The McGill Daily Vol. 111 Issue 11

Volume 111, Issue 11 | Monday, November 22, 2021 | mcgilldaily.com failing to find chocolate soy milk since 1911

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table of Contents

November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Table of Contents 7 3 4

features • Celebrating 25 Years of the WNBA

editorial • Montreal Needs More Shelter

News

• Anti-Homeless Architecture • Inhumane Conditions at Edmonton Max • Column: Return to Campus 2021

10 • culture Wes Anderson and Auteur Theory • Queer CookBooks

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compendium!

• Horoscopes • Comic

EDITORIAL

Volume 111 Issue 11

November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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As Winter Approaches, Montreal Needs More Shelters

It would be nice to remember the good times with Elisapie. [...] The way she’d shout “Oh my stars!” when something surprised her or how Elisapie’s face broke into the widest grin when she spoke to her grandchildren on the phone. She brought warmth to the laneways and haunts of west downtown Montreal, where so many of the city’s unhoused find a place to hide when the sun goes down,” Christopher Curtis writes of 61-year-old Elisapie Pootoogook, an Inuk elder who was found dead in the construction site of a René Levesque Boulevard luxury condo tower on November 13.

As of November 12, five major Montreal homeless shelters have limited their capacity due to reported COVID-19 outbreaks. Last winter, provincial pandemic restrictions forced shelters to dramatically reduce capacity, services, and either limit hours or shut down completely. In January, Resilience Montreal was forced to temporarily reduce its capacity from 80 clients a day to just 12, and was only able to provide clients food to be eaten outside. Combined with the curfews enforced from January to May, restrictions on shelters – like those faced

by Resilience Montreal – forced many unhoused people to remain on the street during the coldest nights of the year. The Service de police de la Ville Montréal (SPVM) redirected some unhoused people into overcrowded shelters with COVID-19positive residents. This shows the provincial and municipal governments’ blatant disregard for the unhoused community, and proves that the restrictions placed on shelters throughout the pandemic have been extremely harmful to unhoused people. The pandemic isn’t over; this winter will likely be as harsh as the last.

Shelter problems are not merely due to pandemic-specific pressures, nor are they exclusive to the challenges of the winter months. Sophie Hart of Mobilizing for Milton Parc told the Daily that many avoid shelters due to safety concerns unassociated with COVID-19. Many shelters are “dry,” meaning they are unable to accommodate those with alcohol or drug dependencies. With winter quickly approaching, increasing the number of shelter spaces and expanding the hours and resources of current shelters is more important than ever. The preventable deaths of Elisapie Pootoogook and Raphaël André, an Innu man who froze to death in a portable toilet last winter, are direct results of a lack of safe shelters and secure housing.

This is a systemic issue rooted in settler colonialism that continues to prioritize profit generated from gentrified land development over the safety of Indigenous peoples.

Sam Watts, CEO of Welcome Hall Mission, one of the affected shelters, calls for shelters to be kept open for 24 hours, and for 120 additional beds to be added to shelters in the downtown area. He told the Montreal Gazette: “When you have resources that are open from 9 to 3 or from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., they don’t always offer that continuum of care and the connection back in the kinds of services and accompaniment that a person in a vulnerable situation really needs. You take somebody off the street for a few hours, but then they head right back out there

and they’ve never connected [sic] to an agency or a resource that could be of assistance to them – ” resources include intervention workers, social workers, and housing experts. Watts claims that an additional 150 shelter spaces are needed in order to fulfill the needs of unhoused people and avoid a “humanitarian crisis.”

In October, Junior Health Minister Lionel Carmant and Minister Responsible for Montreal Chantal Rouleau announced an “ambitious” five year plan to improve services for Quebec’s unhoused population. The $280 million plan notably allocates $77 million to assist unhoused people and those at risk of homelessness with secure housing, $14 million to reduce homelessness among Indigenous communities, and $53 million to emergency and transitional housing facilities, $10 million of which would be reserved exclusively for women.

While this plan has been touted as a responsive strategy to homelessness, it is yet to be seen whether this will result in significant material changes for Montreal’s homeless population.

Shelter organizers believe this amount is only the start. Nakuset, director of the Native Women’s Shelter and co-director of Resilience Montreal, remarks of the plan’s shortcomings: “once you break it down by five years you’re like ‘that’s it? That’s it?’

And how many shelters are there and how many more need to be created?” James Hughes of Old Brewery Mission shares this sentiment, arguing that Quebec should be investing more into services for its unhoused population. Considering that 45 per cent of Montreal’s unhoused population is Inuit, the housing crisis is undoubtedly tied to gentrification and systemic violence rooted in displacement. 0.05 per cent of the budget is allocated toward a generalized, unspecified Indigenous population – this demonstrates a lack of understanding of the communities the plan is meant to serve. Montreal’s current response to the growing unhoused population – an increase exacerbated by COVID-19 – is to further criminalize homelessness. According to Montreal en Action, unhoused people recieve “close to 40 per cent of the fines issued in Montreal,” leading to a cycle of debt and dangerous interactions with the SPVM. On November 12, a group of Inuit women gathered at Cabot Square to honour the seven Inuit women who have died since the spring of 2020. They reflected on Minnie Napartuk, Tammi Sutherland, Lucy Qaunnaaluk, Klara Okkuatsiak, Dinah Matte, and Kitty Kakkinerk. They spoke on issues of language barriers, violence, addiction, and housing services – factors that, if addressed with adequate resources, could have prevented these deaths.

