Volume 111, Issue 8 | Monday, November 1, 2021 | mcgilldaily.com LING 210 dropouts since 1911
The McGill Daily is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory.
Published by The Daily Publications Society, a student society of McGill University.
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table of Contents
November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Table of Contents 3 4
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editorial • Advocate for the future of Chinatown
News • Column: Return to Campus 2021 • AMUSE Union negotiations • EDI Updates for Fall 2021
Commentary • McGill Security Policing Bathrooms
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features • Destigmatizing psychedelics
culture • Shortcomings of Metal Shop Masters • Book Review: The Good Arabs
12 • cOMPENdIUM! Comics
EDITORIAL
Volume 111 Issue 8
November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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The Struggle to Save Quebec’s Last Chinatown
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or more than a century, Montreal’s Chinatown has served as a cultural hub, not just for the city’s Chinese community but other Asian communities as well. The neighbourhood is a gathering place rich in memory and history for generations of Asian and Asian-Canadian peoples in Montreal. Despite its significance, Chinatown is struggling for survival. Chinatown Working Group (CWG), an advocacy group dedicated to protecting and preserving the history and culture of Montreal’s Chinatown, reported that the ongoing pandemic has been devastating for the neighbourhood; since its onset, businesses have experienced closures, vandalism, and anti-Asian racism. Restaurant business in particular has dropped by as much as 80 per cent in the area. Gentrification presents an urgent threat to the neighbourhood, with real estate moguls buying up historic areas at an alarming rate. On the cusp of Montreal’s November 7 municipal election, protecting the city’s Chinatown is more imperative than ever. Chinatown has been threatened by real estate development since the 1960s – over six acres have been demolished. Most notably, in 1962, the city government expropriated old neighbourhood buildings to construct the Hydro-Québec Headquarters on Dorchester and René Lévesque. In 1976, the Complexe Desjardins was constructed at the site where the Chinese Young Men’s Christian Institution once stood. In the 1980s, a monumental six-acre plot of land, containing over 20 residential buildings and businesses, was expropriated for the Complexe Guy-Favreau to be built. This new construction took up one-third of old Chinatown. Earlier this year, conversations surrounding gentrification and the threat of Chinatown’s disappearance were renewed when the neighbourhood’s most historic block – bounded by de la Gauchetière, St-Urbain, Côté St., and Viger Ave – was purchased by Brandon Shiller and Jeremy Kornbluth, developers notorious for evicting tenants in favor of aggressive renovations and luxury real estate projects. Included in the purchase was the Wing Building, constructed in 1826 and considered to be one of Chinatown’s oldest establishments. While developers have no concrete plans for altering the site as of now, Jonathan Cha of the CWG told the Montreal Gazette that if this building and block were to be demolished to make way for new real estate developments, “it’s the end” for Chinatown. Montreal’s Chinatown is the last remaining Chinatown in Quebec, making it Canada’s only francophone Chinatown. CWG reports that while in the 1930s there were 25 Chinatowns in cities across Canada, today less than 12 remain. The CWG is fighting for the neighbourhood to receive heritage designation, which would “ensure an economically viable approach to development that will allow the community and cultural heritage that has thrived in this neighbourhood for the past 140+ years to not be erased from the urban landscape.” Heritage status currently protects sites like the Old Port of Montreal and Mount-Royal; while the city has committed itself to preserving
relics of European settlement, they have not taken appropriate action to preserve and support a neighbourhood that has long served the city’s Chinese and broader Asian communities. Heritage site designation requires consent from the provincial government – this could take years, meaning that Montreal’s Chinatown also needs solutions in the short term. City politicians must listen to advocates who have long called for funds to be allocated towards social projects and housing in the Chinatown community. Last June, Mayor Valérie Plante unveiled an action plan to protect the district. This plan, however, lacks in concreteness and is nothing but a vague talking point for Projet Montréal. While the plan proposes green spaces and affordable housing for Chinatown, there are no details concerning timeline, organization, or financing. Montreal must put a moratorium on new development. By refusing demolition and construction permits, the city can safeguard Chinatown’s integrity from encroaching development projects, like the 1050 St. Laurent project which threatens Sun Yat-Sen Square. There’s much at stake for Chinatown in Montreal’s upcoming November 7 elections. Municipalities are responsible for 60 per cent of public infrastructure, management of the housing crisis, protection of affordable housing, and overseeing pandemic recovery programs. Whoever is elected has the potential to implement policy that would ensure the neighbourhood’s survival for decades to come. Mayoral candidates have voiced differing commitments to Chinatown’s protection. While Plante of Projet Montréal has invested time and money into the “Plan d’action 2021-2026 pour le développement du quartier chinois,” she has stated that she does not plan to regulate and halt development plans. Instead, Plante has voiced a noncommittal plan to work with developers to respect the practices and expectations of the community. On the other hand, Balarama Holness of Mouvement Montréal has proposed a plan to strengthen zoning laws that prevent gentrification, propose mandatory consultation with businesses and stakeholders on development processes, and establish a registry for Chinatown’s small businesses to offer rent and wage subsidies. Other candidates have shown little concern for the future of Chinatown. Earlier this month, Ensemble Montréal and Action Montréal candidates did not respond to a survey sent by CWG regarding where they stand on issues related to gentrification and the neighbourhood. As aptly put by the CWG, the parties’ silence “speaks volumes.” Educate yourself on candidates’ commitments to halting gentrification, allocating funds, and granting heritage site designation to Chinatown; if you are able, make an informed vote in the municipal election on November 6 or 7. As a consumer, use your spending power to financially support small, local businesses in Chinatown. Follow and support advocacy groups that are fighting to protect Chinatown across North America, like the Chinatown Working Group of Montreal, and the Chinatown Community for Equitable Development.
