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table of Contents
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Table of Contents 3 4
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Editorial •
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Policy Against Genocide in Palestine
News • • •
Culture
McGill’s Investments in Arms-Producing Companies McGill’s First Refugee Parliament Five Years of Legal Cannabis in Canada
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11 Sci + Tech •
Sensationalizing Science
12 Compendium! •
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Review of The Importance of Being Earnest Review of Visibly Iroquoian Exhibit
Bird Horoscopes
EDITORIAL
Volume 113 Issue 11
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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editorial board
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Vote YES for the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine
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Published by the Daily Publications Society, a student society of McGill University. The views and opinions expressed in the Daily 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.
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M
onday, November 20, is the final day to vote in the Fall 2023 SSMU Referendum. For anyone new to McGill, SSMU, the student union, holds a referendum each semester to allow members to vote on questions related to clubs, services, governance, and other aspects of student life. Most of the questions that appear on referendum ballots pertain to the establishment, renewal, or increase of fees for clubs and services. On some occasions, however, SSMU asks members to vote on policies of political importance. One such question appears on the Fall 2023 ballot: “Do you agree to the SSMU’s adoption of the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine?” The Policy Against Genocide in Palestine was drafted by unnamed SSMU members. In a three-page document, the authors of the policy write that, since October 7 of this year, “Israeli forces have waged a relentless, indiscriminate, genocidal bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip, murdering over 7,500 Palestinians, including over 3,000 children.” The authors also note that Israeli forces have entirely cut off access to food, water, medical supplies, electricity, and fuel in the Gaza Strip. Instead of condemning this violence, the McGill administration has “publicly threatened students who voice their solidarity with the Palestinian people.” It also continues to invest in or collaborate with institutions, corporations, and donors complicit in the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In its call to action, the policy demands: that the McGill administration condemn the genocidal campaign against the people of Gaza; that it retract its “abhorrent threats against Palestinian students and student groups”; that it provide support for Palestinian and Arab students; and that it divest from or cut ties with all institutions, corporations, and donors complicit in “genocide, settler-colonialism, apartheid, or ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.” The authors also call on SSMU to make an immediate statement condemning the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and to reaffirm its solidarity with Palestinian and Arab students and its commitment to “the Palestinian struggle against genocide and settler-colonial apartheid.” The Daily’s editorial board endorses an emphatic YES vote for the adoption of the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine. To ignore the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and their inhuman treatment at the hands of the Israeli government is to condone terrible acts of violence and what experts are calling a “textbook case of genocide.” Our university has not only turned a blind eye to 75 years of systemic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians but has continued to support, and receive support from, institutions and corporations complicit in this genocide. Moreover, against a rising tide of hate crimes in Canada and across the world, McGill has a duty to protect Palestinian and Arab students. The Daily demands that the McGill administration take a firm stance against genocide in Gaza and that it take necessary actions to support Palestinian and Arab students. Likewise, we believe that our student union must advocate to end all violence, genocide, and settler-colonial apartheid against Palestinians and that the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine is a necessary step in that direction. Unfortunately, the proposed policy presents the same risk that the Palestine Solidarity Policy carried in 2022. The Palestine Solidarity Policy was submitted by the student group Solidarity
for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) during the Winter 2022 SSMU Referendum. It called on both SSMU and McGill to divest from and boycott “all corporations complicit in settler-colonial apartheid against Palestinians” and authorized the creation of a SSMU Palestine Solidarity Committee. Although the policy passed with the approval of 71.1 per cent of student voters and was even supported by faculty and staff, the McGill administration declared that it was “inconsistent with the SSMU constitution.” The administration further threatened that if SSMU leadership did not “take prompt and appropriate remedial action,” McGill would terminate its Memorandum of Agreement with SSMU. The SSMU Board of Governors then released a statement informing students that, upon review, the Palestine Solidarity Policy did not adhere to the SSMU Constitution, the SSMU Equity Policy, the 2016 SSMU Judicial Board ruling on the Legality of the BDS Motion and Similar Motions, or Quebec law and could not be adopted. It is entirely possible, and perhaps even likely, that McGill will again attempt to undermine the democratic proceedings of its student union and that the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine will meet the same fate as the Palestine Solidarity Policy. The very existence of the policy and its predicted success at the polls do, however, send a strong message to the McGill administration. The Policy Against Genocide in Palestine complements a recent Statement by Professors, Staff, and Librarians at McGill in response to the Principal’s and the Provost’s Biased Messages on Occupied Palestine. In this statement, McGill faculty and staff express their concern over the “biased, divisive, and non-factual nature” of the messages from Provost and Vice-Principal Christopher Manfredi and Principal Deep Saini regarding the ongoing violence in Gaza. They also criticize the university’s failure to “show the same concern and compassion” for Palestinian and Arab members of the McGill community that it showed for Israeli and Jewish members following the Hamas attacks on October 7. McGill students, faculty, and staff have not forgotten the success of their forebears – largely Black and African students – in pressuring the McGill administration to divest from its holdings in apartheid South Africa. On November 18, 1985, following an “unrelenting four-hour protest by 1,200 McGill students,” the McGill Board of Governors agreed to divest all $45 million in its holdings linked to South Africa. It was the first Canadian university to do so, and there is no reason to believe that McGill cannot or should not become a leader among Canadian universities in denouncing Israeli apartheid and aiding the fight for Palestinian freedom. To vote in the Fall 2023 SSMU Referendum, sign in to your McGill email and look for the link from Elections SSMU or visit ssmu. simplyvoting.com. The Daily’s other endorsements for this semester’s referendum questions can be found online at mcgilldaily.com. After voting YES for the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine, you can continue to show your support for Palestinians in Gaza by attending weekly walkouts, protests, and other demonstrations in Montreal. You can send letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, and your federal MP to demand that Canada call for a ceasefire. You can also sign the House of Commons e-petitions to call for a ceasefire and to condemn Israel’s ongoing war crimes against Palestinians in accordance with international law.