Currently, The Open Door, Resilience Montreal, and MTL AID are requesting donations for winter coats, boots, snow pants, gloves, wool socks, tuques, and hand warmers.

Innovation Assistance, Resilience Montreal, and Nazareth Community have open volunteer positions. Year-long donations to all organizations include snacks, hygiene and dental products, camping supplies, and menstrual products, as well as monetary donations. A full list of most essential donations can be found on MTL Solidarity Supply’s website.

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November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

news

Anti-Homeless Architecture On the Rise Anna Zavelsky Culture Editor

Emails reveal that hostile architecture is intentional

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ays prior to the mayoral election, an access to information request filed by Ricochet revealed the removal of benches at Parc AzellusDenis in the summer of 2019 to be a method of preventing unhoused people from gathering in the park.

The benches were replaced by bike racks to accommodate the new residents of the increasingly gentrified Villeray-St-Michel -ParcExtension neighborhood. Following what Plante dubs as “cohabitation,” the park redesign proposal was imagined to have benches for sitting only – the addition of arm rests prevent people from laying down, specifically harmful to unhoused people looking for a place to sleep or rest.

From 2020 to 2021, the average rents of a 4½ and 5½ in the area had increased by 17 per cent.

Activists attribute this rise in rent prices to an influx of students into the neighborhood, following the establishment of the Université de Montréal MIL campus.

The architecturally hostile details of the proposed plan (some aspects never implemented) are revealed in email deliberations – translated into English by Ricochet – between Julie Gregoire, a municipal official responsible for community development, and a local property owner: “Many colourful gardening / urban agriculture bins are found along your building to restrict people living in a homeless situation and prevent them from doing their business there, a guardrail would be welded all around the metal structure above the small wall at a height and at a strategic angle to prevent people in a situation of homelessness from sitting or lying down [...] As an alternative, benches would be set up near the street for them.

There would also be very large decorative rocks strategically placed in the most problematic places where you regularly find people or their feces.”

Rasha Hamade | Photos Editor The borough refused to release emails by elected officials, specifically Mayor Valerie Plante and former Mayor Denis Coderre.

Plante’s model of social cohabitation, a phrase she’s employed many times, essentially refers to accommodating tourists and the new richer residents of gentrified neighborhoods, while doing the bare minimum to accommodate unhoused individuals, often in response to negative public opinion about antihomeless initiatives. In August, she announced the pilot of the Mobile Mediation and Social Intervention Team, launched in Ville-Marie.

Specifically targeted toward intervention to de-escalate potential conflicts in public space, the project is an attempt to take the responsibility of conflict mediation off SPVM, who do not receive specialized training in this area. The Parc

... the park redesign proposal was imagined to have benches for sitting only - the addition of arm rests prevent people from laying down, specifically harmful to unhoused people looking for a place to sleep or rest.

Azellus-Denis bench removal was incited by 32 complaints to SPVM about unhoused people gathering and resting in the park.

In an interview with Ricochet, David Chapman, director of Resilience Montreal, questions how realistic cohabitation really is if the innate response of new residents is to call the police on unhoused individuals interacting with public space. He says that ten years ago, it would not have been a problem “when someone who is homeless is sleeping on a bench.”

The individual only becomes viewed as a problem “when you have a bunch of [expensive] condo developments move into the neighbourhood,” changing the makeup of the neighborhood, resulting in “people calling the police about that person sleeping.”

Chapman further comments on the structure of government revenue collection, housing and taxation: “If you’re living in a wealthier area of the city [...] your property taxes are a significant amount of money, and with that comes a certain sense of entitlement.

People have a sensibility — ‘I’m entitled not to have to look at homeless people.’ The city will get a certain amount of pressure, because after all these are the people who are keeping the officials in business. […] So much of the bill for local infrastructure is being paid by these wealthier populations. And so yes, the pressure is to keep

these populations happy and sometimes to go beyond what is socially responsible in order to keep them happy.”

Cabot Square, long serving as an informal gathering place for Inuit and First Nations people, has also been a target of defensive architecture.

Often referred to as “revitalization projects” by city officials, such hostile architecture has been popping up all over Montreal – not only making the city less hospitable for homeless populations, but also for people with disabilities and the elderly.

In Toronto, examples include the absence of amenities that would allow people to stop and rest, such as picnic tables, public bathrooms, and comfortable benches.

However, benches separated by several crowded armrests have been argued against by the City of Toronto, as well as Jennifer Hiseler

of Accessibility Toronto, to support accessibility by making upward and downward movement easier.

Cabot Square, long serving as an informal gathering place for Inuit and First Nations people, has also been a target of defensive architecture. The square’s downtown location near the St. Lawrence River has made it a prime spot for new real estate developments. So, it was no coincidence when hostile benches were installed in July 2020 – armrests separated the benches into individualized seating spaces, reading “repos 15 min,” or “rest 15 minutes.”

Nakuset, director of the Native Women’s Shelter – located a few blocks away from the square – tweeted “no resting allowed at Cabot.” The negative public response lead Plante to have the benches removed a few days later.

In November of 2019, the Daily reported that “defensive design has moved faster through the Montreal metro stations than their trains do.” With many metro stations providing leaning bars to stand against in lieu of benches, Montreal is making sure that metro stations do not serve as a place of respite throughout the harsh winters. In February, despite the closing of many shelters and capacity restrictions as a result of the pandemic, STM boarded up a popular resting space for unhoused individuals at the Bonaventure metro station.

