Volume 112, Issue 1 | Wednesday, August 31, 2022 | mcgilldaily.com Quiet quitting since 1911 Published by The Daily Publications Society, a student society of McGill University. The McGill Daily is located on Kanien’kehá:kauncededterritory. Imme di at e av ai la bi lity! All-inclusive student living directly across the street from McGill University! Stop by 420 Sherbrooke St W for a tour TODAY! Or visit Campus1MTL.ca Visit our website Ca ll (5 14 )2 73 -7 62 6 SHOPPINGDISTRICT ENTERTAINMENTDISTRICT McGILL LETICS TOCHINAWN P.E.TRUDEAU AIRPORT BOULEVARDRENÉ-LÉVESQUE AVDESPINS RUESAINTE-CATHERINERUE SHERBROOKE VARDROBERT-BOURASSA RUEDEBLEURY RUEUNIVERSITY AVDUARC RUEPEEL RUECRESCENT BOULST-LAURENT MOUNT ROYAL DININGSHOPPING
2 August 31, 2022 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily table of Contents Table of ConTenTs 8Culture What the Daily Read This Summer 5 Sci-tech The Cost of Montreal’s Tech Industry 12Compendium! “LearningHoroscopesCurve” Comic 4 News Introduction to SSMU 3Editorial Health Care in Quebec 6Feature Mohawk Mothers Press Conference 9Disorientation Resources & Student Activism 101
VolumeIssue1121 editorial board 3480 McTavish St, Room 107 Montreal, QC, H3A 0E7 phone 514.398.6790 faxmcgilldaily.com514.398.8318 The McGill Daily is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory coordinating editor Anna EmmamanagingZavelskyeditorOliviaShannewseditorsSaylorCatlinBainbridgeZoeListerRobertMuroni commentary + compendium! scienceYehiaMeenaWilleditorsBarryThakurcultureeditorAnasSabaafeatureseditorZachCheung+technologyeditorVacantsportseditorVacantvideoeditorVacantphotoseditorVacantillustrationseditorVacantcopyeditorCateyFifielddesign+productioneditorHyeyoonChosocialmediaeditorVacantradioeditorVacantcoverdesignHyeyoonChocontributors Eve Cable, Saylor Catlin, Zach Cheung, Hyeyoon Cho, Rasha Hamada, Randa Mohamed, Robert Muroni, Meena Thakur, Anna Zavelsky 3480 McTavish St, Room 107 Montreal, QC H3A 0E7 phone 514.398.690 fax 514.398.8318 advertising & general manager Boris Shedov salesLettyrepresentativeMatteo ad layout & design Mathieu Ménard dps board of directors Natacha Ho Papieau (Chair), Saylor Catlin, Gabrielle Genest, Asa Kohn, Antoine Milette-Gagnon, Boris Shedov, Laura Tobon, Anna Zavelsky SPORTSSCI+TECHFEATURESCULTURECOMMENTARYNEWSCoordinating sports@mcgilldaily.comscitech@mcgilldaily.comfeatures@mcgilldaily.comculture@mcgilldaily.comcommentary@mcgilldaily.comnews@mcgilldaily.comcoordinating@mcgilldaily.com CONTACT US MULTIMEDIAWEBCOPYDESIGNILLUSTRATIONSPHOTOsManaging+PRODUCTION+SocialMedia multimedia@mcgilldaily.comweb@mcgilldaily.comcopy@mcgilldaily.comdesign@mcgilldaily.comillustrations@mcgilldaily.comphotos@mcgilldaily.commanaging@mcgilldaily.com Resisting the Privatization of Canadian Health All contents © 2018 Daily Publications Society. All rights reserved. The content of this newspaper is the responsibility of The McGill Daily and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University. Products or companies advertised in this newspaper are not necessarily endorsed by Daily staff. Printed by Imprimerie Transcontinental Transmag. Anjou, Quebec. ISSN 1192-4608. EDITORIAL August 31, 2022 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily Published by the Daily Publications Society, a student society of McGill University. The views and opinions expressed in the Dailyare those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of McGill University. The McGill Daily is not affiliated withUniversity.McGill ReadtwitterInstagramFacebookwebsiteus online! @mcgilldaily@mcgilldailywww.facebook.com/themcgilldailywww.mcgilldaily.com 3 On August 18, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones and Ontario Minister of Long-Term Care Paul Calandra announced the second phase of the government’s post-pandemic “Plan to Stay Open.” This plan is meant to “address the immediate pressure facing the health system, and to stabilize the health and long-term care sectors for the future.” When asked about potential privatization within the proposed plan, Minister Jones stated that “all options are on the table.” The Doug Ford government has come under fire recently for suggesting that the privatization of health care was being considered as a way to relieve the burden from hospitals. These announcements have renewed debates over the state of health care systems throughout Canada, including in ThroughoutQuebec.2020, Quebec endured the worst COVID-19 outbreak in Canada, suffering more than half of all infections and deaths in the country despite representing only 22 per cent of its population.