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News
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
McGill Invests at Least $7 Million in Arms-Producing and Military Services Companies
Most of these companies have connections with the Israeli military and police force Emma Bainbridge Coordinating News Editor content warning: discussion of war, genocide
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s Israel continues its bombardment of Palestine, Palestinian activists and allies in Canada have been drawing attention to the role that institutions such as governments and universities can play in either advancing or mitigating the violence in Gaza. Recent protests taking place at McGill and in Montreal have called out the alleged complicity of the Canadian and Quebec governments, as well as the McGill administration, in supporting the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Two of the main demands of these protestors are for the Canadian government to call for an immediate ceasefire and for governments and corporations to stop arming Israel. So far, Prime Minister Trudeau has not officially called for a ceasefire, as many protestors and Members of Parliament are demanding, but instead a “significant humanitarian pause” to release the hostages in Gaza and relieve the current humanitarian crisis. Canada has provided humanitarian aid to both sides — $10 million to Israel and $50 million to Gaza. In 2022, Canada exported $21,329,783.93 of military goods and technology to Israel. This number was a cause for concern for many human rights and Palestinian advocacy groups, including the Centre for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME). CJPME’s Vice-President, Michael Bueckert, wrote in a press release that “Canada must take action now to ensure that Canadian exports are not involved, directly or indirectly, in war crimes or crimes against humanity.” In recent weeks, pro-Palestinian activists have organized demonstrations aimed at shutting down Canadian manufacturing plants of companies selling weapons to Israel. McGill as well has been accused of “funding apartheid” during recent pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus. Protesters point out the university’s investments in companies operating in Israeli settlements in Palestine which reinforces Israel’s apartheid regime. Although the university may not be directly manufacturing
weapons for Israel, they invest in several major arms manufacturers, many of which are known to sell weapons to Israel. The Daily has looked into McGill’s investments in arms manufacturers and attempted to determine its level of involvement with Israel. McGill’s Investment in Military Companies
As of June 30, 2023, McGill’s endowment is valued at $1,100,913,015 ($166,314,508 in Canadian holdings; $485,082,645 in US holdings; and $449,515,862 in non-North American holdings). According to McGill’s publiclyavailable list of investments, the university invests in nine of the top 100 largest arms-producing and military services companies in the world (Graph 1). Individual investments over $500,000 add up to $6,923,926 (0.6 per cent of the endowment). Investments under $500,000 don’t have specific amounts disclosed, so they are assigned a value of $500,000 in the graphs. Several of the companies in which McGill invests have been the subject of direct actions for Palestine in recent weeks. On November 10, activists in Ottawa blocked Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing plant. The American company is the world’s biggest arms producer and boasts that it provides “superior support” for the IDF on its website. It supplies the IDF with both air and ground weapons, notably the F-35 fighter jets, the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, and the Hellfire 9X Missile, which was reportedly used in the bombing of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. McGill currently invests $515,381 in Lockheed Martin. In the UK, protests led by trade unions have also targeted BAE Systems, Britain’s largest weapons manufacturer, which provides key parts to build F-35 fighter jets. This company has also applied for export permits to send military goods to Israel as recently as 2020. McGill currently invests under $500,000 in BAE Systems. Aerospace corporation Airbus has also applied for export permits to Israel as recently as 2019. Airbus also partnered with the company Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) to develop the Heron TP drones, which Israel is currently using in its attack on Gaza. McGill invests $1,547,013 in Airbus. Mitsubishi,
in which McGill invests under $500,000, has also worked with IAI to research unmanned surveillance airplanes used in attacks on Gaza. Thales, another UK-based company, has worked with the Israeli company Elbit Systems to develop the “Watchkeeper” drone, supported by both the British and Israeli governments. It was based on Elbit Systems’s Hermes drones, which have been extensively used against Palestinians. In May, activists from Palestine Action blockaded the Elbit Systems factory in Leicester, UK, to prevent the company from supplying arms to Israel. McGill doesn’t invest directly in Elbit Systems but invests $1,608,930 in Thales. French company Safran supplied biometric technology to the Israeli Police Force operating in the West Bank in 2013. The Daily was unable to find precise information to determine whether the company has continued to sell weapons to Israel since then. McGill currently invests $1,507,748 in Safran. Another French company, Dassault Aviation Group, designed a ballistic missile for Israel, the MD 620 Jericho, in the early 1960s. Yet, in 1967, France imposed a weapons embargo on Israel in condemnation of the Six-Day War, which led Dassault to abandon the project. However, the company celebrates the “success” of its technology during the Six-Day War, which “created an explosion in demand for Dassault fighters.” McGill invests $1,744,864 in Dassault, the highest of any company on the list. The shipbuilding company Huntington Ingalls builds the Sa’ar 5 class warships for the Israeli Navy. It is also a spin-off of Northrop Grumman, a company that is heavily involved in supplying Israel with weapons such as missiles, a radar system for attack helicopters, and components used by Lockheed Martin and Elbit Systems. McGill does not currently invest in Northrop Grumman but invests under $500,000 in Huntington Ingalls. US-based company Textron provided aircrafts and attack helicopters to the Israeli Air Force, some of which Human Rights Watch has documented as being involved in civilian attacks. McGill invests under $500,000 in Textron. Pro-Palestine activists have organized several protests in front of Textron’s headquarters in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Daily couldn’t find any precise evidence of Moog and Science Applications International’s products being used by the Israeli military. McGill invests under $500,000 in each company.
