The McGill Daily: Vol. 112, Issue 18

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Accessibility in a Montreal Winter

Earlier this month, CBC News reported that Charlotte Gibson, a resident of Dollard-desOrmeaux (DDO), is facing more than $13,000 in fines for erecting a tempo over her driveway. Tempos are tent-like structures used by many Quebecers to protect their vehicles and driveways from winter weather, but they are banned in DDO. According to the city’s mayor, Alex Bottausci, the structures can interfere with snow clearing and could impede access to a person’s front door in the event of an emergency.

Gibson has been disabled since breaking her leg and ankle eight years ago. She has trouble walking, has difficulty getting up if she falls, and relies on a service dog to help her. Gibson says the tempo, which prevents her from having to wait for someone to clear the snow from her car and driveway each time she has to leave the house, “is a matter of independence.” The city denied her request for an exemption to the tempo ban in 2018, but after finding herself trapped inside her parked car one day, unable to walk across her icy driveway, she decided to put one up anyway. Since late 2019, Gibson has been issued about 25 fines, most of them for $646.

Gibson’s story is a reminder of the additional challenges that Montrealers with reduced mobility face in the wintertime. It is also just one instance of the city’s reluctance to provide accommodations for people with disabilities. This reluctance creates unnecessary personal and financial strain for people with disabilities and their loved ones; Gibson says she’ll have to dip into her retirement savings if she’s forced to pay the $13,000 in fines.

People with reduced mobility can face extreme or even life-threatening barriers to getting around Montreal in the winter. In 2019, Laurent Morissette of the disability rights group RAPLIQ (Regroupement des activistes pour l’inclusion au Québec) told Global News that “we don’t go out” because “there’s a high risk of getting stuck.” Morisette added that every time he leaves his house, he feels like he’s putting his life on the line.

Slow snow removal times are especially disruptive.

Vaudreuil resident Piero Gervasi, who uses a wheelchair, said in 2019 that the snow removal near his condo was so poor that he frequently had to wait in his vehicle for crews to arrive in order to protect his reserved parking spot. Sometimes, the crews didn’t even bother to show up. That same year, Mayor Valérie Plante said the city would try to make things easier with a snow removal plan that would “minimize the kind of lakes that happen at intersections.” As anyone who regularly crosses Sherbrooke Street knows, however, the slushfilled lakes are only getting bigger.

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is trying to make Montreal’s metro system “universally accessible” by “doubling, even tripling, the pace of elevator installation at stations.” The STM aims to have 30 accessible stations by 2025, and 25 stations have already achieved that status. Yet with a total of 68 stations serving the greater Montreal area, this means that fewer than half of all stations have elevators. Moreover, some metro users have pointed out that not all of Montreal’s “universally accessible” stations are truly universally accessible. In at least four stations, the older MR-73 trains still in use do not line up properly with the station platforms, making it difficult for people in wheelchairs to board the trains. “If we can’t board the trains,” RAPLIQ president Linda Gauthier asks, “then what’s the use of having an elevator?”

Just last month, the Montreal Gazette and representatives of RAPLIQ toured Montreal’s new SRB Pie-IX, a $500-million fast bus service along Pie-IX Boulevard. While the STM claims that the service is accessible, the RAPLIQ representatives found “several deficiencies,” including ramps that don’t meet the sidewalk. As the STM’s most recent oversight shows, Montreal’s accessibility problem isn’t simply a problem of upgrading older infrastructure; even the city’s newest projects aren’t meeting the needs of people with reduced mobility.

The issue of accessibility in Montreal is not an insignificant one. In 2017, there were an estimated 523,600 people – representing 15.9 per cent of the city’s population – “living with disabilities,” or reporting “a limitation in their day-to-day activities,” in Montreal. In 2019, there were some 20,000 people using wheelchairs in Montreal. As the city continues to work toward universal access, it needs to do a better job consulting people with disabilities. In the words of the International Disability Caucus, “nothing about us without us.”

The issue of accessibility at McGill also demands greater attention. The 2021 Student Demographic Survey reveals that 8.3 per cent of McGill students identify as “persons with disabilities” and that 5.0 per cent of these students experience “motor impairment.” Yet much of McGill’s downtown campus remains inaccessible to those who use wheelchairs. While many buildings have added ramp entrances and elevators in recent years, some of these still lack accessible washrooms.

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Unfortunately, these challenges are not limited to the winter; Montreal remains inaccessible year-round. Kéroul, a Quebec tourism site for “people with restricted physical mobility,” lists 215 establishments in Montreal –ranging from five-star hotels to pharmacies – that are fully accessible. However, 247 establishments are only partially accessible, and 146 establishments are fully inaccessible. Increasing the accessibility of specific places in Montreal will mean little if the city itself remains difficult to navigate for people with reduced mobility.

If you’d like to join the discussion around accessibility at McGill, look out for the next SSMU Accessibility Town Hall. If you’re a professor, be understanding and make an effort to meet the access needs of your students, especially when it comes to travelling to campus on particularly cold or snowy days. To aid in the legal fight for the rights of people with disabilities, you can consider donating to RAPLIQ. You can also sign the petition launched by Charlotte Gibson and her neighbour to convince West Island communities to allow residents to request accommodations for tempos. Finally, to help everyone get around this winter, make sure your walkways and driveways are clear, and look after neighbours who may need help clearing theirs.

The views and opinions expressed in the

are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of McGill University. The McGill Daily is not affiliated with McGill University.

McGill Mourns Turkey-Syria Earthquakes

Turkey and Syria hit by one of the strongest earthquakes in over 100 years

Auriane Journet Staff Writer

content warning: death and injury

On Monday, February 6, around 4 AM, one of the strongest earthquakes in over 100 years hit Turkey and Northern Syria. The deadly power of its 7.8 magnitude was quickly followed by another 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the early afternoon, and 100 powerful aftershocks were felt throughout the day. According to the United States Geological Survey, it was one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region. Tremors were felt as far away as Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Four days later, the death toll had reached 20,000 casualties, with 17,406 deaths reported in Turkey and 3,317 in Syria. Death tolls are predicted to keep rising in the upcoming days as rescue teams operate under difficult conditions. This catastrophe hit an already fragile region, as Turkey faces a longstanding economic crisis and Syria undergoes one of the world’s most persistent humanitarian crises. At a greater scale, the McGill community is also impacted as student groups organize campaigns to contribute relief to Turkey and Syria.

Where did the earthquakes hit, and why were they so deadly?

