Volume 111, Issue 5 | Monday, October 4, 2021 | mcgilldaily.com cockaganda since 1911
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There’s a big difference between chicken & chickpeas. If you want to eat well, you need to understand protein. Not all proteins are created equally, so to make healthy choices, it’s important to have all the facts.
Chicken Per 100g serving of average raw chicken breast
PROTEIN:
FAT:
22.5g 2.6g
INGREDIENTS: CARBS:
SODIUM:
1 0g
45mg
Plant-based Per 100g serving of average simulated chicken breast
17g 9g
PROTEIN:
FAT:
INGREDIENTS: CARBS:
SODIUM:
20+ 11g
320mg
Canada’s Food Guide suggests filling a quarter of your plate with protein, and since the average Canadian needs about 25g of protein per meal, lean meat like chicken makes the most nutritional sense. Visit chicken.ca to learn more about the different types of protein and find some healthy recipes everyone will enjoy.
Learn more at
chicken.ca
TABLE OF CONTENTS
October 4, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Table of Contents 4
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editorial • National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Is Only a Start
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features • Harm Reduction and Infectious Diseases
10 • culture Review: Lil Nas X’s Montero
News • Climate March • Vaccine Mandate Panel • Legislative Council
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Call for Candidates All members of the Daily Publications Society (DPS), publisher of The McGill Daily and Le Délit, are cordially invited to its Annual General Assembly:
Wednesday, October 27th @ 6:30 pm Online event (via Zoom)
The presence of candidates to the Board of Directors is strongly advised.
The Daily Publications Society is looking for a Community Representative for its Board of Directors. DPS Directors meet at least once a month to discuss the management of both Le Délit and The McGill Daily, and get to vote on important decisions related to the DPS’s activities. They can also get involved in various committees whose purpose ranges from fundraising to organizing our annual journalism conference series. To RSVP to the AGM and/or to submit en application, visit:
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Questions? chair@dailypublications.org Application deadline: Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 @ 11:59 p.m.
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EDITORIAL
October 4, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Volume 111 Issue 5
editorial board
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“Reflection Is Not Enough:” the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Is Only a Start
T
his year, the Canadian Federal government marked September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This follows the initial discovery of 215 unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Residential School on Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation ground in May 2021, as well as the subsequent discovery of over 5,000 more at various former residential school sites across so-called Canada. Indigenous people across Turtle Island have fought to expose the truth of these mass graves for many years. However, it was not until the Canadian Government’s recognition of these mass graves that widespread attention was garnered from the settler population. The discovery also drew international scrutiny, increasing pressure on the Canadian government to take accountability for the truth. While the implementation of a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a step towards addressing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) 94 calls to action, only eight action items have been completed according to First Nation-led research centre, the Yellowhead Institute. Much more has to be done to support Indigenous communities across Turtle Island in a substantial manner. Prior to the government’s establishment of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30 has been commemorated as “orange shirt day.” Since 2013, the day has been meant to educate and bring attention to residential schools and their lasting impacts on Indigenous peoples and communities. Federally, the 30 is now recognized as a statutory holiday. However, its implementation has been left up to the discretion of individual provincial governments. Notably, six provinces – Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick – have decided against recognizing the date as a provincial statutory holiday. These provinces have consciously rejected the basic, essential action of recognizing the genocide enacted by the Canadian settler-state against Indigenous people. While the day is an essential moment for settlers across so-called Canada to show solidarity with Indigenous people, it is only one step in a larger process of reckoning with the illegitimacy of the colonial state. Of the TRC’s 94 calls to action, only eight have been
implemented in the six years since the commission’s final report. While some calls have been responded to in legislation, they have not been actioned, both in terms of funding and implementing concrete policy. Progress on items such as the 2021 National Action: Ending Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls, And 2SLGBTQQIA+ has been slow, dysfunctional, and indicative of larger trends of neglect and systemic abuse in the government’s treatment of Indigenous people. Reconciliation, as figured by the government, remains purposely abstracted; it has more to do with performative apologies than material change. Concrete action must be taken to support survivors of the residential school system and ensure that survivors and communities thrive. While recognition and education are important, more must be done to dismantle the fundamentally exploitative and genocidal underpinnings of the Canadian settler-state. Among the TRC’s 94 calls to action are: decreasing the number of Indigenous children in the child welfare system, creation of an Indigenous languages act, and a strategy to eliminate educational and employment gaps between Indigenous people and settlers. Nakuset of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal reiterates that, “Reflection is not enough – participating, listening and supporting Indigenous people, who are still reeling from the multi-generational trauma of residential school, is a proactive stance to commemorate this day.” Settlers have a responsibility to stand behind and with Indigenous communities beyond the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Support Indigenous liberation movements across Turtle Island – donate to Fairy Creek, Tiny House Warriors, 1492 Landback Lane, and the Git’luuhl’um’hetxwit cabin and camp fund. You can also support organizations that serve Indigenous people in Montreal, such as the Native Women’s Shelter, Resilience Montreal, the Native Friendship Centre of Montreal, and Open Door. You can directly support survivors through the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, the Legacy of Hope Foundation, the Orange Shirt Society, True North Aid, and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society.