Although the university may not be directly Investments Targeted by the manufacturing BDS Campaign weapons Investments in arms companies supplying military goods to Israel isn’t the only way that McGill for Israel, financially supports the occupation of Palestine. The university’s they invest investments also include companies that operate in occupied in several Palestinian land and companies manufacturing weapons, such as major arms Elbit Systems. In light of the current escalation of Israeli violence in Gaza, the manufacturers, Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign has compiled a list many of which of targeted boycotts, focusing on a smaller number of companies with are known to clear links to Israel’s human rights abuses for maximum impact. sell weapons McGill currently invests in four companies on this list: Volvo to Israel. (<$500,000), AXA (<$500,000), Hewlett Packard Inc. (<$500,000), and Chevron ($1,457,494) (Graph 2). Volvo sells equipment to the Israeli Ministry of Defence that has been used in the demolition of Palestinian villages in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Its subsidiary Merkavin provides buses to the Israeli Prison Service that are used to transport Palestinian prisoners. French insurance company AXA is on the list due to its investment in Israeli banks. Hewlett Packard Inc. provides technology services to Israel’s population registry as well as the Israeli police, the Israel Prison Service, and the Israeli Biometric database. Finally, Chevron operates several natural gas extraction projects off the coast of Israel and Gaza. Noble Energy, a company owned by Chevron, participates in Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, designed to cut off Palestinians’ access to natural resources. Movement for Divestment from Israeli Apartheid at McGill Concern over McGill’s involvement in the arms trade or Israeli apartheid is nothing new. Since the 1980s, student groups have been advocating to end military research at McGill, most recently through the Students for
Peace and Disarmament campaign. The website mcgillinvests.in, last updated in November 2021, provides data about McGill’s investments in the military, oil and gas, mining and extraction, alternative energy, and Palestine occupation sectors. The Divest For Human Rights campaign called on the university to divest from all companies complicit in acts such as “settler-colonial land theft, environmental destruction, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide around the world.” This campaign led SSMU to adopt the Divest For Human Rights Policy in 2021. The campaign for the SSMU Policy Against Genocide in Palestine also released a spreadsheet detailing McGill’s investments in companies profiting from Israeli war crimes in Palestine. SSMU members had the chance to vote on this policy, which demands that the university divest from these companies, from November 14 to 20. Anyone interested in determining a company or government’s involvement in the arms trade or the Israeli occupation of Palestine can consult databases such as whoprofits. org, investigate.afsc.org, and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
News
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Graph 1
Graph 2
Petition for the House of Commons to call for an immediate ceasefire:
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News
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
McGill’s First Refugee Parliament
Youth refugee and immigrant students expressed concerns as part of a student-led project to bring refugee voices to policy Elsie Yang News Contributor
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n October 28, students gathered inside the Faculty of Law Building to discuss their experiences as immigrants and refugees in Montreal. The event, titled the “Refugee Parliament” (RP), was first conceived in the fall of 2022 by Alessia Mottet, Maria Radu, Saadet Serra, and Shona Moreau as a course project for SWRK 400 (Policy and Practice for Refugees). In an interview with the Daily, Moreau, a fourth-year law student at McGill, described how the project was inspired by the xenophobic discourse in Quebec politics at the time and the lack of formal refugee involvement in developing laws and policies regarding them. “We [were] hearing a lot from Quebec politicians [about refugee issues], and a bit from some refugee organizations or organizations that serve immigrants. We [weren’t] hearing a lot about people who were actually affected by [this rhetoric],” Moreau told the Daily. The RP was modeled around Quebec’s National Assembly. However, RP’s proposal writes that currently, only one committee in the Assembly, the Committee on Citizen Relations, is occasionally tasked with studying issues regarding refugees and immigration policy is the Committee on Citizen Relations. The RP was thus made with the aim of creating a ground for refugees to speak out and occupy public space, and ultimately for policy-makers and politicians to solicit feedback from the body when seeking proposals for future refugee policies. The first RP focused on the needs of refugee and immigrant youth in Montreal, with around f40 representatives from various backgrounds in attendance. “Even though we called it ‘Refugee
Courtesy of the Refugee Parliament
Parliament,’ ‘refugee’ is a loaded word legally,” Moreau told the Daily. “Asylum seekers, displaced people, migrants can all have that refugee experience as we imagine it,” she added. In recruiting participants, her team understood that “you [didn’t] need to have a specific legal UNHCR refugee status to be able to participate [in
At the RP, representatives discussed how the government’s goals of retaining Quebec’s culture and language could be better translated into a more welcoming and accessible, rather than exclusionary, policies.
