Vol100Iss38

Volume 100, Issue 38

March 14, 2011 mcgilldaily.com

McGill THE

DAILY

In detention for 100 years

Published by The Daily Publications Society, a student society of McGill University.

PAGE 14

One summer‌

a f u l l year of science cred its UVM Summer University offers a variety of science courses in medical, health, biological & physical sciences with credits that can transfer back to your institution. This summer, focus on the requirements that you really need. Post-baccalaureate summer premedical programs available, as well as over 400 general requirement courses.

Registration begins February 15.

Summer classes start May 23.

Catch Up. Get Ahead.

On Campus. Online. uvm.edu/summer/mcgill

Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the Daily Publications Society (DPS), publisher of The McGill Daily and Le DĂŠlit, will take place on

Tuesday, March 22 in Leacock 232 at 6pm.

Members of the DPS are cordially invited.

The presence of candidates to the Board of Directors is mandatory.

For more information, please contact

chair@dailypublications.org

Attention Grads and Post-Docs PGSS 2011 Executive Elections and Referenda

Vote for or against our candidates: Find campaign statements at pgss.mcgill.ca/ELECTIONS/ Meet the candidates at the PGSS AGM 6:30 pm on Wednesday, March 16 at Thomson House

President

VP External

VP Academic

Roland Nassim

Marieve Isabel

Lily Han

Referenda * Approve or reject changes to the PGSS Health and Dental Plan * Approve or reject the Student Life Fund * Approve or reject an increase to the Student Services Fee for the Mental Health Services

VP Internal Daniel Simeone

Magnus Bein

VP Finance Adrian Kaats

Kazem Fayazbakhsh

Vote online at ovs.pgss.mcgill.ca from 9:00 am on Thursday, March 17 to 5:00 pm on Friday, March 25

News

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Knight elected by a landslide

3

TV McGill and Midnight Kitchen win renewed funding Rana Encol

The McGill Daily

C

lubs and Services Councillor Maggie Knight won the 2011 SSMU presidential election in a landslide victory over Speaker of Council Cathal Rooney-Céspedes on Friday night. Knight won with 67.2 per cent of the student vote, with Rooney-Céspedes pulling in 25.8 per cent.

Only 21 per cent of undergraduates – or 4,172 students – voted in the elections.

“It’s good to feel that I won by a decent margin. I’m really excited by the team, a lot of the races were really close,” said Knight. “I think a lot of the other candidates will do a good job too, but I’m incredibly excited about this team going forward.”

“Maggie’s going to do an incredible job – I wish her the best of luck. The only downfall of next year’s executive is that they can’t have both Maggie and I working for them,” said Rooney-Céspedes.

Acclaimed candidate Joël Pedneault won VP External with an approval of 80.3 per cent of the student vote. Current VP External Myriam Zaidi was elated with the result.

“I’m really glad that Joël will have a team that supports him on many of them have campaigns against tuition hikes, and I know that he won’t be alone next year. What I really like about the team is that they’re all progressive people – and that’s good because that’s what our generation should be,” she said.

Carol Fraser, Midnight Kitchen volunteer coordinator and the only SSMU outsider to be elected, was shocked by the results in the closest race, in which she won VP Clubs

Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily

Left to right: Emily Clare, Joël Pedneault, Maggie Knight, Shyam Patel, Carol Fraser Front: Todd Plummer and Services by a margin of 0.7 per cent – or just 29 votes.

“I’m looking forward to working with all the people that got elected, I think we’ll have a really solid team. I’m genuinely pleasantly surprised – it was a really close race, my opponent ran a really good race and was just as good a candidate as I, but I’m really happy to win,” she said. “I’m happy to work for students. SSMU has given so much to me and I’m excited to give back that much more.”

Current VP Clubs and Services Anushay Khan stressed that the transition month between this year’s and next year’s executive was of paramount importance to the position.

“There’s a lot to learn in this

position, a lot of institutional memory, with the politics of opt-outs and student space. No matter what candidate won tonight, the most emphasis should be placed on that month,” said Khan.