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Simon Tardif (Chair), Abigail Popple, Philippe Bédard-Gagnon, Kate Ellis, MarcoAntonio Hauwert Rueda, Asa Kohn, Thibault Passet, Boris Shedov, Pandora Wotton All contents © 2018 Daily Publications Society. All rights reserved. The content of this newspaper is the responsibility of The McGill Daily and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University. Products or companies advertised in this newspaper are not necessarily endorsed by Daily staff. Printed by Imprimerie Transcontinental Transmag. Anjou, Quebec. ISSN 1192-4608.
NEWS
October 4, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
#Uprootthesystem
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Protestors demand climate justice in Montreal Zoe Lister News Contributor
six main points of concern are vaccine injustice, climate refugees, Indigenous peoples, n Friday September 24, varying climate responsibilities, thousands of protesters climate reparations, and social filled the parks and impacts on minority groups. streets of Montreal in the first major climate strike since the start of the pandemic. The Global Protest of Climate Justice march, held at 1 pm at the Sir George Etienne-Cartier Monument near Mont Royal, was one of the many #Uprootthesystem strikes that occurred in over 1,500 cities across the world. #Uprootthesystem is a campaign against the climate crisis under the Friday For Future movement, founded by the Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg in August 2018. It aims to take down the systemic roots of the climate crisis, while cutting emissions and establishing protections for people against the climate crisis. Uprooting the system is a targeted approach to solving the climate Montreal’s march was orgacrisis that deals with recognizing the intersectionality of the nized by the Racial Justice Colclimate crisis. The campaign’s lective, Solidarity Across Borders,
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Coming in at number ten overall for greenhouse gas output, and warming at twice the global rate, Canada has far to go in terms of reducing emissions.
Pour le futur Mtl, and Coalition étudiante pour un virage environnemental et social. The protest’s Facebook page reported 5.1k people attending the event, with another 16k interested. At the march, protesters held signs with slogans such as “There is no Planet B” and “Our Home is on Fire.” Climate activists gave speeches in front of the monument before joining fellow protestors on a march down Parc Ave. and Sherbrooke St. The Montreal police (SPVM) reported three arrests: one for mischief, one for the assault of a police officer, and another for making threats. This is not the first large-scale climate protest to happen in Montreal. In 2019, over 500,000 people, led by Thunberg, marched across Montreal demanding climate reform. The question remains, however, of whether environmental protests will be effective in pushing elected officials to create reform remains, attendees claimed. One protester, Sophia Martucci, commented on this: “That’s tough to say. The
Alice Finta | Illustrations Contributor effects [the protests] have won’t necessarily lead directly to climate action. But I think it’s saying a lot and people will take it into consideration. The more that we talk about it, the more it will come up, and people will think about the effects it is having [on the environment].” When asked what she would say to someone considering attending a protest or getting involved in climate activism, Martucci said, “I think you should definitely go for it. It’s so wonderful to see so many
people working together.” Canada being among the highest per capita emitters in the world increases the sense of urgency to establish reform. Coming in at number ten for overall greenhouse gas output, and warming at twice the global rate, Canada has far to go in terms of reducing emissions. Some of the promoted goals of the march, outlined on the march’s Facebook page, included carbon neutrality by 2030 in Canada, divesting in fossil fuels, and
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securing the rights of climate refugees in international law. Additionally, the protest aimed to focus on how the effects of climate change fall heavily on marginalized groups and developing nations.
The protest [focused] on how the effects of climate change fall heavily on marginalized groups and developing nations.
