Vol100Iss35

Volume 100, Issue 35

March 3, 2011 mcgilldaily.com

McGill THE

DAILY

Turning up the volume for 100 years

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News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

3

SSMU executive debate Candidates explain their platforms and field questions Queen Arsem-O’Malley and Maya Shoukri The McGill Daily

S

SMU executive candidates debated their opponents in the Lev Bukhman room yesterday evening. Approximately seventy students filled the gallery to watch candidates answer questions about their portfolios, platforms, and plans for the future.

President Presidential candidates Maggie Knight and Cathal RooneyCespedes focused on accessibility, consultation, and accountability. Transparency was central, highlighted when Councillor Eli Freedman asked how the candidates would show their care and commitment for the position.

“Be extremely transparent with your Executive Committee, Council, and the entire student body...you don’t sign confidentiality agreements, and you don’t operate on a level where parts of your life are hidden,” answered Rooney-Cespedes.

In response to President Zach Newburgh’s question about the biggest organizational challenge in SSMU, Rooney-Cespedes pointed to the student body’s need to compromise. Knight spoke to a lack of institutional memory within SSMU – an issue that “wouldn’t be that hard” to remedy.

ing speaker events, workshops, places where people can debate.”

VP Clubs and Services

VP Finance and Operations

Monika Fabian and Carol Fraser are the candidates for VP Clubs and Services. Fabian emphasized her varied extracurricular background as well as her knowledge of SSMU operations. Fraser spoke about her fresh perspective in dealing with SSMU bureaucracy from a position within a student service and her experience working in the non-hierarchical collective Midnight Kitchen.

Current VP Clubs and Services Anushay Khan brought up the issue of opt-out campaigns.

“SSMU, as a representative of the student population as a whole, should be treating each group with the same sort of benefits and resources, as long as each group is doing it in an anti-oppressive, equitable manner,” Fabian said.

“It’s important that clubs and services that exist aren’t out to take down or destroy [other] clubs and services that already exist,” Fraser added.

SSMU newcomer Stefan Prokopetz will run against current SSMU Funding Coordinator Shyam Patel for VP Finance and Operations. The pair were asked to speak about their views on Gert’s, its operations, and future improvements.

Prokopetz highlighted problems with inflow and service, although he seemed confused about the timing of planned renovations to Gert’s.

Patel praised current Gert’s staff, explaining that he is content with the way Gert’s is running and doesn’t see the need for major changes, besides the renovation plans already in place.

Following discussion of the Financial Ethics Research Committee (FERC), former Daily editor Erin Hale asked the candidates if they believe that SSMU should invest in natural resource extraction.

“I’m not really an ethical kind of guy about my investing,” Prokopetz said. “Natural resources, there’s definitely some good investments to be made there.”

Patel responded by reiterating the strength of FERC. “I know ethics is not at the top of everyone’s list, but we have to remain ethical.”

VP External VP External candidate Joël Pednault is running for the only uncontested position. The ViceSecretary General for the Quebec Student Roundtable, Pednault spoke to his experience in the fight for accessible education.

“I really hope to build a campaign for more accessible education,” he explained. He detailed his plan, which involves rallies, as well as appealing to “less activist-y students by organiz-

Photos by Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily

Above: VP External candidate Joël Pednault fields questions. Below: VP Clubs and Services candidates Carol Fraser (foreground) and Monika Fabian.

VP Internal The race for VP Internal is the largest with four candidates: Kady Paterson, Todd Plummer,

Christina Sfeir, and Natalie Talmi. The re-vamp of Frosh to Orientation Week was a major issue in the debate, as it is one of the largest parts of the Internal portfolio.

Candidates were asked about their ability to liaise with the external community in order to mediate relations during Frosh.

Paterson, a former Daily editor, expressed the need for the support of the McGill administration as well as the need to keep students closer to campus for events.

Plummer pointed to his previous experience with the Milton-Parc Citizen’s Council, while Sfeir and Talmi advocated speaking to local businesses in advance and discussing concerns.

Plummer questioned the qualifications of Sfeir and Talmi, as neither has served on Legislative Council. “[The political side of SSMU] is going to be my biggest learning curve,” Sfeir said. “But I’m excited for it and I do think I’m prepared for it.”

VP University Affairs Emily Clare and Lauren Hudak, candidates for VP University Affairs, focused on student consultation and tuition negotiations with the administration.

“An increase of $500 for tuition means that 6,000 students no longer have access to education,” Clare said. “It’s paramount that we address the issue of tuition increases.”

Hudak mentioned that a “pragmatic long-term vision is necessary” for SSMU, as the McGill administra-

tion sees student politicians as transient due to the quick turnover of executives and representatives.

Both candidates brought up the need for increased financial aid and work-study positions, as well as McGill’s need to balance its priorities for undergraduate and graduate students.

Student response John-Erick Hansen, Operations Coordinator for McGill Walksafe, said that the debates helped him determine which way he will vote.

He was especially interested in the

presidential position.

“The presidency this year has not been optimal, to say the least,” he commented.

Isabelle Bi, U3 Arts, came out to witness the debates, as she plans to run for Arts representative next year.

“I think that many students are jaded about what SSMU is – that it’s just another thing to add to a CV,” she said. “I’m glad that a lot of people were running, in terms of accountability and debate – it was good to see that only one person was running unopposed.”

4 News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Quebec Minister of Education has yet to specify amount of penalty Henry Gass

The McGill Daily

A

lmost seven months after coming into office, Line Beauchamp Quebec minister of Education, announced in an interview with Le Devoir that McGill would face “financial consequences” for increasing tuition in their MBA program this year.

This week numerous media outlets confirmed Beauchamp’s intention to penalize the University for increasing tuition from approximately $2,000 a year to $29,500 a year for the two-year program. The announced tuition marks an increase of roughly 1,163 per cent.

“For us, it is not acceptable that a regular MBA sees such tuition fees,” said Beauchamp in the Devoir interview.

The provincial government has been threatening to punish McGill for the cost of its MBA program since the University made the announcement in the fall 2009.

Last spring, then-Minister of Education, Michelle Courchesne, threatened to cut McGill’s funding by $30,000 for every Quebec student registered in the program. She accused the University of violating Quebec’s educational accessibility policy.

The proposed penalty was based on two grants McGill receives annually from the provincial government – $19,000 to McGill’s general operating budget and $11,000 to the Desautels Faculty of Management – for each Quebec student registered in the MBA program. No concrete action was taken.

McGill Director of Media Relations Doug Sweet said the University has no comment on news reports related to the Quebec government’s position on the MBA tuition issue this week.

Since it announced the tuition increase, McGill has maintained that the increase will close a roughly $10,000 funding gap between what students pay and the cost of running the program. Formerly the MBA program was subsidized with

tuition revenue from undergraduate programs.

The University also argues that the tuition increase will allow McGill to better compete with other elite private business schools like Harvard, where annual tuition is more than $50,000.

According to a CBC report, Beauchamp has requested a list of students registered in the MBA program in order to calculate financial penalties for the University. There are currently about 120 students in the MBA program.

SSMU VP External Myriam Zaidi said that despite Beauchamp’s recent remarks, the minister has still not given enough information.

“I think she just wanted to answer to a lot of people’s concerns about what was happening with this, about whether this was a dead issue or not,” said Zaidi. “Right now they’re saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, we’ll still penalize the program. I just want to be clear about that. When? To what extent?” she asked.

Zaidi also expressed frustra-

tion over how long it has taken the provincial government to respond to the tuition increase. She pointed out that the government has not provided students registered in this year’s program sufficient financial support.

“I think it’s frustrating that they haven’t found a solution after all this time,” said Zaidi, “especially since we found out three weeks ago that Quebec students aren’t even receiving any governmental financial aid.”

Zaidi was skeptical that a financial penalty from the provincial government would result in McGill overturning their decision on MBA tuition hikes.

“Hopefully it will overturn their decision, however [McGill will] probably play again the victim of a lack of funding and the victim of under financing of universities,” she said.

The Dean of the Desautels Faculty of Management, Peter Todd, was traveling at the time of press and could not be reached for comment.

SSMU Skypes with British university activists Students discuss taking action against rising tuition in the U.K. Naomi Endicott

The McGill Daily

O

n February 18, students gathered in SSMU’s Lev Bukhman room for a Skype video conference with students from the London School of Economics (LSE) to discuss tuition hikes, protest tactics and student successes. Evident at the conference were similarities regarding the difficulties that students face when confronting university administration about fee increases.

Thousands of U.K. students have been protesting across Britain since the Conservative-led government announced plans to implement austerity measures late last year. These measures will raise the cap on tuition for U.K. universities to rise to £9,000. This is a threefold increase on the current cap of £3,290 for students starting university full-time from October 2012.

Hero Austin, community and welfare sabbatical officer for the LSE Student Union, and Ryan Hickey, a Master’s student in Political Theory, discussed the efforts of the LSE students and faculty against tuition hikes.

They spoke of events that targeted the wider LSE student body, rather

than only those involved in student activism. Events such as balloon drops and flashmob dances were used earlier in the year and were said to be particularly successful.

Austin explained that these activities engaged students who would not have been interested in participating in more radical activities, such as strikes and protests.

Speaking two weeks after the conference, organizer SSMU VP External Myriam Zaidi, admitted that turn-out “wasn’t great” due to poor promotion and the upcoming reading week. She stated that this “made it less of a conference and more of a workshop” but maintained, “it was really needed.”