the RP].” While some participants were second-generation refugee claimants, others were firstgeneration immigrants or refugees, which brought diverse perspectives to the table. One of the topics covered in the RP was the issue of the French language, a highly relevant discussion amidst Premier Legault’s agenda to reverse the decline of French in Quebec. Earlier this month, the Legault government tabled an immigration plan that would require thousands of temporary workers to pass an oral French exam when they apply to renew three-year-work permits. Under this tentative plan, if temporary workers fail the Level Four exam, which requires conversational French, they cannot remain in the province. In a November 1 news conference, Legault reiterated the goals of this plan: “The message will be very clear, as much for students as workers… In the future, if you want to come to Quebec for more than three years, if you want to
stay as a permanent immigrant, you will have to speak French.” This would further expand the Legault government’s direct emphasis on migrants in its efforts to promote francization. In a February 2022 letter obtained by Radio Canada, Legault stated that “[t]he massive arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in the Quebec metropolis, a significant proportion of whom do not speak French, greatly complicates our francization goals.” Passed in May 2022, Bill 96 currently requires newly arrived immigrants to learn French within a six-month grace period for “particular situations” including getting health care and instances of public safety. After that period, the government begins communicating with immigrants in French in an effort to foster integration into the province, with no exceptions made for refugees and asylum seekers. In regards to francization policies like Bill 86, Alina Murad, a representative from the Refugee Centre, an organization that works to support the integration and unification of refugee and immigrant communities in Montreal, told the Daily that “at the Refugee Centre we see the client demographic we receive shift as policies change.” Murad expressed the need for increased opportunities for newcomers to learn French — “the government needs to acknowledge the arduous process that is seeking refuge, and as such there should be more opportunities to provide language classes for newcomers.” At the RP, representatives discussed how the government’s goals of retaining Quebec’s culture and language could be better translated into a more welcoming and accessible, rather than exclusionary, policies. The Quebec Government’s plan to raise tuition for non-Quebec and non-Canadian students at anglophone universities, combined with its ongoing antimigrant rhetoric, directly affects McGill refugee and immigrant students. According to Nika, a U0 student originally from Russia and a participant in the RP the disregard for the immigrant and refugee community of Quebec in an attempt to preserve the French language is misguided. At the RP, she and her peers echoed the need for accessible resources to learn French and integrate into the Quebec community. “I came here [from Vancouver] specifically to learn French – that was a big motivator to me choosing McGill,” she told the Daily. “When I got here, I was caught off guard by
“We [were] hearing a lot from Quebec politicians [about refugee issues], and a bit from some refugee organizations or organizations that serve immigrants. We [weren’t] hearing a lot about people who were actually affected by [this rhetoric].” - Shona Moreau
the lack of resources for students who are willing to learn and who really wanted to, and also [felt] the government’s pressure to learn.” Noting the lack of resources for new students to integrate into the community of both McGill and Montreal, another focus of the RP was the need to build community spaces for immigrants and refugees. “One huge part of the Refugee Parliament that we found was that [many participants] were interested in finding people like [themselves],” Moreau told the Daily. “Making the city feel more comfortable” through events like walking tours (which have been done by organizations like WUSC McGill and the Refugee Centre), and building up events and spaces for sharing experiences and information about McGill and Montreal, were some of the solutions brought up in the Parliament. Through attending these events, “you could meet
News
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
that group, that support system, or even that one person that you connect with for the support you need,” Moreau added. Thus, the calls to action constructed by RP representatives at the conclusion of the first RP highlighted building up organizations that provide resources for immigrants and refugees, as well as community spaces for learning French. Another aim was to distribute pamphlets containing information for recent immigrants and broadening the reach of existing refugee organizations’ resources. Moreau hopes this event will kickstart a broader movement, pushing McGill to give more importance to refugee and immigrant experiences in decisionmaking and urging the provincial government for increased funding and support. Though the first RP’s focus was on the experience of refugee and immigrant youth, the team aspires to eventually expand its reach to the broader immigrant and refugee community
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of Montreal in future events. The first event was really “...a start of a conversation,” Moreau told the Daily. “ I think the participants were very aware that…where we’re at right now is smaller-scale, it’s not representative of everyone — in terms of impact, we’re not relying on changing anything [huge] yet.” What the event succeeded in doing, however, was “changing hearts and minds, putting [their needs] on people’s radars” — whether it is giving ideas to organizations already working in the refugee space or to McGill administration — giving refugee and immigrant students a place to gather and speak about their experiences with the hopes of one day being heard. If you are interested in joining the Refugee Parliament, contact refugeeparliament@gmail.com or fill out their form to represent your community or volunteer.