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November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
return to campus 2021
In Conversation with PGSS The return to campus has been “disappointing”
Abigail Popple Coordinating News Editor As McGill prepared to return to campus earlier this year, it became increasingly clear that guidelines given by the administration did not particularly favour the wishes of students and faculties. Several weeks into the semester, these concerns continue to develop. This is the second installment of the Daily’s recurring column exploring the relationship between McGill administration and the broader McGill community. Soon after McGill transitioned to remote instruction in March 2020, graduate students employed by the university began to express concern over their working conditions. On top of their usual duties, teaching assistants (TAs), graders, and invigilators now had to assist professors with the technology required for online learning; last-minute changes to class syllabi also resulted in longer hours and more work for many employees. As reported by the Daily, these factors exacerbated the already-precarious working conditions of graduate students employed at McGill as their extra labour went uncompensated. Concerns over remuneration continued when the university’s dysfunctional HR program, Workday, resulted in overdue payments for many TAs. The Daily spoke with representatives of the PostGraduate Students’ Society (PGSS) and the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) about how working conditions have changed since McGill’s return to in-person schooling. Accessing Accommodations In an interview with the Daily, PGSS Secretary-General Kristi Kouchakji wrote that accommodations are often inaccessible to graduate students even outside of a pandemic context. Student employees have difficulty extending their academic accommodations to their role as an employee, per Kouchakji. HR tells students seeking accommodations that they should speak with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD), but the OSD, which Kouchakji emphasized is “extremely underfunded and understaffed and doing their best,” sends the students back to HR because they’re asking for accommodations in an employment context. The conflicting messages from HR and the OSD can prolong an accommodation request for so long that a student employee’s contract will end before they see an approval of their request, Kouchakji said. Additionally, academic accommodations often
end once the student has finished their coursework – as such, students who have ceased dayto-day coursework in order to research and write a dissertation or prepare for a qualifying exam no longer receive support from the OSD. Moreover, Kouchakji asserted that graduate studies at McGill has “a culture of ableism and exceptionalism” that makes it hard for students to advocate for necessary accommodations. This history of bureaucratic redtape interfering with accommodation requests means that McGill has been left woefully unprepared to provide accommodations in the presence of COVID-19. HR is responsible for determining the validity of an accommodation request, according to an August 29 memorandum from Provost Christopher Manfredi; per Kouchakji, “the barrier is often so systemically ingrained that it’s just less effort [for HR] to deny the accommodation request as invalid.” As the university indicates on the COVID-19 FAQs webpage, students who cannot come to campus this semester may need to “adjust their registration, defer, or take a leave of absence.” Graduate students are no exception: “we [the PGSS] have in fact seen cases where immunocompromised students, students with vulnerable people at home, and students unable to join us in-person on time [...] have been told to take a leave of absence or to withdraw from their degrees entirely rather than be given any kind of accommodation,” Kouchakji said.
Student employees have difficulty extending their academic accommodations to their role as an employee[...] graduate studies at McGill has “a culture of ableism and exceptionalism” that makes it hard for students to advocate for necessary accommodations.
Eve Cable | Illustrations Editor “It’s not humane, it’s not equitable, not recognize that “we are living in an interconnected, interdependent it’s not inclusive,” she concluded. society that extends well beyond the Interactions with Administration so-called McGill bubble,” she said. When asked if graduate students have expressed concern over the possibility of losing job or research opportunities on account of advocating for remote learning, Kouchakji said that she hopes the advocacy of PGSS Council will prevent a shortage of research assistant and TA positions. However, she noted that employees are still in a “tough position,” and interpreted Manfredi’s memo as being “extremely clear that there will be very serious repercussions for people who choose to work remotely.” This has led many people to reconsider their career plans, Kouchakji claimed. She went on to say that “ultimately, the whole situation is really disappointing.” The university chose to “send out a fivepage memo literally telling people that we don’t care about any vulnerable people in their homes” instead of approaching the return to campus with compassion. Kouchakji also said that pressure to be on campus may cause reluctance to honestly fill out COVID-19 self-assessment forms. “Who wants to be dealing with possible Covid [sic] symptoms, and long lines at test centres, and a possible investigation for having done the right thing in a climate where doing that is apparently General COVID-19 automatic grounds for suspicion?” related developments she asked. Furthermore, the university’s return-to-campus plans neglect On October 16, the university the fact that COVID-19 is caused by an airborne pathogen, according announced that it would be holding to Kouchakji; additionally, it does a vaccination clinic on the dates of
“Who wants to be dealing with possible Covid symptoms, and long lines at test centres, and a possible investigation for having done the right thing in a climate where doing that is apparently automatic grounds for suspicion?”
October 21 and October 27. While this information was not included in the Daily’s first column, “Faculty Mandated to Teach In-Person,” this omission is not due to an error on the part of the Daily. The announcement came too late for the editorial board to correct the article prior to its printing and distribution on Monday, October 18, as the Daily’s office is inaccessible over the weekend. Nevertheless, we would like to clarify that the university has now offered vaccination clinics on two occasions. In other news, the university requires proof of vaccination to enter libraries as of Wednesday, October 27. To access the library, students may present either their official Quebec vaccine passport, or the McGill fastpass sticker which grants access to libraries, dining halls, and athletics centers, among other venues. Students must register their vaccine passport with the library in order to receive a fast-pass sticker – consult the university’s webpage “Vaccine Passports at the Library” for registration locations and times. On October 26, the Faculty of Arts passed a motion granting the Faculty – not the university’s broader administrative body – authority over mode of instruction, according to graduate student Rine Vieth. The Daily will examine the consequences of this motion throughout our coverage of COVID-19 at McGill. If you have safety concerns or other tips regarding the return to in-person instruction, email us at news@ mcgilldaily.com
November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
news
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Negotiations between AMUSE and McGill at a Lock
Floor fellow’s demands for Collective Agreement unheeded
Saylor Catlin News Editor
S
ince Summer 2020, members of the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) have been negotiating a new collective agreement with the University. In particular, negotiation between members of AMUSE Unit B, a special unit of the labour union that represents residence floor fellows, and Student Housing and Hospitality Services has been stalled. Points of contention have arisen from the University’s failure to accommodate Unit B member’s requests for harm-reductive and anti-oppressive language, requests to be fairly compensated during move-in this year, and requests to negotiate pay raises.