November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

news

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Inhumane Conditions at Edmonton Max

Prisoners denied medication and time outside their cells Nicole Huang Managing Editor content warning: suicide, selfharm, violence * names have been changed to protect anonymity

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n September, the John Howard Society of Canada sent a letter to Edmonton’s Police Chief pressing for a formal investigation into internal conditions at Edmonton Institution – also known as Edmonton Max – the city’s maximum security men’s facility built to detain around 300 prisoners. According to the society’s executive director, Catherine Latimer, reports from inmates detail “maltreatment in medical care and in the use of solitary confinement” by facility staff and management – in some cases, staff have withheld medication from prisoners. In the past, Edmonton Max has been reported to deny inmates of their prescribed medication in a rampant display of “corruption” and “significant workplace dysfunction,” according to those investigating the institution.

Solitary confinement and worsening mental health Though Correctional Service Canada (CSC) phased out solitary confinement – referred to as “administrative segregation” – in favour of structured intervention units (SIUs), Maier expresses that isolation periods in Edmonton Max SIUs have been inhumanely prolonged. Despite CSC regulations which state that inmates in SIUs are entitled to a minimum of four hours per day outside their cell, inmates in Edmonton Max are getting as little as 30 minutes per day for weeks on end. Additionally, although the CSC requires daily health checks and a mental health assessment every 28 days for prisoners in SIUs, sources the Daily have spoken with say that healthcare is extremely inaccessible at the Edmonton Max. Maier stresses the resounding impact this lack of mobility has had on inmates’ mental conditions.

Further, she emphasizes the inaccessibility of essential healthcare services that further exacerbate existing mental health conditions. The already limited amount of doctor visits is controlled

by Edmonton Max management, who frequently and arbitrarily “cut

[I]nmates are being “completely cut off [...] right off the bat” by facility nurses and upper management who are not medically licensed to do so, an especially dangerous and irresponsible practice given the inmates’ high average prescribed dosage levels.

The John Howard Society’s letter called to attention once again the inhumane conditions of the institution. Following the release of this letter, the Daily spoke with Sherri Maier, president and founder of Beyond Prison Walls Canada, as well as several inmates* of Edmonton Max, who provided a more in-depth account of the abuse of misplaced medical authority by prison staff and management. Among others, the prescriptions being withheld include Wellbutrin, Vyvanse, as well as critical diabetic and asthmatic medication.

[inmates] off” and deny them visits that might allow them to seek help.

As remote consultations have become increasingly popular as a medical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic, Maier believes video or phone calls to be potential alternatives for inmates to better connect with mental health professionals or advocates.

When psychologists offered remote services to Edmonton Max inmates, however, management refused to cooperate with these requests.

This denial, to Maier, is an active refusal to accommodate inmates: “This is something that seems to be

Eve Cable | Illustrations Editor impossible in the penitentiary. It’s like they don’t want to offer things to help them.”

On one occasion, Maier says, one of the inmates, Richard*, committed acts of self-harm in front of guards during a visitation call, and only then did the warden agree to let him see mental health professionals. “You almost have to go to that sort of extreme in order to get any kind of mental health help,” she added, “and [he] still never really got full mental health help.” Following this, management immediately disconnected the call and proceeded to lock the inmate in an SIU. Three to four days later, Maier says, “a [psychologist] came in and asked if he was okay, he said no, and then [management] let him back in a cell in the regular unit.”

Withheld medication According to Maier, this practice of withholding medication is actively dangerous for inmate health. Wellbutrin and Vyvanse are often prescribed to the inmates at dosages which range from 500-1100 milligrams, per Maier.

To prevent withdrawal, the only safe way of decreasing intake of antidepressants such as Wellbutrin is through close consultation with a doctor, incrementally and gradually reducing intake over the course of several weeks. Instead, says Maier, inmates are being “completely cut off [...] right off the bat” by facility nurses and upper management

who are not medically licensed to do so, an especially dangerous and irresponsible practice given the inmates’ high average prescribed dosage levels.

This has resulted in further worsening health conditions for inmates, including Jack*, a diabetic inmate who was prescribed insulin.

In an interview with the Daily, he attested to the nurses’ dangerous negligence in bringing his medication at an appropriate time.

According to the inmate, “it took [sic] me having two diabetic seizures before they finally started giving me [medication].” John Howard Society’s letter in September also mentioned claims from inmates that they were also being denied access to medication prescribed to treat other serious health conditions, such as asthma.

Facility staff have still not addressed concerns Reportedly, Edmonton Max’s practice of restricting access to medication for inmates is largely motivated by a concern for cost by cutting back on medical expenses, or under the pretext of preventing the recreational circulation of drugs. In the John Howard Society’s letter, however, Latimer added that “in some cases it looks like [staff ] would just do it as sort of an informal way of punishing the prisoner.”

Bill*, an Edmonton Max inmate, adds that he has been waiting for a

response from upper management since June. According to him, the facility’s chief of healthcare at the time agreed to advocate for his cause when he sought help, stating that “there is no reason why you shouldn’t be on a non-narcotic medication that is actually pretty cheap to prescribe compared to the [...] medications that inmates abuse.” Though he was promised action by the end of September, he had not yet received a response from management at the time of his interview with the Daily.

“There are so many inconsistencies,” he says, especially with the developing conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, with employees claiming to be shortstaffed, or that “[their] arms are tied.”

Though the CSC has stated that they are reviewing the allegations, Edmonton Max staff continue to leverage medication against inmates.

“It took [sic] me having two diabetic seizures before they finally started giving me [medication].”

– Jack*

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November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Return to campus 2021

In Conversation with AGSEM

The university has been receptive, but concerns remain 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 fourth installment of the Daily’s recurring column exploring the relationship between McGill administration and the broader McGill community.

