.
Almost no evidence exists of covert drone strikes conducted by the US military. In Waziristan, there is little to no media access. Therefore, almost no evidence exists of covert drone strikes conducted by the US military. Weizman’s team uses spatial mapping of the terrain and the analysis of the building rubble in order to reconstruct the scene and piece together the details of the strike. In this way, the affected
buildings and structures are treated as an archeological site that can relay the conditions surrounding an event. In a particular case in Waziristan, footage was found that helped frame the drone strike site, and thus provided information regarding the type of drone, the mechanism by which it detonates, and even the time at which it would have gone off.
example of current Syrian President Assad, who stated that such an investigation was based on fabricated evidence. Weizman also mentioned the Israeli Authorities’ reaction to the Gaza investigation, which they dismissed as false as well. After referencing these cases, Weizman asked, “What does it mean to fabricate evidence?” He explored the role of politics in determining the validity of information, and how power plays a major role in investigations conducted on a global scale. He emphasized the importance of Forensic Architecture in spite of this, as it is a way of “seizing the means of production; the means of investigation and therefore producing evidence.”
In this way, the affected buildings are treated as an archeological site that can relay the conditions of an event. “What does it mean to fabricate evidence?” This chain of collected evidence is fur-
ther demonstrated by the case of the Israeli bombings on Gaza in the Summer of 2014. After being approached by Amnesty International and Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) to help build a case for The Hague, the Forensic Architecture team was able to collect data through analysis of bomb smoke footage. Weizman pointed out the difficulty of using the images and videos available from social media as material for court since they do not have the metadata needed for such a high profile case. Additionally, he emphasized that the evidence collected from those sources would be incomplete due to the intermittent electricity shutdowns conducted by Israeli Authorities on the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, the researchers were asked to determine the deadliest day of the strike, in order to present the data in court. By analyzing these images, which initially offered little data, the team constructed a temporal frame based on the rate of bomb cloud spread and managed to find the exact missile used in the strike. Weizman also works with trauma survivors on sensory recognition to help them recall valuable parts of their testimony. Trauma often causes a distortion of memories of the traumatic event. Because of this, data relayed by survivors can be difficult to contextualize temporally and spatially. In one incident, Syrian political prisoners who escaped imprisonment aimed to testify against the war crimes conducted by the regime. Their knowledge of the secure prison space was distorted, as they had been blindfolded for most of the time. However, after reconstructing the architecture through visual, kinetic and audio modeling, the prisoners were able to recall suppressed details of their experience. While this had a significant impact on the investigation, a more important outcome was the technique’s ability to move the prisoners towards psychological treatment. Weizman stressed, “Space collects its cartesian reality, as well as its psychological depth.” The response to Forensic Architecture’s work has varied, but there has been a common thread of attacks from authorities under investigation. Weizman referenced articles and interviews that were quick to dismiss the work as invalid. He gave the
Weizman concluded with a statement on the complexity of navigating political conflict through this field of work. After being questioned on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he stated that while such investigations would usually engage with the Israeli authorities, his work attempts to minimize complicity in the attacks conducted by the Occupation forces. Weizman explained that such work would not address the Israeli government, as that in itself “would be reaffirming that it had any control over Palestinian lives”. He urged everyone to consider the fact that Forensic Architecture is and will continue to be under attack, especially by concerned Authorities. Finally, he stated, “In a sense, the truth is under threat.” The only ethical question that remains is how to find it.