Notably, part of the plan includes more work performed by private clinics. During the pandemic, about 14 per cent of surgeries in Quebec were performed in private clinics but were paid for by the province. The government wants to increase that number to roughly 20 per cent to take the load off the public system.
Unions representing Quebec health care workers have expressed concerns about the government’s intention to give greater priority to the private sector. They are calling for a temporary hold on new health care privatization projects, saying that these plans could make it even harder to recruit personnel to the public sector. One reason for this is that doctors in Canada are prohibited from working simultaneously in the publicpay and private-pay health sectors.
Get involved with the Canadian Nurses Association’s ongoing advocacy campaigns to raise awareness about issues affecting nurses and the public. Support health care unions in Quebec, like the Fédération de la Santé et des Services Sociaux and the Fédération de la Santé du Québec, which advocate and represent health care workers throughout Quebec. Legault’s government must be held accountable to collaborate and communicate with health care unions.
Problems of understaffing, insufficient beds, and long wait times existed even before the pandemic. Western Quebec waited an average of 18.9 hours for a hospital bed from January 30 to February 26 this year, nearly seven hours above the government’s 12-hour goal.
While unveiling its new health reform action plan in March, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé stated that “the status quo is no longer supportable” for the health care system. The Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government has acknowledged the system’s failings, including a lack of personnel, insufficient resources for an aging population, a lack of access to rapid care, an outdated medical data system, and a lack of access to general practitioners. This problem does not exist solely in Quebec: Canada as a whole is facing a family doctor shortage due to retiring physicians and fewer medical school graduates choosing the specialty. In March, the CAQ announced a health reform plan titled “Human and Efficient Plan.” It uses a threeyear timeline to work on four aspects of the system: personnel, access to data, information technology, and infrastructure. Big-ticket items on the agenda include accelerating access to front-line health services through a one-stop phone service, reducing emergency room wait times, and improving working conditions for nurses.
While for-profit surgical clinics, among other medical practices, have existed to varying degrees across Canada for decades, these agencies have been quietly filling staffing shortages during the pandemic – at a growing cost to taxpayers. While some argue that privatization could take the pressure off the public system, it could also increase inequities among patient care for people residing in Canada, and pull more doctors and nurses away from the public system. With a limited pool of health care professionals, patients who cannot access private insurance might wait longer for care in comparison to patients who can pay out of pocket.
While privatization can provide an immediate solution to insufficient hospital beds and staff, its long term effects can be damaging. Instead, the Quebec government should listen to the suggestions of health care professionals who are striving for reform. For years, health experts have been pushing for more access to family doctors. Currently, an estimated 1.5 million Quebecers do not have access to a family doctor, with the average wait time to find one listed at 600 days. With nearly 20 per cent of Quebecers waiting to find a family doctor, hospitals have been placed in an impossible position: to treat not only those who need serious medical attention but also those who would otherwise be treated by a family doctor. With American hospital workers sounding alarms of burnout following repeated staff resignations, one can make the case that privatization does not do much to alleviate the problem either. Rather, there are many ways to improve Quebec’s health care system, some of which have been proposed in Legault’s reform plan. Increasing virtual access to doctors and health care professionals is one example to provide more immediate and equitable care. Furthermore, administrative and mental health support for health care professionals can further work to retain their employment in the public sector. It is vital for the Quebec government to collaborate with health care professionals and unions in pursuit of a more effective health care system.
VP Student Life Hassanatou Koulibaly Priorities: “One of my main priorities this year is reinvigorating extracurricular activities on campus and providing club participants with the support they need to fulfil their initiatives and events. My first way of doing so is planning Activities Night on the lower campus and bringing back the culture around the club fair for both students who were able to experience a vibrant student life on campus and those who have yet to discover the number of ways to get involved throughout your university career. My support is not limited to exposure but also in facilitating the relationship amongst student group execs by hosting network sessions along with club workshops as well as strengthening the relationship with SSMU through a centralized portal that addresses various student group processes in a simplifiedExpectedway.”Difficulties: “A difficulty I imagine coming my way is achieving both internal and external change that I wish to implement in a balanced manner. Though I came into the position with various goals with the perspective of someone who had an external relationship with SSMU, now being a part of the organization there are many inner procedures that I also wish to work on for the longevity of the Society that I may not have been previously exposed to. I hope to overcome this by keeping in mind the students and providing many opportunities for feedback and accountability in serving students and actually addressing their needs whether this be through coffee hours or openAdditionalsessions.”Comments: “I am always open to hearing how I can best serve the student body and I encourage feedback as I work on my various initiatives.”