Graduate students are uniquely situated in university infrastructure: they are subject to exploitation from multiple fronts, as many of them are both students and employees. The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) was established in 1993 to advocate for the interests of such students.

Since the onset of the COVID19 pandemic in March of 2020, AGSEM has largely been occupied with pushing for fair compensation and safe working conditions.

Upon McGill’s transition to remote instruction March of 2020, teaching assistants (TAs), invigilators, and graders had their positions eliminated or were required to work longer hours than their salary allowed for. Because final exams were no longer taking place in-person, invigilators lost their job; remote learning burdened TAs with helping professors navigate new technology, and this extra labour went unpaid. Last-minute changes to syllabi made the work of graders even more overwhelming and time-consuming than anticipated.

AGSEM members are contracted to work a fixed number of hours, so this extra work meant stolen wages from employees. As the Daily previously reported, these developments exacerbated the already-precarious working conditions of graduate student employees.

While instructors had largely adjusted to remote learning by the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year, graduate students continued to face barriers in receiving proper compensation.

McGill’s adoption of Workday, a notoriously dysfunctional Human Resources program, prevented many student employees from receiving payment for over eight months. Employees have since received full pay, but the program is still frustrating to navigate, according to AGSEM President Mario Roy. However, the university has yet to make a reasonable offer to compensate AGSEM members who were affected by late payments, per Roy. This is in conflict with the Labour Standards Act, which stipulates that payments must be made within the first 30 days of an employee’s contract.

Interactions with Administration In an interview with the Daily, Roy wrote that university administrators have generally been receptive to graduate workers’ concerns. Although administrators are open to hearing workers’ concerns, this does not mean that their concerns are effectively addressed: Roy pointed to AGSEM’s June open letter to administration, which urged a “precautionary approach” to on-campus learning.

The letter demands that the university make masks mandatory, allow TAs to hold office hours online, and “to consider remote – or partially remote – delivery of classes in Fall 2021.” In response, the university told AGSEM that accommodating employees’ requests to work remotely would be up to individual employers, not the administration as a whole. In their August/September newsletter, AGSEM reported that some departments have decreased the number of hours in TA contracts, but the amount of work required of TAs has not decreased. This decrease in contracted hours could potentially result in TAs performing unpaid labour, as they are not compensated for work completed once they have surpassed their contracted hours. While AGSEM continues to advocate for safe, sanitary conditions for graduate employees, Roy wrote that the union is “happy that the situation seems to be under control.”

AGSEM sent another open letter to McGill’s Labour and Employee Relations department on October 27. The letter contains two motions approved in a General Assembly of the union: motion one includes a request that McGill continues to encourage vaccination, provide rapid testing equipment, improve ventilation, enforce social distancing, and include TAs on emails notifying classes of a positive case of COVID-19 in the classroom; motion two affirms that AGSEM supports a university vaccine mandate, with the alternative of regular rapid testing provided by McGill. While McGill has initiated a Rapid Testing Pilot Project, which allows asymptomatic students, faculty and staff to get tested, the university has not updated building ventilation or implemented a vaccine mandate.

In communication with administration, the entire population of graduate students is represented by the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS), but AGSEM also works to voice student concerns in correspondence with McGill’s Labour and Employee Relations department. According to Roy, the union had regular meetings with administration at

Eve Cable | Illustrations Editor university “better enforce sanitary measures currently in place,” and that students in contact with TAs and invigilators be fully vaccinated.

Roy also reminds members that anonymous disclosure “is always welcome and taken seriously.” In a later comment, Roy stated that AGSEM “will always fight for [their] members.”

Last year, COVID-19-related budget cuts led the university to defer the salary increase of some employees.

Faculty contracts which ask TAs to work less contracted hours are a potential consequence of this – per Roy, AGSEM is working closely with affected TAs to ensure they are not compelled to work unpaid hours. Roy added that AGSEM is monitoring Conditions as Precarious as Ever McGill job postings to “make sure that the university does not create another While the pandemic has job contract paid much less than a TA introduced concerns about to accomplish TA work.” Historically, sanitary conditions and remote such positions have come in the form instruction, Roy said that graduate of graders – in the 2020 Summer employees have always had to Semester, McGill opted to hire graders push for fair conditions. Provost in lieu of TAs. Graders make about half Christopher Manfredi’s August as much as TAs, at $15.50 an hour as 29 memorandum insisted that opposed to $29.33 an hour. instructors work on campus to General COVID-19ensure a high quality of pedagogy, related Developments but AGSEM continues to advocate for members who would feel more The aforementioned Rapid comfortable working remotely.

Opposing this policy is potentially Testing Pilot Project, launched risky for employees, but Roy on November 8, is available to pointed out that this is the case for asymptomatic students and staff; any policy: “The fear of losing their test results are available within 15-20 job opportunities for speaking out minutes, according to the Réseau de against any university policy has santé publique en santé au travail. always been present for many of our Those who test positive are instructed members, if not all.” AGSEM has to receive a PCR test from an shared employees’ requests that the authorized testing site. the beginning of the pandemic, but the frequency of these meetings has declined, which AGSEM members “denounce.” Additionally, the university has indicated that course instructors are in charge of COVID-19 regulations for employees. As such, graduate employees must take their concerns directly to the instructor they’re working with – Roy said that this puts them in a “vulnerable position because they can be afraid of losing their job.” This vulnerability may discourage employees from requesting accommodations, and Roy expressed concern that it “might prevent them from coming to the union to get support as well.”