Students in Quebec have also been protesting proposed tuition hikes this year. Since 2007, the provincial government has increased tuition $100 per student per year, and students expect this number to increase even more when the fiveyear policy expires in 2012.

Both the provincial Finance Minister Raymond Bachand and Education Minister Line Beauchamp have called for a fee increase of approximately $500 per year for three years beginning in 2012, according to La Presse.

Although this is a far lower

percentage increase than the one being forced upon students in the U.K., the atmosphere at the conference was that tuition hikes set a precedent that students must not accept.

“People say, ‘Well, this is okay, it’s just a little jump, whatever,’ but as soon as you surrender, there’s no limit to where they’ll go,” said Zaidi. “If you give up the right to education, if you can put a price on an education – whether it’s $100 or $10, 000 – you’ve lost a big fight.

“You’re accepting the rhetoric that…education is not a right, it’s an investment. … You’re removing the idea of education as being a social benefit and a societal institution.

That’s what [universities] are supposed to be,” she added.

The proposed increase will also affect out-of-province students, whose tuition is comprised of the Quebec rate in addition to the outof-province supplement.

“They [LSE students] realized that the bureaucratic way is not the way to get things done, and that now they had to do more direct action, as in going through civil society organization and grassroots organization,” said Zaidi. “And that was interesting because that’s what students have been trying here this

year, and the government and the administration is not backing off.

So when you try everything, the only thing you have left is your sign and your voice to go outside and protest.”

Student groups at McGill protesting against the tuition hikes are using similar tactics to those employed at LSE. U1 Arts student Robin ReidFraser attended the conference and is organizing the upcoming SSMU Mobilization Committee (Mob Squad) event “FlashMOB – Dancing Against Tuition Increases,” was inspired by the discussed at the conference.

“Since the beginning of the year a number of us have been working on the issue of the coming tuition increases, and we’ve all been paying close attention to other student protests around the world,” ReidFraser said, “We had already talked about doing an action that would be quite visible in order to increase awareness on campus… After the video conference with the LSE students, we felt even more inspired and empowered, and the plan for the flashmob really started to come together.”

The flashmob is set to take place this afternoon in the Y intersection at 1p.m.

Interested in running for News next year? Elections are coming up!

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WHAT’S THE HAPS

McGill to face “financial consequences” for increased MBA tuition

Liberian Students Society screening “Indoctrinate U” Tuesday, March 8, 6 p.m.

Leacock 232 The Liberian Students Society are having their first official event Tuesday, a screening of the documentary Indoctrinate U. The film explores political correctness and free speech on university campuses.

Radlaw Round table: Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation Thursday, March 10, 6 p.m.

Moot Court, Chancellor Day Hall McGill law group Radlaw are hosting a round table focusing on new anti-SLAPP provisions incorporated into Quebec’s Code of Civil Procedure in 2009. Panelists include UdeM law professor Pierre Noreau and McGill law professor Normand Tamaro.

Nuit Blanche Friday, March 4, 8 p.m. – 3 a.m.

Shatner The AUS and the Fine Arts Council are hosting the annual Nuit Blanche event Friday night. The event focuses on promoting the fine arts on campus, and provides an outlet for students to showcase their talent.

Israeli Apartheid Week 2011 Tuesday, March 8 – Tuesday, March 15 Israeli Apartheid Week begins next Tuesday. Events include a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian women, the exhibiton “Palestine, People, and History” at Concordia, and panel discussions throughout the week.

SSMU Elections Period Tuesday, March 8 – Friday, March 10 Vote online at ovs.ssmu. mcgill.ca or at various polling stations across campus; results will be announced in Gerts on Friday, March 11 at 5 p.m.

Orientation Information Fair Thursday, March 3, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

SSMU Ballroom The First Year Transition Network has been working on a more integrated fall Orientation Week and will be hosting this open-house/ vernissage styled fair to discuss accessibility, accountability, alcohol policy, and other issues to make orientation to meet the diverse needs of first-years. Faculties and student groups will have booths and displays.

Email mcgillorientation@ gmail.com if you would like to be further involved.

News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

5

Small numbers and big hopes Montreal-based Moroccans ask for constitutional reform Rana Encol

The McGill Daily

T

here has been another uprising in the Maghreb, but it has been less publicized than most.

On Sunday, about 25 Moroccan children, students, and older community members gathered in front of the Moroccan consulate on RenéLévesque to reprimand the regime of King Mohammed VI, in subdued solidarity with their compatriots.

Despite the perception of a repressive and scrutinizing Moroccan government, there has been a dearth of public and media interest relative to the attention garnered by similar protests in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya.

One woman on Sunday held a sign that read in French, “We want a Morocco without tyranny.”

An older protester, who identified himself as Assou and has lived in Canada for 11 years, emphasized that the Moroccan youth were fuelling the political uprising in his home country, and that the basic grievances were poverty and unemployment.

“We have assembled here in solidarity with the youth of Morocco, who have mobilized around the 20 février movement,” Assou said in French.

February 20 marks the day that Moroccans took to the streets for the first organized movement against a centuries-old monarchy, according to a 22-year-old international law student who withheld

Demonstrators stand outside the Moroccan consulate on René-Lévesque. her name due to threats of reprisals from the Moroccan government.

The student said she has not seen “any city that didn’t go [protest], which is interesting for a country like Morocco, which has been silent for a very long time.”

She attributed the small numbers of demonstrators in Montreal to the fact that many Moroccan immigrants in Canada belong to a

financially comfortable upper class.

She added that ten large families control the economy and government back in Morocco.

Moroccans are demanding constitutional reform that would see the king relinquish his sacred title and the institution of parliamentary democracy, as in England or Spain. As it stands now, Moroccans cannot question his authority. They are also asking for a

Rana Encol | The McGill Daily

new prime minister and the liberation of all political prisoners.

The student gave the example of one such political prisoner, Ali Lamrabet – the only qualified international Moroccan journalist – whose ten-year prison sentence ends in 2015.

Royalty is cultural in Morocco – the King is said to have descended from the prophet and as such, is

designated to be the commander of all believers.

Morocco has been pursuing an economic stimulus program with the aid of the IMF, World Bank, and Paris Club creditors, but the student claimed that the existence of a “Ministry of Palaces” demonstrates a blatant misallocation of public funds.

At press time, the Facebook group for the 20 février movement had over 31,000 members – most of whom participate in discussions under false names, according to the student.

Though largely peaceful, protests in Morocco have also witnessed self-immolation.

“A woman burnt herself two days ago,” said the student. “She left behind two kids. I have heard of five other such attempts,” she added.

An estimated 15,000 have been in the streets since February 20 but have been repressed by the police through mass arrests and kidnappings. The government claims that the Polisario – the UN-recognized national liberation front for the Western Sahara – is at the root of this public movement, according to the student.

The student also said she knew of a friend who spent two nights in jail because she was accused of being a Spanish spy.

“There have been over 200 arrests this past week. People with PhDs are sleeping in front of ministries, asking for their basic right to work. They are the brains of the country – how could you say they are betraying the country?” she asked.

Canadian diplomats to African countries talk to McGill students McGill alumni working in Nigeria and the DRC discuss progress, challenges, and the role of Canada Rachel Reichel

The McGill Daily

O

n Tuesday morning the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria and the ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo gave an informal talk to a small group of McGill students and faculty at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.

Professor Tim Johns from the McGill School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition hosted the event in association with the African Studies Student Association.

The diplomats – both McGill graduates – discussed the progress of the two countries, as well as Canada’s role in their futures.

High Commissioners are senior diplomats who act as ambassadors between Commonwealth countries like Canada, Nigeria, and other former British colonies.

Chris Cooter, the High Commissioner in Nigeria, said that Canada characterizes Nigeria as a “strategic partner.” He praised Nigeria’s economic sector for the progress made outside of the lucrative oil industry.

“The oil sector, you could say, is the drag of the economy,” said Cooter, “It’s corrupted the politically elite [and] its prevented investment in other sectors.”

Last year in new industries, such as information technology, Nigeria saw a 9 per cent economic growth.

Cooter described Nigeria as “a crucible of regional trends,” playing an important role as an indicator in the continent, particularly in terms of urbanization and MuslimChristian relations.

“It’s the only country I’m aware of where you have an even divide of such large Christian and Muslim populations. The way that they interact and don’t interact is really important beyond Nigeria,” he said.

Regarding the future of Nigeria, Cooter said, “As the World Bank told me the other day, it’s not a question of if, but when, it emerges as an economic and political giant.”

However despite hopes for progress, however, Cooter noted problems that still exist. “Nigeria could be a star that never quite rises,” he said. Cooter discussed the continued impunity of violence and corruption, increasing elements of fundamentalism, some of the worst socioeconomic indicators in Africa, and the existence of a political class “only interested in itself.”

Sigrid Anna Johnson, the Canadian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), focused on a single aspect that could allow the Congo to lift itself out of years of turmoil and civil war.

“Congo has enough arable land to produce for one billion people,” said Johnson, “They are a very pow-

erful country in terms of agri-food yet they’re importing food – they cannot produce enough food for themselves. It’s illogical.”

Johnson emphasized the importance of food production, and building roads. “When you have roads built, you have traffic, you have trade, and you have security,” she said.

Johnson also spoke about the importance of stopping the impunity of rape.