Assemblies (GAs). These are biannual meetings held near the start of each semester where students can propose motions to implement change on campus.
| The McGill Daily Understanding SSMU
The
Additionalmore!”
What is SSMU?
Comments: “To know more, read the External Affairs reports to Legislative Council or follow us on social media: @ssmu_ea on Instagram, @ssmuea on Facebook, @ SSMUExternal on Twitter.”
thetotheimpossiblemissionforyearistotryaccomplishallmandatesthatthestudentbodyhasgiventotheExternalAffairs(EA)office .”
“La
-Val Mansy
Rasha Hamade
News4 August 31, 2022 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
SSMU has been McGill University’s official student union representing all undergraduate students since 1908. Serving as the largest student organization at the university, it provides funding and a space for various campus groups while also helping to maintain a student voice on campus. More specifically, SSMU listens to student voices at various meetings and assemblies before advocating on behalf of the student body to administration. To do this, SSMU has a leadership structure of two decision-making bodies: the Legislative Council and the Board of Directors. Who Serves and What Do They Do?
The easiest way to get involved is through General Assemblies (GAs). These are biannual meetings held near the start of each semester where students can propose motions to implement change on campus. To propose a motion, students must gather the signatures of at least 100 students or four Counsellors and submit the proposal. Crucially, any proposed motion cannot contain more than 50 per cent of signatures from the same faculty, and must be submitted at least two weeks before the day of the Assembly. This fall’s GA will be held on Monday, September 26, at 6:00 PM. In addition, students can also participate in Special General Assemblies. Unlike standard GAs, Special GAs are not pre-scheduled. They can occur per request, such as when 200 students or eight Councillors propose a motion. Hear from the executives themselves:VPExternal Val Mansy Priorities: “This year, various advocacy priorities have started to take shape, and the External Affairs team will be there to support them. Groups have started organizing around climate justice, housing, and Indigenous sovereignty.”
Robert Muroni News Editor
Expected Difficulties: “La mission impossible for the year is to try to accomplish all the mandates that the student body has given to the External Affairs (EA) office. The EA mandate list is a long one. There are so many exciting projects that we will be working on, including: an activist bootcamp, an accessibilityfocused week, many workshops and
SSMU has six elected executives who serve yearlong terms: President, VP Student Life, VP Finance, VP External, VP Internal, and VP University Affairs. While all of the executives serve on the Legislative Council, only the President serves on the Board of Directors, representing all other executives.Eachexecutive has unique responsibilities. SSMU President Risann Wright determines the broad vision for the Society and provides support for the rest of the team. This year, some of Wright’s responsibilities will include enforcing the Constitution and Internal Regulations and managing faculty relations. SSMU’s VP Finance, Marco Pizarro, serves alongside Wright. As a nonprofit organization, the council operates on a strict budget, and as such one of Pizarro’s main responsibilities is to maintain the budget and financial stability of the Society. Two other Council roles are the VPs Internal and External. VP Internal Cat Williams manages internal aspects of community building at McGill through organizing on-campus events – such as Frosh and 4Floors – and sending out a weekly listserv to all members of the Society. VP External Val Mansy oversees SSMU’s relationship with organizations beyond the university, as well as campus political campaigns, such as coordinating campus labour unions. The group also includes VP University Affairs Kerry Yang. Yang is responsible for advocating on behalf of students to McGill administration. He primarily focuses on advocating for underrepresented groups at McGill, doing so by supporting the Black Affairs, Francophone Affairs, and Indigenous Affairs portfolios (amongst others), and by promoting the Menstrual Hygiene Project. Finally, the VP Student Life, Hassanatou Koulibaly, serves as the coordinator between the SSMU Council and student-run clubs and organizations. Koulibaly also focuses on issues such as mental health services, doing so by meeting weekly with the Mental Health Commissioner and by honouring the SSMU Mental Health Policy and Plan. How Do I Get Involved?