Current SSMU Equity Committee member and AUS VP External Todd Plummer also won by a tight margin, winning with 25.4 per cent of the vote and edging out Education Councillor and former Daily editor Kady Paterson by 45 votes for the position of VP Internal. SSMU outsider Natalie Talmi pulled a close third at 24 per cent of the vote.

SSMU Funding Coordinator Shyam Patel had a clear-cut victory over last-minute addition to the election, U2 Management student

Stefan Zuba Prokopetz.

Equity Commissioner Emily Clare beat Science Councillor Lauren Hudak by an 11.8 per cent margin, and expressed excitement over the incoming Senate caucus. It will comprise Matt Crawford and Jason Leung for Arts, and Max Luke and Annie Ma for Science. Single seats went to Daily editor Tom Acker for Management, Usman bin Shahid for Engineering, and Sameer Apte for Medicine. Emil Briones, Ian Clarke, Haley Dinel, and Ryan Hirsch ran unopposed, and were approved to represent Music, Law, Religious Studies, and Dentistry, respectively.

“I think the group will be good – but honestly, before I make any kind of judgment, I want to meet with

them and see how they interact with one another, see how they feel,” said Clare. “What matters more is how Senate caucus interacts with each other than how I feel about them.”

All referenda questions passed, creating an ambassador fee, a McGill International Student Network fee, an extra dollar per semester to Midnight Kitchen, renewed funding for Nightline, Queer McGill, and the Union for Gender Empowerment.

TV McGill will receive an extra $1.50 per semester.

TV McGill president Carter Li explained that the increase was vital to the existence of the service.

“If we didn’t get this referendum again after just a year [of having the opt-outable fee], we would have to go back to our usual SSMUprovided budget of $4 to 5,000 a year, which barely covers anything to repair our equipment, let alone get anything new,” said Li. “We’re a service and we provide a service to the McGill community – that’s why it was so important for us, it essentially dictates our existence.”

Carol Fraser indicated that the creation of an opt-outable Midnight Kitchen fee was similarly essential to the continued existence of the volunteer-run lunch collective.

Chief Electoral Officer Tais McNeill explained that voter turnout was slightly lower than the previous year, when 28 per cent of students voted, but said that he was “pretty happy” overall.

“I was looking back at some of the records of previous elections, it really seems to be the contentiousness of the race that drives turnout,” said McNeill. “Considering we had a very civil campaign period and no referenda campaigns that were tense, I think that it was a really good turnout.”

Principal hosts town hall on diversity McGill community complains of lack of representation to principal’s taskforce Jane Gatensby

The McGill Daily

L

ast Friday McGill principal Heather Munroe-Blum hosted a town hall to discuss the recommendations of the Principal’s Task Force on Diversity, Excellence, and Community Engagement, a project launched in Fall 2009 and that released its report in February.

Munroe-Blum explained the report’s three main tenets are diversity, excellence, and community engagement. At the town hall, she stressed that diversity does not reduce academic quality or standards, but that it is “quite the opposite... the report includes a very precise statement that describes how diversity and excellence are linked.”

Munroe-Blum also emphasized that the Task Force’s recommendations would not include any affirma-

tive action measures.

“We really thought that our major goal would be to make sure that those who could be qualified for these positions had a route into our application and enrolment procedures, whether at the staff or the student side, that would make us easy to interact with,” she said.

Kevin Whittaker, president of the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA), wanted to know why there were no employee association representatives on the task force.

“One of the main topics addressed in the task force is employment equity. Under the Federal Contractor’s Programme, McGill is required to consult and collaborate with employee representatives and bargaining units in all employment equity implementation,” he said.

SSMU Equity Commissioner Emily Clare told The Daily that in

the same vein, groups like the Union for Gender Empowerment, the Black Students’ Network, and Queer McGill should have been consulted.

Munroe-Blum said there was no special group representation to the task force, as it was created by an ad hoc committee wherein specially appointed members tackled diversity issues “writ large” and not “particular interests.”