The first earthquake in Turkey and Northern Syria was classified as “major” on the Richter magnitude scale and broke along 100km (62 miles) of the fault line. An earthquake is caused by the friction of adjoining plates (in this case, the Arabian moving northwards toward the Anatolian plate) until pressure builds up and one plate suddenly

causes the surface to move. Two major fault lines trigger shocks on a regular basis in the region. However, larger quakes are less frequent, as Professor Joanna Faure Walker, from the Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction at University College London, tells BBC: “only two in the last 10 years have been of equivalent magnitude, and four in the previous 10 years.” Although scientists usually know where earthquakes might happen using historical records and geological measurements, it is more difficult to estimate when they will occur because the forces that cause them to happen operate slowly over a vast area, yet with concentrated effects over a narrow region. Nevertheless, their force can destroy lives and cities in minutes. Although building quality is supposedly controlled and enforced by a building code, standards are not always respected. The fault rupture caused the collapse of nearly 5,700 buildings in Turkey, which was particularly damaging given the region’s high population density. In Syria, Bill McGuire, a volcanologist at University College London, said to Al-Monitor that “many structures have already been weakened by more than a decade of war.”

What are the conditions in Syria?

Syria has been destabilized by the civil war that has been ongoing for over ten years, creating a chronically underfunded humanitarian emergency.

According to the UN, nearly 70 per cent of the Syrian population required humanitarian aid before the earthquake. The earthquake caused widespread damage in northern Syria, including the last rebel-held holdout in the northwest. Within these regions, many people have been displaced from other parts of Syria, many live in camps, and four million depend on international humanitarian assistance. Still, much of the emergency aid from the international community arrived from one border crossing in Turkey, which was heavily damaged by the earthquake. The first United Nations aid convoy crossed into northern Syria on Thursday. International sanctions have also been

straining the country’s economy, as the country faces widespread poverty and food shortages; about 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line. Moreover, the geopolitical and domestic political situation likely increases the risk of unequal aid access and assistance to Syria since the West doesn’t recognize Bashar AlAssad’s leadership. Most Western governments will channel their resources towards the UN and international humanitarian

support organizations rather than provide direct support. The international community has called to relax some of the political restrictions on aid entering north-west Syria. Currently, with the support of Russia at the UN, Assad’s government allows aid to enter through only one border crossing. The Syrian Association for Citizens Dignity argues that all borders should be opened on an emergency basis. The

Margaux Thomas | Illustrations Contributor

The Guardian highlights that the recent earthquakes in Syria have intensified a humanitarian crisis that is testing the ability of the international community to come together and respond. Despite existing divisions caused by the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, it is critical for nations [...] to prioritize aid for those in need.

Guardian highlights that the recent earthquakes in Syria have intensified a humanitarian crisis that is testing the ability of the international community to come together and respond. Despite existing divisions caused by the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, it is critical for nations to set aside their differences and prioritize aid for those in need, they argue.

What are the conditions in Turkey?

Turkey’s quickly-rising death toll doubles that of Syria and has further destabilized the region. Turkey has been facing a profound economic crisis, with an inflation rate of about 80 per cent last year (as compared

to 6.3 per cent in Canada). Such an economic situation has exacerbated food insecurity in the region, with about 70 per cent of those surveyed by Yonëylem Social Research Centre in Turkey unable to afford food. Although the economic costs are still not fully clear at this time, the United States Geological Survey estimates that it could rise up to 10 per cent of Turkey’s GDP. The hundreds of kilometres of damage and millions of people affected could “completely reset” Turkey’s economy and politics, said Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. A day after the quake struck, Erdogan’s opposition parties and residents in damaged areas criticized the weak and slow governmental response. The upcoming presidential

election on May 14 will be a test of President Erdogan’s ability to manage the crisis in the aftermath of the quakes and cooperate with other countries. The perception that the government is not effectively addressing the disaster or allegations of non-compliance with building codes could harm the incumbent’s chances in the election. The opposition also emphasizes the importance of the government in providing aid without discrimination to the affected regions, which include Kurdish communities and Syrian refugees.

How to help

The recovery process after a disaster has various stages. The initial response involves search and rescue, emergency medical care and other critical needs. Logistics, such as access to damaged areas, often pose a greater challenge than funding at this stage. Secondary emergencies can also result in further casualties if medical care and supplies are not available. In the long term, donations play a crucial role in helping disaster victims rebuild their homes and lives. Here at McGill, the Turkish Students’ Association (TSSM) provides both resources and support for victims and their communities. They will be hosting a second round of supply donations this week, which will be published on their Instagram account. The McGill Syrian Students’ Association (SSA) is also raising funds to be delivered to trusted local volunteers on the ground. E-transfers will be accepted to vp.finance.ssa@

gmail.com. Raised funds will be directed to most affected regions and then be used to buy blankets, food, clothes and supplies on-site. Updates and follow-ups on their fundraiser can be found on their Instagram.

Within the McGill Community

Both the SSA and TSSM will organize meetings and aid assemblies in the upcoming weeks to offer support and answer questions. In an interview with Sarah Al-Ani, VP Advisor for SSA, she emphasized the importance of the Syrian community at McGill:

“Although there are only about 48 new Syrian students that were accepted to Mcgill this year, we have around like 900 to 1000 followers, and we have some events that bring 400 students. A lot of us moved here, there is a large community. It’s just maybe a lot of them aren’t aware of our club or aren’t aware of what we do. ”

Although it may be difficult for a student’s club to reach the greater community, she explains the solidarity that exists among the greater student’s community:

“Even if a friend of mine is not Syrian, they could come to this event or even if someone is not from Turkey, they’ll come to Turkish events. So I feel like even though someone is not Syrian, they feel for it. There is also a large Arabic community. We all feel the hardship that’s happening.”

Although McGill itself has yet to make a statement about the situation, she explains how raising awareness and knowledge is crucial to grieving students, especially during the exam period, and encourages impacted students to reach out to professors for accommodations. Nevertheless, Sarah points out the important role that McGill could play now:

“McGill has such a large platform. They have TikTok. They have Instagram. They have Facebook. So for them to use their platform to help us shows their support, shows that they’re allies with us”.

In the meantime, you can always contact the SSA and the TSSM for any further questions or concerns.

“Even if a friend of mine is not Syrian, they could come to this event or even if someone is not from Turkey, they’ll come to Turkish events. So I feel like even though someone is not Syrian, they feel for it. There is also a large Arabic community. We all feel the hardship that’s happening.”

- Sarah Al-Ani, VP Advisor for SSA

[Al-Ani] explains how raising awareness and knowledge is crucial to grieving students, especially during the exam period, and encourages impacted students to reach out to professors for accomodations.

Board of Governors Community Session Recap

McGill’s highest governing

content warning: mentions of suicide

On February 8, McGill’s Board of Governors held its once-a-semester Community Session. The session allows community members to raise questions and have them answered by members of the board. This semester’s session saw five questions asked on a variety of topics including divestment, affordability of food on campus, and funding for mental health services.