comprehensive guide you never knew you needed
The easiest way to get involved is through General
Sci-tech 5August 31, 2022 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily Meena CommentaryThakurEditor
I f you’ve been living in Montreal for a while, you’ve probably heard the term gentrification thrown around. It’s because of gentrification that luxury condominiums have been opening, and that a Lululemon has opened across from the esteemed St. Viateur Bagel. Gentrification is a sign that neighborhoods and their inhabitants are changing. It entails an urban renewal in which a neighborhood develops rapidly, changing from low to high value. But what makes certain neighborhoods more vulnerable to gentrification than others? Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood is an interesting case study. This area unofficially spans between Mount Royal Avenue to the south, Van Horne Avenue to the north, Hutchinson Street to the west, and Saint Denis Street to the east. During the 1960s and 1970s, Mile End was known for its garment industry and for being home to immigrants of Jewish, Greek, Irish, Portuguese and other backgrounds. Then, due to the collapse of the manufacturing industry in North America, many of the garment factories closed in the mid-1990s. After this came a key step in the gentrification process – the arrival of artists. The 1990s brought in artists such as Arcade Fire, Grimes, Ariane Moffatt, and many more who were attracted by the low rent for apartment and studio space in the Soonarea.after, Ubisoft, a French video game company, opened its Montreal subsidiary in a former factory. From 1997 onward, Ubisoft Montreal brought an influx of 3,000 new tech employees, an indication that the Mile End inhabitants were changing. There was active encouragement from the government at both the federal and the local level to encourage tech companies to situate themselves in Canada and Montreal. In fact, political lobbyist Sylvain Vaugeois sensed the business opportunity that the multimedia industry might bring and devised a plan to provide tax credits to large video game companies willing to establish officesin Montreal. This incentive involved both a federal and local government investment of up to $25,000 in subsidies per employee for 500 Ubisoft employees over five years. Soon after, Quebec established a new tax credit to be applied to other companies as well to cover a maximum of 37.5 per cent of eligible labor expenditure if a multimedia title is available in French and up to 30 per cent if a title is Criticsnot.have often argued that the tax credits the government has provided are mainly beneficial for foreign corporations and that they hurt local tech companies. They find the tax credit allows mainly video game companies to offer workers more money and draws talent away from other tech companies. With the low operational costs, government incentives attracted companies like Microsoft and smaller organizations like Thales, which began to move into the neighbourhood. Soon after, condo companies, restaurants, and new boutiques opened up to house, feed, and dress the growing new tech inhabitants and their higher incomes. Real estate firm Shiller Lavy has been notorious for buying commercial buildings and raising their rent. They have bought over seven buildings on St-Viateur Street, including Le Cagibi, a famous vegetarian cafeindie showbar that was forced out of Mile End and into Little Italy due to rent increases and has since closed permanently. Local businesses and their patrons in the Mile End are not too pleased with the recent changes that the neighborhood has been experiencing. In particular, Mile End Mission, a neighborhood charity, noted its difficulty in serving the most vulnerable in the rapidly gentrifying area. They indicated that they used to serve about 20 people per week and now see nearly 300. More than 20 years after the first video game company set up in Mile End, Montreal has been listed number 15 on CBRE’s 2022 Tech Talent Rankings. Montreal International estimates there are now about 200 video game studios and 15,000 industry workers in the city. The effect of this gaming hub has affected many parts of the city as well. Local universities have opened new programs focusing on game development and technology. For example, Concordia University has an official partnership with Ubisoft to provide a course on gameWhiledesign.the growing number of tech companies choosing to locate themselves in Montreal has created a boom in jobs and placed the city on a global map of the tech world, it does come with the cost of smaller local businesses in the city. The government needs to further support local businesses to ensure that the Mile End that has attracted so many tech residents maintains its historical and cultural significance.
The Cost of Montreal’s Tech Hub Gentrification in Mile End is pushing local business out
The1990s brought in artists such as Arcade Fire, Grimes, Ariane Moffat, and many more who were attracted by the low rent for apartment and studio space in the area. Eve Cable | Staff Illustrator
In particular, Mile End Mission, a neighborhood charity, noted its difficulty in serving the most vulnerable in the rapidly gentrifying area. They indicated that they used to serve about 20 people per week and now see nearly 300.
In the same sense, the colonial legacy of the Roman Catholic Church is magnified by the existence of public displays of the cross. According to the Mohawk Mothers, the cross on Mount Royal represents a looming reminder of the oppression and painful memories associated with the role of the Church in the genocide of Indigenous peoples.