Many politicians were in attendance. The Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade, as well as other members of her party, attended Friday’s march. Other politicians took part in climate protests in Alma, Joliette, and Quebec City. The protest follows the recent federal election, where there were many doubts as to how seriously the government was taking the climate crisis. The leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as being “an abysmal failure on the climate crisis.” Singh released his own plan to double the Canada Community-Building Fund from the current $2.3 billion spending budget. In Trudeau’s second mandate, he
news established a plan to hold the government accountable for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 – 20 years after the year demanded in Friday’s march. Now going into his third term, Trudeau will again be relying on the New Democratic Party, Bloc Québécois and Greens to support his continued plans for climate action and reform. In 2019 at a United Nations conference, Mayor of Montreal Valérie Plante presented a plan to reduce Montreal’s carbon emissions by 55 per cent by 2030. However, Plante’s plan does not make mention of Line 9, a pipeline running from Montreal to Sarnia, Ontario. The construction of pipelines often involves the removal of groundwater, and pipelines risk spilling thousands of gallons of crude oil – both of these negatively
impact the environment. This past month, HydroQuebec signed a 25-yearcontract with New York State to supply it with clean energy. Beginning in 2025, HydroQuebec will be supplying the state with 1,250 megawatts of hydroelectricity – the equivalent of about one million households’ electricity consumption. In April 2020, McGill University announced that it would be divesting in high carbon emitting companies such as those in the fossil fuel industry. This came a year after Gregory Mikkelson, a McGill associate professor in the department of Philosophy and School of environment, resigned his tenured position in protest of McGill’s ongoing investment in the fossil fuel industry. Mikkelson was not the only one
to speak out against McGill’s investment in fossil fuels. Divest McGill pushed for the university to divest from its investments in the fossil fuel industry. These combined efforts finally led to success on April 23, 2020. McGill’s Board of Governors approved the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR)’s implementation plan to accelerate the responsible decarbonisation of the McGill Investment Pool (MIP). As part of the implementation plan, the university agreed to commit over $75 million of the MIP to renewable energy, clean technologies, energy efficiency, green building, pollution prevention, sustainable water and other low-carbon funds. However, the University is still invested in the CGL Pipeline.
SSMU Council Meeting Debates Community Concerns
Abigal Popple News Editor
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n September 23, SSMU held its first Legislative Council meeting of the 2021-2022 Academic Year. Having taken a leave of absence, SSMU President Darshan Daryanani was not present at the meeting. The Daily reached out to SSMU VP Internal, Sarah Paulin, for comment on Daryanani’s absence, but she was unable to disclose any information due to privacy reasons. During the question period, one councillor brought up SSMU’s recurring claim that students were not consulted about The New Vic Project, a plan to turn McGill’s portion of the Royal Victoria Hospital into a Sustainability Sciences and Public Policy centre. The councillor claimed that the past president as well as the current VP academic of the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) had participated in consultations regarding the project, and the SSMU, AUS, and EUS presidents were likewise invited to participate in consultation; additionally, videos about the project have been shared in the Dean of Students’ newsletter, and students were given a notice about the August 31 Town Hall two weeks in advance. However, they continued, SSMU has maintained that students were not consulted in the university’s planning process concerning the project. In response, VP External Sacha Delouvrier clarified that SSMU’s concern lies in insufficient student involvement with the initial task force that was organized to carry out community consultations in December 2015. Delouvrier had asked those who spearheaded the project about SSMU’s involvement in the task force, but did not get any insight: “[they] were incapable of naming anyone who was on that task force, and they didn’t even know what
position the SSMU representative on the task force held.” Further, representatives of the New Vic Project were unable to provide a summary of the consultations to Delouvrier. With regards to the August 31 Town Hall, Delouvrier believes that it was “done for show,” to appease students who were pressuring administration to involve students more in the consultation process. Delouvrier was told that the consultation process did not have to involve students whatsoever – the project only needed approval from the Board of Governors to be executed. Delouvrier concluded his comments by expressing disappointment in the complete lack of student consultation on the project prior to its submission to the Société Québécoises des Infrastructures (SQI).
“I just want to make sure that non-Indigenous voices aren’t speaking over Indigenous voices.” - Claire Downie Later, the Council discussed the Motion Regarding Adoption of an Open Letter In Support of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The motion, moved by Daryanani and seconded by Arts Representative Ghania Javed, concerned the publication of an open letter that would ask the university to support the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Additionally, the motion specified four demands to be included in the open letter: 1) the cancellation of
Loren Armstrong | The McGill Daily classes after 12 p.m. on September 30; 2) the intensification of efforts to decolonize the university; 3) the intensification of efforts to “Indigenize” the university; and 4) to participate in the 12 p.m. ceremony “to honour the memories of the victims and survivors of Residential Schools.” Claire Downie, VP University Affairs, said that the executive committee was not aware of the motion. She explained that SSMU’s Indigenous Equity Researcher had already been working on a statement about Truth and Reconciliation Day with the SSMU Communications Department. She expressed concern that Indigenous Affairs Commissioner Jocelyne Couture was not listed among the entities that had been consulted in the creation of the motion, despite the fact that she is an expert on these matters, per Downie. “I just want to make sure that nonIndigenous voices aren’t speaking over Indigenous voices,” she said.