When staff and students gave recommendations on how to better promote diversity, or exposed any deficits in diversity and acceptance at McGill, they were directed to the Task Force website, or told to “think carefully about what you could be doing.”

The principal also expressed the need to improve mobility on campus.

“Our campuses need to be more physically accessible as a high priority. That’s been a challenge for us, [and is] certainly something marked for me,” she said.

A student from the Départment

de langue et littérature française and the School of Environment asked about the fact that international students can no longer take FRSL at the in-province tuition rate, as she believed this change would prohibit the integration of international students into Montreal.

The principal replied that the main problem was underfunding.

“We’re constantly having to make tough decisions,” she said, and suggested that the student who raised this issue should petition the provincial government for these funds.

Laura Risk, a member of the PGSS family care committee, spoke of the lack of recognition, lack of facilities such as changing tables and nursing areas, and lack of academic accommodation – for instance, leeway for students who miss exams because of a sick child – that were facing students with families.

Munroe-Blum was unwilling

to make any daycare promises because of “constraints of space and money.” However, Jim Nicell, Associate Vice-Principal (University Services), immediately sent out text message to scout out possible locations for changing tables.

On the subject of equality of access and tuition rates, Munroe-Blum specified that governmental bodies could better address these issues.

Joël Pedneault, next year’s SSMU VP External, asked whether MunroeBlum had personally consulted with any upper-level administrators at Canadian banks about tuition rates.

“I have spoken right up to the level of CEO,” she said.

After the town hall, Pedneault pointed out that this relationship presented a “conflict of interest, knowing that any increase in tuition fee means that students start to incur debt and start to have to pay interest to banks.”

I,.#"$%#'0&'5%9#5,#;<=>?#F7?'++63

!""#!$%&'"'(!$ %%%%%)''*+"& Friday, April 8th, 2011 at 5pm Shatner Ballroom, SSMU Building, !"#$%&'()*+,-.%!/0%122/ Items to be presented... ...annual reports from the outgoing board, Staff members, Rad Frosh Coordinators, School Schmool editorial board, and Summer Stipend recipients !!!"#$%&'%(#)*#"++#,-#,.$#(,$/'01#1$,.23#,-#(4"5#54%*6&%#"77,8plished in the last year !!!".9'5%9#:0"07'"+#35"5%8%053 ....bylaw changes ...and elections for the Board and the CRCC!

ELECTION FOR THE 2011-2012 CLUBS & SERVICES REPRESENTATIVES TO SSMU COUNCIL The election for the three SSMU Councillors representing the Societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Clubs & Services will be held Tuesday March 22 at 6:00pm in the Lev Buhkman room on the 2nd floor of the Shatner Building. Student groups must register a voting delegate with the VP: Clubs & Services before the election.

The election will begin with statements from the candidates followed by questions from the audience.

Delegates will then vote through paper ballots (voting will not occur online).

If you want to run for the C&S Representative position or if you have any questions contact us: VP: Clubs & Services Anushay Khan at cs@ssmu.mcgill.ca

Elections for the Board of Directors and the 3241+'5%67,2895+24%)40% 32:;8)+45,%32::+5577%<3633=>>> ...nomination forms for the board of directors and CRCC are "&"'+")+%#"5#54%#;<=>?#,-:7%3#"09#8.35#)%#3.)8'55%9#5,#54%# @4'%-#A+%75,$"+#B-:7%$63#8"'+),C#"5#;<=>?#)*#D28E#FG>@H# 30th, 2011. !!!F7?'++#35.9%053#"09#7,88.0'5*#8%8)%$3#7"0#$.0#-,$#54%# CRCC and the QPIRG Board of Directors.

Snacks and light refreshments will be served. Childcare and translation is available, notify 48 hours in advance.

J,$#8,$%#'0-,K#DLMNOPQNRMOS qpirg@ssmu.mcgill.ca http://qpirgmcgill.org #OTMR#U0'&%$3'5*E#O$9#J+,,$#

JOIN THE

DAILY

Send a 1 page candidate statement to coodinating@mcgilldaily.com by midnight on March 20

Elections McGill at elections@ssmu.mcgill.ca

Call for Candidates The Daily Publications Society, publisher of The McGill Daily and Le DĂŠlit, is seeking candidates for

student positions on its Board of Directors.