“The Pope Must Leave and Take the Cross With Him”
| Features Editor
Not Welcome on My Land”
features6 August 31, 2022 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
“I understand that there are people that follow that way of life, but as Onkwehonwe people it was forced down our throats,” Kweiito said. The group said that the act of taking down these symbols is an important step in dismantling the intergenerational traumas created by the residential school program. “This cross has to come down. You can relieve some people of the grief and punishment that they endured, not just for the survivors but for the intergenerational trauma that’s happening,” Kweiito said,. “It’s a symbol of them trying to commit genocide on us, and all that follows within […] It’s not welcome on my land.” The Role of Indigenous Law in the Royal Vic Lawsuit Suing both McGill University and the Canadian government in March, the Mohawk Mothers have gone to court in an effort to halt the continuation of McGill’s New Vic Project, a renovation plan to redevelop the old Royal Victoria Hospital. The group seeks to stop McGill’s reconstruction efforts until the grounds have been investigated for unmarked graves associated with the “Project MKULTRA” experiments carried out against Indigenous children
Mohawk Mothers Demand Concrete Action Following Pope’s Apology
Kweiito continued to articulate that the “emptiness” of the pontiff’s apology was due largely to the inability of the Vatican to pair it with the withdrawal of religious ideologies that fuelled the genocide of Indigenous peoples. “The papal bulls that were created that said we were not human, that we were inhuman and just pagans, and that all this land is to be taken – that needs to be rescinded,” she said. “Action is everything. Words are just words.”
“[The Pope] could make an apology, but what does that do? When was the last time any of you sat down with a murderer, rapist, thief … so that [they] could say sorry to you? That’s the entity that [the Pope] represents” -Kweiito, a Kahnawake resident and spokesperson for the Mohawk
Zach Cheung
content warning: racism, genocide, sexual assault, child abuse
In late July, Pope Francis issued a landmark apology to Indigenous peoples across so-called Canada, praying for “God’s forgiveness, healing and reconciliation” for the role the Roman Catholic Church played in the Canadian residential school system. He has described his visit to Canada as a “penitential” journey. The Pope expressed how the Church’s contribution to the projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples culminated in a “disastrous error, incompatible with the Gospel of JesusTheChrist.”Pope’s apology and his visit to Canada attracted scathing condemnation from Montreal’s Mohawk Mothers, who argued that the Vatican’s expression of regret does nothing for Indigenous groups in the absence of restorative action. The Kanien’kehà:ka Kahnistensera, the Mohawk Mothers, issued a statement during a press conference held shortly after the Pope’s apology demanding the pontiff to leave Indigenous land. “[The Pope] could make an apology, but what does that do?
When was the last time any of you sat down with a murderer, rapist, thief […] so that [they] could say sorry to you? That’s the entity that [the Pope] represents,” said Kweiito, a Kahnawake resident and spokesperson for the Mohawk Mothers. “Every time [the Pope] come[s], it hurts our people more and more to think […] that the entity he represents is here.”
Zach Cheung Features Editor
“It’s
Zach Cheung| Features Editor Zach Cheung | Features Editor
“[The Pope] needs to write a new plight for the people that follow him and let it be known that this land belongs to the Onkwehonwe children,” Kweiito said. By taking action to endorse the authority of Indigenous law on Indigenous land, the Pope could play a role in supporting the efforts of Indigenous groups like the Mohawk Mothers, who are seeking to validate their grievances through a system of justice that is sovereign to Canada’s. However, despite ostensibly recognizing the cultural genocide committed by Church residential schools, the Pope’s decision to forgo tangible action alongside his apology continues to perpetuate the suppression of Indigenous voices.
features 7August 31, 2022 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily in the 1960s. These experiments were held by Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron, whose research consisted of “brainwashing” subjects by placing them under a chemically induced sleep in order to administer rounds of hallucinogenic drugs like LSD. The families of those who were experimented on have already filed lawsuits against McGill for the abusive treatment their relatives endured under Dr. Cameron. The Mohawk Mothers think that there may exist additional unmarked graves of the Indigenous children buried under the land on which the Royal Victoria Hospital is situated. The women’s group bases this belief on an interview with Lana Ponting, one of the few remaining survivors of Dr. Ewen Cameron’s experimentation, who alleges that experiments’ victims were buried in the grounds surrounding the Allan Memorial Institute and that underage children were victims of these experiments.
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) has already acknowledged that Cameron held “controversial” and “unfortunate” experiments at the Allan Memorial Institute, but it has declined to assume responsibility for his actions.
Onkwehonwe. We cannot give up our birthright,” said Kahentinetha, “We cannot take these lawyers who have taken a vow to the Crown – the ones that carried out the killing of the original people. ”
The argument presented by the Mohawk Mothers in favour of halting the New Vic project and overseeing the investigation into the unmarked graves is nested within a larger assertion that Indigenous law should be applied to sovereign Indigenous land. The Mohawk Mothers claim that traditional Indigenous law must act as the legal framework in which the New Vic lawsuit will operate. Written in March, their original motion to the Superior Court of Quebec cites section 35 of the Constitution Act, which recognizes and affirms Aboriginal treaty rights as legal documents whose contents are sourced from Indigenous legal orders.
Suing both McGill University and the oldMohawkingovernmentCanadianMarch,theMothershavegonetocourtinanefforttohaltthecontinuationofMcGill’sNewVicProject,arenovationplantoredeveloptheRoyalVictoriaHospital.