The Board of Governors is the university’s highest governing body, and they have the final authority over the conduct of all affairs at the university. Maryse Bertrand, Chair of the Board, explained that members must look out for the best interests of McGill while ensuring that “McGill remains here in the future for 200 years.” The board is composed of 25 voting members and two non-voting student members.

Divestment

The first question was asked by Naomi Pastrana Mankovitz, an undergraduate nursing student. Her question focused on the urgency of divestment: “Why is the immediate and transparent divestment of the endowment from the top 200 fossil fuels companies not more seriously entertained as an important issue for the Board?” She explained further that McGill’s decision to continue funding pipelines runs contradictory to the education and research of students and faculty. As a nursing student, Mankovitz was able to learn about the harms fossil fuel emissions and climate change would have on human health and she finds it disheartening to know her university doesn’t support that knowledge with its actions.

The Board responded that it “will review the University’s Social Responsibility Investment practices in 2025 and it may take further actions” in two years, but that before then, it will focus on implementing its 2020 action plan. Bertrand explained that in 2020, the Board decided they needed to focus on decarbonizing because “removing the carbon from the air is the main problem.” She also said the next meeting will not include a vote on divestment as there is “too much work to

do before that,” and it cannot be rushed. However, whether McGill can accelerate the timeline will be on the agenda for the next quarter.

During the session Mankovitz stated that according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the steps outlined in McGill’s decarbonization plan are not enough as they do not require divestment from the worst contributors to climate change. She followed up by requesting to look at the research the Board used for deciding on decarbonization and which group or individual recommended decarbonization as the best plan. Due to time, there was no response given.

The second question was asked by another student, Emily Hardie, with a similar focus on divestment. She asked, “how is the Board truly ensuring a sustainable future for McGill students, faculty, and staff?”

Hardie explained that because the Board has chosen to focus on decarbonization instead of full divestment like other universities such as Harvard, Oxford, Concordia, “McGill is behind the times” and is “actively destroying our future.” She concluded by asking if the topic be discussed in the next Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR) meeting.

Bertrand stated the topic of divestment will not be discussed in the next CAMSR meeting, instead being discussed internally and then deciding when it will be appropriate to bring up. Bertrand then dedicated the rest of the time to explain that many of the universities who have allegedly divested have only divested partially; she cited Harvard as one example of a school that only divested from coal and simply used the word “divestment” as a way to gain positive notoriety. However, John McCall MacBain, Chancellor of McGill, fact-checked this claim and was able to cite sources that Harvard had divested entirely. There was no time for a followup to this point or to question where Bertrand had received this false information.

Affordability of Food on Campus

As reported in the Daily, students are struggling to afford food on campus, leading to the development of eating disorders and reducing their academic ability. Zahur Ashrafuzzaman, a

body accepts questions

McGill student, stated, “unlike other universities, McGill refuses to subsidize its cafeteria prices. Also unlike other universities, McGill refuses to monetarily support soup kitchen organizations on campus such as Midnight Kitchen, which is funded entirely by limited student fees.” They asked what action McGill will take in order to stop its students from going hungry and if they will move the budget away from investments in harmful fossil fuels and start helping students.

The Chair of the Board responded by explaining that many of these issues are not in the purview of the Board as it only focuses on budgeting and subsidizing. However, she also explained the Board does not have the ability to subsidize meal options on campus easily, as the university does not receive any money from the government for this purpose leaving it entirely reliant on student fees and philanthropy, which most often goes towards other causes the philanthropist is passionate about. Bertrand was able to cite the development of the new dining hall model as a possible solution to some of these problems. McGill is working on developing a new All-YouCare-to-Eat model for its meal plans. Ashrafuzzama continued to question how this may not be an all-encompassing solution. They asked about how the Board will ensure that the mislabelling of Halal, allergens, and Kosher food will stop as well as if this new model meets the dietary restrictions of all. Furthermore, they asked why it has been developed without consultation with students.

The Board replied that with the new model, “students will not have to worry, they can eat what they want” without having to budget meal plan dollars. They also explained the model is not yet set in stone, and it is still in the “creation phase.” They also promised consultations are ongoing with students in residence.

Mental Health Services

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened students’ mental health. McGill students have reported long wait times and inconsistent, infrequent access to McGill mental health services. Student Sophia Lenz asked given these circumstances, “why has more funding not been allocated to mental health services? How can we update these to better

support students who have lived through the collective trauma of the pandemic?”

Lenz referenced the tragic suicides that occurred in 2019 at University of Toronto, explaining that a similar mental health crisis is unfolding at McGill now: “will McGill wait for tragedy to happen? Or will it do something preventatively?”

The Board explained that while there has been a clear, increased demand for mental health services, the university can not replace a health care system. They also described that the McGill Wellness Hub does not focus on crisis intervention or care, nor long term management of mental health conditions: “Best practice in the discipline is to separate the acute management of crisis situations from subsequent, ongoing management of student mental health, since these specialties are very different.” The Board explained that students in crisis are managed by the Dean of Students Office until they are referred to emergency services in the community or then transferred to the Wellness Hub.

The Board also said that students in need of “specialist care and longer-term management of mental health conditions” must use dedicated facilities and resources that are found in the broader community: the university “will never be able to be a provider of everything” and “will never be able to provide a response to every single need.” The Wellness Hub serves to “provide goal-directed, episodic care for a broad range of situations.”

Lenz asked a follow-up regarding potential issues with seeking mental health resources in the “broader community” such as language barriers, high costs – especially for students who are not Quebec residents or who lack insurance – and facing stigma. She also mentioned the Quebec health care system is crumbling. The board responded by explaining that McGill “can be

a bridge” to community resources.

The final question was brought up by Alex Bluck Foster, who asked if the Board will propose a timeline for requiring all of its members to be democratically elected. Only eight out of 25 members are democratically elected. Foster explained this lack of democracy is evident in a number of issues where there has been clear student support and the board has ignored or directly opposed these issues, recently opposing calls for divestment, the unionisation of Professors of Law, and the Palestinian Solidarity Policy. Bertrand stated that she was not aware of some of the aforementioned issues and believed they were “not part of the Board.” She explained that the non-elected members bring expertise to various topics and provide insight to different solutions. The Board is focused on the long term and often reaches majority consensus when deciding, so the vote of one person has very little power.

Students who wanted to attend this meeting had to request the link from the secretariat in advance. Those who requested were provided an unlisted YouTube livestream, which has now been deleted. Zahur Ashrafuzzama added to their question, “these meetings remain largely inaccessible to the broader McGill community.” This community session is the only opportunity for students to consult with the highest governing body of McGill, and this was the first session to take place since October 2021. Despite the infrequency and importance of this session, it was limited to only five minutes per question every semester. Due to the small amount of time allocated, there was little opportunity for students to ask follow-up or clarifying questions. Students who tried to ask follow up questions were cut-off in the interest of sticking to the 25 minute schedule.