Though the rate of rapes in the country is decreasing – Lieutenant-Colonel Kibibi Mutware and eight Congolese soldiers were sentenced in February for over 60 rapes in the country – the priority towards ending the impunity of rape and violence is at the forefront of Canada’s relationship with the DRC. “The rapes are not only against women; they are against men, children, the elderly. It’s terrible,” she said, “The Canadian government

is very invested in this; they are spending millions.”

Despite facing challenges of various degrees of severity, the DRC has enjoyed recent stability and success in terms of macroeconomic progress. Its inflation is under 10 per cent, the country’s exchange rate stabilized, and the central bank was able to build reserve. The International Monetary Fund was “so impressed” by the DRC that in June 2010 the IMF cancelled the country’s debt to commemorate fifty years since colonial rule ended in the country and mark its recent success – though the DRC will still be required to pay interest.

The largest country in the Francophonie, the DRC will host the organization’s summit meeting in 2012, something Johnson identified as “a sign of a country trying to emerge politically, and on the international scene.”

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News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

7

Ongoing construction frustrates Carrefour residents Multiple projects in residence continuing beyond scheduled deadline Juan Camilo Velasquez The McGill Daily

S

tudents living in McGill’s Carrefour Sherbrooke residence are mobilizing against construction projects that have been ongoing since the beginning of the fall semester. The students claim that noise and other resulting disturbances have compromised their living conditions, and have communicated their discontent to McGill Residences and Student Housing.

These complaints primarily concern roof construction. However, Carrefour’s construction projects throughout the academic year have also included renovations to the lobby, front desk, entrance, and cafeteria.

Students living in the former 4 Points hotel described the daily disturbances caused by the various constructions projects.

“There was drilling on the twentieth [floor], and it could be heard down to the 12th floor, although there was drilling on the eleventh, again, that could be heard down to the seventh floor,” said Julie Browne, a Carrefour Sherbrooke resident who is leading the efforts to voice students’ concerns.

“As far as the construction workers are concerned it’s just another job, or, like another site – it’s not a

home,” added Madelaine Fromm, another Carrefour Sherbrooke resident. “It’s not even the drilling, [it] is the people in the hallways, and the big machines outside.”

Students and parents expressed their discontent to Michael Porritt, the Executive Director of Residences and Student Housing, through emails and phone calls. Residents claim certain clauses of the lease, specifically regarding the peaceful enjoyment of the premises and the communication of maintenance or repairs, have been breached. Porritt maintained that the construction does not breach the lease.

“Roof work was not originally planned for this academic year,” said Porritt. “We had planned to wait until summer of 2011.”

Porritt explained that engineering estimates had suggested the roof and ventilation system in Carrefour should have been “fine” for the next two years.

“The choice was between fixing problems for eight months and having building-wide discomfort for eight months, or fix the roof earlier than we had planned and have a noise problem for a much shorter time. Neither was a great option,” said Porritt.

In December 2010, the administration responded to complaints by giving each resident $350 in compensation as a token of appreciation for their patience.

“More students have expressed

thanks than complaints in regards to the response to work requests and the work that was done in response to the original concerns,” Porritt said, explaining that the construction was in response to residents’ previous complaints.

“The heat problem would have become a cold problem,” said Porritt.

However, residents became more disgruntled as the roof construction continued after January 11. Porritt stated in an email to Carrefour residents in December 2010 that the roof construction would continue in January for ten working days in order to finish the project, and the process would be quieter than demolition of the old roof. Students claim construction has not ended, and that they were not informed in advance about the extended time frame.

Construction in the entrance to Carrefour has also continued past the projected deadline given to residents. The construction was to be completed February 27, however, the project is ongoing.

In a meeting between Porritt and concerned students last night, an agreement was reached to pay more money to residents of the floors affected by the construction. Johann Annisette, a Carrefour resident who attended the meeting, said Porritt was aware of the construction in the entrance going over the estimated end-date, and was trying to fix the situation.

Matthias Heilke | The McGill Daily

Construction on the entrance to Carrefour is still yet to be completed.

Fredericton students march against tuition increases New Brunswick budget cuts could affect student loan repayment program Jamie Ross CUP Atlantic Bureau Chief

F

redericton, N.B. — Students rallied Tuesday against possible tuition increases and further cuts to post-secondary education in New Brunswick.

Approximately 250 to 300 students marched from the campuses of St. Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick to the provincial legislature, where they gathered near the steps to voice their concerns.

“The students united will never be defeated,” the crowd chanted as they waved posters and placards. Some read “Defenders of public education,” and “Fight tuition fees.”

The march and protest were organized by the St. Thomas University Students’ Union (STUSU), with help of the student group Unite.

Ella Henry, STUSU president, said student unions from across the province are meeting with New Brunswick Minister of PostSecondary Education, Training, and Labour, Martine Coulombe on

Mike Erb | The Brunswickan

New Brunswick Post-Secondary Education Minister Martine Coulombe.

Wednesday to discuss funding.

“We don’t want to see cuts in [university] operating funding,” Henry said. “We’d like to see the tuition freeze maintained and investments in student finan-

cial aid, [and] some restructuring of programs, like the Timely Completion Benefit, so that the money is getting to the students who need it.”

Coulombe appeared on the

legislature steps near the end of the rally to assure the crowd that student leaders will continue to be involved in budget consultations.

“I hear you,” she said.

“Then do something about it,” shouted back Colin Belyea, a third-year St. Thomas student from St. John, New Brunswick, who says he’s incurred about $25,000 worth of debt in his three years at university.

Protesters interrupted Coulombe throughout her megaphone address with cries for affordable education, while others hurled obscenities.

A freeze on tuition fees in the province is set to expire when the provincial budget is handed down this month, and student leaders in the province aren’t optimistic it will be renewed.

Last month, the government announced more than $3 million in cuts to post-secondary education, mainly aimed at the Repayment Assistance Plan, a program that gives loan repayment relief to former student borrowers based on monthly student loan payments, how much a former borrower earns, their family situation

and how much money they owe in total.

A department spokesman said the cuts were a result of low program uptake and lower than expected interest rates.

The cuts are also a part of the Progressive Conservative campaign promise to reduce government spending by one per cent.

Members of Strax, a social justice student group, and the New Brunswick Federation of Labour (NBFL) also took part in the demonstration. Strax said in a media statement that the burden of debt forces students to overwork themselves in order to pay for their education.

“How could a real education be possible, one which requires critical reflection, if we must work twenty hours per week while we study?” the statement asks.

Alex Bailey, the NBFL’s vicepresident for youth, said one way to offset the rising cost of education is to raise minimum wage in the province.

“Young students are also young workers,” said Bailey. “Students can’t pay their fees because wages are low.”

Victor Tangermann

Ice Sculptures

8 Photo Essay

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Commentary

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

9

If I had a billion dollars...

I would give it to the richest oil companies in the world?

Amara Possian Hyde Park

O

bviously not. Unless I was a member of the current Canadian government that is. And even then, it’s closer to one and a half billion.

Each year the federal government gives $1.4 billion in subsidies to the oil industry through accelerated tax cuts and credits.

That is $1.4 billion a year that is not going toward creating good, green jobs. It is $1.4 billion taken out of public services like health care, education, or immigration services, and $1.4 billion dollars that are not going into making post-secondary education affordable.

Oil and gas companies certainly don’t need the money. Take BP, for example, currently involved in Albertan tar sands production.

Despite losing approximately $17 billion due to the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill, they still turned a $1.7-billion profit in the third quarter of 2010. Exxon-Mobil, another company with their fingers in the tar sands, recorded the highest profits of any company in history during the 2010 fiscal year.

Oil companies are doing just fine on their own.

On the other hand, skyrocketing tuition fees are forcing both students and their families to take on crippling student debt,

Nicole Straddioto | The McGill Daily

and preventing many from pursuing post-secondary education.

Collective student debt in Canada has now reached $15 billion with the average student borrowing $4,575 in loans per year. If the $1.4 billion currently going to oil companies was instead converted to student grants, two-thirds of

all student loans taken out last year and the subsequent debt amassed could be eliminated.

Why is the government putting our money into the pockets of wealthy oil companies instead of using public funds to reduce our dependence on oil or make post-secondary education afford-

able and accessible? It’s a good question, but instead of giving us a straight answer, Prime Minister Stephen Harper prefers to avoid it entirely, or return to his fall back line that the tar sands are vital to the Canadian economy.

Not only has this conclusion been questioned by labour groups,

The oppressive power of language How the words you use can help perpetuate an imbalanced system Zina Mustafa Hyde Park

P

rivilege is real. There are few people in the world who do not have some sort of societal privilege over others.

We here at McGill have the privilege of access to education that is deemed legitimate in any part of the world, and we had the privilege of choosing whether or not we wanted to go to this school.

Some of us may also have, among others, white privilege, cis-privilege, male privilege, or ablebodied privilege over the people around us. Every aspect of our lives is affected by our privileges and disadvantages, regardless of whether or not we acknowledge them.

If you follow that logic, it’s easy to understand why then language is important. It’s vital for forming our understanding of the world around us. When you use oppressive language, or even an oppressive word, you are not just attacking an individual, you

are helping to perpetuate the subjugation of an entire group of people. You’re bringing back the history of oppression that is associated with that word.