The biggest stall in negotiation of non-monetary parts is the University’s refusal to include antioppression and harm reduction in the CA. While the floor fellow’s Statement of Principles and Values adheres to these principles, Tonnesen claims that over the past years, floor fellows have witnessed McGill gradually eliminate residence programming pertaining to harm reduction or anti-oppression. “I’ve seen this entire process pretty much all the way through,” he says, “[the University] is not willing to include [this programming] in any such way we have proposed, whether that be in the Statement of Principles and Values and that the job must follow through.” Unit B is also negotiating the guest policy: floor fellows sign an education lease, Tonnesen
“There has been a history of floor fellows feeling that they are being treated as students who have some special privileges instead of employees who are also students.” - Christian Tonnesen The collective agreement (CA) is a legally binding agreement that outlines the rights of casual workers (part-time workers at McGill in different sectors) at McGill. Tuviere OnookomeOkome, AMUSE Labour Relations Officer, told the Daily that the job of casual workers can be precarious; people who work part-time are often not given the same benefits that fulltime workers are, and their work is frequently undervalued. “The collective agreement allows for a document which can provide a little bit more power and a little bit more rights for student workers to work underneath,” she says, “especially for floor fellows who are so paramount in the upkeep of one of the most precarious times for students, which is their first year in residence.” Christian Tonnesen, AMUSE VP Floor Fellow, explained to the Daily that there are two sections of the collective agreement over which negotiations have stalled: the monetary parts, and the nonmonetary parts.
explained, and are consequently not allowed to have external guests in residences despite being University employees. “There has been a history of floor fellows feeling that they are being treated as students who have some special privileges instead of employees who are also students,” he says. He maintained that the policy is unreasonable considering that other employees, like Residence Life Managers, are still allowed guests: “If the University would like us to act in such a special role and trust us and respect us as people with enhanced privileges, we should be allowed to have enhanced privileges elsewhere within the job.” Unit B is debating several monetary issues as well – namely, increasing the meal plan budget in response to rising dining hall prices. According to Tonnesen, the floor fellow allotment for meal plan has stayed the same for the past four to five years: “If the meal plan is meant to be a sort of pay, in the sense that floor fellows use this a compensation, [...] it stands to reason that that would also scale
Eve Cable | The McGill Daily with inflation as our actual pay has.” Their request to increase meal plan allotments was shut down by the University. Tonnesen also explained that there are ongoing negotiations regarding concerns specific to floor fellows in Solin, considering that dining halls are less accessible to them. While Solin floor fellows receive a portion of their meal plan allotments through gift cards to grocery stores, the majority of the allotment is only accessible at campus dining halls via a 15 to 20 minute commute. Tonnesen explains how inconveniencing this can be: “A good majority [of classes] are remote, so on days [Solin floor fellows] want to eat, they are essentially forced to come downtown when they have a fully functioning kitchen back at Solin.” Unit B is thus pushing for half of the meal plan to be allotted through grocery store gift cards. Within the realm of monetary issues, Unit B is also proposing a raise in the current wage, which, according to Tonnesen, has only increased by 1 per cent over the last four years. Floor fellows are currently paid at $13.50 per hour; they proposed a wage increase within the realm of $18, but requests were shot down by the University. Instead, the University proposed an increase in hourly wage from $13.50 to $13.64, which Tonnesen stated Unit B did not find to be sufficient. He also explained that floor fellows have seen an increase in duties in light of the COVID-19 pandemic,
which the union has decided surpasses the acceptable workload. This past year, floor fellows were expected to be responsible for more first-years and organize increased programming; the adjustments to their hourly wage do not reflect this, according to Tonnesen.
Tonnesen explained that these new policies positioned floor fellows in the role of police officers or enforcers, something that they were not comfortable taking on: “If we saw any behavior that was not in line with the current standards, we
...floor fellows have seen an increase in duties in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the union has decided surpasses the acceptable workload. COVID-19 has also greatly altered the roles of floor fellows. Tonnesen spoke of the increased emotional and mental tax placed on Union B members and increased risk of exposure to COVID-19: “The idea that we could run into students who were breaking COVID-19 rules or in many cases could have undiagnosed COVID-19 or had it and chose not to disclose to the University was quite unsettling from a workplace safety perspective,” he explained.“[Floor fellows] are being exposed to students who are potentially being exposed to COVID-19, and they’re getting paid just slightly above minimum wage,” commented Onookome-Okome. Additionally, Student Housing and Hospitality Service introduced new drug policies and banned public consumption of alcohol.
were supposed to fill out a form that would report the student to higher admin in Student Housing and Hospitality Services [...] our role is not to act as police officers, [...] it is to be support systems.” These new drug policies further undermined harm reduction approaches that floor fellows have advocated for. As negotiations remain ongoing, Tonnesen stresses the importance of listening to the wishes of floor fellows: “If we could see the type of support that we see for a lot of other causes at McGill, I think there would be some really great changes in residence that would be beneficial for the current set of first year students and any first year students going on.”