The university has also introduced a new requirement for indoor masking: individuals must replace their procedural masks after four hours of use, at which point masks are significantly less effective. Mask dispensers can be found at the front of most buildings on campus. Individuals who do not replace their mask after four hours will be considered a “medium or high-risk contact” for contact tracing purposes.

Importantly, everyone who comes to campus should complete McGill’s COVID-19 self-evaluation form. In an email to the McGill community, Associate Provost Christopher Buddle described this form as a “decisiontool to ensure you check your health status” prior to arriving on campus.

AGSEM is monitoring McGill job postings to “make sure that the university does not create another job contract paid much less than a TA to accomplish TA work.”

features

November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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25 25 Year Year Recap Recap of of the the Women’s Women’s National National Basketball Basketball Association Association Emma Hébert Features Editor

2021 marks the 25th birthday of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). In its run, the WNBA has housed incredible players, boasted several dynasty teams, and has sought to bring social change on and off the court. The WNBA is a fixture in women’s sports, deserving of all the attention and prestige regularly afforded to men’s professional sports teams.

“As multiple championships moved through teams in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Detroit, Seattle, and Minnesota, individual players began to make their mark with a combination of talent and personality: Teresa Weatherspoon’s passion, Tina Thompson’s “ready for battle” lipstick, Leslie’s famously sharp elbows, Australia’s fierce Michelle Timms, Deanna Nolan’s pogo-stick-like elevation, Yolanda Griffith’s crushing relentlessness, Ticha Penicheiro’s magical passing, Becky Hammon’s fearless acrobatics, Debbie Black’s gnat-like defense, Lauren Jackson’s “guard-in-thebody-of-a-big” play, Sue Bird’s signature pull-up, Tamika Catching’s peerless work ethic, Diana Taurasi’s daggerthrees, Candace Parker’s multi-position play, Maya Moore’s stubborn elegance, Elena Delle Donne’s fluid shot-making and, most recently, Breanna Stewart’s GoGo Gadget arsenal.”

Playmakers on and off the court:

- National Women’s History Museum

Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets): first woman to have a Nike signature shoe, 1995 Tina Thompson (Houston Comets): first-ever draft pick in the WNBA, 1997 Teresa Weatherspoon (New York Liberty): first buzzer-beater in a finals game against the Houston Comets, shot with 2.4 seconds on the clock from half-court to put the Liberty up 68-67, 1999 Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks): first woman to dunk in the WNBA in a game against the Miami Sol, 2002 Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks): first MVP and rookie of the year in the same season, 2008 Cynthia Cooper-Dyke: first WNBA player in the Basketball Hall of Fame, 2010 Rebekkah Brunson (Sacramento Monarchs and Minnesota Lynx): only player to win five WNBA titles, 2017 Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury): first player with 1,000 3-pointers in the WNBA, 2018 Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics): first player to join the 50-40-90 club, 2019 Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks): first WNBA Players Association President to negotiate six-figure average earnings, 2020 Sue Bird (Seattle Storm): first to win titles in three different decades, 2020 Layshia Clarendon (New York Liberty): first openely trans, non-binary player, 2020 Renee Montgomery (Atlanta Dream owner): firstformer player to be a team owner and executive, 2021

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November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

features

On April 24, 1996, the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) board of governors approved the concept of the WNBA, set to begin play in June of 1997. The WNBA was first slated to be a summer league to showcase basketball talent in the US, with women playing a short, 28-game season. It was initially pitched as a summer league so that the WNBA wouldn’t have to compete with the alreadyestablished NBA, and players could augment their salaries by continuing to play abroad during the regular season. The WNBA, at its inception, featured eight teams, all owned by the NBA: the Eastern Conference included the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, and the New York Liberty; the Western Conference included the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, and the Utah Stars. On June 21, 1997, the WNBA was officially launched with a ceremonial jump ball between Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks and Kym Hampton of the New York Liberty. In 1999, the WNBA held its first All-Star game, an achievement kicked off by the famous Whitney Houston singing the national anthem.

Today, while teams have changed, the WNBA stands strong as one of the most prolific leagues for women’s sports in North America.

There are currently 12 teams in the WNBA: independently owned are the Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Los Angeles Sparks, and the Seattle Storm; still connected to the NBA are the New York Liberty, Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix Mercury, and the Washington Mystics. In addition to having expanded franchises, the WNBA has a regular 34-game season plus annual All-Star games. While the league started off with a single elimination style final-four championship, the post-season currently features eight teams who earn their playoff bids with the best end-of-season records.

Dynasties Seattle Storm (2000-present) Championships: four, in 2004, 2010, 2018, 2020 League all-timers: Sue Bird in assists (3031), and games (545) Face of the franchise: Sue Bird (2002-present) Minnesota Lynx (1999-present) Championships: four, in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 League all-timers: Maya Moore (MVP in 2014) and Sylvia Fowles (MVP in 2017) Sylvia Fowles in rebounds (3640) Face of the franchise: Seimone Augustus (2006-2019) Los Angeles Sparks (1997-present) Championships: three, in 2001, 2002, 2016 League all-timers: Nneka Ogwumike (MVP 2016) Candace Parker (MVP 2008, 2013), Lisa Leslie (MVP 2001, 2004, 2006) Lisa Leslie also career stats leader in WNBA for defensive rating (88.43) Face of the franchise: Lisa Leslie (1997-2009) Phoenix Mercury (1997-present) Championships: three, in 2007, 2009, 2014 League all-timers: Diana Taurasi (MVP 2009) Diana Taurasi also highest in points (9161), 3-pointers made/attempted, and free throws made/attempted Face of the franchise: Diana Taurasi Houston Comets (1997-2008; folded due to 2008 financial crisis) Championships: four, in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 League all-timers: Sheryle Swoopes (MVP in 2000, 2002, 2005) and Cynthia Cooper (1997, 1998) Cynthia Cooper lead in scoring average (20.98), minutes per game average (35.19) and player efficiency rating (28.72) Face of the franchise: Sheryl Swoopes (1997-2007) The Houston Comets dominated the WNBA for the first four years of its existence, largely in thanks to their Big Three: Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, and Cynthia Cooper.