jude khashman | The McGill Daily
Commentary
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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No, pronouns won’t send you to jail Florence Ashley Commentary Writer
The misunderstood scope of Bill C-16
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ith all the ink spilled talking about Bill C-16, a bill to protect gender identity and gender expression in the Canadian Human Rights Code and Criminal Code, it is disheartening to see how much misunderstanding remains. Having read countless times that people will be imprisoned for using the wrong pronouns to refer to someone, I believe that a clarification is necessary. No, you will not be sent to jail or fined for misgendering someone. Here’s what the Bill, now Law, means. Because it is a federal law, changes to the Human Rights Act only have consequences for areas falling under federal competency such as banks and airlines. Most interactions in day-to-day life occur in businesses and areas covered by provincial competency. In most provinces, gender identity and expression were added as protected grounds a number of years ago. There are three parts to the new law: antidiscrimination, hate speech, and hate crime. At the level of anti-discrimination, C-16 means that you can instigate a complaint for discrimination or harassment. Using the wrong pronouns repeatedly after being made aware that a person uses other pronouns might amount to harassment, a position that is taken by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Accidental or occasional use of the wrong pronouns would not be sufficiently grave or frequent to be considered harassment under the law. This new law is enforced administratively through the Human Rights Commission and Tribunal. Because of the obstacles and costs involved in the procedure, especially if the Commission does not support the case, enforcement of Bill C-16 is predicated on the time and financial access of complaintants, many of whom will not have the thousands of dollars necessary to sue without Commission support. Anti-discrimination components to the law are most effective in informing the public of their rights and duties, motivating com-
jude khashman | The McGill Daily panies to adapt their policies, and enabling impact litigation.
Because it is a federal law, changes to the Human Rights Act only have consequences for areas falling under federal competency. In terms of hate speech, it is forbidden to incite “hatred against any identifiable group where such incitement is likely to lead to a breach of the peace” in a public space. As is
plain from the text of the law, it will not suffice to disrespect a person by using the wrong pronouns. By inciting a breach of peace, you will open yourself up to two years imprisonment. Prosecutors are generally unwilling to charge people under that provision, and in the most famous hate speech case, R.V. Keegstra, the perpetrator was not sentenced to prison but rather to probation and community service. Unlike hate crime law in the United States, hate crime law in Canada does not constitute independent violations prompting discrete sanctions. Rather, judges will have to consider whether you were motivated by bias against trans people at the sentencing stage of the prosecution of a separate crime. You still need to commit a crime, and you cannot go to jail for more than the maximum jail time
for that crime. The hate crime provision is one additional consideration among over 24 provisions and sub-provisions setting out sentencing principles and factors. Far from sending people to jail and fining them for using the wrong pronouns, we should be worried that Bill C-16 does too little to protect trans people who rarely have the resources to enforce their rights. Trans people are disproportionately poor, and our justice system is inaccessible for all but the richest. Anti-discrimination laws are only of use when properly enforced. Until they are, we will have to find alternative ways to protect those who face disproportionate levels of harassment, discrimination, and violence. And this starts with listening to trans people learning about the issues the face, and yes, using their preferred pronouns.
FEATURES
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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LAMBDA.VELORUM Feature Writer
pixel identity
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y name is lambda.velorum, i’m a filtered photography artist. i’m a mixed french and iranian genderfluid person. i started producing filtered and coloured photographs around 15-16 but did not hold on to it for long. i picked up photography again and worked with black & white filters when i was 18, taking interest in urban signs, transportation and architecture—i was looking for structures and transitions. as i moved into reflecting more about my gender and race my style shifted and i started experimenting with a pink filter that i have been gradually strengthening and altering to produce real colour confusion (i’ve been asked to show “real photos”, instead of the colour-altered ones). when lacking new scenes, i switched to using the front camera to be my own filters’ guinea pig.
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FEATURES
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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ntil recently i have felt mostly disconnected from my iranian heritage, and it is still something i struggle with—being white-passing, having had to learn persian at university (rather than through my father) and having had the chance to interact with iranian people other than my father only after entering university. exploring my gender identity furthered isolated me and rendered difficult my attempt at finding peers with whom i could share similar life experiences.
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n my second year at mcgill – my second year taking persian – i made a weekend trip to toronto. before taking the bus back, i was walking downtown when i heard persian being spoken. as i turned back, i saw two ultra-queer iranians speaking to each other. i had a moment of epiphany—“we exist!” i didn’t reach out and have regretted it since. i was deterred by the perceived awkwardness of the situation, scared of going up to them and not being able to hold up the conversation in my own family language—how could i go up to say “manam irooniam! [i’m iranian too!] if there was a chance i wouldn’t have understood their reply?
FEATURES
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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C
hanging side of the camera gave birth to my series “pixel identity,” where i started to look for reflections of my gender and race through the filter. the filter sometimes offered me femininity and iranianness, sometimes both or something else. in my moments of solitude it offered me recognition, without the presence of the other. by taking over my own act of photography i found a digital other - the filter/me - that showed me a person i could recognise as iranian/femme/humanoid/alien.