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November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
News
Revisiting McGill’s Equity Plans One year since release of the AP-ABR
Abigail Popple Coordinating News Editor
I
t has been over a year since Principal Suzanne Fortier announced the implementation of McGill’s Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism (AP-ABR), based on the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Plan released in June of 2020. As the AP-ABR is only one year into its five-year trajectory, many objectives have yet to be completed – regardless, the university has maintained several of its commitments thus far. Associate Provost of Equity and Academic Policies Angela Campbell clarified, however, that the plan is only meant to be a starting point for the university: “this is going to be an ongoing effort [...] as long as the [university] goes, there has to be a commitment,” she said during a student press conference. Among the university’s completed objectives is the appointment of Professor Terri Givens as the Provost’s Academic Lead and Advisor (PALA) on the Action Plan. In her capacity as PALA, Givens will lead McGill’s efforts to hire more Black professors for tenure and tenure-track positions and “advise academic leaders (Deans, Chairs, Directors, and Associate Deans) about the distinct needs and experiences of Black faculty.” In this vein, McGill has designated 15 Black faculty members to be added to McGill’s tenure-track positions, according to documents sent to the Daily by McGill’s Media Relations Office. Givens commented that she would like to surpass McGill’s goal of having Black faculty make up 5 per cent of M-Level employees: “My goal is for McGill to become a beacon for people who are interested in the study of the African diaspora [and] Black studies.” The BSN has advocated for the creation of an Africana studies department in the past, but the University has not announced any intention to create a department specific to African diaspora. The AP-ABR also included commitments specific to student experience. The university has succeeded in meeting their first goal in this category with the creation of a student census, which is available for all students to complete via Minerva. Additionally, the university
Tiana Koundakjian | Illustrations Contributor has been conducting monthly meetings with students from the McGill African Studies Society and the BSN to get student feedback on the progress of the AP-ABR, and revise accordingly. To meet the mental health needs of Black students, the university has created two positions in the Wellness Hub. One of these positions has already been filled: a Local Wellness Advisor (LWA) with expertise in the psychological impacts of racism was hired in January of this year. Although the Wellness Hub has previously been criticized for difficulty in accessing mental health services, Campbell says that the Black Student Liaison has not raised concerns in regards to the accessibility of this LWA; McGill
McGill has designated 15 Black faculty members to be added to McGill’s tenure-track positions [...] Givens commented that she would like to surpass McGill’s goal of having Black faculty make up 5 percent of M-Level employees.
reports that the LWA has served 120 students thus far. When asked about how students and staff would be held accountable to the antioppressive mandates of the EDI Plan, Campbell said that the first step in fostering an antioppressive culture is getting people to understand why microaggressions are harmful. “When [microaggressions] occur, the difficulty is often that [...] the community dominant groups don’t often understand why they’re so harmful or painful,” she explained. The university is in the midst of educating professors and administration on the impacts of microaggressions, and the launch of the Office for Mediation and Reporting has created a channel for students to report discriminatory behaviour on campus. Last year, Provost Christopher Manfredi told the Daily that the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures would be a means of reducing anti-Black racism, claiming that most students experience microaggressions from other students. During this year’s press conference, Campbell instead emphasized a top-down approach to combating anti-Black racism which prioritizes educating
faculty and administration. These educational initiatives include the implementation of modules about anti-Black racism. While Campbell said that she does not expect modules to eliminate racism on campus by themselves, she said “it sends a message that it’s important and that we take the matter seriously. [The module] does not by itself achieve [an end to racism].” In discussing the modules, Campbell remarked that It Takes All of Us, McGill’s mandatory online module about sexual assault, has served as an example for other universities seeking to reduce sexual violence on campus. Likewise, Givens said that educational workshops and modules have seen good reception: “I’ve really been kind of overwhelmed with the positive approach that a lot of people are bringing to the workshops.” Campbell hopes that these workshops will encourage professors to adopt more inclusive curricula and pedagogies, another goal presented in the AP-ABR. She also hopes that the University will begin to consider how bias may impact an instructors’ student evaluations – Deans and Department Chairs refer to student evaluations
when considering whether an instructor should be given a tenure-track position, so Campbell wants “to make sure that [instructors] aren’t penalized in a way that’s unjust on account of bias on the part of the students who do the work evaluating them.” The AP-ABR stated that the university would reach a final decision about what to do with the statue of James McGill by the end of the bicentennial year. The Daily asked for clarification as to when the deadline for a decision would be, but the university employees present at the conference were not aware of the specific timeline for this decision. The statue has been removed from campus for the time being due to vandalism, but there is no final decision as of yet. The university has also not created a website to “showcase the presence and success of Black McGillians over time,” as was included in the AP-ABR; instead, the Bicentennial website is pointed to as a space for highlighting the history of Black students and staff at McGill. Additional reporting provided by Saylor Catlin.
November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
commentary
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McGill Security Policing Bathrooms
On the invasive practices in McConnell bathrooms
Anonymous Commentary Contributor
content warning: homophobia
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ecords indicate that McGill Security has been patrolling the men’s bathrooms in McConnell to stop gay cruising since at least 2015. This was brought up by an anonymous source who communicated that all these records were publicly released, and that they wanted the criminalization of cruising to be public knowledge at the university. These include reports and descriptions of how security has responded to reports of sex occurring in the bathrooms, as well as emails from students and professors asking Security to stop cruising occurring, and implying stings should occur. This discovery of how McGill Security has been patrolling the bathrooms recalls the historical arrests of gay men for having sex in Canada, the US, and the UK. For centuries, governments have been criminalizing gay men for hooking up, especially by weaponizing terminology such as indecency, connected to the illegality of “gross indecency,” which was used to criminalize gay male sex. Indecent exposure and indecent acts are both current legal charges, while “gross indecency” is a repealed term that was used to refer to gay men having sex. As such, using the term “indecent” without a qualifier, to describe attempts to arrest gay men, continues legal practices of homophobia. Cruising, or casual sex in public spaces, occurs due to a lack of safe spaces for gay men to have sex. Historically, to criminalize the gay community, police have raided cruising locations such as bathhouses, bathrooms, and parks. The decades-old criminalization and plainclothes checks of bathrooms to prevent gay cruising culture continues to occur across Canada. While the Montreal Police did apologize for historical raids on the queer community in a 2017 statement, it did not specifically include bathrooms in that apology.