Eden Saley News Contributor

This community session is the only opportunity for students to consult with the highest governing body of McGill, and this was the first session to take place since October 2021.

GPT Detectors Seem Like the End of the Era, but ChatGPT Still Has Potential

The text generating program ChatGPT has stirred panic since its public release this past November. Inflammatory articles such as “The College Essay Is Dead” by The Atlantic and “Teachers Fear ChatGPT Will Make Cheating Easier Than Ever” by Forbes exacerbated concerns, painting the future as a world where cheating is ample and rewarded. These fears have even reached McGill, as evidenced by an earlier Daily article concerning ChatGPT in academia. Some concerns, however, are alleviated by the recently launched AI classifier for indicating AI written text, released by OpenAi. The AI classifier can be accessed by the public, and labels inputted documents as “very unlikely,” “unlikely,” “unclear if it is,” “possibly,” or “likely” AIgenerated. For instance, this article was classified as “unlikely to be AI-generated.” Limitations are explicitly declared on the site – it is only functional for texts over 1,000 characters, and even with longer texts it is still not fully reliable.

It is tempting to jump to a first conclusion that cheating has run rampant during the ChatGPT era, and to a second conclusion that with plagiarism detection tools, we should now return to a pre-ChatGPT world. Both assumptions would misunderstand the unique capabilities – and limitations –of ChatGPT.

First consider that ChatGPT was never an excellent essay

writer. It functions by predicting the next most likely words in a passage, meaning it cannot truly comprehend concepts. When prompted to craft original work, ChatGPT echoes broad sentiments from its training data without being able to provide a source. ChatGPT is also notorious for fabricating false citations. Although ChatGPT is capable of regurgitating common ideas in a repetitive style, it lacks the gravity or insights that distinguish great pieces of writing.

DetectGPT is another algorithm recently developed to aid in machine generated text detection for large language models (LLMS), including ChatGPT. LLMS are trained on huge data sets, and then generate sentences by predicting future words. Arxiv, a paper written by the creators,

identifies an application of LLMS as “replacing human labor.” The phrasing implies that replacing human labor in an academic or journalistic setting must be exposed and presumably prevented, yet the question of which human labor is and is not appropriate to replace with machines is ongoing. However, there are clearly some domains where fragments of information are cushioned by linguistic formalities, such as a cover letter or emails which follows a rigid form. Here, because of the massive training datasets that follow similar linguistic patterns, ChatGPT elegantly succeeds in predicting common forms.

The idea of relegating emails, CVs, or Slack messages to a computer has less repercussions than to pass off an entire essay.

The former depends heavily on forms that require no creativity, and often need to be packaged in purposefully verbose platitudes. These shorter messages, however, would also be more difficult for a detection software to spot.

The idea of AI writing our emails conjures a droll image of the future, of an individual sending a machine generated email to the receiver, who in turn uses AI to summarize the contents. A possible conclusion from this is that we need to let go of email formalities altogether. Perhaps a future workforce will discontinue the necessary “Good day! Hope this finds you well. Shall we double back on this issue next meeting?” corporate vernacular.

To those that struggle with English, ChatGPT is also a resource, constructing grammatically correct and mostly socially concordant phrases from an idea. In this way, AI levels the playing field. The ability to regurgitate the formats and traditions of emails, cover letters, reports, is of less importance when that task can be entrusted to artificial intelligence.

The uses of ChatGPT are widespread. A recent post in r/consulting asks redditors how they utilize ChatGPT for consulting work. Responses include summarizing ideas

for presentations, crafting a maternity leave message, and technical coding questions.

In contrast to current concerns, I posit that academics and journalists are safer from replacement. These industries are built off of rigorous research and artful writing, two tenets which ChatGPT, as a language model, cannot embody. However, some careers may dwindle with much of its appeal now supplanted by artificial intelligence. For instance, ChatGPT can create balanced and personalized diet plans, and answer basic customer support. That being said, its disposition for hidden errors makes it unlikely to be more reputable than a professional. ChatGPT, for now, is best served as a tool for generating text which can then be approved by humans.

In essence, AI detection software will hopefully quell the panic of academic plagiarism, and attention can then be paid to alternative uses. Meanwhile, AI detection software does not prevent the use of ChatGPT to automate some everyday formulaic tasks. In the future, perhaps the workforce will acknowledge the needlessness of overly procedural pieces of writing, and we can assign ChatGPT to more creative uses.

Abe Berglas Sci-Tech Contributor

Now that algorithms can spot text generated by GPT, more creative – and potentially fruitful – uses can take the spotlight

Olivia Shan | Managing Editor

It is tempting to jump to a first conclusion that cheating has run rampant during the ChatGPT era, and to a second conclusion that with plagiarism detection tools, we should now return to a pre-ChatGPT world. Both assumptions would misunderstand the unique capabilities – and limitations – of ChatGPT.

Montreal Landlords Continue to Exploit Tenants

It is no secret that tenants in Montreal encounter many challenges at the hands of neglectful and unprofessional landlords. The city has acknowledged this issue, establishing a plan in 2018 to increase fines for neglectful landlords up to $15,000. Last February, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante presented further plans to “tighten the screws” on owners of rental buildings with eight or more units. These landlords will be required to comply with a new certification program that forces property owners to submit a summary of information every five years regarding the building’s sanitation, the price of rent, and the occupancy of units. However, this plan has been criticized by housing groups for being too gradual in its 2027 compliance deadline to combat the quickly increasing rent costs, according to CBC.

In 2021, a group of tenants organized the Montreal Autonomous Tenants Union (SLAM-MATU) to serve as a

platform for tenants across the city to coordinate actions against landlords infringing on tenant rights. The union formed when McGill students renting in Milton-Parc decided to unionize against the illegal actions of landlords across the city. SLAM-MATU aims to work towards a world without the need for landlords, and therefore, without the need for collective actions that advocate for tenants rights. Despite these initiatives, Montreal tenants – including many university students – continue to endure hardships in dealing with landlords, often having their rights infringed upon.

At McGill, students who have completed their first year of studies are provided with very few opportunities to live on-campus.

According to the Student Housing Market Report Canada, which has collected data on 14 student cities, student accommodation provision in Canada stands at 12 per cent. This number reflects the total number of purposebuilt student accommodations in relation to the total number

of students at the university. To rent an apartment near McGill in the Milton-Parc neighbourhood, students can pay upwards of $1,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. By failing to provide affordable student housing, McGill fails to provide students with adequate protection from exploitative landlords.