The position must be filled by McGill students duly registered during the upcoming Fall term and able to sit until April 30, 2012. Board members gather at least once a month to discuss the management of the newspapers, and make important administrative decisions.

Candidates should send a 500-word letter of intention to chair@dailypublications.org by 5:00 PM on March 22nd. Contact us for more information.

Rundowns at 5 p.m. on March 23 Elections at 5 p.m. on March 24 Must be staff to run

News

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

5

Munroe-Blum speaks to the student press Three hours after Town Hall, Principal discusses international student fees, MBA tuition, and McKinsey

Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily

Principal Heather Monroe-Blum answers questions while Director of Media Relations Doug Sweet looks on.

Henry Gass

The McGill Daily

P

rincipal Heather MunroeBlum met with journalists from The Daily, the McGill Tribune, and Le Délit on Friday afternoon to discuss the recently completed Task Force on Diversity, Excellence and Community Engagement. The discussion also addressed other topics, including the deregulation of international student fees, the administration’s work with consulting firm McKinsey and Co., and the 2011 SSMU elections.

Three hours prior to the interview, Munroe-Blum held a Town Hall regarding the Task Force. She responded to a variety of questions focused on the possible impact of tuition increases on student diversity.

Deregulating international student The deregulation of international student fees allows McGill to keep the entirety of fees international students pay to the University. Previously, 92 per cent of the fees were taken by the provincial government, and redistributed among all Quebec universities relative to overall enrolment.

“What I’ve been proposing to government since 2003 – is that we be able to move to a more competitive level of tuition fees,” said Munroe-Blum.

Munroe-Blum identified student financial aid as the primary recipient of the increased revenue. Thirty per cent of net new tuition revenue is being spent on financial aid.

Munroe-Blum also identified student advising as another recipient of increased revenue. Munroe-Blum said McGill has “been spending that and more in those areas.”

“It is being used,” said MunroeBlum. “My hope is that while I’m principal – and I have a few years left as principal – that we will be able to say that every qualified student will

be able to come to McGill independent of their financial needs.”

Le Délit asked Munroe-Blum whether she was planning on deregulating international student fees in more programs than the six that are currently deregulated. Munroe-Blum said that she favoured a “model of tuition that allows those who can pay more [to] pay more, and those who can’t to get a subsidy.”

“We’re not at that place in terms of what we’re asking for,” qualified Munroe-Blum. “We’re asking for an increase to the average of Canada for all students. But could it be reasonable to take some other disciplines and say, ‘Deregulate those’?

I think it could.”

Responding to a question from Le Délit about the possibility of increasing the international student population, Munroe-Blum said there were no currently no such plans.

“It’s not a plan,” said MunroeBlum. “We’re trying to actually keep that enrolment balance. It’s been very stable for a long time, and we’d like to keep it that way.”

A January draft of McGill’s Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) plan described the University’s aim to increase the total international student population from 20 to 22 per cent of the overall student body, or by over 500 students. When The Daily reminded Munroe-Blum of the SEM plan figures, she said, “That’s interesting.”

“We have actually not talked about that at the senior table, so that’s not come yet to us, and [increases] will not be at the expense of the undergraduate proportionality,” she added.

Tuition increases and the MBA Munroe-Blum clarified her position on hikes to general Quebec tuition, something that could be announced this Thursday with the release of the provincial budget.

“We believe that if…the Quebec government is going to increase tuition, they have to increase student aid – themselves, not just us – and they need to keep investing.

And [Education] Minister [Line] Beauchamp made that commitment on December 6 in Quebec City, but I think it’s one of the things that we absolutely depend on,” she said.

Beauchamp announced on March 1 that McGill would face financial penalties for hiking tuition fees for the McGill MBA program from around $2,000 to $29,500. The Daily asked Munroe-Blum what her reaction to the announcement was.