Other councillors shared Downie’s concern. Faculty of Science Representative Andres Perez Tiniacos said the absence of consultation with Couture is worrying not just because she’s meant to be the highest authority over Indigenous Affairs in SSMU, but also because she is a woman, and this motion was put forth by a male executive. As such, Perez Tiniacos was worried that Daryanani’s motion would constitute “another case of what was previously described in the Daily article [Sexism and Silence in SSMU],” which examines testimony about gender-based discrimination within SSMU structure and culture. Delouvrier echoed these critiques, though he noted that executives have had “difficulty reaching the [Indigenous Affairs Commissioner].” He concluded that “While the intent behind this motion is great, the lack of
consultation and debate on it is worrisome.” At the end of the debate period for the motion, Downie reiterated her concerns over the motion’s non-exhaustive consultation, saying: “I don’t believe that this is the appropriate motion to commit to our mandate of solidarity.” Despite these objections, the motion was approved, with 11 executives voting in favour of it, 3 against it, and 7 abstaining. Later in the meeting, Perez Tiniacos motioned to suspend the standing rules of the meeting in order to have a generative discussion about “Sexism and Silence in SSMU.” However, only 59 per cent of the council voted in favour of the motion, falling short of the three-quarter majority needed to approve it. The meeting ended with executives presenting their reports about what they have accomplished since their election.
October 4, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
news
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University Vaccine Mandates: Looking Beyond Headlines
Elena Lee News Contributor
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n Friday September 24, The McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy (IHSP) hosted a panel to discuss the highly contentious issue of vaccine mandates. Titled “University Vaccine Mandates: Looking Beyond the Headlines,” the session was another installment in IHSP’s Policy Talks Webinar series and featured four speakers: Richard Gold, James McGill Professor in the McGill University Faculty of Law and the director of McGill’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy; Richard Janda, Associate Professor in the McGill University Faculty of Law; Maxwell Smith, Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Health in the Western University Faculty of Health Sciences; and Claire Downie, SSMU’s Vice President of University Affairs. Professor Catherine Hankins of the McGill Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences moderated the conversation. SSMU President Darshan Daryanani had initially been scheduled to participate, but was absent. The panel started by taking stock of the current “varied landscape” of mandatory vaccination policies across educational institutions. Professor Hankins pointed out that over 700 postsecondary institutions in America have some form of mandate, including the “top” 25 schools. Public opinion backs these measures – research by the COVID States Project (a joint effort by Harvard University, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, and Rutgers University) from April/ May and June/July 2021 showed a consistent 66 per cent approval rating for “requiring college students to get a COVID-19 vaccine in order to go back to university.” Although the same research is unavailable in a Canada-specific context, according to Ipsos, Canadians have generally shown high support for the mandates in place for federal employees (80 per cent), healthcare workers (84 per cent), teachers (81per cent), travel (82 per cent), and public indoor spaces (72 per cent). “There really is no contention that universities can bring in proof of vaccination requirements as long as they have the requisite exemptions,” began Professor Gold, who held the floor first. On the contrary, the Ontario Human Rights Commission had released an official statement just two days
before the panel to assert that mandating and requiring proof of vaccination was “generally permissible” under the Human Rights Code. Over the course of the pandemic, Gold continued, universities would offer legal justifications for their inadequate policies, be debunked by experts, update their policy, be debunked again, and update and be debunked ad nauseam. To Professor Gold, it was “indicative that there really isn’t a legal barrier.” Professor Gold had some speculations as to why universities were so resistant to mostly unanimous public health advice. Of these, the most glaring was McGill’s desire to avoid political and social blame. By providing extremely limited data on ventilation, outbreaks, etc., the university makes it harder for a potential patient to place their COVID-19 contact squarely on the university. Professor Janda stepped in to clarify the “exact character” of McGill’s legal argument. The university had originally framed the lack of vaccine policy as protecting human rights, stating that a vaccine mandate wouldn’t legally be possible. On August 16, 12 McGill law professors – including Dr. Janda and Dr. Gold – penned an open letter to McGill in objection, encouraging the administration to implement proof of vaccination. A standout argument was the full mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy adopted by the University of Ottawa, where Jacques Frémont is president and vice-chancellor. Dr. Frémont had previously chaired the Quebec Human Rights Commission; Professor Janda had also been a member. The university framed their argument as them being unable to force vaccinations, but Professor Janda believes it was the result of an implicit cost-benefit analysis. “I happen to be a teacher of civil liability, and this is the classical test for when one is adequately diligent,” he said. “Is the burden upon you to take additional measures so severe that it doesn’t match the probability of harm?” No; the burden McGill faces in implementing a mandate is not so significant that the university ought not to consider the additional harm arising from the effects of COVID-19, Janda claimed. And while the university had made the Quebec vaccine passport seem like their limited mode of verification, Professor Janda emphasized the importance of distinguishing