When a white person uses the word “nigger” for example, they are ignoring the fact that the word is symbolic of a period when it was mainstream to view and treat black people as less than human. White people have the privilege of never having had the word used in association with themselves. Indeed, their privilege also means that there is no word in the English language that is equally as dehumanizing to white people. “Nigger” may be a more extreme racial slur, but it’s one that I’ve noticed people becoming more comfortable with lately.

I use the example of racial oppression because it is one that personally affects me, but the rationale behind it is applicable to any oppressed group. All minority groups have had derogatory words or phrases used against them at some point in history.

The only people who have the right to decide if and when a word can be used are those within the oppressed group itself.

Many people in different minority groups have chosen to reclaim certain words, in order to erode their negative power. In this way, the word belongs to them, and not to their oppressors. It is important to note, however, that no minority group is homogeneous, and that while some people may be in favour of reclamation, there are just as many who think it is harmful. Some people within minority groups don’t find language important, and don’t mind people outside of their group using derogatory slang.

The important thing to remember, though, is that if you are not a part of that minority group, you do not get a say about if or when a derogatory term is appropriate to use. Since you do not experience that oppression, you do not have an understanding of how best to combat it.

Of course, I can’t make you do anything, and the way you

live your life is entirely up to you.

Remember, however, that your words as well as your actions have an effect on the people around you, and that language has just as much of a role in contributing to oppression as anything else.

Understanding that oppression is real, and that we all play a role in perpetuating it, is the first step towards its deconstruction.

Zina Mustafa is a U1 International Development Studies student. She can be reached at zina.mustafa@ mail.mcgill.ca.

Errata In “New horizons for physics” published February 17, it was written that Matt Dobbs’ research is trying to “push our picture of the Big Bang up until 10 to 35 seconds after the event.” It should have read “10 -35 seconds.”

The Daily regrets this error.

economists, and environmental organizations, but it also assumes that Canadians want a country whose economy is based around the extraction of a dirty, limited resource.

Recent polls conducted by Léger Marketing show that 70 per cent of Canadians support reducing these subsidies. Moreover, Canada has already committed internationally to eliminate them.

During the 2009 G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, world leaders, including Harper, promised to begin phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.

Harper has yet to live up to this promise.

In November 2010, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty warned Canadians that he would be tightening the purse strings in this year’s budget, and looking to reduce spending. With austerity budgets around the globe freezing up spending on essential social services like health care and education, and similar plans expected for Canada as stimulus spending winds down, we simply cannot afford to give away $1.4 billion a year to those people who need it the least.

Amara Possian is a U3 Political Science and Middle East Studies (Joint Honours) student, and a Montreal representative of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.

She can be reached at amara.possian@mail.mcgill.ca.

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10 Features

YOU ARE WH

Jane Gatensby examines Toyota’s attem

I

t’s early January, and I’m at the Montreal Auto Show at the Palais des congrès. Like all trade shows, it’s a visually overstimulating experience. All three of the exhibition levels are packed with cars and vendors, noise and salespeople. Families, couples and friends wander through the displays, ogling Rolls-Royces and souped-up Ferraris. Everyone is hustling something, be it the newest Audi, an insurance plan, or a bottle of leather cleaner. I push through the throngs, a little overwhelmed by the labyrinth of showrooms. It’s clear that fortunes have been spent here to promote this behemoth of an industry, which supports 9 million jobs worldwide and hundreds of thousands in Canada where automotive manufacturing accounts for over two per cent of our total industrial GDP. Finally, I reach my destination: a small but distinctive display tucked in a corner of the huge Toyota showroom. It’s here that I find Scion, one of the most fascinating examples of how the automobile industry is fighting to retain its grip on the way we move.

Scion is a marquee of Toyota, but nothing at the booth gives that away. The display looks more like a nightclub than anything else. The brand’s three models – the xD, tC, and xB – sit on plush black carpet, displayed in jewel tones that pop against the booth’s smooth, jet-black walls. Nondescript techno blares from overhead speakers. Scion’s circular “S” symbol is omnipresent, alongside slogans like “Creative- Authentic- Individualistic” and “Different

by Design”.

The booth’s presenters, all in their early twenties, have discarded the standard car show uniform of company polos and black trousers in favour of hoodies and jeans. One presenter, Maude, starts explaining Scion’s appeal to me: “The models are for sure, like, a younger image. It’s a more, like, powerful car.” Around us, show-goers are climbing inside cars, examining specs and playing the “augmented reality” Scion videogame set up in a corner. I ask

Maude what about Scion gives the car this younger image, and why I’ve been seeing the logo so often around town lately. “I just think that’s because it’s so new. Young people are more attracted to it,” she says. “Everywhere young people are right now, they’re trying to be.”

Scion’s story begins about ten years ago. In the early 2000s, Toyota had a problem. The average age of their drivers was 46 – one of the highest in the industry. The term “Japanese Buick” was getting thrown around, and although Toyota had just launched a series of models meant to attract younger buyers, almost all were flops. (Do you by chance recall the Toyota Spyder? Or the Celica?) The brand that meant safety and reliability to older buyers was seen as dowdy by the new generation, who didn’t want to be driving their parents’ cars.

Toyota needed a new approach. They found it in the Blue Ocean Strategy, a corporate playbook born of the Harvard Business Review, which “challenges companies to break out of the red ocean of bloody competition by creating uncontested market space that makes the competition irrelevant.” In other words, Toyota was no longer going to compete with Hyundai or Mazda, because they would be selling a completely different product. They would be selling cool.

Thus, Project Exodus began. The objective: to create a new brand name that would appeal to the Gen-Y demographic (anyone born between 1975 and 2000). Exodus launched Scion, a line of models with distinctive designs that drew from a racing aesthetic, made available in the U.S. in 2003. To bring in the youth market, Scion began inserting itself wherever 18-to-30-year-olds hung out by sponsoring concerts, art installations, independent films, trendy restaurants and the like.

Scion taps into the psyche (or, at least, the supposed psyche) of our generation and acts accordingly. A big theme in their campaign is originality

and individualism. “The younger generation express themselves through music, art, style and lifestyle choices,” says scionnation.ca “Every Scion is just that – a steel canvas for expression, using accessories to create a vehicle that is as unique as the person driving it.” Scion offers hundreds of customization options, like stereo upgrades, spoilers, and lowering springs. Younger car buyers are more likely than older ones to be “tuners” – drivers that modify the appearance of their car by paying thousands of dollars for head-to-toe customization.

Another way that Scion distinguishes itself is with its “pure price” policy: no haggling, because “buying your car should be as easy as buying anything else.” Apparently, young people only buy things with barcodes.

The idea is that by offering customization, sponsoring events and having a pure-price policy, Scion demonstrates that it “gets” us. In adding these elements to fast, design-forward and powerful cars – priced within reach of first-time buyers – Scion became Toyota’s newest success with sales peaking at 170,000 units sold in 2006.

It avoided the loud advertising techniques used by other car manufacturers, saved money by avoiding too many TV ads and by piggybacking showroom space from existing Toyota dealerships. The Scion dynasty grew and began looking to expand to new markets. In late September of last year, the shiny new 2011 models made their debut in Canadian Toyota dealerships for the first time.

Since its arrival, the company has staged an allout marketing blitzkrieg on Montreal, and, it seems, my life. After buying my ticket before a concert last October, I was given a Scion wristband from a man at a Scion tent, and walked past a display of two parked Scions on the way to the door. There are Scion ads on the back of the number 24 bus going down Sherbrooke as I walk to class, suggesting that I would rather be riding in a Scion than on the STM.

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Alex McKenzie with Olivia Messer | The McGill Daily

HAT YOU DRIVE

mpt to rebrand its cars and rebrand your life My favourite music magazine has a double-page Scion spread in every issue. That new producer I love? Scion just released his mix tape. Scion sponsors Piknic Electronique and Igloofest, as well as the Cheaper Show – a major exhibition for emerging artists – and dozens of other smaller events.

“We’ve been bringing over DJs from the U.K. and Europe to host events in the three cities, and we’ve been doing some experiential marketing by taking the cars out with street teams to downtown cores, with local events with surf and skateboard shops,” said Scion Canada’s marketing manager Paul Harrison to Marketing Magazine at the time of the launch last September. “We certainly target that influencer market.”

The word “influencer” is a relatively new addition to the ad man’s lexicon. It’s basically the equivalent of buying a pair of sneakers because you saw the popular kid wearing them. An influencer shows up where you’re least expecting, and builds loyalty by associating itself with things you like. Since Scion has the same tastes as me, in music or fashion or art or whatever else, I’m supposed to like it more as a car.

Generation Y is known to advertisers as an “adblind” demographic. We’ve been bombarded with conventional advertisements since before we can remember, and we’ve become quite jaded, so influencers are the marketer’s newest trick to get us to buy.

And Scion is not only selling a car, but an entire lifestyle. At the auto show, I was handed a copy of Scion Magazine. It features a picture of a smiling twenty-something named Lisa, leaning out the window of her boxy xB. “It’s funny how a car can change your life,” the caption reads. “The xB is more than a car... whenever I’m cruising around, you just can’t help but take a second look.” Lisa’s Scion, which is about as “different by design” as your standard kitchen toaster, would turn heads. The red custompainted 18-inch wheels that pop against the ultra-low white body are meant to show us Lisa’s individuality,

her creative masterpiece on Scion’s “steel canvas.”