Recognizing that the events that transpired under the medical experimentation of Dr. Cameron took place on sovereign and unceded Indigenous land, the Mohawk Mothers claim that they possess a right for their relationship with the Canadian government in this case to be treated on a nation-to-nation basis. That is, they are willing to participate in the adjudication process of the settler Canadian state in order to reach a collaborative and peaceful resolution regarding the dispute of the New Vic project situated on their sovereign land. However, the Mohawk Mothers remain wary of taking action within the context of a colonial legal system whose discourse has perpetuated a Eurocentric narrative suppressing the recognition of Indigenous sovereignty. Although their lawsuit is situated within the legal bounds of Canadian law, the Mohawk Mothers have argued for their demands on the basis of Indigenous legal traditions. By citing section 35 of the Constitution Act to recognize treaties like the TwoRow Wampum, which established terms of mutual co-existence and non-interference between Indigenous peoples and Canada, the Mohawk Mothers derive their rhetoric from an already agreedupon (but historically ignored) framework for the mutual coexistence of two sovereign entities within the same territory. The Mohawk Mothers claim guardianship over McGill’s unceded lands lies in the 44th Wampum of the Kaianerehkό:wa (Great Law of Peace), which states that women of the Iroquois Confederacy are the caretakers of the land on behalf of future generations. Kahentinetha, another Kahnawake resident who spoke at the press conference in July, went on to explain the difficulties behind building a claim within a settler legal environment whose foundation lies in Indigenous law. One of these hurdles lies in the opposing parties’ resistance to the Mohawk Mother’s self-representation. “They’re still trying to come up with all kinds of reasons [against] it […] one of them [being] that [the trial] is going to take a long time,” she said. The Mohawk Mothers refuse to use lawyers out of a desire to separate themselves from the colonial system that has historically oppressed Indigenous people. “We spoke on our own behalf. If we take a lawyer, we’re giving up our right to be
The uphill battle in which the Mothers contend demonstrates how the Canadian legal system uses a revisionist attitude to exclude Indigenous-Canadian treaties and to dismantle the legitimacy of Indigenous legal traditions within Canadian courts. The lack of authority that Indigenous law possesses in the lands that were stolen from Indigenous peoples is an issue that the Pope could have addressed – and something the Mohawk Mothers touched upon during their press conference in July. The Pope’s lack of concrete action, within the context of the legal battle between the Mohawk Mothers and McGill’s New Vic Project, represents a lost opportunity to promote Indigenous self-determination.
Thorndike Press
ESSAY COLLECTION – The Address Book by Deidre Mask
- Anna Zavelsky, Coordinating Editor
An American woman with Egyptian origins decides to move to Cairo and falls in love with a man from Shobrakheit. Through this relationship, Naga reimagines the notions of identity, home, and belonging. The novel is told in a nontraditional narrative style. It is divided into three parts, each using a different narrative tool to convey its themes and ideas. The poetic nature of Naga’s prose helps guide the reader through the vast array of people, experiences, and emotions that the characters go through.
In The Dispossessed, we observe the anarchist planet of Anarres, a Petri dish-like examination of the effort to achieve individual freedom in the absence of government, and the lapses in society as hierarchies are slowly established to achieve this goal. Le Guin weaves an intelligent and thought-provoking story that unfolds similar to a thought experiment would. We engage directly with the people of Anarres, and the tension between their desire for a communal utopia and the inevitable creep toward bureaucracy, conformity, and petty power struggles.
- Will Barry, Commentary Editor
FICTION – The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin CW: violence
- Emma Bainbridge, News EditorWorkman Publishing
Vice journalist Samantha Cole has spent years researching the relationship between sex and the internet, and how it’s influenced by larger systems of oppression. This expertise shines through in her debut book coming out in November 2022. It examines how the internet transformed sexual and romantic encounters while the demand for sex, in turn, propelled technological advances. It touches on how algorithms are weaponized against marginalized people, how tech billionaires profit off the online sex industry, how online communities give people the chance to explore their gender or sexuality, and much more.
CULTURE8 August 31, 2022 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
- Yehia Anas Sabaa, Culture Editor
- Zach Cheung, Features Editor
Penguin Publishing Harper and Row Graywolf Press
What the Daily Read
CW: discussions of sexual violence, violence against women, online abuse
FICTION – The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin CW: violence, classism, sexual assault
In this collection of essays and anecdotes about various present-day and historic cities around the globe, Mask explores what street addresses (or lack thereof) may reveal about how power is distributed across racial, political, and class lines. Mask begins with the wayfinding, tax-collecting and policing origins of street addresses and ends by envisioning a potentially more equitable future for those without a fixed address. She covers subjects that range from confederate street names in Hollywood, FL, how addressed streets have helped stop epidemics, and how having an address opens a pathway to receiving important government services (such as acquiring an ID and improving sanitation systems).