Sophie McLean | Illustrations Contributor between proof of vaccination and the vaccine passport. Proof of vaccination is a much more flexible request. It can encompass foreign vaccines that are not yet approved by the Canadian government, an important consideration for a university as international as McGill, and can also account for medical and religious accommodations. SSMU vice-president Claire Downie claimed that the university is prioritizing optics rather than the needs of its student body: “Students know that their health and their safety and their wellbeing are not a priority and the unwillingness of the University to implement a vaccination requirement is really emblematic of that.” The priorities that students had identified instead were factors such as reputation, image, and political pressure. They felt that McGill simply chose not to centre student needs in their policymaking, despite having the funds and means to enact change. The result was a loss of trust that would not easily be restored, per Downie. Downie held a protest with her colleagues on the first day of classes, which proved to be an opportunity to hear student experiences on the ground. Vulnerable community members told Downie how unwilling the university had been to give long-term medical exemptions. Requesting accommodations was an intrusive and inaccessible process – the burden was on them to provide all of their private
medical information, and they were not told how many people would have access to that sensitive data. But although many students are disappointed, Downie said, it is not too late. “We remain hopeful that the university will make a choice to protect students and other vulnerable community members,” she concluded. Last on the roster was Professor Smith from Western University, which is currently under a full vaccine mandate. His goal was to provide an ethical justification for vaccine mandates, as well as examine some ethical considerations unique to university campuses. Combining science and ethics was a straightforward yet eyeopening exercise that went like this: • Premise 1: Covid vaccines are an effective and safe measure to prevent suffering and death • Premise 2: Getting vaccinated is a minimal burden for nearly all people • Premise 3: One ought to prevent suffering and death, especially when doing so carries a minimal burden • Conclusion: One ought, morally speaking, to be vaccinated. Professor Smith also offered some responses to common ethical concerns surrounding vaccine mandates. For example, would mandates amount to coercion? According to him, they do not. Mandates would not directly force anyone to get jabbed – they would only “render their choice to continue to work or study at the university more constrained.” Was it infringing upon liberties?
Here, the professor quoted the American Civil Liberties Union: “Vaccine mandates actually further civil liberties. They protect the most vulnerable among us, including people with disabilities and fragile immune systems, children too young to be vaccinated and communities of colour hit hard by the disease.” Thepaneladdressedsomequestions, such as what accommodations the university could provide if a vaccine mandate was implemented. Professor Hankins sought to clear a common misconception first – according to her, legitimate medical objections are actually quite rare. Having a bad reaction to the first dose would be an acceptable reason, but in general, she explained that “physicians can’t really understand what people are talking about when they want a medical exemption.” As for religious accommodations, the university would require the vaccine-hesitant individuals to fully outline their objections first. If their reluctance stemmed from a specific doctrine or dogma related to their faith and had no relation to explicit falsehoods (e.g., belief that mRNA vaccines contain fetal cells), the request would be granted, and they would be required to undergo frequent testing. The frequency would vary by the university’s discretion; Professor Smith added that Western required twice-weekly testing. When the panel moved on to concluding remarks, the speakers were in unanimous agreement that the University’s current policies have not been reasonable, and that the administration has the potential to improve.
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features
October 4, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Infectious Diseases During COVID-19
Eve Cable| Illustrations Editor Emma Hebert Features Editor
Since the initial outbreaks of COVID-19, the majority of Canadian medical personnel have been focused on tackling testing, contact tracing, and treatment related to the pandemic. Among these medical personnel are doctors and nurses who under normal circumstances treat patients with other infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis C, chlamydia, and syphilis. Due to this diversion in personnel, access to testing and preventative/earlyintervention care measures for other infectious diseases have been extremely limited; “When you look across the country, the anecdotal evidence is that [HIV] testing is almost nonexistent,” said Gary Lacasse, executive director of the Canadian AIDS Society. He pointed to issues in both
the availability of HIV and other infectious disease testing, as well as the official tracking of testing and early-prevention measures. It’s essential to note here that it didn’t have to be this way – if the Canadian government had prioritized stricter lockdown measures and curbed the initial spread of COVID-19 from the outset of the pandemic, the public healthcare system would be much better equipped to treat other infectious diseases while also monitoring the spread of COVID-19. Even though the state of public health since the onset of the pandemic means that resources have been stretched thin, this is not an excuse for the erasure of these diseases and those who live with them. Rather, it is our responsibility to ensure that our government’s strategies for continuing
to address COVID-19 adequately accommodate those living with other infectious diseases. The fight for HIV and other infectious disease treatment is an ongoing one. In 2016, Canada committed to achieving three key targets aimed toward the elimination of HIV as a public health threat by 2030: 1. diagnosing 90 per cent of people with HIV; 2. treating 90 per cent of those diagnosed; 3. a 90 per cent success rate of suppressing the virus to undetectable levels in those treated. Supervised consumption sites, HIV prevention clinics, and counselling services have all been cornerstones to Canada’s strategy to combat the spread of other infectious diseases, yet all of these have taken a hit from