Lisa, as it happens, is the “editor-in-chief ” of the clever bit of ad propaganda that Scion calls a magazine, a position which she claims she fell into “serendipitously” after importing her beloved Scion from the U.S. over a year ago.

It’s a tempting illusion. In the magazine’s sunny, overexposed pictures, beautiful people in shiny cars cruise past trendy shops on Queen West and in Mile End. Laughing, a well-dressed gang piles into the back of an xB for a daytrip. A could-be model, sporting an impeccable pixie cut and an expression of utter self-assurance, rolls up to a night-time gallery opening. This could be your life. All that’s missing is a Scion.

It’s not new for car companies to associate an idealized lifestyle with their brand. In their ads, companies like Jeep and Subaru push a thrill-seeking aesthetic, while Lexus and Audi tantalize us with the wonders of high living. And Scion is only one of many companies using influencers to attract youth buyers – Red Bull and Virgin Media are other forerunners, hosting events that cater to younger tastes and offering a curated collection of music and video on their websites. What’s striking about Scion, however, is how it taps into a disconnected generation’s need to belong and the ease with which it does so.

It’s likely that Toyota is using these unconventional methods in advertising because young people are beginning to see cars in a different way than their parents did. Issues like air pollution and climate change are influencing consumption, and car companies seem worried. Another reason that cars are becoming less desirable is that young people are more and more attracted to lifestyles that don’t involve driving.

“What it all boils down to is the effect of housing versus cost of transportation,” says Nik Luka, a McGill Architecture and Urban Planning professor who specializes in the efficient use of urban space

and infrastructure. “Explicitly, what that means is, people could pay more [for housing] and not need a car, or pay less and need a car. One of the reasons that you see targeted marketing like this is because perceptions are beginning to shift. In studies on housing choice and satisfaction, younger households are more interested in living in denser neighbourhoods and not having a car,” he says.

“In Montreal, we have a dense, compact layout, and so the benefits of not having a car have surpassed the benefits of having one, especially in a neighbourhood like the Plateau, which can’t accommodate very many cars. The more you squeeze in, the more time is spent sitting stopped. So people are choosing not to drive and getting places faster...

If there are viable alternatives, they should be used.”

But, he concedes, the alternatives are often underwhelming when compared to the allure of a new car.

“There’s a practical, pragmatic, logical, moral argument there... The trouble is, cars are selling a product, a physical object that gives visual pleasure.

It’s much harder to sell an everyday activity,” Luka says, pointing to activities like cycling or riding public transit.

Car companies, of course, spend millions on advertising, while transit authorities cannot. Luka could think of only one exciting promotion of alternative transportation: the STM’s 1976 “Il fait beau dans l’metro” campaign, a TV commercial depicting happy public transportation riders singing and dancing while miserable drivers sat in gridlock. For the most part, however, car companies have the upper hand when it comes to attracting us.

There are 19 million registered vehicles in operation in Canada today, and over 80 per cent of us drive to work. It will be up to young people to decide whether our society will continue to be centered around the car, or whether it’s time for a new direction.

11

Health&Education

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

12

To medicalize mourning What are the implications of formally pathologizing grief?

Talia Gordon

Health&Education Writer

S

ince the beginnings of modern psychiatry, the study and diagnosis of mental disorders has been surrounded by a burgeoning cloud of contention. Certainly, the history of psychiatry is fraught with issues regarding the definition of and conflicts over the inclusion and exclusion of certain illnesses (homosexuality, included until 1973, is a prime example) as disordered conditions. Over the past 25 years in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has expanded to allow room for a number of “new” disorders. Included in this growing group is “Complicated Grief,” or “Prolonged Grief Disorder,” which is being considered for a spot in the DSM-V, due out in 2013. While many psychiatrists believe that pathological grief has long deserved a place in diagnostic nomenclature, its potential inclusion as a mental disorder has great implications for how we understand and negotiate a fundamental human experience: the death of a loved one.

Until recently, grief has maintained a foothold in the realm of human emotion largely untouched by the world of psychiatry. Grief, mourning, and bereavement were seen as natural human reactions to trauma and tragedy. When encountered in a clinical context, grief was understood as an extended

manifestation of existing disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder or Major Depressive Disorder.

However, many psychiatrists, such as Mardi J. Horowitz at the University of California, San Francisco have argued that extreme grieving is a pathological disorder that requires crucial medical and therapeutic treatment. While the debate continues as to how to define and diagnose pathological grief, a greater question emerges: why are we so keen on defining grief as a disorder in the first place?

Leeat Granek is a Toronto-based critical psychologist who specializes in grief and loss and has been at the forefront of a movement toward re-thinking our perceptions of and attitudes toward grief in the North American context. Granek suggests that rather than focus on definitions of what is “normal” and “abnormal” when it comes to grieving, we should be more concerned with what the desire to pathologize grief reflects about our societal beliefs and attitudes.

“Many of the mental illnesses in the DSM are social constructions that are based on the cultural zeitgeist at the moment,” said Granek. “We already live in a culture that is intolerant of grief and loss in general.

The message is often, ‘You need to move on, you need to see someone.’” The inclusion of pathological grief as a clinical diagnosis would serve to reinforce the perception of

Stacey Wilson | The McGill Daily

grief as a problematic, rather than a natural human reaction to loss and bereavement.

Granek’s concerns over the inclusion of grief in the DSM stretch beyond the realm of negative societal perceptions and attitudes. Grieving has traditionally been done in tight-knit communities made up of family, friends, and close community-members. In

recent years, these support networks have shrunk or largely disappeared, which has changed the way individuals are able to grieve.

Granek explains what is happening is a “diagnostic creep” which has meant that more and more people are being screened for grief “disorder.” Indeed, as Granek pointed out, anyone who has ever experienced a loss or grief falls into that

purview, and can face diagnosis. As grief becomes an increasingly common diagnosis of disorder, human experiences are relegated to the institutionalized sphere: the offices of therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. “There is less space for grief and loss, and less space for tolerance in our culture,” said Granek. Indeed, the doctor’s office has taken the place of community rituals and traditions that in the past created space and support for grief and mourning.

But Granek is hopeful, and with good reason. In mid-February, she held a number of meetings at York University in Toronto and the City University of New York with a wide range of individuals including clinicians, healthcare workers and community activists who work in the area of grief and loss to discuss alternatives to pathologization. The aim was to generate discussion drawn from on-the-ground experiences of people with a variety of perspectives and backgrounds. Granek emphasizes the need for a “multiplicity of voices” when it comes to the field of grief and the ultimate need for more dialogue in order to narrow the space between research and the human experience.

In describing the outcomes of her meetings, one of the only things that everyone could agree on, said Granek, is that grief is complex and diverse – indeed, as is the depth and capacity of human emotion.

Saying yes to zest

When life gives you curds Lemon curd Dine with Dash Thomas Dashwood dinewithdash@mcgilldaily.com

L

emon curd, a thick tangy custard, is cloyingly decadent but delivers an aromatic sharpness that screams summer.

It is the perfect dessert to encourage winter to get a move on and let spring have some room, without resorting to eating salads. Use this curd to fill cakes, pies, and tarts (store bought crusts work well), to top muffins, cupcakes, cookies and crepes or to serve with fruit, crusty bread or in trifles and parfaits.

Variations:

Curds can be made with any citrus fruit, but lemons or limes are usually included to provide some tartness, to cut the sweet quality. Aim for about half a cup of juice and at least four tablespoons of grated zest.

This means about four limes, two small oranges plus one lemon, or one mammoth grapefruit plus a lime (and so on). Tangerines, blood oranges, key limes, and other more exotic citrus fruits will also work well.

Ingredients: Zest of three lemons: the zest is the yellow outer skin of the lemon – not the intensely bitter white layer right underneath – and it’ll give the lemon curd its intense lemon flavour. Use a fine grater to remove it. ¼ pound of butter (1 stick), soft 1 cup of sugar ¼ teaspoon salt 4 eggs Juice of two lemons, three if you like it tangy

Method: Begin by setting up a double boiler. For this, boil a large pot half full with water. Next, you will need a heat-proof mixing bowl that can rest on top of this pot without the bottom touching the surface of the water. You will only need to put the mixing bowl on top of the boiling pot of water when directed to below.

With a whisk, mix the lemon zest, butter, sugar, and salt together in the mixing bowl until creamy

for just a couple of minutes.

Add the eggs and lemon juice and continue to whisk until incorporated.

Turn the heat down on the boiling water to a bare simmer. You want the steam to rise and heat the mixing bowl when you place it on top, but do not want the water to boil vigorously. Ensure there is always some water in the pot so that it doesn’t boil dry.

Place the bowl on top of the pot, and switching to a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula, stir every twenty seconds or so for ten minutes. After this, stir constantly for another five to ten minutes to prevent curdling until the curd is the consistency of thin pudding. The curd should never boil (partly why we are using a double boiler) and will thicken below boiling point.

If curdled at all, or if you don’t like small bits of lemon zest, strain before cooling.

Cool, cover with plastic wrap (make sure it touches the surface of the lemon curd to prevent a skin forming) and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving. It will thicken even more as it cools.

Health&Education

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

13

Negotiating linguistic limits The push and pull in Maritime French-language education policy David Zuluaga Cano The McGill Daily

A

cadians form one of the largest French-speaking minorities in Canada. Mostly living in the Maritime provinces, Acadians first settled in Canada in 1604, and despite the fact that many Acadians were deported by British colonial authorities beginning in 1755 (during the Seven Years War) a substantial Acadian population still remains. The late 20th century, especially after the enactment of official bilingualism in 1969, saw the beginning of efforts by the government to redress past persecution of minority francophone groups through guarantees of access to minority-language education.