Difficulties Signing Leases

A Facebook group created in 2015, McGill Off-Campus Housing, currently boasts 52,947 members and serves as a place for

students to browse rent listings, schedule showings, and post advertisements for subletting agreements. The group has seen roughly 10,000 posts in the past month, creating a copious amount of listings for students to sift through with no way to verify the legitimacy of the landlords.

Because of this, some students have turned to a Reddit page titled “Landlord Blacklist,” which details students’ experiences with Montreal landlords, particularly in Milton-Parc.

Users of the Reddit page warn that landlords who have listings

Zoe Lister | News Editor

near McGill’s campus often seek to take advantage of outof-province and international students who are looking to rent but lack the necessary know-how to avoid being exploited. One user wrote, “[I]n my experience the more a building advertises to outof-province students, the more likely they are to [take] advantage of international students who don’t know their rights. Landlords of smaller buildings outside the [McGill] ghetto are used to dealing with tenants who actually know their rights and are typically not as bad.”

Charging often-illegal fees is a common tactic used by landlords to exploit students from outside of Quebec. Requiring security deposits from renters in Quebec is illegal, but it is common for landlords in Milton-Parc to ask tenants for a security deposit or rent payments in advance.

An out-of-province second-year student told the Daily that when signing a lease with roommates (who are international students), the landlord acted unethically. “Right before signing our lease,

Zoe Lister News Editor

Uncovering the injustices renters face

“Right before signing our lease, our landlord said he wanted a $1000 deposit. He said he knew it was ‘technically illegal in Quebec [...] but that he asked for it anyway and expected it before we signed the lease [...].”

- A McGill Student

our landlord said he wanted a $1,000 deposit. He said he knew it was “technically illegal in Quebec [...] but that he asked for it anyway and expected it before we signed the lease. He did express that we’d get it back after our lease ended.” Another student posted that their landlord had charged a security deposit and did not give it back, instead trying to “charge us money to repaint and fix things that we allegedly broke (which we didn’t)” at the end of the lease.

On the other hand, some landlords will outright refuse to lease apartments to international students. One McGill student from France described this experience with the Daily, recounting a time when they tried to sign a lease with a landlord in Milton-Parc.

“On the day my roommates and I were going to sign the lease, the landlord said it would not be possible.” According to the student, the landlord was only willing to rent to students from North America, despite it being illegal in Quebec to discriminate based on national origin. “I think it was xenophobic. I even have family living in Canada, but [they] were like: ‘no,’ because I’m French.”

Outside of the McGill area, newcomers to Montreal also face challenges when signing leases. In an interview with the Daily, Verdun resident Riham Al Bakouni shared her experience of immigrating to the city in 2016. “[...] it was impossible to sign a lease. I tried hard to rent a studio or a one bedroom apartment but it was impossible as they requested a guarantor to sign.” Many landlords will request that people applying to rent find a guarantor if they do not have Canadian credit history, pay stubs, or work experience. For those who have recently moved to the city, these expectations can be difficult to meet and often result in lowering their living standards.

Without being able to sign a lease, Al Bakouni endured further challenges as a tenant. She told the Daily, “I was new to the country and I did not know anyone here [...] I first rented Airbnb rooms in shared apartments until I finally rented a room in an old lady[’s] apartment. After literally two weeks she changed her mind and kinda kicked me out. There was no lease signed, so she just returned what [was] left of the rent ($250 covering the 2 weeks left of the month).”

Challenges as a Tenant

Problems for tenants do not end once they sign a lease. Quebec law states that landlords are responsible for attending to repairs for the apartment at no cost to the tenant. However, tenants in Montreal will often live in hazardous conditions at the hands of negligent landlords who have not kept up with repairs. A renter in Milton-Parc posted, “When we refused to pay $170 for [the landlord] to paint one of our walls that was damaged, [they] locked my roommate in

[their] office and threatened her, eventually saying [they were] going to deduct the money from her account (which they had access to for direct deposits of the rent).”

While it is not uncommon for landlords to charge tenants for repairs, some landlords will disregard the need for repairs entirely. This year, tenants living in townhouses in Berri were sent a letter from their landlord on October 7, 2022 that cited the danger of the building’s foundation, and were subsequently forced to evacuate by October 23. This came after their landlord repeatedly failed to adhere to the tenant’s initial complaints of damages to the building and repair needs. “To come to us with such little time that we don’t have the ability to react, to find housing or basic needs, to put us in this compromised (situation) because [the landlord] just didn’t act, for me that’s negligence,” one tenant told CityNews

In the case that tenants are not evacuated and housing is not up to livable standards, tenants are susceptible to increased health risks and a lower quality of life – especially those living in lowincome areas. In one case, the housing corporation, the Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM), took over the management of a building in Montreal’s Notre-DameDe-Grâce neighbourhood in 2019. SHDM moved trash in the courtyards, closing the garbage rooms and garbage chutes. This introduced many flies, cockroaches, mice, and other pests to their building complex, affecting tenants’ living standards.

In Milton-Parc, tenants have experienced plumbing issues, ant infestations, and safety hazards such as a lack of working smoke detectors. A student-renter posted, “we had a plumber called in after the sewage line was blocked, and were told the pipes hadn’t been touched in ~10 years. He was supposed to have them checked once a year.” Landlords have little incentive to adhere to the repair requests of tenants, as turnover rates and competition for rents are high in Montreal. Many have been known to impede inspections, though fines for blocking this work can start at $1000.

While housing quality remains a struggle for many tenants, landlords are raising the cost of rent. In 2022, the average rate of annual rent increase as a whole was 10.9 per cent, following a 1.6 per cent average annual rent decline in both 2020 and 2021. Housing costs are already high in Montreal, and for many, there is a short time frame for finding affordable housing. It is highly competitive close to university campuses in Montreal, and in some cases, people are ‘making proposals and trying to sell themselves to landlords,’ Laurent Levesque told CityNews. Levesque adds that amidst this steep competition,

bidding wars will sometimes occur between students for rent prices, contributing to inflation. With excess demand for housing in Montreal, especially near universities, landlords are given more power in who they choose to rent to and how much they charge.

Renovictions

Thousands of tenants in Montreal have been forced to leave their homes at the hands of landlords. According to the Montreal Gazette, although forced evictions with the purpose of renovating are illegal in Quebec, landlords are buying an increasing number of Montreal buildings to empty them out and renovate them in order to charge double the rent.. Landlords often get away with this, deceiving tenants who are unaware of their rights. Al Bakouni told the Daily that she was able to move apartments in 2017, however “[...] in April 2021, a new landlord purchased the building in an attempt to evict everyone, do surface-level renovations, and rent out the apartments for double the price.” Al Bakouni explained that in Verdun, there is a trend to ‘renovict,’ meaning that landlords will attempt to evict tenants to renovate apartments to increase what they can charge in rent. She told the Daily that her landlord initially offered $5000 to each tenant in her building as a means of renoviction. “He was deceptive - he did a door knocking for all tenants saying that the other tenants are leaving and this person is the only one left. He offered them $5000 to leave and gave an ultimatum of one month. Then the offer is off the table.” The tenants who chose to accept the money from the landlord are prohibited from discussing further, as they are “legally not allowed to,” according to Al Bakouni.