represent 5 reallocation of resources people per cent of Canada’s due to COVID-19. population, they account for approximately 11.3 Existing structural per cent of new HIV inequities in the treatment of infectious cases reported in Canada. Colonialism, racism, social diseases It’s important to recognize exclusion, and suppression self-determination the disproportionate of impact that these have all been identified infectious diseases have on as determinants that have Indigenous communities that already influenced receive a significantly health and increase the risk lower standard of care from of contracting HIV. Within this, lack of culturally the public health system. Intravenous drug use safe care – meaning care contributes to the spread of that is compatible with HIV and other infectious Indigenous structures of diseases, for example, knowledge and allows self-determination through needle sharing. for Since those struggling – presents a structural with addiction or who are barrier to Indigenous attempting to homeless are statistically people more likely to take drugs access HIV treatment. intravenously, they are Structural inequalities put at a higher risk. such as poverty, stigma, and Indigenous communities homelessness, public are also disproportionately inequitable access have vulnerable to a rise in health exacerbated by infectious disease; pre- been COVID-19 counts report the pandemic. As many face job that although Indigenous Canadians
features insecurity and loss of housing, the associated level of susceptibility rises. As health resources are diverted to address the pandemic, the availability of resources for individuals in precarious situations decreases, effectively limiting the routes through which an individual can access support. The effects of COVID-19 are also not distributed evenly across socio-economic and racial groups: both low-income workers and people of colour have had to contend with higher rates of COVID-19 infection and job loss due to the pandemic. This results in people of racialized groups and people in financially precarious situations simultaneously having to contend with heightened susceptibility and limited access to testing, earlyintervention measures, and care that would curb the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases.
Even though the state of public health since the onset of the pandemic means that resources have been stretched thin, this is not an excuse for the erasure of these diseases and those who live with them. Breaking down stigma and barriers of access: a harm reductionist approach Stigmatization creates a barrier to the accessibility of resources that has to be broken down in order for early testing and prevention strategies to have a fighting chance; this is why taking a harm reduction approach is essential in any efforts to help those living with HIV or other infectious diseases. Stigma, “the negative association of a
October 4, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
person or group who share characteristics of a certain disease,” stops people from accessing treatment by making individuals reluctant to seek as well as treat that diagnosis. Stigmatization can take a significant mental health toll through increasing isolation, anxiety, and depression, all of which can result in hesitancy to access care. This makes destigmatization an essential first step to combating the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases. Destigmatization has proven its importance within a larger framework of harm reduction; it has played a tangible role in increasing the accessibility of supervised consumption sites throughout the opioid epidemic. In spite of this, destigmatization alone is not enough. The only way to fully combat the rise of infectious diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic is through material support to harm reduction initiatives, including supervised consumption sites, needle exchanges, and HIV prevention clinics. HIV self-testing kits, recently approved by Health Canada, are a promising development to mitigate the risks associated with the current strain on the healthcare system, although they are currently inaccessible; they aren’t readily available at pharmacies yet, and cost $34.95 plus shipping from bioLytical (an issue for those who are homeless or housing-insecure). All of these things are proven to reduce HIV infections, yet have received little support since the start of the pandemic. Dr. Alex Wong, an infectious disease specialist at Regina General Hospital, believes that the public health system is “going [to] play catch-up for years” with the new rise in HIV and other infectious diseases. This presents a fork in the road: either we take this moment to recentre healthcare practices to cater to those most vulnerable and invest now in preventative and early-intervention care measures for HIV and other infectious diseases, or we continue
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to fail those most impacted by inequitable healthcare access. Infectious diseases during COVID-19 The Canadian government has failed not only people living with HIV and other infectious diseases, but also the medical personnel and frontline workers that have worked throughout the pandemic to meet public health demands. Frontline medical personnel have been fighting COVID-19 for over a year now, and provincial governments continue to emphasize reopening and economic gains amidst surging COVID-19 case numbers. This only prolongs the diversion of public health resources, disadvantaging those living with HIV and other infectious diseases and threatening the implementation of effective care measures in the future. It is imperative to remember that these competing crises of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases could have been controlled, had both federal and provincial governments been proactive and more carefully managed public health resources in responding to the pandemic. Lockdown measures aimed at eliminating spread with continued economic aid to individuals (such as CERB) could have mitigated the felt effects of financial precarity that lead to increased susceptibility to the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases. These measures could have also shortened the duration and intensity of COVID-19 spread in Canada, resulting in greater availability of health resources to devote to prevention and earlyintervention care for HIV and other infectious diseases, as well as limited the frontline healthcare worker burnout that may prove limiting in the future. The Canadian government should already have done more. Looking forward In regards to infectious diseases, maintaining the status quo demonstrates not only a profound moral failure on the part of the Canadian government