By way of Gethen, a planet of androgynous and ambisexual humans, this seminal feminist scifi examines our species anew through the diary of an exiled Prime Minister, the field notes of a monosexual extraterrestrial emissary, and transcriptions of endemic myths. Part political drama, part character study, and part ethnographic travelog, The Left Hand of Darkness offers cogent and lucid reflections on love, death, time, and God. The focus on mutable sexuality in a book first published in 1969 gives current readers a chance to explore how our understanding of sex and gender has changed since then.
NONFICTION – How Sex Changed the Internet, and the Internet Changed Sex by Samantha Cole
FICTION – If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
This Summer!
Drive Safe SSMU DriveSafe is a service composed of student volunteers that drive students safely home to and from anywhere on the Island of Montreal for free. Their patrols are dispatched Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 11PM to 3AM, according to the organization’s website. Those who wish to use the service may call the dispatch number at 514-398-8040, and a van will be dispatched to your location.
MSERT The McGill Student Emergency Response Team (MSERT) is a student-run volunteer service that aims to provide a free and accessible first aid service to the McGill and greater Montreal community. Volunteers are certified First Responders and Emergency Medical Responders under the Canadian Red Cross, and carry a wide array of first aid equipment, including but not limited to automated external defibrillators, oxygen tanks, cervical collars, and Epi-Pens. The team responds to all McGill residences, with the exception of Solin Hall, between 10PM and 6AM. The dispatch number for MSERT is 514-398-3000. MSERT coverage of McGill events may also be requested via a form on the organization’s site. MSERT will also be hosting first aid courses free of charge to undergraduate students throughout the fall semester, including but not limited to Standard First Aid, Emergency First Aid, and Psychological First Aid.
Disorientation9 August 31, 2022 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily Midnight Kitchen
Author: Saylor Catlin | News Editor Illustration: Kate Sheridan | Staff Illustrator
The Midnight Kitchen (MK) is a nonprofit, volunteer run collective that aims to increase food accessibility on McGill’s campus and beyond. It is committed to “providing a working alternative to capitalist, profit-driven systems of food production.” The organization offers a host of services, notably their meal pick-up program. Biweekly, the organization hosts a lunch service in the SSMU building in the second floor cafeteria, where meals are distributed first-come-firstserve starting at 1 PM. Payment is not required, but donations are welcome, per the organization’s website.
Nightline McGill Students’ Nightline is a confidential, anonymous, and nonjudgemental student-run service that aims to provide the community with support, including information, guidance during a crisis, or an empathetic space to share. To speak to someone at Nightline, students can call 514-398-6246, or reach out online via the Chatline found on the organization’s website. The phone and chat lines will be reopening September 1, and will be available 7 days a week from 6PM to 3AM.
Disclaimer: Some services may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For up-to-date information, visit the websites directly.
On the office’s website, students can find forms to request an appointment or consultation with a support-worker in the office, or they can request an information session on harassment, discrimination, and sexual violence as they relate to McGill’s policies. The site also outlines information on how to report sexual violence on campus.
DriveSafe services can also be booked in advance for McGill events/parties by reaching out to external.drivesafe@ ssmu.ca.
PeerCenterSupport
Making Drugs More Accurate is McGill’s self-proclaimed “free, homegrown drug checking and harm reduction service,” according to the organization’s website. Students may anonymously request a reagent testing kit through a google form found on the organization’s website. These kits can be used to detect the presence of MDMA, ketamine, LSD, cocaine, amphetamine, opiates, fentanyl, and other substances. Instructions for using and interpreting the testing kits may be found on the organization’s site. Making Drugs More Accurate also offers other harm reduction resources, such as guides to taking different drugs, and a guide to trip sitting.
Making Drugs More Accurate
The Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support, and Education (OSVRSE) provides support for all members of the McGill community who have been affected by sexual violence, and works to “foster a culture of consent on campus and beyond.”
Survivors of sexual violence may also find a host of resources linked on the OSVRSE site, as well as a guide for those supporting survivors of sexual violence.
MK also has a discretionary funding program in place and offers free catering for events that align with their political mandate.
The Peer Support Center (PSC) is a student-run service that provides free, one-on-one, confidential peer support and resource referral to all McGill students. Student volunteers at the PSC are equipped with over 40 hours of training, and dedicated to providing a “safe, empathetic and empowering space to talk and be heard.” Starting September 5, the PSC will be offering in-person sessions. Those interested may book an appointment via the center’s website, or attend a drop-in session on weekdays between 11AM to 5PM in room 411 of the University Center. When making an appointment, those seeking support may also request to speak with a BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, or woman (trans and nonbinary inclusive) volunteer.