Tenants in Al Bakouni’s building began to discuss with each other and share their experiences with their landlord. “[The landlord] kept telling lies, lies and more lies. We had [a] roach infestation because of the renovations spread all over the building! We had to empty our apartments for the extermination team to spray the apartments. We had to take time off from our work, and keep packing/moving stuff, and all this was with no compensation whatsoever! This infestation took almost four to five months to

end!” The landlord’s renovictions affected Al Bakouni to the point where she had to involve the city. She told the Daily, “During renovations, [the] noise was too loud and they used to work late after 10 P.M. – I contacted the city hall and the inspector sent a letter to the landlord, so they limited their work period to what is allowed by law.”

After these renovictions, Al Bakouni’s landlord charges nearly double her rent for tenants in the renovated apartments. “My rent is $750, while the apartment next door was rented out for $1,350 after the so-called renovationswhich is outrageous,” Al Bakouni explained to the Daily. Their landlord attempted to increase their rent last year, but could not after they refused it. This year, Al Bakouni says, “I am going to refuse. I am just stalling until around the end of the 30-day delay period.” Unlike Al Bakouni, many tenants are unaware of their rights and are subjected to illegal tactics by landlords. According to Maxime Roy-Allard in an interview with The Link, landlords in Montreal send fake eviction notices to tenants, obtaining signatures under false pretenses and forcing renovictions. The landlords will also offer money to renovict tenants, which Al Bakouni describes happened in her building.

Al Bakouni told the Daily that one tenant in her building was offered $4000 (less than what they had initially offered) and

afterwards signed a non-disclosure agreement. She added that another tenant “moved out because of the stress and he got a similar offer.” She also experienced harassment by the landlord. “When [the landlord] wanted me out - I said NO - he kept insisting on why I do not want to move! He offered that he [will take] care of packing stuff and moving expenses. He said I will provide you with compensation for years to come,” Al Bakouni told the Daily

After Al Bakouni’s continued refusal to be renovicted, she has experienced legal pressure from her landlord. “The landlord kept threatening me because I have a business at home - although he is aware that it is purely online, and I do not have clients at home, neither I have a room dedicated to this purpose, no office set-up, yet he insisted on intimidating me and even opened a file at TAL [the city courthouse]. He was asking to end the lease! He has no legal basis and no rights yet he kept the case open until this date.”

As a result, Al Bakouni was forced into a hearing – the first in December 2021. Within the case, the landlord was requiring that she provide tenant insurance. “[M]y lease and the building regulations, NOTHING indicates that I have to get one! It basically gives me the option to purchase one, but it is not obligatory.” At a second hearing about the same case, Al Bakouni’s landlord did not show up: “Well, either there was a reason or he just felt it [was] a lost case.” Al Bakouni continues to fight a legal battle against their landlord.

To learn about tenant rights and protect against landlord exploitation, refer to the Daily’s article, “Renting 101: Montreal Tenant’s Rights.” You can also go to educaloi.qc.ca to find helpful information for navigating housing and property law. To contact an informations clerk regarding concerns about landlords, applications, and documents, reach out to the Tribunal administratif du logement.

“When [the landlord] wanted me out - I said NO - he kept insisting on why I do not want to move! He offered that he [will take] care of packing stuff and moving expenses. He said I will provide you with compensation for years to come[.]”

- Al Bakouni

“The landlord kept threatening me because I have a business at home - although he is aware that it is purely online, and I do not have clients at home, neither I have a room dedicated to this purpose, no office set-up, yet he insisted on intimidating me and even opened a file at TAL [the city courthouse]. He was asking to end the lease! He has no legal basis and no rights yet he kept the case open until this date.”

- Al Bakouni

In Ice Spice We Trust

Rap’s New Princess Diana

Michele Fu Culture Contributor

Princess Diana died in 1997, right? Wrong. Ice Spice is alive and thriving.

You know her, you love her; this 23 year old NYC it girl skyrocketed to fame just last year and has since become one of the internet’s most loved pop culture sensations.

In the words of one viral tweet by Twitter user @BADENDlNG, “she’s literally the closest thing we have to a modern day Princess Diana” — Ice Spice has the same widespread support and adoration characteristic of the late Princess of Wales. Born and raised in the Bronx, Ice Spice went from an underground New York drill artist to mainstream stardom. Since the release of her first hit “Munch (Feelin’ U)” in August 2022, Ice Spice has remained on the public’s screens and in their hearts. Ice Spice is truly for the people; she funded some of her first projects with pandemic stimulus checks, and blew up on Tiktok before finding commercial music success. With a knack for virality, she rose to the top with the help of chronically online outrage cycles and internet thirst. So what is it about Ice Spice that made her so famous so fast?

Vintage Juicy Couture sweatsuits, bedazzled oversized belts, and Prada puffers combined with the ongoing Y2K craze played a part in elevating Ice Spice’s into fashion girl status. The dizzying torrent of pandemic-era microtrends, curated personal style, and “deinfluencing” may finally be receiving their 15 minutes of fame. The era of everyone wearing the same green House of Sunny dress or knockoff Vivienne Westwood pearl choker seem to have passed (thank god). These days, it’s all about who can be the most esoteric, achieve the ‘editorial aesthetic,’ and have the biggest individuality complex. What cultural critic and feminist auteurblogger Rayne Fisher Quann refers to as “micro-individuality” has served to increase public attention for the authentically stylish as something to emulate. Ice Spice is one of the few Instagram famous figures who seems to genuinely have what others crave: the elusive “personal style.” Without excessive filters, lip fillers, or a Sheinsponsored wardrobe, Ice Spice repeatedly goes viral for her hybrid streetwear-2000s-designer look. In her upcoming music video for “In Ha Mood,” Spice dons a Powerpuff Girl-esque jeweled necklace with a red bra, red thong, and a red Balenciaga bag to boot. She has

personal style and the confidence to back it up. In other words, everyone wants what she has!

From her dozens of viral tweets to every quotable hook in her new album, Ice Spice’s contributions to the cultural canon are undeniable. Combined with her down-to-earth attitude (she is a Capricorn after all), her quotable catch phrases work especially well in the era of memes and Twitter celebrities. The Ice Spice Effect is an example of the same phenomenon presented in Douglas Quenqua’s 2012 article, “They’re, Like, Way Ahead of the Linguistic Currrrve,” where he rightly observes young women as “incubators of vocal trends.” Uptalk (pronouncing statements as if they were questions), using “like” as a conversation filler, and creating new slang words are all linguistic phenomena associated with teenage girls. Despite the misogynistic association of these young women with immaturity or even stupidity, Ice Spice’s hooks and snippets are receiving some recognition for what they are: trend-setter behavior. Gretchen Weiners may not have been able to make “fetch” work, but Ice Spice definitely made “Munch” here to stay.