Minority language education rights were enshrined in section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when the constitution was repatriated in 1982. This created a positive right for children to receive schooling in their official mother tongue. However, federal programs looking to boost access to minority language education precede the Charter, dating back to the introduction of official bilingualism in 1969. “The Charter created a constitutional obligation out of an effort the government had started 13 years earlier,” Hayday said.

Through the Ministry of Canadian Heritage, the federal government started giving grants to provinces in the 1970s to establish minority-language education programs.

“For every student in a province studying in a minority language, the [federal] government would pay a percentage,” explained Hayday.

French-language students were subsidized at a rate of 9 per cent, and French as a Second Language (FSL) students at 5 percent. Although the cost shared by the federal government might seem small, since education is a provincial responsibility

the program was merely intended to cover for additional expenses in providing second-language resources.

The charter guarantees access to minority language education where “the number of those children so warrants.” Much of the Charter litigation on language rights has focused on the administration of minority language schools. For example, in Arsenault-Cameron v.

Prince Edward Island (2000) the Supreme Court established that French-language school boards, and not the provincial Department of Education, have the discretion to decide whether there are enough children in an area to establish a school.

This trend of giving French boards greater control over their schools has been reflected in other provinces. Nova Scotia, for example, gave the only French school board in the province (as opposed to seven English ones) the authority to write the French-language curriculum in 2003, with the Department of Education retaining final approval power. Previously, Frenchlanguage schools followed the English curriculum, with teachers expected to do much of the translation. This placed a heavy burden on teachers, who were forced to find material in French that would satisfy the requirements dictated by the curriculum.

“I remember as a teacher having to find material in French to teach for a course on law designed in English,” recalls Gilles LeBlanc, executive director of the Acadian and French Language Services branch of the Department of Education in Nova Scotia.

New Brunswick, the province with the second largest proportion of French speakers in the country, began reforms on French-language education in the late 1960s. Starting in 1966, francophone elementaryschool students were entitled to receive instruction in their mother

Rachel Reichel for The McGill Daily

Control over French-language education has oscillated between the federal government and local school boards. tongue. In 1969, the government of Premier Louis Robichaud enacted the Official Languages of New Brunswick Act, making the province the only one in the Canadian federation to be officially bilingual.

“New Brunswick is 30 per cent francophone, and so its government is a lot more sensitive to the demands of the Acadian population,” stated Matthew Hayday, a historian at the University of Guelph.

Although Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (PEI) also have Acadian populations, these provinces took longer to promote French schooling. Part of the reason comes down to numbers: in the 2006 census francophones made up only 4 per cent of PEI’s population and 3.6 per cent in Nova Scotia.

In the past, there was some reluctance among francophones to embrace French schools. Hayday explained that a small number of parents were concerned about what would happen to their children’s English skills if they were sent to a French school. This attitude has

since changed, with francophone groups in those two provinces taking the government to court in recent years to gain control of the French-language school boards.

Measuring the success of the French-language schooling programs can be difficult. Looking at graduation rates is misleading, because the French program loses a lot of students to the English school boards. Graduation rates are calculated by dividing the number of students in grade 12 in a given year by the corresponding number of students in grade nine three years before then. If a lot of students transfer boards before graduation, this will result in an inaccurately low assessment of student success.

For example, some French schools in Nova Scotia were too small to offer upper years, forcing students to transfer to the English system to complete their diploma.

This gave rise to seemingly appalling-looking graduation rates – as low as 54.8 per cent in 2001-2002

– that were more reflective of institutional limitations than academic difficulties.

LeBlanc said, however, that French programs are on the upswing. In Nova Scotia, the French school board Conseil scolaire acadien provincial, has drastically improved student retention rates over the past decade. The most recent graduation rate was 89.5 per cent for 2009-2010.

Future challenges to Frenchlanguage schooling likely lie in funding. The federal government was criticized last August by the PEI French school board for the inadequate increase in the Canadian Heritage program that funds minority language schools, because it could result in a reduction of funding in real terms. In spite of these challenges, educators remain optimistic about the future of the minority language system.

“Of the seven boards in Nova Scotia, the French school board is the only one where enrolment is increasing,” LeBlanc said.

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Culture

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15

The future of (un)consumption How a business model of sharing and caring is replacing traditional consumerism John Lapsley

The McGill Daily

T

wo weeks ago, much-beleaguered American bookseller Borders Group filed for bankruptcy, following other former giants of North American consumption like Circuit City, Blockbuster, and General Motors into Chapter 11. In the press release, Borders president Mike Edwards tersely cited “curtailed consumer spending.” People, it seems, are not buying enough books. Or televisions.

Or cars.

Where some see only the purse-tightening aftershocks of the economic recession, people like Rachel Botsman and Lauren Anderson see the first casualties of a dramatic shift in consumption habits. The decades-old model of wasteful hyper-consumption is quickly ceding ground to a cleaner, sharing and swapping-based model called Collaborative Consumption.

Botsman and Anderson are part of a movement that has researched and mapped out the phenomenon, most recently in the 2010 book What’s Mine Is Yours, which Botsman co-authored.

“Collaborative Consumption puts a system in place where people can share resources without forfeiting cherished personal freedoms or sacrificing their lifestyle,” Botsman wrote in the introduction to What’s Mine Is Yours.

The Collaborative Consumption model re-imagines traditional industry by creating services that work to efficiently re-allocate existing resources (like used textbooks and idle guest rooms) rather than churning out new ones. The most successful examples, like Netflix and Bixi, create secondary markets for used or shared possessions without the poor-quality stigma that typically accompanies communal or secondhand resources, like public restrooms and Salvation Army clothing.

Renting happiness Collaborative Consumption is rooted in the principle of separating product benefits from product purchase or ownership. A bike you pick up at a Bixi station will serve the same purpose as a bike that spends most of its day in your garage or a campus bike rack. A secondhand textbook will contain the same information as the shrinkwrapped one that costs three times more at the bookstore. Food eaten on a communal Plate Club dish will not taste any different from food in the SSMU cafeteria’s single-use Styrofoam. In all cases of Collaborative Consumption, consumers can save money without forfeiting any product benefits

or attributes – all they sacrifice is individual ownership.

The environmental benefits of lower purchase demand are easily implied. Anderson, innovation strategist at Collaborative Consumption Lab – an agency that advises businesses on how to implement Cllaborative Consumption strategies – said a key facet of Collaborative Consumption systems is “cradle-to-cradle” design, in which reuse replaces disposal.

“The concept that there is no ‘away’ grows more and more apparent every day,” Anderson wrote in an email from Sydney, Australia.

“We are exceeding the planet’s capacity to deal with this waste.”

What sets Collaborative Consumption apart from other environmental movements is that it does not require us to use or enjoy less – just to actually own less. In many cases, in fact, Collaborative Consumption systems allow users to enjoy more than traditional consumption would permit. “Can’t buy happiness? Rent it!” urges Avelle, an online accessory rental service that lets users borrow Chanel totes and Louis Vuitton purses.

Zipcar, an hourly-or-daily-rate car sharing network now operating in over fifty major cities across the globe, prides itself not only on the quality and ubiquity of its vehicles, but on the fact that owners can drive a different car every day if they choose and never incur the costs of owning or insuring the vehicle.

Under Collaborative Consumption, if it can be bought new, it can probably be rented at the same quality, with the same benefits, at a much lower cost.

“It is clear that for every current traditional market, there is an opportunity for a Collaborative Consumption-based alternative,” Anderson wrote.

By providing benefits without ownership, Collaborative Consumption networks make it possible for anyone to wear diamond earrings without maxing out their credit cards, Bixi along the Lachine Canal without ever having to buy a bike lock or – like Marie Thomas, U3 Physics at McGill – spend ten days in New York City without dropping a dime on lodging.

Communities, not customers When Marie Thomas travels, rather than bargain-hunt on hotel websites, she consults the CouchSurfing network. Couch Surfers have instant, rent-free access to each other’s thousands of futons, spare beds, and sleeping bags around the world. The reference-based system is built on mutual trust and credibility, which members can earn by being excellent guests, hosts, or both. For well-referenced Couch Surfers like

Houda Chergui for The McGill Daily

Marie, the travel possibilities are limitless – free lodging awaits her in Panama, Belarus, and Thailand. “[People I tell] say they would love to do it, but they kind of have this reaction like, ‘is it safe?’” Thomas said. “And I’m always like, absolutely.”

CouchSurfing embodies the driving principle of Collaborative Consumption – idle capacity. Many of us have a couch, sink, and toilet that simply aren’t in use 24 hours a day. When systems like CouchSurfing make this idle space available to travellers like Thomas, they distribute resources more evenly without creating demand for an additional hotel room.

For many users, however, the focus is not on environmentallyfriendly resource allocation, but on the close-knit communities these systems forge. Both Thomas and Anderson praised the personal connections inherent in an exchange based on sharing rather than purchase.

“The sense of community that is present in all Collaborative Consumption exchanges is truly remarkable,” Anderson wrote.