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ll my pictures were taken with my phone and filtered through relatively accessible tools, i.e. apps. my work is also about accessibility: what counts as photography? the movie tangerine was made on an iphone 5s, why wouldn’t my pictures be artistic? what about the selfie—can it too be art? or will it remain a generation’s narcissistic gymnastics? and is using a filter cheating? what is artistic about manipulating filters digitally?
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wonder what kinds of identity exist under the filter. do my filters offer distinctly digital identities? do those identities have some physical reality? as the frontier between digital and physical blurs, i hope that the question will become irrelevant. already my identity reflections are influenced by people like travis alabanza, alok v menon, and other non-binary activists of colour i’ve experienced digitally – live on instagram or facebook – more than in other realms. when more and more people discover their identities through the internet, how do our identities and communities exist physically? and how do they blossom digitally?
...while you’re wondering, find me at: @lambda.velorum or lambdavelorum.art
sports
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Montreal’s sporting geography Examining the legacy of Montreal’s 1976 Summer Olympics
Rosalind SweeneyMcCabe & Louis Sanger The McGill Daily
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ver the coming weeks, the McGill Daily will visit the 1976 Olympic Venues to examine their impact on the city, lives of the people, and how sport has physically shaped Montreal. Last week, the Daily reported on the Olympic Stadium. This week’s installment features the Olympic Village, or Les Villages Olympiques. Originally designed by architects Roger D’Astous and Luc Durand, the
Olympic Village was built between 1974 and 1976. The project eventually took on a plethora of other architects and designers as the cost skyrocketed from an estimated $30 million to $90 million. During the Olympics, the twin buildings housed almost 6,000 athletes. Currently, they serve as upscale condos, with office spaces on the first few floors of the 23-storey buildings. Perhaps most importantly, the offices for the Regie du Logement can be found there. This is the provincial agency that deals with landlord-tenant relations. The Olympic Village is at 5199 Sherbrooke St. E. The buildings design was selected by Mayor Jean Drapeau to imitate a similar structure of those in the south of France. The lawns outside are pristinely kept, with only the occasional tenant passing by.
The 23-storey towers feature outdoor corridors and staircases, a strange decision for Montreal, where winters are notoriously cold. Large balconies are found on the corner apartments, some with elaborate gardens while others remain empty. As the photographer reached the top of the towers, fewer and fewer condos seemed to be inhabited. Inside, the buildings seemed dirty and ill-maintained.
Vast plazas outside gave the sense that the Olympic Villages were isolated, neighbouring only a golf course and park. Down Sherbrooke street towards downtown is the Olympic Stadium and Botanical Gardens.
sports
Gym, tan, laundry.
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Fitness on steriods
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Claire Grenier | The McGill Daily
From ‘being in shape’ to ‘gym, tan, laundry’: How did we get here? Christina Baldanza Sports Writer
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n an early episode of Sex and the City, Carrie narrates her and Miranda’s experience at an aerial yoga class—New York’s latest craze in fitness circa 1998. Although aiming to distract themselves from boy problems through exercise, the women really just end up lying in the hammocks for the duration of the class. This moment from one of television’s best shows highlights a simpler time in the world of fitness. While already entrenched in the commercial sector, fitness had yet to meet the technological advancements of the following decade. So how has the advent of smartphones and social media contributed to an irreversible shift in the way we approach exercise? A more exclusive, arrogant, and performative culture seems to have emerged. First, to fully understand the emergence of “gym culture,” one must understand the
widespread commercialization of fitness which took place in the latter half of the twentieth century. The first health clubs being opened in the 1950s signalled the individualization of physical activity. Perhaps more importantly, aesthetic ideals began to be marketed as achievable. Gym culture originally revolved on a shared public preoccupation with personal fitness and a general desire for bodily improvement, whether superficial or not. However, the incredibly lucrative health and fitness industry quickly expanded to include gadgets, various meal plans, and dietary supplements geared to your desired physique, and an array of exercise routines promising to naturally lift your butt in exactly 32 days, or sculpt absolutely sick abs. Gym culture began to rub shoulders with the accompanying corporate and individual branding which flourished in an infinitely fertile market. In turn, gym culture took on more performative aspects, as well as emphasis on competition and push-
ing beyond personal limits. The extreme of this was the “gym, tan, laundry” routine depicted in the 2009 MTV series Jersey Shore. Newer developments have also made an impact. Social media’s role in reshaping gym culture lies in the space created for viewing “inspiration,” tracking progress, or displaying one’s gains. This is shown primarily on fitness blogs, or platforms like Instagram. While positive effects such as increasing the accessibility of work-out plans and general fitness knowledge cannot be dismissed, it is difficult to separate social media’s positive role from the more negative aspects of gym culture. Chiefly, the temptation to compare oneself to others or obsess over the vast array of information on diets and exercise. Moreover, the New York Times reported this summer on increased instances of a rare, life-threatening condition among participants of high-intensity workouts such as SoulCycle or CrossFit. Rhabdomyolysis, or rhabdo, is a symptom resulting from the
Write for Sports!