at all levels, but also a fundamentally structural issue that needs to be addressed. This is a structural issue that can only be remedied through destigmatization, accessible testing, and earlyintervention/care measures. These are all feasible steps, and although they inherently require structural change, taking action in the community makes a difference. We can get involved at a local harm reduction initiative, such as AIDS Community
vulnerable to HIV and other infectious diseases. The road out of COVID-19 will be difficult, and will have serious implications for our social and economic circumstances. Dealing with the compounding effects of crisis after crisis will leave many having a difficult time processing the trauma of the past year. For those processing this alongside processing a heavily stigmatized infectious disease diagnosis, the difficulty will only grow, especially
Stigmatization creates a barrier to the accessibility of resources that has to be broken down in order for early testing and prevential strategiest to have a fighting chance; this is why taking a harm reduction approach is essential in any efforts[.] Care Montreal, Head and Hands, and CACTUS Montreal. locally. We can practice destigmatization in our social environments, as well as our academic and professional environments. We can support calls on the government to provide services like supervised consumption sites, to provide better education and protection to people
without adequate intervention and care. We have a responsibility, as individuals and as a society, to do everything in our power to ensure that our public health institutions are protecting those who are systematically left unprotected amongst us, particularly those impacted by the rise of HIV as well as other infectious diseases.
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culture
October 4, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Montero Reveals the Man Behind the Artist
Lil Nas X’s new album is a musically complex diary entry
Eve Cable | Illustrations Editor
persona, and an invitation to Tweet. “Some of y’all already bridge the gap between both know, some of y’all don’t identities. Cementing himself care, some of y’all not gone as more than a one hit wonder, fwm no more. but before this Montero Lil Nas X’s Montero is one month ends i want y’all to 2018, n Lamar Hill, a first year of the most personal studio listen closely to c7osure,” the Computer Science major debuts of our generation. rapper tweeted, including at West Georgia University, dropped out of school to “I 100 per cent want to represent the pursue a career in music. After promoting his tracks LGBT community […] [but] I don’t want online for months with to encourage them to do something little success, Hill poured all his efforts into a single they don’t 100 per cent want to do. song: “Old Town Road.” 18 million record sales later, Especially in, like, middle school or high the single has gone 14 times school. Because it’s just super hard.” platinum, making it one of the best-selling songs of all Despite the roaring success a rainbow emoji with his time. Though Hill is better known by his stage name, of “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas post. His studio album gives Lil Nas X, his studio album X remained elusive to the fans a much more intimate debut Montero is a heartfelt public until he came out look at his identity both as a ode to the person behind the during Pride month 2019, queer man and as a musician, announcing the news via a perhaps in an attempt to
Eve Cable Illustrations Editor
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perform his own story rather than create a line of open communication with fans concerning his identity. While not the only theme of the album, Lil Nas X’s sexuality is certainly a notable feature. “Void” is a letter to his earlier self, beginning with “Hello, old friend from the road/I wanted to write a note,” a familiar opener that reminds listeners of the many confessional notesapp tweets that the artist has addressed to fans, as well as a nod to his earlier single “Old Town Road.” Lyrics like “See, I’m getting tired of the way I’ve been living/I’d rather die than to live with these feelings” reference the artist’s prayers to God to rid him of gay thoughts. He also
candidly references men he’s seeing in “Scoop (feat. Doja Cat):” “I ain’t talking guns when I ask where your dick at,” which makes for an upbeat, raunchy song showing Lil Nas X revelling in a joyful and public display of queerness. Rolling Stone has branded as lyrics album’s the “confessional,” although Lil Nas X shares more about the struggles of seeking commercial success than he does about struggling with his sexuality. In a 2020 interview, the artist spoke on his decision to not explore his sexuality in his music as much as other themes, focusing on the burden of responsibility: “I 100 per cent want to represent the LGBT community […] [but]
culture I don’t want to encourage them to do something they don’t 100 per cent want to do. Especially in, like, middle school or high school. Because it’s just super hard.”
Lil Nas X writes in “Dead Right Now” about his father’s warnings as he began his career: “He said ‘it’s one in a million chance, son,’ I told him ‘Daddy, I am that one.’” Montero as a whole dedicates more time to Lil Nas X’s commitment to success, and is especially focused on the gravity of his decision to leave college and pursue music full time. Lil Nas X writes in “Dead Right Now” about his father’s warnings as he began his career: “He said ‘it’s one in a million chance, son,’ I told him ‘Daddy, I am that one.’” These lines feel in conversation with the later song “Tales of Dominica,” where Lil Nas X writes: “Hope my little bit of hope don’t fade away/I’ve been living on an island made from faith.” As listeners, we are able to glean into Lil Nas X’s determination to battle the hardships that accompany his commitment. In “Dead Right Now” Lil Nas X emphasises how high stakes success was for him: “If I didn’t blow I would’ve died tryna be here/If it didn’t go, suicide, wouldn’t be here.”