Thomas, who during her ten days in Brooklyn ate, lived, and partied with nearly a dozen other Couch Surfers from countries as far-flung as Syria, agrees that the friendships she’s made are the highlights of her CouchSurfing

career. “I feel like I have a family [in Brooklyn] now,” Thomas said. “I had that good a time.”

Thomas added that as a host, she tends to reject the occasional Couch Surfing request if the only personalized aspect of their message is her name. The point of this system, she stressed, is not to give freeloaders a cheap night’s stay.

“For the sake of the culture and community, you should make an attempt to be interested in your host,” Thomas said. “How are you going to connect with someone who is just using you as a hostel?”

Trust between strangers While services like Bixi and CouchSurfing are flourishing on the principles of Collaborative Consumption, it has yet to become a prevalent blueprint for designing systems that prioritize allocating resources over creating new ones.

Anderson believes that one of the biggest hurdles will be building trust between strangers – a key driving force of Collaborative Consumption systems. “[Trust between strangers] is the most important ingredient to get right,” Anderson wrote. “Without this as a stable building block, it is very difficult to achieve the right level of critical mass.”

Anderson pointed out that the most successful systems have

built-in mechanisms for effectively establishing that trust, such as CouchSurfing’s reference system and eBay’s buyer feedback process.

“Through building this trust, these systems scaled rapidly to support a critical mass of users who all have an inherent belief in the value and success of the system.”

Moving forward fast Even when systems get all of the ingredients right, Collaborative Consumption is not likely to supplant traditional consumption.

Ideally, the two would exist sideby-side, and most consumers of the future would have one foot in both camps.

“While it may continue to be necessary to buy certain things ‘new,’” Anderson said, “Collaborative Consumption has the potential to be an equal counterpart to other more traditional forms of consumption.”

Anderson added that businesses that stick doggedly to the practices of wasteful consumption are likely to go the way of Blockbuster and Borders.

“Some industries might be slower than others in recognizing the importance of a Collaborative Consumption model,” Anderson conceded. “[But] those who don’t catch up will certainly be left behind the newcomers.”

16Culture

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Montreal on ice A guide to the city’s best outdoor rinks

Thomas Kim

Culture Writer

C

anada is known around the world as the land of ice and snow – few things have as great an impact on Canada’s identity as winter. Part of overcoming Canadian winters is the distraction offered by a variety of pastimes, one of which – as seen on the back of $5 dollar bill – is outdoor ice skating. In Montreal, when folks aren’t bundled up inside watching hockey, you can find them on the rink outdoors.

“Outdoor ice-skating kind of reminds me of a very traditional Canadian winter,” Alexander Arnon, a U3 Economics student, said while skating on Parc La Fontaine in a tuxedo. Unphased by the weather he remarked that, “Skating outdoors is rather pleasant!”

For those brave enough to face the elements, popular ice rinks include the frozen lake in Parc La Fontaine and Beaver Lake on top of Mont-Royal both free of charge, and offering ice skate rentals for $8. Surrounded by trees and a tamed wilderness – both Parc La Fontaine and Mont-Royal offer Montreal’s urbanites an opportunity to enjoy a rustic skate in the comfort of their own backyard.

Both are lit during opening hours, with Parc La Fontaine adding a classical soundtrack to enhance your skate.

For the cosmopolitans of the city there is also the option of skating in the Old Port at the

Bonsecours Basin, with an admissions fee of $4 for students and skate rentals at $8. Over half a kilometre of open ice, beautifully illuminated at night with great views of both the St. Lawrence and de la Commune, Bonsecours Basin is a great place for a romantic city skate.

McGill recently joined in on the winter fun by opening a rink in the lower field. With no admissions fee and a convenient location, McGill’s rink is a great way to get in a skate between classes if you’ve got your own blades.

The availability of hot chocolate at the nearby Snax is an added perk.

But while Montreal has a plethora of outdoor skating rinks available, away from the ice, residents and visitors often have a marked indifference to going outdoors in the winter.

U2 Sociology major Aylish Cotter remarked while looking out at group of students playing hockey on lower field, “The one problem with skating outdoors is that it is just so cold outside!”

Despite this freezing temperature induced scepticism, outdoor skating remains an important Canadian winter pastime enjoyed by many. For Outremont resident, Waseem Haja, “There is no beating a late night skate in Parc Saint-Viateur.” He explained in an interview with The Daily, “It’s pretty and quiet and on a clear night the moon hangs beautifully over the rooftops. It’s a great place to do some thinking. And

Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily

Skaters enjoy Canada’s favourite winter pastime at Parc La Fontaine. if you get cold you can always warm up at the 5 Saisons beside the park.”

Parc Saint-Viateur is located on Bernard, west of Parc, and charges no admissions fee, but does not offer rental skates. A picturesque and quiet park, this rink offers a suitable alternative for those wanting to enjoy a skate without the crowds of larger rinks.

Jay Watts III, a project man-

ager at JK Communications and Montreal resident, noted an added bonus from outdoor skating: “It is pretty enjoyable, all in all, [although] I don’t go often enough, actually I didn’t go at all this winter. But, if you want to endear yourself to a girl, it’s an inexpensive and easy way.”

A winter cannot be truly Canadian without the essentials – cold weather, snow, warm clothes,

and outdoor skating. Montreal offers more than enough possibilities for an outdoor skating excursion. And if the bitter weather and lack of companionship is stopping you from going, pick an old compatriot that will always keep you warm: Canadian Club.

For a details about and a map of Montreals skating rinks go to patinermontreal.ca.

Making art matter Concordia’s eleventh annual fine arts festival amps-up its profile in the city’s art scene Tiana Reid

The McGill Daily

A

rt Matters is an annual student-run non-profit arts festival showcasing the work of Concordia University’s artists, along with that of the festival’s curators, producers, and volunteers. While Art Matters has always had a “by students, for students” ethos, the bigger idea is to provide the student body with professional opportunities.

The festival itself is big. In its eleventh year, the 2011 edition will host work from over 200 artists, running until March 19 in over 12 venues throughout Montreal.

Co-producer of External Relations Stephanie Laoun wrote in an email that this year, Art Matters has “seen an overwhelming amount of both interest and responses from galleries, artist-run centres, and other important local organizations.” More than ever, this edi-

tion of the festival goes beyond Concordia’s fine arts scene and matters for the Montreal art community at large.

Sophie Edell, a fourth-year double major in studio arts and art history at Concordia, is showing for her second time at this year’s Art Matters at Alive and Kicking, a collective painting exhibition curated by Simon Larivière. When asked if there is a gap between the Concordia and the Montreal arts scene, Edell responded that they are “intertwined.” This interconnection is apparent in the way that Art Matters has developed over the past decade, expanding from simply being known as a Concordia “thing,” to a city-wide event.

According to Co-Producer of Publicity and Media Relations, Helen Adilia Arceyut-Frixione, Art Matters was initially created “as a way for student artists to share their work with a large public that is not necessarily associated to the field of fine arts.” In the midst of

the undeniably elitist art world, Art Matters provides a more democratic venue, enabling student artists to network and meet other artists and curators. In an email, ArceyutFrixione explained that the festival is about showcasing “the creative, ambitious and professional nature of Concordia’s student body.” For Edell, the festival is an opportunity for exposure and a “good way to talk to people outside of [her] classes and group of friends about [her] work, and to meet other artists.”

Past years have left Art Matters with a party rep, but it has always been more than the cliche of students drinking PBR in a gallery loft in the Plateau. ArceyutFrixione confirmed the festival’s professionalism, stating that that “the past ten years have cemented the Art Matters Festival as part of the Montreal art scene.” Even so, attendees are bound to have a good time. The opening party features a DJ set from Andrew WK (he’s also

speaking at Concordia earlier that day), as well as live performances

by Pat Jordache, Grimes, Cousins, and others.

What about this year’s exhibitions? Edell is looking forward to seeing how the various shows at the Eastern Bloc (7240 Clark) – “Enter the Foam,” “The Closer We Are to Death,” “The More We Feel Alive,” “The Receptacle” and her own show, “Alive and Kicking” – interact with each other. Another one to watch out for is “PUSH-PULL,” at La Galerie ESPACE (4844 St. Laurent), an exhibition that unpacks the intricacies behind the design process in fields including fashion, furniture, industrial and graphic design. Many of the exhibits gain their appeal by taking common art themes and making them their own: “Home, Paralleled” at Ctrllab (3634 St. Laurent), upsets traditional notions of home; and “Beauty in Obsession” at Galerie Rye (1331A Ste. Catherine E.), co-presented by the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy, examines our

habitual beauty rituals.

With such diverse programming, it’s no surprise that Art Matters has garnered more and more praise since its inception. According to Laoun, the festival’s innovation has gained considerable feedback from students and universities around the world, and has even been a source of inspiration. The University of Gothenburg in Sweden, for instance, is looking to build a similar festival for its own fine arts faculties. Laoun reflected on the festival’s bright future, saying that “perhaps in 10 years from now, the Art Matters Festival ‘model’ can be shared with many other education centres and perhaps even form partnerships with other universities, both locally and internationally.”

The Art Matters opening party is March 4, 9 p.m. at Espace Reunion, 6600 Hutchison. Tickets $10 on the door. For more information on ievents across the city, visit artmattersfestival.com.