atrophy of muscle fibers. It can be caused by overworking, and was most common among soldiers and firefighters, but the “going as hard as you can” culture apparent in several group fitness classes has led to severe selfinduced muscle strains. With social media enabling the sharing of regimens, tips, and photos, gym culture has been heightened to extreme and unsustainable levels. Comparison and competition have bolstered exclusivity, and has created a stark divide between casual fitness and gym culture. Where is the line between the two? Should there even be one? Regardless, it is still important to exercise (and of course, it feels good!). Maybe in the future, gym culture will find a balance between casual fitness and intense activity. The leisurely days of Miranda and Carrie’s recreational fitness and guilt-free opt-out have permanently been replaced with a culture far more intimidating, intense, and performative.
The Sports Section is looking for writers. If you are interested in covering sporting events and news from McGill and around the world, contact us at: sports@mcgilldaily.com.
sci+tech
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Proteosomes & clinical treatments Proteosomes inhibitors could be the future of medicine
Claire Grenier | The McGill Daily
Ruolan Wu Sci+Tech Writer
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roteins are esential to human beings. They serve diverse functions, such as providing structure in our hair and nails, acting as enzymes to catalyze chemical reactions in our bodies, and making up antibodies in our immune system. The building blocks of proteins are called amino acids. They link together in a chain and then fold to create the final functional protein in 3D. When proteins do not fold correctly, structural and functional defects occur. Furthermore, proteins may accumulate after they are finished carrying out their function and are no longer needed. These old or misfolded proteins must then be degraded, so their components can be recycled to make new proteins. One important component of protein degradation is the proteasome. The proteasome is a giant complex made up of more than sixty protein subunits. It includes numerous proteases, enzymes
that chew up proteins. They break proteins into short chains of 3-15 amino acids, and these chains are then further broken down by cellular proteases, another type of enzyme. The target proteins chosen are very specific. They are marked by the attachment of a long chain of ubiquitin, a small regulatory protein. Due to the proteasome’s prominent role in ubiquitin-mediated degradation, it has provided researchers with a method of manipulating specific protein levels within a cell to test its functions. Essentially, researchers can decrease the levels of a specific protein by targeting it for degradation via the proteasome. This decreased protein level will lead to a loss of function. By analyzing the result of this, researchers can infer the original function of the protein. Through better understanding of various protein functions, more approaches to treat cancer, inflammation, and other diseases can be found. A proteasome inhibitor may be used to treat cancer. Since cancer is the uncontrolled division of
cells, many cancer cells require fast degradation of old proteins that no longer serve its function. Furthermore, they also require the elimination of proteins that suppress tumors. Because of these reasons, they are more susceptible to the loss of protein degradation than normal cells. Scientists have found many small molecule inhibitors of the proteasome in the past decades. Some inhibitors used in research can reversibly bind proteasomes, but may also block cellular proteases needed for other essential processes of the body, rendering them to only limited use. This problem was solved when researchers found boronic and epoxyketone classes of inhibitors, which are able to bind proteasomes specifically. In 2003, the FDA approved Velcade, a boronic acid class inhibitor, as the first therapeutic proteasome inhibitor. It showed a 50-90% response rate in treating relapsed patients with multiple myeloma, a bone cancer, but caused damage to peripheral nerves, peripheral neuropathy, and decreases in platelets in some,
limiting the amount a patient can take. Then, the FDA approved an epoxyketone class inhibitor, Kyprolis, in 2015 to treat refractory myeloma. This also showed the high response rate but without the dosage problems. During the same year, another boronic acid class inhibitor, Ninlaro, was approved. However, the fight is not over because the cancers mutate and develop resistance to the drugs. Researchers are also exploring the possibility of specifically targeting a particular type of proteases, the immunoproteasomes. They are generated continuously and function in our immune system by helping break down viruses. They are also made in increased amounts in other areas of our body during an immune response. Since inflammation is part of this immune response, researchers think that selective inhibition of the immunoproteasome may lessen chronic inflammatory diseases. There would be no side effects of neuropathy and platelet suppression as mentioned above since they do not block the