Courtesy of the Refugee Parliament
Cannabis in Canada
Aurélien Lechantre News Contributor
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ince October 17, 2018, anyone in Canada over 18 years old can go to a licensed shop and legally buy cannabis products with a maximum dose of 10mg of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). In 2018, Canada became the second country in the world to legalize cannabis for recreational use. After Canada, Thailand legalized cannabis in 2018 and decriminalized it in 2022. As of today, Uruguay, Canada, and Thailand are the only countries in the world to have legalized, decriminalized and authorized licensed sale of cannabis. In 2020, the Quebec government declared that it had raised the legal age to obtain any cannabis from 18 to 21. Nadine Yousif, BBC news correspondent in Toronto, identified three main goals of legalization in 2018: move marijuana users away from an illicit market, create a legal market where the drug cannot go to minors; and develop the industry to benefit the country’s economy. Hovering between the desire of building a strong industry on a legal market and preserving public safety and health, Michael Armstrong, cannabis business researcher at Brock University, describes, when interviewed by the BBC, the reform as a mixed success. Concerning the economic objective, Yousif states that the
Five years of legalization
“country’s cannabis industry is struggling for survival.” Even though the cannabis recreational market in Canada is valued in the billions as Deloitte Canada states in 2022 it added $43.5 billion since 2018, the cannabis industry makes little to no profit. George Smitherman, former Ontario Deputy Premier and head of the Cannabis Council of Canada, explains to Yousif the absence of a “global road map,” or the fact so few other countries have legalized cannabis, makes it impossible for the industry to expand past a certain point, over which production exceeds demand. For Armstrong, it resumes to a classic “boom and bust” situation: the initial lack of production and high demand led to a surplus and so a downsizing. So much that today, only 20 per cent of cannabis related businesses have a “positive cashflow” according to Smitherman. In 2023, the cannabis industry is effectively struggling to survive. For example, Aurora Cannabis, thriving in 2018, had to sell their headquarters back to Hershey Canada. Le Journal de Montréal describes that most cannabis manufacturers, such as Hexo, Cronos Group or Canopy Growth are struggling for benefits. Furthermore, many Canadian citizens who invested in the industry lost an estimated $131 billion. But the struggle also resides elsewhere. In late 2022, the Department of Public Safety stated
For some, Canada has done something exceptional world wide; for others, the industry struggles, and public health concerns are still present.
Genevieve Quinn | Visuals Editor that 33 per cent of the market remained illegal. Although the police observed 47,000 incidents in 2017 against only 16,000 in 2019, traffic has not stopped. Léa, who used a pseudonym, a 16-year-old interviewed by Félix MorrissetteBeaulieu for Radio-Canada, said that it is “relatively easy” to get ahold of the drug. She started smoking at the age of 13. MarieJosé Michaud, coordinator of the prevention service Le Grand Chemin, explains that the illegal market adapted to the legalization. There are new ways of smoking that are gaining in popularity, for example, the wax pen, for example, is gaining in popularity: a vape-style way of smoking the drug with over three times the authorized amount of THC in it. With the combined effect of the legalization and the evolution of the illicit market to stronger and
more nocive products, a widespread consumption of cannabis could be expected. Statistics Canada explains that the use of cannabis increased from 22 per cent to 27 per cent between 2017 and 2022 for Canadians over 16, but the percentage of people consuming the drug did not change. In other words, the drug did not spread to a broader or younger audience, but its use became heavier. Pediatrician Richard Bélanger claims that smoking “did not diminish either” and Léa condemns a lack of education and information about drugs. Whereas Enquête Canadienne announced in 2021 that 93 per cent of consumers know of the addictive effects of cannabis against 64 per cent in 2017, this inquiry was only submitted to people already buying cannabis. Government issued packages with warnings and no advertisement may
not be sufficient as a third of the market is illegal, and an additional 10 per cent cultivate their own plants. Overall, the reform’s success is debatable. For some, Canada has done something exceptional world wide; for others, the industry struggles, and public health concerns are still present. The Medical Association Journal describes the reform as “not a public health disaster” but has yet to show any positive aspects in the area. However, a reform often takes effect in the long term. Five years is, for many experts, way too short to correctly evaluate the efficiency of the bill in meeting the three main goals of 2018.