Sonia Ionescu | Photos Contributor Even if it had, that would not change the fact that the practice still unofficially continues. As such, the consistent focus on the bathrooms used for cruising by gay men at McGill, while excluding other bathrooms on campus that are used for casual sex by students in general, is a concerning practice that connects directly to institutionalized violence against the queer community. McGill Security’s use of gay websites and forums to check when meetups in the bathrooms will take place also echoes the infiltration of queer spaces by officials in order to arrest those who participated in them. Gay Reddit forums, Grindr, and websites for cruising in Montreal are spaces meant for the gay community, and when those spaces are infiltrated with the
The decades-old criminalization and plainclothes checks of bathrooms to prevent gay cruising culture continues to occur across Canada.
intent of criminalizing queerness, it undermines the safe space that many individuals greatly need. This extends to the language and screenshots that security staff have used to communicate potential meetings in the bathrooms to each other – forwarding screenshots of Sqirt, a gay crusing website, and being supportive of whose reporting incidents recording and sharing media of the men cruising. However, the problem does not only lie with security staff – complaints made to security often have a homophobic tone. They focus not on the discomfort of overhearing sex, but instead on the bathroom’s status as a queer space: one report describes the bathrooms as “the biggest gay sex bathroom at McGill University and it’s all over the internet.” As cruising is a consensual sexual practice, the focus of the concern in this complaint stems from the bathroom being known for “gay sex [...] all over the internet,” and implies that the cruising is worse than the public sex that occurs in other university bathrooms. Instead of acting in the interest of student safety, McGill Security is specifically targeting queer
students engaging in consensual sex and perpetuating the criminalization of gay sex. McGill Security also seems to support complainants who have attempted to identify gay men having sex or masturbating in the bathroom by filming, photographing, or recording them. Complaints about sex in bathrooms is understandable, but recording, and in one reported instance, confining the individual in a bathroom stall until police arrived, indicates a level of community support for the criminalization of casual gay sex in public spaces. If security were interacting with these bathrooms in the same way as other bathrooms on campus, where people are told to leave the space if having sex, the situation would not be coming across as homophobic. However, the usage of recordings of sex taken with malicious intent against the participants is unethical, especially in the context of arresting queer members of the McGill community, who have had to fear police since the creation of a police force on Turtle Island. The reports and emails of Security about the need to patrol the men’s
bathroom in McConnell go back to at least 2015, and continued until the start of the pandemic – and will presumably restart with the reopening of campus. The patrols of McConnell have already resulted in gay men being arrested by callings escalating and the SPVM being contacted. Concerns of passersby being unwillingly exposed to sexual practices are inconsistent with the singular focus on McConnell’s bathrooms on campus, and that no other bathrooms on campus have been retro-fitted to prevent cruising. The usage of media intended to be a safe online space for queer men is a continuation of systems of authority infiltrating gay spaces to then criminalize them. The queer community in Montreal and at McGill already must engage with instituionalized transphobia and homophobia. Continuing to threaten legal action against gay men, that is not threatened at other bathrooms on campus where cis and straight couples have sex, is another system of criminalizing the actions of a marginalized community.
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features
November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
The Potential Potential of of The Psychedelic Therapies Therapies Psychedelic Legalizing psilocybin and other psychedelic therapies would save lives Eve Cable Illustrations Editor content warning: drugs, suicide, mental health
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I have had anxiety for so long, I had sort of forgotten what it feels like to not have it. To experience the lack of anxiety I have had this week is beyond words.” This is what Thomas Hartle said when he became the first Canadian to be granted legal permission to consume psilocybin – a psychedelic compound found in “magic mushrooms” – for medical purposes. Following a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2016, Hartle had struggled with the existential dread he felt regarding the end of his life, until he became one of the first individuals in Canada to be granted a section 56 exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for the consumption of psilocybin. Granted to only a handful of people, this act allows individuals to be provided with access to a controlled substance for medical reasons under strict governmental regulations this is the only way that patients like Hartle have been able to benefit from psychedelic therapies in Canada. Psilocybin treatment has been successful in improving the mental wellbeing of patients like Hartle who suffer from serious illness, as well as for mood disorders and other mental health conditions. This success is evidence that a better standard of care is available for patients, if only we can get over the stigma preventing doctors from accessing it. Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound found in different types of fungi. Throughout history, these
psychedelic mushrooms have been used in a significant number of ceremonial traditions, as well as being a highly respected material in Ancient Egypt, where consumption of mushrooms was reserved for the priesthood and upper classes. Psilocybin has also been used for ritual purposes in modern history, with early research from R. Gordon Wasson in the 1950s examining the use of the fungi by Indigenous communities in the Oaxaca region of southern Mexico, a practice that was thought to have died out hundreds of years ago. This speaks to the significance of psilocybin throughout world history as a ceremonially and spiritually meaningful substance, and shows the ways in which psilocybin was historically received before mass stigmatisation of the mushroom. As knowledge of the properties of psilocybin spread throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, pharmaceutical companies, doctors, and legislative entities began to show interest in magic mushrooms, in terms of both benefits and potential risks associated with use. In 1958, chemist Albert Hofmann isolated the active ingredients from magic mushrooms, synthesized the compounds and sold them to Sandoz pharmaceuticals, marking the beginning of corporate involvement with psilocybin. Projects to learn
Viola Ruzzier | Staff Illustrator
more about psilocybin continued, with medical professionals such as psychologist Timothy Leary travelling to Mexico to participate in ceremonial use. Working with spiritual leader Ram Dass, Leary founded the Harvard Psilocybin Project, a research project conducted on Harvard graduate students that sought to examine the effects of magic mushrooms on human consciousness. Despite an absence of laws preventing use of psilocybin at the time, ethical concerns halted the study in 1963, though not before large research institutions had taken an interest in the fungi, paving the way for future research. The hope for psychedelic therapies becoming seriously helpful to patients was borne from the counterculture of the 1960s, which saw an increase in use of psychedelic drugs and substances. However, this hope was ultimately tarnished by the war on drugs in the 1970s, which resulted in the mass incarceration of millions of people, the majority of which being racialized communities and particularly Black people. The psilocybin molecule responsible for