Resources OSVRSE
Last Year’s Student-led Activism on Campus
Author: Anna Zavelsky| Coordinating Editor
Illustrations: Kate Sheridan | Staff Illustrator
From March 7 to March 17, Divest McGill staged #OccupyMcGill – an occupation of the McGill MacBain Arts Building where students slept in tents for ten nights and hosted programming during the day. These students called on the University to divest from the top 200 fossil fuel companies, to divest “from colonial projects like the coastal gaslink pipeline trespassing on unceded wet’suwet’en territory,” and to democratize the Board of Directors.
Also on March 17, floor fellows in the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) went on strike for a more equitable collective agreement, which included a higher minimum wage. Following more than two weeks on strike, AMUSE reached a tentative agreement with the University.
The 2021-2022 academic year saw a range of student-led activism across the McGill campus as students mobilized against an institution historically unreceptive to change. The Fall 2021 semester kicked off with SSMU protesting for more stringent COVID-19 protocols. These included a vaccine mandate as well as an increase in accommodations for those that it was unsafe to return to in-person Inlearning.thefollowing winter semester, undergraduates from the School of Social Work and graduate students from the Faculty of Education and Law went on strike due to having similar health and safety concerns with the return to in-person learning during the surge of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in Canada. Despite the calls of student activists, the University never implemented a vaccine mandate, accommodations remained minimal, and in-person learning continued from January 24 through the end of the Winter term.
Intro to Student10
In 1991, students of the McGill Sexual Assault Centre (MSAC) called on the University to implement a sexual violence policy – cases of sexual assault were then being addressed under the general policy. Sylvia Di Jorio told the Daily, “It is insulting to equate being raped with being punched in the face … McGill’s assault policy does not address the trauma and impact of rape.”
In 1991, the McGill Native Awareness Coalition (NCA) attempted to change the name of the McGill’s men’s varsity athletics team. The name evoked an antiIndigenous stereotype, combined with the logo which featured anti-Indigenous imagery. Before 1991, McGill’s athletics teams had been colloquially known as other anti-Indigenous names as well. It wasn’t until the 2017-2019 Change the Name campaign that the name formally changed. The campaign was led by Tomas Jirousek, an athlete, Kainai Nation and Blackfoot Confederacy member, and the SSMU Indigenous Affairs commissioner.
Students advocating for more equitable policies and practices at their institution have historically served as a primary catalyst for change at McGill. Below are some of these instances, sourced from the Feminist Student News and Protest Archive (SNAP), “a collection of materials related to student activism around sexual violence, primarily on the McGill University campus.” These cases exemplify how decades of student advocacy has been met with much delayed and minimal response from the University.
Student Activism 101 11
Historic Student-Led Efforts at McGill University
According to the Sexual Assault Policy Working Group (SAP), it was not until 2016, after three years of drafting, that a sexual assault policy was adopted. The policy aimed to be pro-survivor, accessible, and intersectional; however, the policy has been criticized for not putting survivors first, or for not being followed up with practice and adequate funding of Theresources.policy was reviewed in 2019 and was last up for renewal in March – McGill has not posted any further updates, and the next review date is unknown.
compendium! 12August 31, 2022 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily AVOID BANKS AT ALL COSTS. (JulLeo 23 - Aug 22) (MarAries21 - Apr 19) (FebPisces19 - Mar 20) (JunCancer21- JUL 22) (AprTaurus20- May 20) (AugVirgo23 - Sept 22) (SeptLibra23 - Oct 22) (NovSagittarius22-Dec 21)(OctScorpio23-Nov 21) (DecCapricorn22-Jan 19) (MayGemini21 - Jun 20) Randa Mohamed | Illustrations Contributor I see korean bbq in your future. these are trying times. take yourself out on a date. CHILL OUT DUDE. FOR REAL. GO GET YOURSELF SOME SUSHI. YOU DESERVe IT. whether your birthday just passed or is coming up, all your wishes shall come true, you will FInd a particularly nice rock this week. stock up on baby wipes. you will thank me later. BE WARY OF LEGOS, BLACK HOLES, AND BANANA PEELS. BAKING ZUCCHINI BREAD WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU. YOUR FRIEND IS RIGHT. YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY SWITCH OUT OF THAT CLASS. HOROSCOPES (JanAquarius20-Feb 18) TAKE THIS WEEK TO REFLECT ON THE SINS YOU COMMITTED DURING THE SUMMER.