But Ice Spice isn’t just a pretty face. Her stardom and legion of ‘Munchkins’ have become a cultural phenomenon for the better. Ice Spice is a well loved Black female rapper who preaches confidence, and is unafraid of making a political statement in the process. In her 2022 interview with Erykah Badu, she cited her as a major influence, particularly her Baduizm album. During their conversation, they talk about the double standards for female rappers in the industry, and the importance of wearing her natural hair. “Hair bias” remains both a historic and modern phenomenon — as shown in the “Good Hair” study, Black women are by far the group most often portrayed as less professional, less attractive, and lesser than their white counterparts. So while Spice may have started rap wearing wigs, she immediately noticed the positive reception by her fanbase to her authentic curls, stating “I don’t think they was ready for me to be in heels and a lace front. I think they like that I’m being myself.”

Male rappers are often afforded the benefit of the doubt when it comes to appearances. For their female, Black counterparts, the pressure is on to pinch, prod, and mold their bodies into the LA sex symbol du jour. Amidst a predatory cycle of consumerism that preys on women’s insecurities, BBL’s and wigs that

reach your ass have become cultural mainstays. Ice Spice recalls moments of self-consciousness that will be familiar for any young woman of color— of being 15 years old surrounded by white girls, obsessing over appearances in an effort to fit in. As Badu puts it, her signature ginger afro is a political choice: “[Black women] only think hair should be covered because we were ordered to cover it.”

Ice Spice’s first EP “Like..?” is New York City drill infused with a little… spice. Far from a one-hit wonder, the album is track after track of Ice Spice’s experimental style imbued with a sense of casual effortlessness. For a genre known for its more macho, aggressive sound, Spice’s almost-cutesy demeanor stands out. From the “Digimon basslines of Princess Diana” to the “squiggly puffy sample Gangsta Boo,” as described in a Pitchfork Review of her album, Spice’s music has hip-hop, soul, pop, and more. Although she primarily makes Bronx drill, part of her musical

diversity is the range of artists she takes inspiration from: Pop Smoke, Lil’ Kim, Nicki Minaj, and other New York natives to name a few. She names even more inspiration artists such as Azealia Banks, Kendrick Lamar, and Coldplay in an interview with Elle.

“What’s Ice Spice Listening To?”

Recently, Ice Spice released Boys a Liar pt.2 with fellow internet princess and singer songwriter Pink Pantheress, which one Twitter netizen described as “the gen Z version of

Olivia Shan | Managing Editor

Telephone”. It’s rumored she has even more projects in the works, including a song with experimental avant-pop icon Arca, and Spice’s own “dream collaboration” Doja Cat. Safe to say, we can expect more great things from the People’s Princess, so keep an eye out on social media. And if you haven’t heard her music yet, clearly you have some homework to do. In Ice Spice We Trust!

Ice Spice’s first EP “Like..?” is New York City drill infused with a little…spice. Far from a one-hit wonder, the album is track after track of Ice Spice’s experimental style and imbued with a sense of casual effortlessness.

Historic Nominations Highlight Historical Wrongs An analysis of the 2023 Oscar nominations

Hannah Rothstein Culture Contributor

At the end of last month, actors Allison Williams and Riz Ahmed announced the long-awaited Oscar nominations. After a year full of groundbreaking cinema, including a thriving independent filmmaking scene and the re-emergence of the Hollywood summer blockbuster, the list of possible nominations was fiercely debated. While many of this year’s nominations are historymaking and causes for celebration, these accomplishments only exist relative to shocking omissions. This paradox raises the question: is the Academy’s promise for more inclusivity an empty one?

When predicting Oscar nominations, there is a lot to consider. Top contenders are calculated based on their other nominations of the year, press campaigns, and the Oscars shortlists. Although some people, like Ben Zauzmer from The Hollywood Reporter, use mathematical equations to meticulously chart the likelihood of specific outcomes, as this year’s nominations show, there will always be surprises. Paul Dano, an established actor who has never received a nomination for an Academy Award despite his extensive film canon, missed out on a nomination for his role in The Fabelmans. However, Brian Tyree Henry got a spot on this list, earning him his first ever nomination for Causeway, a film whose campaign was much more subdued than its counterparts. Other surprises include Paul Mescal’s nomination for best actor. His performance in Aftersunhas been admired by many, but as Alli Rosenbloom explained for CNN, it was unexpected that an actor with minimal filmography to his name and a film with a limited budget would go on to receive a nomination.

Everything, Everywhere all at Once (EEAAO), the absurdist film from the directing duo the Daniels, took the coveted spot of most nominated film with 11 nods in various categories. After its premiere at SXSW early last year, critics’ and moviegoers’ reviews were overwhelmingly positive. The campaign trail was a momentous feat; the film became A24’s highest-grossing film to date and made back their relatively small budget in abundance. EEAAO has proved to the entertainment industry that films beyond the tight restrictions of a typical Hollywood blockbuster can be successful; in fact, they’re what audiences want.

This year’s nominations mark a record-breaking year for Asian performers. The majority of EEAAO’s cast was recognized in several different categories.

Stephanie Hsu and Key Huy Quon both got Supporting Actor nods, and the film’s star, Michelle Yeoh –an actress who, through the years, has accumulated a diverse body of work – garnered a Best Actress nomination. This recognition makes Michelle Yeoh the first Asian-identifying woman to ever be nominated in the category. In a similar vein, Hong Chau, a Vietnamese-American actress, received a supporting nomination for her performance in The Whale Another cause for celebration is Angela Bassett, who received a nomination for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever She joins these history-makers as the first actor to earn an Oscar nomination for a performance in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

While these surprises showed promising changes for the industry, the holes in this year’s ballot tell another story. The first

means to her and the state of the industry. She admits to being disappointed, especially because of the undeniable success of her film The Woman King, in both box office numbers and critical responses. However, the focus of her words was on the Black women

led campaign came on behalf of independent white creators, while Black artists – never mind box office and critical hit films like The Woman King – proceeded the way the system told them to and went unrecognized. In another article on the topic, film critic Robert Daniels resists pointing the finger at Riseborough and instead poses the following question to readers of the LA Times: “What does it say that the Black women who did everything the institution asks of them — luxury dinners, private academy screenings, meet-andgreets, splashy television spots and magazine profiles — are ignored when someone who did everything outside of the system is rewarded?”