psychoactive effects was banned by the Nixon administration, meaning that labs and pharmaceutical companies researching the synthesized compounds for medical use were unable to continue research. This set back research on psilocybin care by decades, with the next study on psilocybin not taking place until almost 30 years later, in 1997. It is only in very recent years that research has ramped up again, with institutions like the University of Toronto and John Hopkins investing more in psychedelic substance research, and the FDA granting permission for study of psilocybin for depression. There are years of lost ground to make up for in the emerging field of psychedelic research. The war on drugs has withheld psychedelic treatment options from millions of individuals that may have benefited from psychedelic therapy, and has resulted in further stigma surrounding the ancient use of psychedelic fungi in ceremonial practices. As modern research institutions re-engage with the study of psychedelic medicines, it is crucial that Indigenous use of
psychedelic substances be respected and considered, and that researchers are cognizant of the impact of Indigenous use of psilocybin throughout history. As noted in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies, “the [I]ndigenous use of psychedelics cannot be mapped on to modern geographic and national boundaries. Rather, its history should be considered tied to a broader community of [I]ndigenous practices across North, Central, and South Americas that were ultimately appropriated primarily by Western clinicians and scientists.” Work by researchers like R. Gordon Wasson has been crucial for expanding psilocybin research, but future researchers should recognize that the knowledge imparted to Wasson came from Sabina, a ceremonial leader sharing the sacred practices of her Mazatec culture. Erasing figures like Sabina from the history of psychedelic research further distances sacred medicines like psilocybin from their ceremonial use, and contributes to the harms of Western imperialism. As psilocybin research continues, professionals must consider the
There are years of lost ground to make up for in the emerging field of psychedelic research. The war on drugs has withheld psychedelic treatment options from millions of individuals that may have benefited from psychedelic therapy, and has resulted in further stigma surrounding the ancient use of psychedelic fungi in ceremonial practices. most appropriate way to deliver psychedelic care. TheraPsil is a Canadian organization pushing for medical access to psilocybin, primarily focused on representing Canadians seeking psilocybin use for end of life care. The organization
features advocates for “the professionally guided use of psilocybin (magic mushrooms) in combination with psychotherapy,” and promotes a “clinically tested treatment program” that focuses on “careful medical oversight of the medicine session, as well as intention setting and integration psychotherapy sessions (without psilocybin) that help prepare an individual for lasting healing.” The focus, from TheraPsil’s standpoint, is on providing longlasting care programs that work in association with psilocybin use for proven results. Over 55 Canadians have obtained section 56 exemptions to allow legal use, possessions and transportation of magic mushrooms for psilocybin therapy. This number is an immense achievement, with TheraPsil being one of the only Canadian organizations lobbying for psilocybin to be made legal for medical use. However, the organization also notes that they are attempting to help many more Canadians that have been left without an answer from Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu regarding their potential approval for psilocybin use. They report frustration with the system, explaining that the current method of approval restricts patients from choosing psychedelic care with approval from their healthcare provider, instead allowing patients’ medical care to be left to “adhoc exemptions granted by a politician,” according to the October 14 newsletter.
November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily discriminatory, and infringe upon patients section 15 charter rights – ” it is time for upheaval of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act instead of the slow process of granting exemptions. Realistically, section 56 exemptions represent a very small number of therapeutic psilocybin users in Canada. The vast majority of approved exemptions have been for palliative care, particularly for those experiencing “end of life distress,” the “psychological complex of extreme anxiety, depression, hopelessness and demoralization that can occur when a patient is diagnosed with an incurable illness or is receiving palliative care.” Psilocybin has helped a large number of patients ease their end of life distress, however the long and uncertain process of being granted an exemption is disheartening for many individuals. In a similar fashion to the lengthy period of proposed Bill C-7 alterations of the Criminal Code to change the criteria for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), vulnerable people are left in the dark with prolonged periods of silence regarding the future of their care. As well as cases like these, there are large numbers of individuals using psilocybin for non-terminal medical reasons, and these individuals face barriers to accessing the substance, given the illegality and the lack of information regarding safe consumption. Individuals must therefore buy from dealers or online, meaning they must place their trust in these individual vendors rather than in a regulated system. This creates understandable
Unfortunately, it is difficult to access educational resources regarding psilocybin, especially due to the illegality of the substance and the subsequent hesitation to have open discussions about how to use and where to source. “While beneficial to open the door to compassionate access,” TheraPsil notes, “section 56 exemptions granted on a case-bycase basis are not a sustainable model to offer healthcare – ” TheraPsil asserts that some patients have now been waiting for over 200 days for a verdict from the Minister of Health. This means that while some compassionate care is approved, the bureaucracy of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act ultimately prevents patients from receiving potentially beneficial care. As TheraPsil argues, “section 56 exemptions are arbitrary,
trepidation for many individuals that might benefit from psilocybin use but who would prefer to only purchase from a governmentregulated system. In a letter to Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu, TheraPsil argues that “regulated access is not only important but also urgent because Canadians are already using psilocybin for therapeutic purposes.” Instagram account @realdrugstories posts submissions of individuals’ experiences with different substances. Users have submitted their experiences with psychedelic substances on the account: “I had struggled with trauma memories and intrusive thoughts for over 10 years [...] I had contemplated suicide numerous times and came close twice. I suffered alone and even my therapists couldn’t help me to combat these thoughts. Using cannabis and mushrooms has literally changed my entire life [...] for over six years I have experienced internal peace and I am free from experiencing the debilitating effects of the thoughts. I did not intend to use cannabis or mushrooms for this reason, I used it for recreational purposes however it literally changed my life.” An individual such as this would not be approved for a section 56 exemption, as thus far the criterion for this exemption has been a terminal illness diagnosis. However, the individual’s mentions of suicidal thoughts and claims that psilocybin changed their life is testament to the life-saving potential of the substance, and proof that the substance could be used for individuals suffering from long-term depression, including treatment-resistant depression and other complex mental health issues. Leaving psilocybin off the table as a treatment option for these mental health concerns is illogical, given the inclination of doctors to prescribe antidepressants and opioids to individuals suffering from