“We’re in discussions with the Minister…and we hope we come to an understanding on it,” she said.

“You’ll know in what [Beauchamp] presented that she talked about penalties unless the case can be made that this is a special program.”

When asked if the University was trying to make the case that McGill’s MBA is a special program, Munroe-Blum replied that a lot of changes have been made to the program, and that they were part of their discussions with Beauchamp.

“Our Board [of Governors] is not going to turn back on this program. We have to be able to fund it effectively,” said Munroe-Blum. “We feel like we’re doing the right thing.

And we would like to be doing it in concert and in partnership with the Quebec government – not in opposition to them.”

McKinsey and the McGill administration A question from the Tribune asked Munroe-Blum if she had concerns about working with McKinsey after recent revelations in the Financial Times that several top McKinsey executives were currently being investigated by the American government for insider trading.

“We’re not working with McKinsey,” said Munroe-Blum,

stating that two McKinsey executives and McGill alumni – one being Claude Généreux, who was appointed to McGill’s Board of Governors in January – were giving the University pro bono guidance.

“The normal McKinsey model is…that you bring in a big team of McKinsey people, they come in and value it, they come in and do the benchmarking,” said Munroe-Blum.

“That’s not what we’ve done. We have taken the willingness of two distinguished alumni who are senior people in McKinsey to help us develop the ability inside to benchmark our practices – in the areas that we’re looking at – against the best, and do fact-finding about our own strengths and weaknesses in that area.”

Munroe-Blum also stated that the pro bono consultation was only temporary, starting in September and ending a few weeks ago.

“We did it ourselves, and now it’s ours – and it has been from the beginning. That’s why we called it the Strategic Reframing Initiative, not the McKinsey Initiative,” she said.

In regard to McKinsey’s activities reflecting poorly on McGill, Munroe-Blum was not worried, and was interested in how the investigation would continue. She talked of how the case related to the Academy Award-winning, Inside Job, a documentary chronicling the causes of the 2008 American financial crisis.

“I think it’s interesting to see that even a venerable institution like McKinsey, someone who’s dominated in the field, is not impervious to having human error and judgment and integrity problems,” said Munroe-Blum. “It’s interesting, but I don’t worry about it contaminating McGill at all because McKinsey… hasn’t come inside [McGill].”

“I think it’s something to watch and be mindful of,” said MunroeBlum, “but we have to think about integrity issues within the University and with all of our partners – all the time.”

Student relations and SSMU elections Munroe-Blum stated that relations between students and the administration were good, in stark contrast to student condemnation of the administration’s lack of consultation and dismissal of their concerns.

“I don’t sense that there is bad feeling with students and the administration,” said Munroe-Blum in French. “I think that we have very good collaboration with students; we have lots of student participation in governance decisions.”

Munroe-Blum did say that the structure of McGill student governance made it more difficult for administrators to interact with students. She described it as a “funnel system” that narrowed the expanse of student leadership down to just a handful of student representatives.

“In other universities normally the administration would interact with many, many more student leaders. The system at McGill is that PGSS executives represent the graduate students, SSMU executives represent the undergraduate students – the same with [Continuing Education] and Macdonald [campus],” said Munroe-Blum. “The good thing is it gets us out and has me invite other students in, but I think it would be great if we could have more participation of the broader student leadership.”

When asked if she had been following the SSMU elections, particularly the presidential candidates, Munroe-Blum responded that she had. Election results were announced in Gert’s minutes after the interview ended.

“It looks like there’s a strong slate, which is terrific,” said MunroeBlum. “I know them pretty much from the same material that people who don’t know them well know them from. What I really hope is that there will be a good turnout in the election.”

6 News

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Aboriginal women face systemic patterns of violence Adrian Turcato News Writer

L

ast Thursday the Aboriginal Law Association of McGill hosted the panel discussion, Stolen Sisters, addressing issues of violence and discrimination that Aboriginal women continue to face within Canadian society.

The discussion was a part of the event: “13 Days to Honour Aboriginal Women,” which aims to celebrate Aboriginal women, as well as raise awareness about missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

Official statistics estimate that since the 1980s, approximately 520 Aboriginal women have been murdered or gone missing.