Cynthia Cooper, two-time league MVP, three-time WNBA scoring champion, and four-time All-WNBA First team, and her signature “raise the roof” celebration.

This team and their Big Three averaged almost 12,000 fans a game over their four years of dominance, something that was invaluable fan involvement in a league that had just been formed.

features

November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Championship Records

The WNBA and Queer Community

2020: Seattle Storm 2019: Washington Mystics 2018: Seattle Storm 2017: Minnesota Lynx 2016: Los Angeles Sparks 2015: Minnesota Lynx 2014: Phoenix Mercury 2013: Minnesota Lynx 2012: Indiana Fever 2011: Minnesota Lynx 2010: Seattle Storm 2009: Phoenix Mercury 2008: Detroit Shock 2007: Phoenix Mercury 2006: Detroit Shock 2005: Sacramento Monarchs 2004: Seattle Storm 2003: Detroit Shock 2002: Los Angeles Sparks 2001: Los Angeles Sparks 2000: Houston Comets 1999: Houston Comets 1998: Houston Comets 1997: Houston Comets

The WNBA has always been a place where social justice is important. When the league opened play, there was a strong gay community within the fan base and it was common knowledge that some players within the WNBA were in queer relationships. While the league initially seemed to have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy with this (the league’s site only announced the marriages of heterosexual players until the 2000s), this didn’t prevent franchises from selectively acknowledging annual Pride Day events. In 2002, the New York Liberty’s Sue Wicks became one of the first WNBA players to publicly come out. This was followed by the increasing acceptance and visibility of queer players, with the likes of Seimone Augustus, Diana Taurasi, and Sue Bird all publicly showing and talking about their queer relationships.

The WNBA was also the first pro league to launch an official Pride campaign in 2014, with the designation of a nationally televised “Pride Game,” participation in local Pride festivals, and targeted advertising with lesbian media.

The WNBA and the Fight for Racial Justice

The players in the WNBA have been way-makers in the case of publicly expressing support for racial justice. On July 9, 2016, the Minnesota Lynx wore custom shirts that read “Change Starts With Us: Justice & Accountability,” with the back of their shirts honouring Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, two Black men murdered by police. The New York Liberty and the Phoenix Mercury followed suit shortly after, wearing custom black shirts during their warm-ups that read #BlackLivesMatter. After the league itself issued fines to these teams and players for uniform violations, the players stood strong and stood together: following a game against each other after fines had been issued, the New York Liberty and Indiana Fever held media blackouts, refusing to answer questions about basketball until they felt their concerns had been adequately addressed. Even after fines were rescinded, the Indiana Fever team took a knee during the national anthem that played before their playoff game against the Phoenix Mercury. Two Phoenix Mercury players also took a knee, an objective sign of support for the National Football League’s Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest against racial injustice across the US.

All Illustrations by Eve Cable

22, 2021 10 November mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

culture

Stories Within Stories

An examination of Wes Anderson and auteur theory Meena Thakur Culture Contributor

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hether you like him or hate him, you are likely familiar with American filmmaker Wes Anderson. His whimsical visual style through symmetry, vibrant colours, and music make his films entirely Wes Anderson-y, from his first project, Bottle Rocket (1996) to his most recent release, The French Dispatch (2021). This distinction makes him what many may call a modern-day auteur. Derived from French New Wave cinema (a movement whose iconic directors greatly influenced Anderson), the theory of the “auteur” perceives directors as being the major creative force in a motion picture.

In this sense, fundamental visual elements such as camera placement, blocking, lighting, and scene length, rather than a plotline, convey the message of the film. Instead of the screenwriter, the director is seen as the true ‘author’ of a film.

What are the implications of Wes Anderson being an auteur? Does his consistent use of actors and style limit his ability to tell new kinds of narratives, and does Anderson even need to expand beyond what he knows?

Wes Anderson in particular continues to place the same white men at the forefront of his films, and if he does incorporate POC voices, they are either used to uplift or add layers to the white man.

Anderson’s third feature film, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), marks his entrance into the auteur hall of fame. The Royal Tenenbaums follows three uniquely talented siblings who are brought back together when their estranged father announces that he is dying. The film features a star-studded cast of actors who continue to appear in Anderson’s subsequent films,

Olivia Shan | Culture Editor including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, and Seymour Cassel. Other directors that recast the same actors include Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson.

Is the continued use of the same actors indicative of the inaccessibility of Hollywood?

Probably. It is beneficial as well as constructive to gain familiarity and rapport with the same set of actors. However, in doing so, directors continue to gatekeep the spaces within the film industry which they occupy. Wes Anderson in particular continues to place the same white men at the forefront of his films, and if he does incorporate POC voices, they are either used to uplift or add layers to the white man. In The Royal Tenenbaums , the only two POC characters are Henry Sherman (Danny Glover) who is treated with complete contempt by fallen patriarch Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman), and Pagoda (Kumar Pallana), the servant and right-hand man to Royal. Despite Danny Glover’s fame, his character is relatively inactive in the film and continuously dismissed by all characters. Pursuing Royal’s ex-wife, Henry Sherman seems to endure Royal calling him

“Coltrane,”’ as well as other racist name-calling, as though Tenenbaum’s racism is just another f law in his character that he is ultimately forgiven for. More can and has been said about Anderson’s fetishization of POC characters and nonWestern settings, but that requires a whole other article.