other proteasomes from functioning. Tests in mice have shown the effectiveness of the compound ONX-0914 in halting such diseases, but much more research is still being conducted to develop inhibitors with even greater selectivity for the immunoproteasome. Some infections may be combatted with proteasome inhibitors as well. These inhibitors can selectively target the proteasomes of the infectious organisms while leaving the human proteasome alone. A special case, the Myobacterium tuberculosis, which unlike most bacteria, contains proteasomes, has been used to develop inhibitors. They have proven more and more valuable as multidrug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis emerge. Selective proteasome inhibitors for diseasecausing parasites are also in varying stages of development. Of course, proteasome inhibitors are only one of the many applications of this field. This area of research is still full of unexplored possibilities. We will be seeing many more developments to come in the near future.
sci+tech
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Transforming cell types
Using adult human skin cells to generate motor neurons
Nelly Wat | The McGill Daily Lindsay Burns Sci+Tech Writer
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s it easier to construct a new house or renovate an old one to make it new? What about cells? Would growing a new cell type from an undifferentiated stem cell or converting one cell type into another be easier? Although both ways pose significant challenges in a laboratory setting, researchers Daniel Abernathy and colleagues have taken the latter approach by creating a method to transform adult human skin cells into normal functioning motor neurons. This could mean new treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. Research on neurodegenerative diseases has long been thwarted by the lack of a reliable method to culture human motor
neurons in a laboratory setting. Motor neurons carry signals from the central nervous system to other parts of the body, including the muscles, skin, and glands, but damage to them also underlies many destructive neurodegenerative diseases, like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease) and muscular atrophy. To convert adult human skin cells into other cell types, researchers exposed skin cells to molecular signals that are found at high concentrations in the brain, such as small fragments of RNA called microRNAs (miRNAs). The directed reprogramming of these cells into fully differentiated neurons requires large-scale changes in their epigenetic and transcriptional states, which control states of gene activation and repression. Brain-enriched
miRNAs, such as miR-9 and miR-124, can trigger the reconfiguration of chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation, and mRNA expression when exposed to susceptible cells. Essentially, this means that these miRNAs are involved in repackaging the genetic instructions of the cell. Recent research by Abernathy and his colleagues aimed to characterize this repackaging process in order to better understand how skin cells are first transformed into generic neurons, then are further differentiated into neuron subtypes, such as motor neurons. They found that exposure to two transcription factors, ISL1 and LHX3, could turn skin cells into fully differentiated spinal cord motor neurons in approximately thirty days. The combination of miRNAs and
transcription factors instructs the cell to close the genetic instructions for becoming skin and open the instructions for making motor neurons. Unlike their mouse-derived counterparts, which can be routinely collected from sacrificed mice, human motor neurons are not typically studied in the lab because samples cannot be obtained from living individuals. Skin cell samples, however, are easily attainable from alive humans and can be collected over a range of years. Unlike those originating from stem cells, motor neurons resulting from the transformation of skin cells retain the age of the original sample and, therefore, the age of the patient. Preserving the chronological age of a cell is crucial for understanding the progression of neurodegenerative diseases,
which develop in individuals at different ages and may worsen over time. Overall, the converted motor neurons appeared similar to normal mouse motor neurons based on activated and inactivated genes and how the cells function. However, researchers cannot be sure these cells are identical to human motor neurons as samples are difficult to obtain and culture. Future studies examining donated neuron samples are necessary to determine how precisely these cells can mimic human motor neuron function. Although it is unclear whether this technique could be an optimal tool for studying the progression of neurodegenerative diseases in humans, or revolutionize the field of regenerative medicine, it remains an important first step.