October 4, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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This continues, in “Sun Goes Down:” the artist writes “I wanna run away/Don’t wanna lie, I don’t want a life/Send me a gun and I’ll see the s u n / I ’d r a t h e r r u n aw a y.” Related to this is Lil Nas X’s relationship with his family, something that he has previously only minimally touched on – but Montero feels like a diary, bringing his audience closer to him than ever before. In past statements, Lil Nas X has briefly mentioned a turbulent relationship with his mother due to addiction. In “Dead Right Now,” Lil Nas X writes “My momma told me that she love me, don’t believe her/ When she get drunk, she hit me up, man with a fever.” Listeners were quick to misinterpret, accusing Lil Nas X of not helping his mother enough, which forced the artist’s father to take to Instagram and
Montero is one of the most beautiful, soulbaring albums of our generation. Revealing a side of Lil Nas X which the public has never seen before, the 40-minute album is a long diary entry that invites listeners to meet Montero Lamar Hill.
share that “@lilnasx is the greatest kid a parent can be BLESSED with. Although his mom is in a struggle with an addiction she’s STILL a QUEEN and he goes through great lengths to make sure we’re taken care of.” The lyrics, and the subsequent efforts of Lil Nas X’s father to support him, reveal more of his personal life than has been shared before. However, Lil Nas X has not compromised on the quality of his music, still committing to a genrebending, eclectic artistry that feels distinctly him. Sitting at “an impressively eclectic sweet spot between hip hop and pop,” the album is an amalgamation of genres that are ultimately linked by the artist’s unique lyricism and catchy melodies. The album ends on a jewel: “Am I Dreaming (featuring Miley Cyrus).” The song is a masterpiece, building on previous tracks that have unpacked Lil Nas X’s journey to the top. Conversely, this track focuses more on the struggles which artists — particularly those who have explored their sexuality in a public manner — face once they’ve achieved success. The second Lil Nas X track to features Miley Cyrus, a perfect choice as a queer musician who has faced years of criticism for her own sexuality. The lyrics look at the pain that comes with public scrutiny: “Tears running dry, shattered inside, but I still gotta smile/As I’m sinking, I relive the story/ Glitter comes off, battered and blue, but I gotta go on/ As I’m singing, I rewrite my story.” Speaking to a shared experience, the song forces listeners to consider the ways in which young queer artists are heralded a s ro l e m o d e l s a n d h e l d t o
i m p o s s i b l y h i g h s t a n d a rd s. Montero is one of the most beautiful, soul-baring albums of our generation. Revealing a side of Lil Nas X which the public has never seen before, the 40-minute album is a long diary entry that invites listeners to meet Montero Lamar Hill. Musically complex, this album is evidence that Lil Nas X will continue to be one of the defining genre-bending musicians of our generation. Summing it up himself in “Industry Baby,” Lil Nas X takes a moment to throw his success in the faces of those who said he wouldn’t make it big: “And this one is for the champions/I ain’t lost since I began, yeah/ Funny how you said it was the end, yeah/Then I went did it again, yeah.”
October 4, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
compendium!
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HOROSCOPES Aries
Taurus
(Mar 21 Apr 19)
(Apr 20 May 20)
thAt squirrel you just passed might appreciate your lunch.
hot girl ibs won’t take you down. you have the strength. and the peptobismol.
Cancer
Leo
(Jun 21 Jul 22)
(Jul 23 Aug 22)
maybe set up a weekly reminder to clean the inside of your microwave.
Libra (Sept 23 Oct 22) they’ll text you back, they’re just trying to make it obvious that their phone is on do not disturb.
Capricorn (Dec 22 Jan 19) sometimes you’re just a little guy, other times you’re simply an old man.
Viola Ruzzier | Staff Illustrator
Remember that saturdays are for the girlies.
Gemini (May 21 Jun 20) there’s nothing quite like being your own bestie.
Virgo (Aug 23 Sept 22) queer joy is important. you’d do well to remember that.
Scorpio
Sagittarius
(Oct 23 Nov 21)
(Nov 22 Dec 21)
talking about your emotions is not the same as feeling them!
Aquarius (Jan 20 Feb 18) the google docs default margin is wider than microsoft word. you might Find that helpful.
if you’re not having fun, you can simply... leave.
Pisces (Feb 19 Mar 20) all art is just making some shit up. it doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.