Walk4Justice, a women’s grass roots activist organization founded by Gladys Ridek and Bernie

Williams Poitras, estimate that the actual number is almost 4,000.

Both Ridek and Poitras spoke candidly at the panel discussion about the prejudice that Aboriginal women face.

“You are a fucking squaw. What have you done for our community? What have you contributed to Canada?” said Poitras, with reference to personal experiences.

“This is how Indian women are treated,” she stated.

Ridek and Poitras also referenced strong societal prejudice against Aboriginal women as extremely damaging, to both individuals and communities.

“When one woman is violated it affects a whole community, when one woman goes missing it affects a whole community,” said Ridek.

“These are racist attacks against our women. Society

has told [the children of these women] that your mother was a whore, your mother was nothing but a drug addict, your mother was society’s throw-away,” added Poitras. “We [have] to tell their children that this [is] not so. Your mother loved you.”

Speaking about “the Highway of Tears,” a stretch of highway in northern British Columbia closely linked to many missing women’s cases, Poitras explained that many women were victimized when trying to escape violent situations.

“If they are leaving a violent situation in those isolated communities the only way they can come out is highway 16 and, more often than not, they will be caught on that highway,” said Poitras.

“They don’t have to be hitchhiking, they don’t have to be sex trade workers – they could be walking along that highway and

Israel Apartheid Week’s keynote address The McGill Daily

O

n Wednesday night Ali Abunimah, executive director of the website electronicintifada.net and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, discussed why he believed Israel to be an apartheid state and how the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel would be an effective tool for changing the status quo for the Palestinian people.

Abunimah spoke in the Bronfman building as the keynote speaker for Montreal’s Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), co-hosted by nine different organizations from the Montreal and McGill communities.

In making a comparison to the South African apartheid system, which rendered certain individuals second-class citizens, Abunimah outlined what he believed to be inequalities for Palestinians in terms of land rights and access to education.

“Palestinians living in Israel are able to vote and run for office but that’s where their rights end,” he said.

Abunimah described an incident in which state employees denied Arab-Israelis their land rights. “In Jerusalem we continue to see the systematic ethnic cleansing...where there is a house-by-house plan to expel Palestinians from their neighbourhoods and to put them in Jewish settlements.”

Abunimah also spoke to the treatment of people in the Gaza

strip as creating an apartheid style inequality between Jews and Palestinians. In particular he focused on the December 2008 to January 2009 Operation Cast Lead attack on Gaza and the current restrictions on the movement of resources to the strip.

“Of the 640 schools in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead in 2008, 18 schools were completely destroyed – eight of them being kindergartens – and more than 240 were damaged,” he said. “Not only was Israel content to bomb the schools in Gaza, but since then has not allowed construction materials to flow into Gaza to rebuild these schools.”

Abunimah went on to describe the BDS movement, and why he believes it is an important method of lobbying the Israeli government to change its policies towards Palestinians and ArabIsraelis.

“The three goals of the BDS movement are to end the occupation since 1967, end all forms of discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and end the racist exclusion of Palestinian refugees from returning to their homes,” he said.

He went on to state why he believes that other methods of resolving the conflict have been ineffective. He stated that BDS is the only possible option considering the failure of peace initiatives thus far.

“For the past twenty years we’ve had something called the peace process...it has been nothing but an alibi for inaction...when told about the Palestinian condition politicians in Canada and the United States do not do anything because they don’t want to dis-

lish a national standard that says this is why you must record the Aboriginal identity of violent crime. There is simply no good reason why this is not happening except that it is not a priority,” he added.

In his concluding remarks, Benjamin spoke to Canada’s failure to protect Aboriginal women.

“The failure to provide services and support, to show that Aboriginal women are not endangered is the first point; these are basic human rights violations and should be unacceptable to anybody,” he said. “We are talking about the society we all live and participate in, we all have the responsibility for bringing about this change.”

“13 Days to Honour Aboriginal Women” runs from Tuesday, March 8 – Sunday, March 20.