By repeatedly featuring the same actors, Anderson creates a world that binds all his movies together, so that audiences can’t help but recall similarities between characters played by the same actor. The format of Anderson’s films further places them within their own world.

Wes Anderson seems to enjoy incorporating writers, directors, and other artists within his films, to the point that he formats his films to resemble different forms of storytelling such as plays or books. The Royal Tenenbaums begins with a library book of the same title being opened, and the rest of the film is divided into chapters.

The mother (Anjelica Huston) furthermore publishes a book about her children within the film. This continued reference to books and the concrete chapter division throughout the movie continue to reference the authorial power of writers. In

his other films, Wes Anderson creates these artificial frames.

In The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Jason Schwartzman’s character writes a book that Anderson subsequently makes into a short film titled Hotel Chevalier (2007). The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) begins with a young girl visiting the grave of the author of a novel telling the story of the Grand Budapest Hotel. This narrative gimmick can get convoluted. The various forms of storytelling allow Anderson to bring audiences’ attention to the artificiality of storytelling and the presence of an author to create such fantasies. The distance Anderson creates between character and story allows the director to place himself into the narrative – clear in his precision towards symmetry, colour palettes, and quick pans. Anderson is not trying to create a realistic narrative but to tell a story, or a story within a story.

Anderson shows a real appreciation for storytelling and his films are unlike anything else seen before. But at the same time, maybe we have seen this story before. The trials and tribulations of white men have been told before. While

Anderson tries to portray the universal complexity of human emotions and relationships in his stories, how universal can that be when the story is always white and male? Through his own insertion into the stories and the continued use of the same actors, Anderson can only really tell one kind of story, the story of upper-middle-class white pseudo-worldly men. I love his films; they are charming, unique, and altogether create a sense of magic instead of striving for cold realism. Nonetheless, Anderson is limited to telling a certain kind of story in a certain kind of style. We have yet to see him expand beyond a comedy-drama genre. Other modern auteurs have been able to expand to different genres, as seen in Edgar Wright’s latest film Last Night In Soho (2021).

But as Anderson continues to make more films (such as the recent The French Dispatch) are audiences eventually going to tire themselves out of the incessant witty banter and the aggressively charming characters? Only time will tell, but I think it would be interesting to see Anderson expand beyond what he knows, even though his usual formula is certainly successful.

November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

culture

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The Recipe for A Queer Cookbook A Conversation with exhibit curator Dr. Alex Ketchum

Emma Bainbridge Culture Contributor

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hat defines a queer cookbook?

What is the history of queer communities and food? These are some of the important questions asked in “What’s the Recipe for a Queer Cookbook,” an exhibit curated by Dr. Alex Ketchum with help from Jacqueline Tam, Les Archives Gaies du Québec, and Les Archives Lesbiennes du Québec. This exhibit is on display in McGill’s Leacock building until December and a digitized copy is also available online.

As with the Bloodroot Collective, many queer cookbooks [...] allow[ed] the creators to provide financial support to their communities.

Dr. Ketchum has been a faculty lecturer at the Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies since 2013 and her research focuses on food, gender, queerness, lesbian identity, and feminist identity. She also has an upcoming book on the history of lesbian feminist restaurants in the United States. As the ongoing pandemic has made life tough for many people, Dr. Ketchum told the Daily that she wanted to “create this space of joy for my own research.” Many of the cookbooks used come from her personal collection. She also wants to show students that research can be fun and focus on seemingly mundane objects such as cookbooks, as well as the wealth of resources that exist outside of McGill. “I hope it inspires some students to think about taking kind of seemingly mundane objects in our homes or in our lives, and kind of think about what does that tell us? What kind of cultural histories can we learn and stuff like that?” she explains.

So what constitutes a queer cookbook?

In general, Dr. Ketchum defined two parameters: “the author identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, or some other related identity or part of the LGBTQ+ community and then also that there’s instructions for preparing food

Rasha Hamade | Photos Editor or drink.” Aside from these basic criteria, there were several themes that tied these books together. They often had a narrative element surrounding the recipes that linked them to the LGBTQ+ community. Many were fundraising efforts, used purple ink, included erotic content or nudity, or referenced older lesbian or gay or queer cookbooks in the cookbook.

Evolving language and attitudes presented some difficulty defining “queer” cookbooks. Dr. Ketchum says that “It’s not really until the early 90s that the word queer gets reclaimed ... And so it’s kind of anachronistic to use the word queer sometimes to define something before this period of reclamation.” However, she acknowledges that “queer” is a very useful umbrella term for defining connections between different people. “There’s always limitations when you create a category, it’s never going to fully encompass everyone and everything you’re trying to talk about. But that’s why I think it’s important to pick a term, but also explain why you’re using that term.” she says.