the initiation of the Time’s Up movement, Hollywood has promised to take action to ensure a more diverse and inclusive future for several years now. Despite some achievements in diversity and gender representation over the past few years, the missing names in this year’s nominations show otherwise. It seems that the inherent flaws of the Academy Awards are consistently patched up with empty promises. As PrinceBythewood explains, the legacy of these awards is not something to be dismissed. Winning an Academy

upset worth mentioning is the Best Director category. Though two woman directors, Chloé Zhao and Jane Campion, won the award in the past two years, this is not an excuse for the lack of female nominations on the ballot. Directors of outstanding films such as Sarah Polley for Women Talking, Charlotte Wells for Aftersun, and Gina PrinceBythewood for The Woman King were not nominated. Yet Steven Spielberg wracked up his ninth nomination in the category for his film

The Fabelmans

In the 95 years since the conception of the Academy Awards, a Black woman has never been nominated for Best Director. The omission of Black women amongst nominees is also evident in the Best Actress category, where frontrunners Viola Davis, for The Woman King, and Danielle Deadwyler, for Till, went unnoticed by the Academy. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Prince-Bythewood spoke out about what the exclusion of Black women in this year’s nominees

who felt overlooked this year, as well as in many past years: “It’s not a snub. It’s a reflection of where the Academy stands and the consistent chasm between Black excellence and recognition.” Deadwyler and her director, Chinonye, echoed similar remarks in the past few days. Readers can hear the lead actress’s full remarks on the podcast “Kermode & Mayo’s Take.”

In her interview, PrinceBlythewood acknowledges the campaign trails of Davis and Deadwyler, who were Black actresses backed by studios but lacking in the social capital of other nominees. These remarks come as a response to Andrea Riseborough’s unexpected nomination for Best Actress. A Vulture article explains how her film To Leslie received minimal attention until a grassroots social media campaign, spearheaded by famous actors such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Edward Norton, Helen Hunt, and Alan Cumming, pushed for her to be recognized, causing a stir online over the fairness of such tactics. The celebrity-

Many other films were excluded entirely from the list of nominations. The South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook’s film Decision to Leave was not nominated in any category, despite the director receiving the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival this past year. The omission has frustrated many cinephiles, especially since South Korea is full of influential filmmakers, and yet, it’s only acknowledgment from the Academy was for Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite. The lack of nominations points to the Oscars’ shallow attempts at representation –attempts that tick off boxes rather than acknowledge non-white creators whose works are better. The same goes for the film She Said, which speaks directly about the film industry and the disgraced industry titan Harvey Weinstein. Jordan Peele’s third feature, the sci-fi horror film Nope, also received no recognition.

With pressure from the #OscarsSoWhite social justice campaign spearheaded by April Reign’s 2015 tweet, and

Award has a far more significant impact than bragging rights. “What awards give you is currency. They impact your standing. They impact the box office. They impact the steps you take in this industry. They impact who gets final cut.” As trivial as an Oscar may seem, that gold statue means something. Awards can change a career, an audience’s perspective, or even push the industry in different directions. This year’s nominations are divided; while some represent the possibilities of a more inclusive future, the missing names remind us that Hollywood’s exclusionary history is still present and demands immediate attention.

Cam-Ly Nguyen | Illustrations Contributor

In the 95 years since the conception of the Academy Awards, a Black woman has never been nominated for Best Director.

Winning an Academy Award has a far more significant impact than bragging rights.

Academic Fluff On: Slipping on Ice on Prince Arthur

Lucie Hasson | Compendium Contributor

The semiotics of midwinter ice: an unstable choreography of transgression.

The established dialogue between the deindividualized subject and its cruel winter setting, come the coldest months of the year, has, throughout traditional discourse, been an example of the asymmetrical power dynamic that welds the dichotomic sovereign/ subject together. Characteristic of the classical variations on the trope of the subject’s harrowing path through the antagonistic environment, through which the

protagonist fights for survival, modern cultural portrayals have correlated the glacial months of January and February with the antithesis of well-being, freedom, and, importantly, stability. If instability is a core feature of the midwinter season, typified by the precarious footing and the unpredictable bursts of tempestuous snow, Northern consciousness seeks figurative stability in the representative inflexibility it assigns to midwinter, incidentally confining itself to further restraint, in the abiding domineering status it bestows upon it. For the purpose of this essay, I will evaluate the potential freedom to be gleaned by

the subversion of these symbolic signifiers that superimpose the narratorial agency of the individual. The possibility of reinstating the individual’s subject status from object will be scrutinized through the evocative case study and absurd phenomenon of slipping on ice on the pedestrian portion of Prince Arthur, between St. Denis and St. Laurent.

The example of the dispossession of poise on a racking ice-laden Montreal street is an ideal space for the negotiation of a renewed interrelationship between the subject, the slipper, and the omnipresent outdoors, whose hostile atmosphere perpetually

expropriates their individual autonomy. Traditionally, at least, the street-goer in these months is reduced to a puffed mass, hunched against Boreas’ deathly breaths. Accordingly, the ice between Starbucks and Scotiabank should be an extension of this hand that confiscates individual autonomy, yet doesn’t the meticulous operation of choosing where to establish one’s feet confer a newfound sense of narratorial agency to the pedestrian, and indeed to the very essence of Northern consciousness? Further, consider the miscalculated foot placement, or simply the unfortunate, ill-timed gust of wind, embarking the individual on a

“Caffeine addiction”

crazed tarantella of flailing arms and legs. Wouldn’t this interpretive dance, large and unpredictable in its moves, become the ideal playground for the cerebellar unconscious, with a freedom of movement that eludes even the performer themself? While the ballerina spins and whirls, wouldn’t their idiosyncrasies, formerly dwarfed by the coat, mittens and hat, explode in a unique display of self-becoming and self realization through this transgressive act of creative interpretation? All of these questions have yet to be recognized by septentrional academia, yet their urgency beckons those winds to change.

Randa Mohamed | Staff Comicist

Last week’s crossword answers!

1. Tony Briffa, 2. Mauro Cabral, 3. Jamison Green, 4. Owl Fisher, 5. Kylar Broadus, 6. Sean Dorsey, 7. Alexander John Goodrum, 8. Reed Erickson, 9. Michael Dillon, 10. Eli Clare, 11. Christopher Lee, 12. Tiq Milan , 13. Leslie Feinberg, 14. Alan Hart, 15. Pepe Julian Onziema, 16. Dean Spade, 17. Loren Cameron, 18. Gopi Shankar Madurai, 19. Mario Martino, 20. Shaun LaDue, 21. Ewan Forbes, 22. Stephen Whittle. 23. Public Universal Friend, 24. Aaron Devor, 25. Lou Sullivan

Mitchell Sullivan | Compendium Contributor