Newburgh J-Boarded again Case to examine Conflict of Interest Policy

Ali Abunimah speaks to the validity of Israeli apartheid Zach Lewsen

they just disappear because there, at that moment, is a moment of opportunity for a predator,” she continued.

Panellist Craig Benjamin, a national campaigner for the human rights of Indigenous peoples for Amnesty International, explained that part of the problem is the lack of national policies regarding the status of Aboriginal victims of crime, for police to use.

“In 2001 [Amnesty International] could not find a single police force that had implemented a single policy or procedure in recognition of this pattern of violence,” said Benjamin, who interpreted the lack of real statistics as an affirmation that police forces have not been active on this issue.

“There is no good reason that the federal government has not directed the RCMP to estab-

turb the peace process.”

Opposition to IAW includes the McGill Friends of Israel, who posted articles on their Facebook page criticizing the event, including a statement released by the Prince Arthur Herald’s editorial board entitled “We All Must Condemn Israeli Apartheid Week.”

The Daily spoke with Brendan Steven, co-founder and editorin-chief of the Herald regarding Abunimah’s comments.

“Palestinians living in Israel are given the right to vote and to run for office,” Steven said. “Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East...anyone that claims that Israel is an apartheid state is anti-Semitic.”

An audience member questioned Abunimah about why he did not address the treatment of Jews in Arab countries during his talk.

“I support the full right of restitution to any property that was confiscated from Arab Jews who left the countries and went to live in Israel,” Abunimah responded.

“I would like to see Arab-Jewish communities thriving again.”

Aaron Lakoff, an organizer of Montreal’s IAW, spoke after Abunimah’s talk about the goal of the events. Montreal’s IAW ends tomorrow.

“We are trying to open up spaces for dialogue in society and for debate on these issues.

We are trying to do so in a pluralistic way,” he said. “I am Jewish and I am an organizer of Israeli Apartheid Week. There’s many Jews who were involved in organizing Israeli Apartheid week, not just in Montreal but across Canada.”

Queen Arsem-O’Malley The McGill Daily

S

SMU President Zach Newburgh will face his second Judicial Board case in as many years, as SSMU VP External Myriam Zaidi plans to submit a petition for a review of Newburgh’s adherence to the Conflict of Interest Policy during his work for Jobbook.

Despite numerous statements expressing a wish to move forward from the Jobbook controversy, Newburgh said that the prospect of a J-Board case is “great,” and will help provide closure.

The Judicial Board, which consists of up to five upper-year students from the Faculty of Law, is the final authority on the interpretation of the Constitution and Bylaws of SSMU. According to the SSMU Constitution, the J-Board has the power to “declare invalid any act of Council, the Executive Committee or the General Manager” if it determines that an act violates the Constitution or Bylaws.

“Really, what a wonderful opportunity this is, to determine, ultimately, that I did not violate any policies,” Newburgh said. Since the petition has not yet been filed, Newburgh has not received official notification, though Zaidi informed him that she planned to bring the matter to J-Board.

Newburgh maintained “there was not a breach of this particular policy, and that in fact it was used in order to guide my involvement [with Jobbook] in the first place.”

“I wouldn’t have brought it to J-Board if I didn’t believe he breached the policy,” Zaidi said. “[The case is] going to be just the way that the Jobbook contract was handled, and whether or not he breached the policy.”

The possibility of referral to J-Board was discussed at SSMU Legislative Council on March 3, in a conversation surrounding the release of confidential minutes from Council’s in camera session a month earlier.

Speaker of Council Raymond Xing adhered to Robert’s Rules directions on the confidentiality of trials. “It is the prerogative of the Speaker to err on the side of caution on potentially damaging matters,” Xing said during Council.

He later added that, “The J-Board exists for a reason.”

Zaidi claims that her petition will focus on interpretation of the policy, and will not involve a request for the release of confidential minutes. She said that her actions are “unrelated to the [March 3] Council.” Though there is still the possibility of a separate J-Board case regarding the confidential minutes, Zaidi said she will not file a petition on the issue.