Culture

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

17

CULTURE ESSAY

Between here and there

Black Canadian literature strives to define itself in the face of a dominant American tradition

Seble Gameda

The McGill Daily

H

ow do you write about a culture whose presence is hardly acknowledged? This is the challenge that black Canadian literature has faced historically, and continues to face today. Black Canadian literature (or AfricanCanadian literature) has been born out of an invisible struggle, grappling with themes of identity, race, and belonging in a nation eager to overlook its racial history.

Burdened with an omitted historical presence in Canada, affirming a sense of place and belonging within this country is an ongoing premise for black Canadians, inextricably linked to the fabric of this literary field.

George Elliott Clarke – poet, novelist, playwright, opera libbretist, and professor of English at the University of Toronto – has written one of the most comprehensive texts of black Canadian literature entitled Odysseys Home: Mapping African-Canadian Literature. In an interview with The Daily, Clarke commented on this theme of historical omission in relation to the birth of the literary genre, stating, “it was born basically because people of African heritage or African descent wanted to bear witness to their presence. [Canada] is a country who has difficulty acknowledging black people, acknowledging the black presence.”

In light of this omission, the content of this literature does not deal exclusively with themes of race or racism, but encompasses a very earnest process of stating, explaining, and reiterating presence within Canada. “So much of black Canadian literature deals with questions of immigration and multiculturalism and belonging to nation, especially where that’s challenged,” said Leslie C. Sanders, professor of black Canadian literature and African-American literature and Theatre at York University, in an interview.

Black Canadian literature is not static, but rather constantly evolving and extremely dynamic, with origins ranging from the Caribbean to continental Africa. “There’s a good strong part of black Canadian writing that consists of people coming from Somalia, Ethiopia, Coted’Ivoire, Senegal, Haiti, Brazil, the United States and from the Caribbean in general – Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana,” said Clarke. These authors are not only explaining the ways in which they navigate and decipher Canada’s cultural landscape, they are also recounting tales of their home countries and the personal stories which have brought them to the various Canadian provinces where they have ended up in. In these works the idea of blackness is also brought to the fore, “especially if

Edna Chan | The McGill Daily

they come from a black majority country,” explained Clarke. “They may never have even thought of themselves as being black before, it’s only when they arrive in a white majority context and everyone’s telling them – you’re black, that they suddenly have to think of themselves in a racialized fashion.”

This is where themes of belonging and integration come into play, as it involves a process of transporting constructed identities across national and international boundaries and questioning, interpreting and communicating how these are transformed in new environments.

The challenge of integrating black Canadian literature is partly attributed to its lack of publicity.

As Toronto Star columnist Royson James has pointed out, large publishers have generally been reluctant to publish allegedly “insular” and “un-Canadian” novels of black Canadians. This trend can also be observed in Governor General’s Award verdicts, which until recently have neglected black Canadian writers altogether. This reluctance to bring narratives of black Canadian experience to the fore has created problems of representation, limiting the number of stories that become part of our collective memory.

In addition to George Elliott Clarke, Sanders highlighted several prominent anglophone figures within black Canadian literature including poet, fiction writer, essayist, and professor Dionne Brand, and short story writer, essayist and novelist Austin Clarke. As is com-

mon throughout this literary genre, these writers deal with themes of identity and challenges of integration, concepts of race among Diasporic communities and issues of belonging within a Canadian framework.

In this sense there are vast differences between African-American and African-Canadian literature.

Histories of colonialism, slavery, and segregation are widely known and accepted within the American context, and although similar institutions prospered in Canada, they are often camouflaged by a euphemistic historical depiction.

Because of the themes and content of African-American and African-Canadian literature differ greatly. Prominent within Canada are “questions of belonging to nation rather than only a question of anti-racist sentiments,” said Sanders. “For African-Americans, the whole trajectory is different.

Their literature may question issues of racism and citizenship but presence in the nation is not at stake in the same way.” While blackness and Americanness may be equated, hyphenated identities (e.g. Haitian-Canadian, EthiopianCanadian) are projected onto black Canadians. This imposed labelling impedes general processes of integration and originates from explicit and hidden histories within the United States and Canada respectively. Related to these histories are American ideologies of the “melting pot” in which immigrants become “Americanized”

and homogenized, and Canadian ideologies of multiculturalism in which diversity, and that which is different, are maintained.

These differing approaches produce distinct narratives of black consciousness. “In AfricanAmerican literature, black consciousness is taken for granted. You don’t need to explain it because it’s understood that if you’re Black in America, you know about your history, you know about your culture, you know about the heroes and heroines – Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey,” said Clarke.

However similar narratives within the Canadian context are few are far between. Clark continued, “If you’re African-Canadian, you constantly need to be recovering the history… unearthing the heroines and heroes and… furthermore, interpreting and reinterpreting and defining blackness.”

Black Canadian literature is therefore creating a home and enclave for writers of the African and Caribbean diaspora to recreate their own stories, and bring truth to otherwise obscured and tainted historical accounts of their presence within Canada. This literary venture challenges conventional Canadian narratives and strives to give voice to populations who have been made invisible. Its contribution to Canadian literature is revolutionary, grappling with themes of transformed identities, belonging, and constant pulls between a here and a there.

“If you’re African Canadian, you constantly need to be recovering the history, unearthing the heroines and heroes.”

George Elliott Clarke Poet and professor of English, University of Toronto

Compendium!

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Lies, half-truths, and phallic gold statues

18

OSCAR top six high points 1. James “anywhere but here” Franco and Dork Hathaway gave a pretty flaccid go at hosting. It took Billy Crystal no less than five minutes to utterly eclipse the dull duo – and he only brought one outfit.

2. “Should we have ten best pictures this year instead of the traditional five....hmmmm....I suppose....sure it makes the show longer and more pointless...but five more films can now be excluded from the list of two that actually have a fucking chance.” Great idea Academy.

3. They should change the award for “Best Foreign Film” to “Best Picture,” and change the award for “Best Picture” to “The Best Hollywood Can Do.” 4. Gwyneth Paltrow reminding us that she exists (cringe) ... in song.

5. If given the chance to interview an acting legend, I’ll ignore their work and make sure – above everything – to ask them who designed their outfit, because... well, there’s just no other way to find out.

6. Not enough interesting dead celebrities. Hopefully next year more cool ones will bite it. Plenty of undead celebrities though. Imagine a better “redemption” for Sandra Bullock than crawling from the bowels of the earth and feasting on Hailee Steinfeld’s liver during the after-party.

—Compiled by Zack Sleep

The U.S. House votes to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization which provides essential health services to women, especially low-income women and those with limited access to family planning resources The Oscars... happened

EVEN

Corrupt, union-busting Wisconsin Governor continues to pervert the democratic process

MINUS 50

Tripoli residents afraid to go outside

MINUS 49

It’s just been a bad day

MINUS 12

St. Patrick’s day... We’re quivering with anticipation SSMU elections are this week! Be sure to vote It’s getting warmer... but also slushier. Eew. Olivia Messer (Funny) and Victor Tangermann (Beer) | The McGill Daily

MINUS 223

TOTAL LAST WEEK’S TOTAL

PLUS 7 PLUS 38 EVEN MINUS 289 PLUS 217

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Thank you VagMons!

I

’d like to thank you for making me realize the strength of my poochi.

You inspired me to just believe in my pussy and let it enjoy the works of passion. You know just how much you did for me? I had three orgasms in half an hour when I got some that night. All women should look up to the Vagina Monologues to learn about the abstract, wonderful, sexy, intense world of your mooschi and just embrace yourself. Let your pussy be the epicentre of your body, let it take control of you. Fuck yeah, and go TEAM! Fuck Yeah! is an occasional anonymous rave column where you can share your love for whatever strikes your fancy with the whole world. Email fuckthis@mcgilldaily.com with your less-than-200-word blurbs.

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19

The McGill Daily | Thursday, March 3, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

volume 100 number 35

All pictures by Victor Tangermann |The McGill Daily

editorial 3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-24 Montreal, QC H3A 1X9 phone 514.398.6784 fax 514.398.8318 mcgilldaily.com coordinating editor

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Tom Acker, Emilio Comay del Junco, Humera Jabir, Whitney Mallett, Dominic Popowich, Sana Saeed, Mai Anh Tran-Ho, Will Vanderbilt, Aaron Vansintjan (chair@dailypublications.org)

The Daily is proud to be a founding member of the Canadian University Press.

All contents © 2011 Daily Publications Society. All rights reserved. The content of this newspaper is the responsibility of The McGill Daily and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University. Products or companies advertised in this newspaper are not necessarily endorsed by Daily staff.

Printed by Imprimerie Transcontinental Transmag. Anjou, Quebec.

ISSN 1192-4608.

Our Coordinating editor reads every page of the newspaper twice before it goes to print.

Winter 2011 Election & Referendum Period

Voting for the Election and Referendum will open on March 4 and close on March 10.

Polling Stations will operate at the following locations: Friday, March 4: McConnell Hallway 9:00am-5:00pm Friday, March 4: Shatner Lobby 2:00pm-5:00pm Monday, March 7: Leacock Hallway 8:00am – 5:00pm Tuesday, March 8: Bronfman Lobby 9:00am-5:00pm Wednesday, March 9: Stewart Bio North 8:00am-1:00pm Wednesday, March 9: Leacock Hallway 8:00am-5:00pm Thursday, March 10: Shatner Lobby 9:00am-5:00pm More information on polling stations and the referendum questions will be sent via email and is available at ssmu.mcgill.ca/elections If you have any questions please contact Elections McGill at elections@ssmu.mcgill.ca