Uncovering the functions of circular RNAs Circular RNAs may serve as a marker for cancers Sam Min Sci+Tech Writer
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he central dogma in molecular biology is that the genetic information of an organism is encoded in the DNA molecules, which serve as a template for the synthesis of RNA molecules. RNA will in turn serve as a template for the manufacturing of proteins. Standard textbooks say proteins are only produced from the mRNA, a type of RNA molecule that has a linear shape. However, it has been recently found that proteins could be produced from another kind of RNA with a circular shape, the circRNAs.
A recent study conducted by Sebastian Kadner and his colleagues found that in fruit flies, some proteins were made from circRNAs. This finding challenged the long-held belief that only linear RNAs were responsible for making proteins. Much of the literature in molecular biology focuses on linear RNAs because researchers thought circRNAs were a vestige from our evolution, which rendered them useless in manufacturing proteins. Researchers Shujuan Meng and colleagues have inferred possible associations between circRNA expression levels and the potential occurrence of cancers.
miR-7 is a microRNA that stops cells from growing and dividing. CDR1as, one of the better characterized circRNAs, produces proteins that disrupt the proper functioning of miR-7. So what would happen if one has a plethora of CDR1as? Cells would then grow and divide uncontrollablya phenomenon we usually see in metastasizing cancer cells and malignant tumors. Five years ago, we did not know much about circRNA because we thought it didn’t prod u c e any proteins in mamm a l s . Now we are aware that they may act as a marker for certain cancers.
Nelly Wat | The McGill Daily
culture
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Song, dance, poetry, and solidarity Hundreds come out to support Indigenous women
Odaya, a Montreal-based non-profit Indigenous arts collective. Vaishnavi Kapil and Uma Velamuri Culture Writers Content warning: mention of residential schools and systemic abuse
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n Saturday, September 9, a benefit concert took place under the dim red lights of St. Laurent’s La Sala Rossa, enthralling the audience with performances by local and Indigenous bands. The concert raised funds for the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (NWSM), an organisation that provides First Nations, Inuit, and Métis women and children with food, shelter, clothing, advocacy services, and assistance in acquiring affordable housing. They aim to alleviate the strains that Indigenous women face today, which are entrenched in a colonial legacy of neglect and degradation that pervades this country. Canadian policies have, until only a few decades ago, tried to erase native cultures through the establishment and funding of abhorrent residential schools that forced native children to assimilate into settler society and sterilized innumerable native girls. In addition, these policies also denied voting rights until 1960 to native adults unless they were willing to give up their Indigenous status.
Although residential schools have been abolished and Indigenous peoples have been granted voting rights while retaining their treaty status, the issues facing Indigenous people do not end there. 36% of indigenous women live in poverty and one-third of Indigenous adults do not attend high school. There is also a pitiful lack of attention paid to the thousands of cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls; state officials pay merely performative attention through speeches and lagging bureaucratic procedures without any concrete progress in cracking existing cases or preventing more from occurring. This inaction has led to the formation of many Indigenous activist-led organizations that step up to make change. Among these is the NWSM, with its executive director Nakuset spearheading the shelter’s efforts. In her speech at the start of the show, Nakuset mentioned the variety of services they offer to those that come to them, including providing food, clothing, shelter, as well as financial and legal aid, particularly when it comes to helping native women find stable incomes in order to maintain custody of their children. Close to a hundred people came to the event eager to mingle, grab a drink, and welcome the first
Keo Sinclair | Photographer group, Odaya, who are a Montrealbased non-profit Indigenous arts collective. They are a song-anddrum ensemble composed of four women of mixed-Indigenous heritage. Their set alternated between traditionally inspired and experimental songs, filling the room with vibrant sounds and cheers. The group, which is also well known for its work in the Indigenous feminist community, made a point to focus their music upon such subjects as strong women, family, and healing rituals. Next, a Montreal-based dream pop and 80s synth band, Sorry Girls, drew the crowd closer to the stage as the lead vocalist, Heather Foster Kirkpatrick, solemnly crooned over people grabbing drinks and whispering to one another, “What are they called? They’re so good!” Afterwards was a performance by Métis artist Moe Clark, who wholly captured the audience’s attention with the unique narrative she weaved through her performance, which included traditional circle singing, spoken word poetry and vibrant instrumentals. She dedicated her set to Indigenous women: “It takes strength and courage to be an Indigenous woman and it is important to honor and keep in mind the women that we are still trying to find.” Songs like “Butterfly Ashes”
and “Coyote” radiated vulnerable strength. As they performed, a projector flashed images of butterflies in flight behind them; Clark explained, “butterflies are so tiny yet they travel thousands and thousands of miles with those tiny little wings.” A little later, groups of excited college-aged students rushed through the doors to the ticket counter, asking whether Venus had begun their set already. Once the “adult disco” band started playing its lively set, the crowd cheered, many seeing the performance as a time to drink and socialize.