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Psilocybin use for recreational and medicinal purposes is potentially as old as mankind itself. Stigma surrounding use of the substance is not. similar concerns. Both of these medications have long lists of side effects as well as serious risks of addiction, whereas psilocybin has “extremely low toxicity” with practically no deaths attributed to the drug, according to the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). The DPA also notes that ongoing epidemiological studies are showing lower rates of mental health disorders and suicide amongst psilocybin users – in contrast with the increased addiction and death rates of individuals overprescribed legal opioids in the US. The DPA argues that the risks from psilocybin are “dependent on set and setting” rather than toxicity, and “the consequences of negative or challenging experiences can be minimised by education and awareness of psilocybin’s effects.” Unfortunately, it is difficult to access educational resources regarding psilocybin, especially due to the illegality of the substance and the subsequent hesitation to have open discussions about how to use and where to source. One anonymous individual speaking with the Daily notes, “microdosing is something I’m willing to try, even though it’s not legal, because [my mental health issue] is so bad I’m kind of desperate. I’m only hesitant because I don’t have anyone to sit with
while I try it, and I don’t know where is safe to procure it from, and I know that hesitation makes it more likely to go wrong.” Individuals who could seriously benefit from low-risk use of psilocybin are unable to guarantee their safety in use – the Canadian government’s inability to recognise the urgency of regulated access is contributing to this danger. Psilocybin use for recreational and medicinal purposes is potentially as old as mankind itself. Stigma surrounding use of the substance is not. The manmade perception of psilocybin as a dangerous drug incapable of medical or therapeutic benefit is an archaic product of Nixon’s war on drugs, and it is time for governments and medical professionals to do better in offering therapeutic psychedelic alternatives for medicine in a regulated way. Individuals can look to TheraPsil for more information regarding section 56 exemptions for Canadians and to sign onto their petitions and letters. You can find examples of real lived experiences with drugs and substances from @realdrugstories, and information regarding drug policy from the Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy. For individuals located in Montreal, local organization @makingdrugsmoreaccurate can be found on Instagram, where testing kits can be ordered and delivered within 48 hours. Supporting the work of TheraPsil also advances treatment options for Canadians, and individuals can follow templates on their website to contact local MPs regarding psilocybin legalization as well as donate to the organization.
Viola Ruzzier | Staff Illustrator
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November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
culture
A Guided Tour Through Episode One of Metal Shop Masters Let’s get something out of the way: you should not watch Metal Shop Masters
Willa Holt Staff Writer
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s breakout hits like Squid Game dominate the platform, Netflix is working hard behind the scenes producing original shows – more specifically, a steady stream of competition series. Trying to ride the coattails of wildly successful series like Great British Bake off, Chopped, and Netflix’s own breakout hit Glow Up, these shows range from polished and engaging to downright upsetting. Metal Shop Masters is just one in a long line of art-centric competition shows, each no more remarkable than the next. Except Metal Shop Masters has a key element that distinguishes it from all other such shows. Like the youngest child on Passover, let us ask: how is this show different from all other shows? It’s bad, and I don’t say that lightly. I am an avid reality competition show enjoyer, to the misery of my loved ones. I will watch literally any series that pits two or more strangers against each other. But I will not watch even one more episode of Metal Shop Masters. Other art-as-competition shows on Netflix have raised the question of how to judge artistic creations in a fair, equitable way. Competitive glassblowing show Blown Away, also a Netflix Original, dances around the question, loosely defining art as something that looks nice, is meaningful, and is technically sophisticated enough to be more than a gift-shop collectible. Metal Shop Masters takes the bold way out by refusing to define anything at all. Even the rules – those sacred instructions by which each contestant is fairly judged – aren’t clear to the contestants themselves. In the very first episode, not one but two metalworkers are forced to completely restart their projects well into the challenge’s hourslong runtime. “Wait, what?” you might be asking, “Why? How?” Unlike rags-to-riches shows like Great British Bake off or Glow Up, many of the contestants on Metal Shop Masters are established, respected metal artists. This is a must – metalworking can be extremely dangerous, and injuries on set are the last thing Netflix wants. Prior to filming the first episode, each metalworker is given the same
prompt and allowed to plan a design and fabricate their own pieces ahead of the show. The only rules, as the judges emphasize in the introduction, are no prefabricated pieces – you can only bring metal you shaped yourself – and no soldering ahead of time – you need to assemble your creation in the studio shop. The first contestant who is forced to restart is a young, single mom handcrafting a set of working wings attached to a flowing metal dress. Her name is Rae Ripple, and she has accidentally broken one of the rules in the first round. As the judges wander from artist to artist grabbing soundbites – a tradition across Netflix competition shows – they notice an issue with her pieces. Many of the component parts had already been soldered together at home. Pulling the contestant aside, both judges apprehensively explain, hours into the limited time of the challenge, that she will have to disconnect every single piece she has brought before re-soldering them together one by one. In the face of such a crushing setback, the contestant’s grit and determination are outstanding. As the judges look on like troubled parents, the viewer can’t help but ask more questions. Questions like, “Hey guys, how did you let this happen?” Each contestant’s metal pieces are stored in wooden crates decorated with their names. Did the producers not check all of the crates out beforehand? How did the judges only catch this mistake well into the challenge’s time limit? This can’t help but make the viewer wonder: how unclear were the original instructions the contestants received? With the unfortunate contestant left to desperately unmake her best work, the exceptionally uncharismatic host tries to distract us from this bizarre and uncomfortable situation. But lightning has struck twice — another contestant’s metal components are flagged by the judges. This contestant named Seven is a self-proclaimed “salvage” artist, using recycled materials to create beautiful art with less waste. “Great!” you say, “That’s a unique artistic strategy!” But no. No, it’s not. Because the thing Seven, and everyone else on this cursed show, has forgotten about is that recycled materials are inherently prefabricated.