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culture
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
A Love Letter to Queer Theatre Kids
Tuesday Night Café Theatre’s The Importance of Being Earnest – a review and interview
Eliana Freelund Culture Editor
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n November 15, I took my seat at Morrice Hall to watch an unforgettable opening night performance of The Importance of Being Earnest. A co-production between Tuesday Night Café Theatre (TNC) and Accordion Theatre, this take on Oscar Wilde’s 1895 classic centres a lesbian retelling of events. Although the text is left largely intact, several other changes were made, including shifting “the 1890s to the 1920s, England to New York, actors to actresses.” Filled to the brim with sensational satire and whimsical wit, this interpretation of Wilde’s text was truly a joy to behold. Celeste GunnelJoyce and Maite Kramarz gave captivating lead performances as Algernon and Jack. As they bantered and battled with one
River He | Photos Contributor another, the audience hung onto their every word in anticipation of what playful quip would pass through their lips next. Every aspect of the sets, blocking, and acting choices was meticulously chosen, coming together to create a cohesive story that was truly a labour of love. Even the power outage that hit Morrice Hall that night humorously worked in the play’s favour, striking just as Act I ended and coming back on right before intermission. I will never forget the experience of shining our smartphone flashlights on the actors during that second act. As part of a majority-queer audience, watching a queer production of a historically queer-coded play, I could feel in that moment the heart of this take on The Importance of Being Earnest. The TNC and Accordian Theatre’s adaptation is a celebration of the queer roots of
“The social satire transcends the time it was written in. It’s a perfect example of a work that was written during a very socially conservative time when none of the freedoms we enjoy today could ever have been imagined.” - Carmen Mancuso theatre. Its joyful, collaborative spirit is a breath of fresh air in a world of serious, overlyearnest media. I sat down with the director, Carmen Mancuso, on behalf of The McGill Daily to discuss more about the production. The following interview has been shortened and edited for clarity.
Eliana Freelund for The McGill Daily (MD): Why choose to put on The Importance of Being Earnest? Why is this play relevant now? Carmen Mancuso (CM): First and foremost, it’s just such a funny show. The social satire transcends the time it
was written in. It’s a perfect example of a work that was written during a very socially conservative time when none of the freedoms we enjoy today could ever have been imagined. It’s well known that during the premier in 1895 Oscar Wilde was publicly confronted by the father of the man he was seeing at the
culture
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
9
“We ultimately wanted to create something for all the gay theatre kids out there. Something that is unapologetically happy, silly, and entertaining. This is a play where no one dies. The saddest people get is over eating muffins.” - Carmen Mancuso time, which led to a libel trial and his eventual imprisonment. Continuing to put on this play is a way of honouring both him, and the progress we’ve made. MD: What was the thought process behind creating a lesbian retelling of the play? CM: This time around, reading the dialogue in the play, I found myself thinking “Wow, this just sounds so butch, this sounds so gay.” The way Wilde creates these dandy-ish men lends perfectly to a modern, lesbian reading. This got us thinking, “What if we restaged this play with all women, and without having them do drag? What if we really embraced, and leaned into that angle?” Going from there, it seemed a natural progression to change the time period, since our vision didn’t seem to suit the 1890s anymore. We landed on doing a 1920s, very gay, Importance of Being Earnest. M D: How d i d yo u g o a b o u t changing t h e l o c a t i o n a n d time perio d ? CM: It’s all due to our costume and set designers, Magda Alvarez, Marie-Sophie Aubé, and Léa-Mirana Metz. They worked really hard to visually, spiritually, and artistically recreate the time period, and not lean into the gaudy, flashy stereotypes we see
River He | Photos Contributor in so much of our media today. A lot of research was done into what exactly the gay and lesbian subculture looked like at the time, and then using that visual language to aid in how we portrayed the characters. MD: One of the standouts of this production is its truly joyful tone. In the playbill, you explain that “the goal was to make something entertaining, something towards modern queer audiences without the traditional misery-centered narratives that often overwhelm queer stories.” How did you achieve this feeling, and why is it so important for this particular retelling?