There was often a tension in queer cookbooks stemming from the desire not to fall into stereotypes and challenge the status quo. Dr. Ketchum describes cooking for lesbians as “this domain that women are oftentimes socialized into … it can be a skill, so that can be highly valued, a way to earn money, a way to feel pride, and a way to connect with other people. But at

the same time, there can be this feeling that it’s something you’re expected to do. There’s kind of this desire to push away from that.” On the other hand, there’s also the stereotype that lesbians, particularly butch lesbians, aren’t “real” women and therefore can’t cook. In The Butch Cookbook, a collection of recipes submitted by butch women, the authors even joke in the foreword that “when they solicited recipes they were worried they would get ‘30 recipes for boxed mac and cheese.’” The Cincinnati Lesbian Activist Bureau’s 1983 cookbook Whoever Said Dykes Can’t Cook? purposefully plays with these stereotypes. Cookbooks by gay men are often playing with the stereotype of the “the creative gay man with the artistic flair in the kitchen,” in Dr. Ketchum’s words.

Some cookbooks, in particular those from the Bloodroot Collective, incorporated feminism and anti-racism. Dr. Ketchum says that they tried to “counter sexism through

feminism, and lesbian identity, and then also environmentalism, and then anti-racism, because so much of it is like connection with the earth and like not hurting the environment.” The people who worked at Bloodroot were ethnically diverse and their cookbooks shared recipes from different cultures. They include feminist and anti-racist quotes from different thinkers, philosophers, poets, writers, and artists to that explicitly addressed these issues. They viewed environmentalism as central to lesbian feminism, so their recipes were vegetarian or vegan and encouraged readers to use local ingredients. The Collective argued for labour rights and collective workplace practices, saying that “we cook as a way to survive economically, yet our cooking is part of our study, our living, and our politics. It seems to us that there is no separation between art and politics; there is integrity, which requires judgments and a value system

underlying our work and our lives.

Everything we do is the result.”

As with the Bloodroot Collective, many queer cookbooks were intended as community care. The cookbooks were often used for fundraising, allowing the creators to provide financial support to their communities.

However, Dr. Ketchum adds that “there’s support in terms of people writing in and sharing their stories with the recipes, which also gives a sense that you’re not alone and that other people are having these experiences.” She points specifically to Cooking with Honey: What Literary Lesbians Eat by Amy Scholder, telling the Daily that “it’s like a bunch of authors and artists sharing their own stories about the recipes, and how it connects to their own lesbian identity and it shows a variety of experiences within the community. So someone’s story might not resonate for one person and may resonate for another, but it’s not all positive and not all negative.”

During the HIV pandemic, which disproportionately affected queer men and trans women, zines and pamphlets were distributed giving practical tips on eating and living with HIV. Despite the efforts of many queer cookbooks to rebel against the status quo, there are a few in the exhibit that reinforce harmful tropes about other communities.

Dr Ketchum says that “overall, I would say that there’s actually been an awareness around, racism, sexism, and classism within most of the cookbooks over time.” She explains that “I still included those cookbooks in the exhibit because they’re a cultural artifact to analyse, but also to kind of see these tensions.”

So what is the recipe for a queer cookbook? Dr. Ketchum hopes that through this exhibit, people will be able answer the question themselves.

Note: For those interested in learning more about this topic, Dr. Ketchum would like them to know that she teaches a class called GSFS 401: Food, Gender, and Environment for which the syllabus is publicly available on her website.

On the other hand, there’s also the stereotype that lesbians, particularly butch lesbians, aren’t “real” women and therefore can’t cook. In The Butch Cookbook, a collection of recipes submitted by butch women, the authors even joke in the foreword that “when they solicited recipes they were worried they would get ‘30 recipes for boxed mac and cheese.’”

November 22, 2021 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

compendium!

12

HOROSCOPES Aries

Taurus

(Mar 21 Apr 19)

(Apr 20 May 20)

LOOK UP “BIRD OF PARADISE MATING DANCE.” YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

BE NOT DECIEVED BY ITS LOW PRICE, FOR YOU MAY HAVE TO THROW HALF OF IT AWAY.

Cancer

Leo

(Jun 21 Jul 22)

(Jul 23 Aug 22)

GOOD LUCK WILL COME TO YOU IN THE FORM OF A SMALL INSECT. DON’T KILL IT.

Libra (Sept 23 Oct 22) YOU WILL BE TEMPTED BY A MOVIE. GIVE IN TO THE TEMPTATION. ESPECIALLY IF IT’S “BARBIE: PRINCESS AND THE PAUPER.”

Capricorn (Dec 22 Jan 19) CONSIDER THIS: SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD A FIREFLY IS PROBABLY BEING BORN.

Viola Ruzzier | Staff Illustrator

MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH A PIGEON THIS WEEK. YOU WILL LEARN GREAT THINGS.

Gemini (May 21 Jun 20) BATS USED TO BE “FLITTERMICE.” SEALS WALKING ON LAND: “GALUMPHING.” IT’S YOUR MISSION TO BRING THEM BACK.

Virgo (Aug 23 Sept 22) SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN THAT WILL HAVE SOME KIND OF EFFECT ON YOU.

Scorpio

Sagittarius

(Oct 23 Nov 21)

(Nov 22 Dec 21)

IMAGINE HOW DIFFERENT YOUR LIFE WOULD BE IF YOU WERE AN UNFERTILIZED EGG.

Aquarius (Jan 20 Feb 18) DO LAUNDRY IF YOU HAVEN’T IN A WHILE. YOU’LL FIND SOME CLOTHES YOU FORGOT ABOUT.

PEOPLE WILL BE IMPRESSED

BY YOUR ORIGAMI SKILLS THIS WEEK. IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO ORIGAMI. OTHERWISE THEY PROBABLY WON’T BE.

Pisces (Feb 19 Mar 20) MONEY CAN’T BUY YOU LOVE. BUT CUPCAKES AND SMALL ANIMALS PROBABLY CAN.