It takes strength and courage to be an Indigenous woman. Moe Clark Towards the end of the night, Blessings, an experimental rock, avant-garde trio graced the stage, taking the audience on an improvised train ride, conveyed by verbal and atmospheric cues. Along with the sprightly beat of the drums, the band provided visuals of landscapes: streets, trees, and birds-eye
views of cities. The band’s modern energy ended the night on a high note, and long-time fans ran up to greet and praise them after the set. The benefit concert was organized by McGill student Soraya Mamiche, who had also worked on another benefit show last year to raise funds to aid Syrian refugees. “I decided to hold my second benefit concert to help Indigenous people here in Montreal, especially women and children, the population most susceptible to domestic violence and poverty. They need our support, and I am very happy that there was so much interest in this event, and that we raised close to $2000 CAD. It shows that our community cares,” she expressed. In addition to the money raised, dozens of bags of clothes and other necessities were dropped off at the venue to be taken to the shelter. Native women, tired of settler complacency and ignorance, have had to rely upon their own strength to protect and advocate for their rights. This benefit concert was one in which people were brought together by their love of song, dance, poetry, and most importantly, their solidarity with the native women’s community. For more information on the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, please refer to their website. To donate: www.nwsm. info/donate.
culture
Métis artist Moe Clark performing “Butterfly Ashes.”
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Nasuna Stuart-Ulin| Photographer
compendium!
September 18, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Lies, half-truths, and juste un trou d’eau
Fuck Beige
Red Milk The McGall Weekly
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uck beige. Like, fuck off-white beige, not nice warm beige. Fuck off-white beige clothing. Fuck vintage off-white beige clothing. Fuck ugly vintage off-white beige sportswear. Fuck the white girls in the Mile End that wear ugly vintage off-white beige sportswear with brand new white sneakers. Fuck white sneakers. Fuck the fact that they remind me of the fucking sneakers I wore for three fucking years until they fell apart on my fucking feet and ended up so fucking far off
Alice Shen illustrator
white they were fucking dark grey. Fuck the white, cream and beige apartments that the beige wearing hipsters live in. Fuck their tastefully run down and sparse furnishings. Fuck the fact that you can spot from a fucking mile that they’re not actually poor because there’s something so fucking put together about them, something fucking shines from them. They fucking gleam. Maybe it’s all the fucking tones of beige. Fuck all the supposed second hand stores in the Mile End that cost so fucking much and have stopped selling vintage clothing and
instead sell fucking white tees and beige canvas bags. Fuck their off-white beige interiors. Fuck the beige tones of literally every hip store on Saint Viateur. Fuck beige. Fuck ugly offwhite beige trenchcoats, fuck perfectly filled beige eyebrows, fuck the all white, cream and beige homes they all go home to and will build again one day. Fuck how a part of me wants to fucking have it all. Fuck wanting the perfect cream fluffy enormous pouf my aunt and uncle have. Fuck wanting the safety of growing up in a spotless beige home. Fuck wishing my parents
had had the fluffy gorgeous white beds I see in other people’s fucking beige homes instead of having slept on the fucking floor. Fuck wanting the solid beige clothes, the boring linen pants, the inconspicuous cream sweater. Fuck wanting the ugly vintage beige sportswear even though it’s so fucking ugly, but beige is the colour of those that can afford to be boring. Fuck wanting to hide all my fears, darkness, insecurities and impurities underneath the comforting impunity of off-white beige. Fuck me fucking beige, what’s so fucking bad about beige, who fucking knows.
Climate Change is Real, Meow!