production – it’s been done so many times, even as recently as 2017 here at McGill. We wanted to take something from the canon and twist it in a little way that would just completely reframe it, while still keeping the original elements of the script. I’m so proud of what we ended up with, and I really hope that all our hard work came across! The last week of shows for The Importance of Being Earnest will take place from November 22 to 24 at 7pm at Morrice Hall. Pay-what-you-can tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite. For more information, visit Tuesday Night Café Theatre’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
CM: We ultimately wanted to create something for all the gay theatre kids out there. Something that is unapologetically happy, silly, and entertaining. This is a play where no one dies. The saddest people get is over eating muffins. We wanted to do something fun, in a queer way – which unfortunately doesn’t always exist in modern media. It was also important for us to do this with something that is a fundamental part of “the canon.” In many ways, The Importance of Being Earnest is the archetypical university
Courtesy of Tuesday Night Café Theatre
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
CULTURE
10
Not So Visible
A review of Ange Loft’s installation Visibly Iroquoian Georgia Chenier Legget Culture Contributor
O
n my breaks between classes you can often find me by art museums, procrastinating an assigned reading, and trying to see how many doors are unlocked. Normally, I would not consider yanking door knobs optimal behaviour for a museum visitor, but for experiencing Ange Loft’s Visibly Iroquoian, at The Canadian Center For Architecture (CCA), this skill was definitely a plus . The journey to find all three parts of the installation could be extraordinarily challenging for your average museum visitor. The CCA is a ten minute walk from the Georges-Vanier metro station, and entry is completely free for students. Despite the journey it takes to get there, I would highly recommend going to see this installation – Visibly Iroquoian has completely changed the way I look at the landscape of Montreal by prompting me to look outside of the windows of the CCA and truly see the city around me. Visibly Iroquoian is an ironic name for such a hidden art piece. Tucked behind the security guard at the
entrance of the museum is the first section of the work. If the big burly museum officials don’t scare you away from reading the text on the wall, you will find a truly interesting work of art. Loft asks you to look out the windows and “Consider the Indigenous context in and around the city of Tiohtià;ke/Mooniyang/ Montreal.’’ You are prompted to do this through audio recordings telling the stories of Indigenous people around Montreal and purple velvet “whimsies” which are suspended on the windows. The patterns on the whimsies are from Iroquoian pottery discovered on the “Dawson site” in downtown Montreal, which also resemble architectural details seen on the buildings of the CCA. By making this comparison between settler architecture and Iroquoian design Loft wants to create an imaginary “Iroquoian Ancestral Architectural Aesthetic.” If you adjust your position to look out the windows, the whimsies reflect the details of the buildings behind them, or even of the landscape. These interactive elements make the piece very engaging, and the audio accompanying it kept me
Visibly Iroquoian has completely changed the way I look at the landscape of Montreal by prompting me Georgia Chenier Legget | Salon in the Shaunghessy displaying Ange Loft’s Visibly Iroquoian, November 4, 2023 to look outside of the windows of the as I continued to adjust booklet on a table, with maps and Iroquoian before the installation CCA and truly see the city around me. entertained text on the wall and whimsies in the is closed on December 23. It’s free and re-adjust my point of view.
Georgia Chenier Legget | Ange Loft, Visibly Iroquoian, 2022, Velvet whimsies, acrylic stakes.
The main exhibitions at the CCA have a simple layout that guides the visitor through the start to the end – but navigating Visibly Iroquoian was not such a simple task. If you manage to look behind the security guard you will find the first part, which explains that the exhibition is made up of two other sections at different windows. And so the hunt begins. The second part is revealed after a short walk down the hall after all the display cases. This area features audio that asks the listener compelling questions and gives them prompts to think on. After you sit there and absorb what is said throughout the 17-minute audio, you can get up and start the journey of finding the final piece of the installation. The only way that I was able to find the last piece was through my rather audacious tendency to just try opening doors whenever I’m exploring a new place. Behind two sets of heavy doors there is a cold waiting room area adorned with the menacing bust of Thomas George Shaughnessy, quickly followed by another set of doors leading to the old Shaughnessy mansion. I would hope that you chose the set of doors to the left. There you’ll find an open section of the house, and in the far back of the salon there should be a
window. Here is the final section of Loft’s installation. It speaks directly to the legacy of development in Montreal and the destruction of communities caused by the railway run by The Right Honourable Lord Shaughnessy, whose house this section is located in. Playing on the audio loop is “Carrying Our Bones,” Loft’s interview with Indigenous archeologist, Katsi’tsahèn:te CrossDelisle, about the archeology and history of their people in Tiohtià;ke. Having found the final part of the puzzle I sat content, looking out the window as the audio played. It turned out to be very comfy, and I figured it would be a great place to start that reading I had been procrastinating, and maybe take a nap in the little purple chair. Throughout this entire time not a single person came upon me, and no one opened the set of doors to enter the old mansion. At 5:50 p.m. the first sign of life appeared – it was that burly security guard informing me that the museum was closing in ten minutes. Upon my departure I had this sense of pride over finding what few others had, but more than this I was saddened that not many people were seeing Ange Loft’s interesting and insightful work. I would encourage anyone who reads this to go look at Visibly
for students, and the quiet museum atmosphere is great for a solo visit, hanging with a friend, or even a simple date. Loft’s multi-media work should be enjoyed by more than just trigger-happy door knob grabbers. I invite you to go and explore her work. It might inspire you to go out and truly see Tiohtià;ke.
Loft asks you to look out the windows and “Consider the Indigenous context in and around the city of Tiohtià;ke/ Mooniyang/ Montreal.’’
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
sci+tech
11
Science Sensationalism in the Media Damages Trust How the planet K2-18 b became misrepresented
Mahesh Herath Sci-tech Contributor Imagine waking up one fine morning. You go about your daily routine of doomscrolling through social media while lying in bed. Then you come across the announcement that life has been found on another planet. Suddenly your morning trip to Starbucks is a lot less ordinary. Everyone, from the cashier to the bus driver to the receptionist and your boss, are all talking about what they believe the aliens from planet Xorg look like. Finding life outside of Earth has always been one of the most captivating pursuits in science. As a space scientist myself, I can attest to the fact that the question of alien life will come up without fail in any given public talk related to astronomy.