Eve Cable | Illustrations Editor Because they broke the first and cardinal rule by virtue of simply doing the kind of art they are known for doing, Seven is forced to set aside almost all of their metal pieces. They are now working with scraps of scraps. This is bad enough, but it gets worse! The art they intended to make was a towering outstretched hand clenched in a fist, with a small compartment in its palm. Inside, Seven intended to place their intentions and reminders of their power and resilience as a Black person. After they are stripped of their primary materials for creating art, Seven still manages to create a smaller, sadder version of the powerful statement they intended with their original piece. The panel of all-white judges solemnly acknowledges the meaning of their piece, and after an unceremonious round of judging, Seven becomes the first to leave the titular Metal Shop. There is so much to question about this single moment. Seven is the second person to break a rule, but the only one whose style of artistic creation fundamentally opposed that rule in the first place. Why were they invited on the show,
if the show’s rules forbid the use of prefabricated materials?
the consequences of hitting a young single mother and the only Black queer
All that we’re left with is a sense that perhaps acknowledging artistic preferences, focusing on technical prowess, and highlighting the professional qualities that can define success and failure in the world of metalworking were just too difficult for Metal Shop Masters to tackle. By eliminating them in the first episode, Metal Shop Masters overlooked the glaring inequities inherent in how they enforce and inform the rules of their own show. Seven got kicked off because they were unable to make something good enough out of the tiny scraps of their primary materials, which were — like the other contestants’ — presumably checked prior to filming. Did Metal Shop Masters deliberately allow two contestants to keep illegal materials to heighten the drama of it all? Did they simply not think about
person on the show with two spiked curveballs in the show’s first episode? Frankly, the world may never know. All that we’re left with is a sense that perhaps acknowledging artistic preferences, focusing on technical prowess, and highlighting the professional qualities that can define success and failure in the world of metalworking were just too difficult for Metal Shop Masters to tackle. Artificial, unfair tension should work just fine! Next time, I think I’ll just rewatch Glow Up.
November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
culture
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Review: The Good Arabs by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch The prose and poetry collection published by Metonymy Press explores identity and belonging.
Aysha White Culture Contributor
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li Tareq El BechelanyLynch’s collection The Good Arabs travels back and forth in time, place, and genre — between Montreal and Beirut, prose and poetry, the past and an imagined future. Published by Metonymy Press in September 2021, The Good Arabs is El BechelanyLynch’s second collection following knot body published by Metatron Press in 2020.
all at once. Food can eventually become garbage, another theme in the text. It’s an effective way to engage the natural world, while creating a visceral feeling that writing about the moon or stars alone wouldn’t. The text paints a portrait of family both biological and chosen. The Good Arabs explores themes of identity, colonialism, the post 9/11 period, feelings of belonging, what it means to be a visible member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, joy as resistance,
The Good Arabs explores themes of identity, colonialism, the post 9/11 period, feelings of belonging, what it means to be a visible member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, joy as resistance, and different forms of love.
You’ve probably heard that truism: Don’t judge a book by its cover. But in the case of The Good Arabs it would not be an exercise in futility. Lee Lai designed the cover image and LOKI, the cover design. The title is embossed in bright bold gold, and part of the image in shades of blue like an oldfashioned cyanotype. A figure is pushing their hand through the second “O” in “Good” to just slightly touch the first “O”. It’s skillful yet delicate, and its twisting, bending, flexible nature is observable even before you begin reading. Increasingly, there is more space for genre-crossing in poetry collections, and from cover to content The Good Arabs serves as a well-crafted example. The Good Arabs is an ethnography of the world through El Bechelany-Lynch’s eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, and another sense some would label the sixth, palpable in lines like, “The moon’s wink haunting vast desert nights/ The glimmer of sand sparkling in the light cast. The collection engages the senses in a visceral way, swinging from the sweet smell of cut-up fruit to garbage on a hot day. Food is mentioned throughout the text, pushing the mind towards taste, scent, and touch
and different forms of love. The poems offer insight and commentary on the personal and political, ranging from the 2020 Beirut Explosion and its after-effects to exploring the differences and similarities between the judgemental stares of passersby in Canada and Lebanon. The Good Arabs reads equally like a guided meditation and call to action. You will smile fondly at the description of a pre-teen El Bechelany-Lynch shimmying their hips to Nancy Ajram; adore the cheeky self-reflective nods to millennial culture in lines like, “She is probably smarter than me. It’s hard to admit as a Virgo” and feel angered by the actions of the Israeli government as El BechelanyLynch’s thoughts return to it. Lines like, “Two bodies never fall asleep at the same time,” offer practical advice in a delicate yet firm, poetic way (El Bechelany-Lynch’s Virgo tendencies again?). They conjure up a number of different interlocking images: a couple on the outs in the same bed, a parent and child who fall asleep fitfully without resolving a bitter fight, a dog sadly and confusedly drifting off wondering where their owner is. This speaks to El Bechelany-Lynch’s masterful
Tiana Koundakjian | Staff Illustrator and clear grasp of language, and the ability to twist and wring out the nuance of a sentence. It’s a dense read and felt longer than its hundred-or-so pages. But The Good Arabs was long in an enjoyable way, especially when compared to other short poetry collections that can sometimes feel like they’re
ending abruptly. The varying forms of text that compose the collection also help to make the length feel fresh, interesting, and engaging as opposed to monotonous and repetitive. Fans of Fariha Roisin and BillyRay Belcourt’s work will probably enjoy El Bechelany-Lynch’s for the lyrical and inventive way otherness,
identity, queerness, and what it means to live in a capitalistic, consumerist, society are explored. The Good Arabs is the sort of book that you won’t regret keeping on your shelf for years to come. Its thoughtful, mutable, quality makes it easy to keep returning to, plus its cover is its own artwork worthy of a bookshelf display.
You will smile fondly at the description of a preteen El Bechelany-Lynch shimmying their hips to Nancy Ajram; adore the cheeky self-reflective nods to millennial culture in lines like, “She is probably smarter than me. It’s hard to admit as a Virgo” and feel angered by the actions of the Israeli government as El Bechelany-Lynch’s thoughts return to it.
November 1, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
COMPENDIUM!
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COMICS
Eve Cable | Illustrations Editor
Viola Ruzzier | Staff Illustrator