This wasn’t the first time that planet K218 b made an appearance in the media as a flag bearer for fake alien life. Recently, it seemed as though internet publications had beaten scientists to the punch with announcements that evidence of life had been found in the Exoplanet K2-18 b. This came as quite a surprise to the scientists who had published their findings about this planet but had no recollection of telling the media that they had confirmed the existence of extra terrestrials. What happened was that some of the conclusions of their published findings were spun into very misleading headlines. They did, however, prove to be quite effective in terms of
how many people clicked on those articles online. Such misrepresentations of science in the media, especially online media, have been happening more frequently in the last ten years. The business model of high engagement equals higher profits has created an online media ecosystem that thrives on sensationalizing scientific findings. By sensationalizing I mean that a lot of facts are distorted to attract more readers. For context, what exactly is this planet K2-18 b? It is a planet that is two and a half times as wide and eight times as massive as Earth. It orbits a small red dwarf star at a distance of 124 light years from our solar system. K2-18 b has half the Earth’s density, suggesting the existence of light material such as water and ice on the planet. Furthermore, the planet was found to orbit near the habitable zone of the system, which fuelled speculation on whether K2-18 b could harbour life. Discoveries such as the evidence of water vapour and hydrogen gas in its atmosphere by the Hubble Space Telescope presented this world as a Hycean world candidate (a planet with a hydrogen atmosphere and a global ocean). This wasn’t the first time that planet K2-18 b made an appearance in the media as a flag bearer for fake alien life. The same happened when this planet was discovered in 2015 and several online
publications described it as a planet with a global ocean. While the idea that K2-18 b could potentially have water was proposed based on the density of the planet, the astronomers who studied this world simply mentioned it as one of many possible conclusions to their observations. Similarly, in September of this year, spectral data from the NIRISS instrument of the James Webb Space Telescope showed evidence of methane, carbon dioxide, and hints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) on K2-18 b. Among these, DMS was predicted to be a potential biomarker, but the data was not strong enough to say that the DMS came from life. The conclusions of the paper on these findings, which appeared as a letter in the Astrophysical Journal, were that DMS might be present in the atmosphere of K2-18 b but that it would require much more data to confirm. While the possibility of the origin of DMS being biological was brought up, considering it a certainty would have been scientific malpractice. Several news outlets, however, spun these findings in a different light. USA Today led with the headline “NASA says Exoplanet named K2-18 b could harbor life.” CNET had the headline “Webb finds potentially habitable planet might be an ocean world,” while The Guardian sounded off the headline “NASA says distant Exoplanet could
Edna Chan | Illustrations Contributor have rare water ocean and findings as they are is the
Many of these articles cherry- possible hints of life.” Many best course of action. of these articles cherryOver time, media picked findings from these studies picked findings from these exaggeration of science studies while omitting erodes the public trust while omitting the researchers’ the researchers’ words of in science and scientific caution. One might argue that institutions. It is the words of caution...researchers sensationalizing science will collective responsibility get more engagement from of researchers and the would say that they still observe the public. But researchers media to ensure clear would say that they still communication between strong public engagement without observe strong public science and the public. engagement without having having to exaggerate scientific to exaggerate scientific results. When it comes to results. news, simply announcing
November 20, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
compendium!
12
BIRD HOROSCOPES Aries
Taurus
Gemini
(Mar 21 Apr 19)
(Apr 20 May 20)
(May 21 Jun 20)
FInd yourself hiding various morsels in and around your abode? well, it’s always worked for the chickadees...
empirical data indicates that you may, in fact, be sillier than your average goose.
hummingbirds feed on concentrated sugars in order to fulfIL their role in the ecosystem. you are not the same.
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
(Jun 21 Jul 22)
(Jul 23 Aug 22)
(Aug 23 Sept 22)
don’t you wish you also had the evolutionary advent of an extended tongue muscle to cushion your brain from rapid bludgeoning?
try staring back at the hawk to assert dominance.
Feeling like a FIsh out of water? You may be actively being ingested by a ravenous blue heron.
Libra
Scorpio
Sagittarius
(Sept 23 Oct 22)
(Oct 23 Nov 21)
(Nov 22 Dec 21)
if someone tells you that you sing like a black bird, check if there’s a space separating those words.
crossbill? sure, I’ve heard he gets really pissed if you call him William.
quoth the raven: “are you guys seeing this shit?”
Capricorn
Aquarius
Pisces
(Dec 22 Jan 19)
(Jan 20 Feb 18)
(Feb 19 Mar 20)
You should really learn your way around the cardinal directions. But don’t worry, they’re usually pretty visible.
if you incur the wrath of a mallard, you might just get to hear “duck!”used simultaneously as an imperative and an expletive.
so many owls, but only one job in the hamster wheel panopticon...