Due to varying interpretations of the Conflict of Interest Policy, multiple councillors and executives have expressed a need to review and amend the policy. Newburgh has advocated for review, stating that the policy “needs to be a lot less ambiguous.”

“A number of people are very, very interested in reviewing this policy to make it more clear,” Newburgh said.

“Not just for individuals who are directly affected by it, but for individuals who are concerned and want to be able to hold their leaders accountable.”

The first J-Board case involving Newburgh occurred in March of 2010 when Newburgh was Speaker of Council. The McGill chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights filed a petition contesting his impartiality during the Winter 2010 General Assembly. The petition was dismissed in June.

News

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

7

Venezuela watches the Arab revolutions Journalist and Venezuelan expat Francisco Toro shares his perspective Valerie Mathis

The McGill Daily

W

hat makes a government more likely to be overthrown than others?

According to Venezuelan journalist, Francisco Toro, the answer resides in its political vulnerability.

“The brittleness of a government is a pre-condition to its collapse.

When a regime gets to the point of forcing an entire country to fake loyalty, the chances for overthrow are very high,” said Toro.

Currently completing a PhD at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, Toro also writes a blog about Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, and its social and political situation since the mass protests and general strikes against Hugo Chávez’ government between 2002 to 2003.

“What is going on today in the Arab countries is similar to the situation in Venezuela nine years ago.

Yet, in some ways, it is different, and this difference is the reason why they succeeded in the attempt and we didn’t,” he said.

According to Toro, the situation of the Arab states protesting today

differs from Venezuela’s at the time of the anti-Chávez movement primarily in the structure of their autocratic regimes. The difference is that Venezuela operated through selective intimidation rather than the general hardship and human rights violation of the Arab states. He attributes this to political division within the country, and the influence of pro-Chávez supporters.

“Overthrowing a government is not always the best solution. In the case of Venezuela, the government was much stronger. It has taken us ten years to realize that the best strategy to improve the politics was to exploit the small space for liberty that we were given,” he said.

In hindsight, Toro sees the 2002 demonstrations in Caracas as a mirage. Having lived through the demonstrations, he remembers being incapable of visiting his sister on the other side of the city due to protests on every corner.

He recalls how demonstrations were announced along with traffic updates on the radio.

“The feeling was insane.

Watching the events occurring at Cairo a little more than a month

Fire in New Rez Repairs to start in May Henry Gass

The McGill Daily

A

t around 9:45 a.m. last Tuesday, over 700 students were evacuated from New Residence Hall after a fire broke out in a 14th floor room.

According to Michael Porritt, executive director of Residences and Student Housing, the fire was isolated to the one room.

“A student had lit a candle, and went to sleep,” he said. “The candle was under a curtain, and it lit the curtain.”

Porritt explained that the student’s roommate walked in minutes after the fire began, and alerted the student. Moments later, sprinklers in the room went off and quickly extinguished the fire, but by this point the evacuation process had already started.

“Without the sprinkler system the whole room would have been engulfed in flame in four minutes,” he said.

The fire damaged some furniture in the room including the curtain and a mattress, but sprinklers caused the majority of the damage. A dozen rooms – four rooms on the 14th, 12th and 11th floors (there is no 13th floor) – are currently “not inhabitable” as

ago stirred up all those memories and dreams of social change and liberty,” he said.

Toro, however, was quick to draw a distinction between that and the current situation in Cairo.

“What has been occurring in Egypt is not a mirage. Severe autocracies are brittle, because they crack down on human rights. We would not have been able to have this conversation two weeks ago in such societies, and people are aware of that,” he stated.

Toro also pointed to stronger ties with the outside world due to the staggering expansion of media and various other methods of communication.

“When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, I was a 12-year-old boy in Venezuela. Europe seemed to me like another planet. I didn’t feel the slightest repercussion of it.

And that was only about twenty years ago,” he said. “What is going on in Egypt and in Libya is exhilarating.”

Toro explained that in recent years journalists, politicians, lawyers and activists alike have developed the international consensus that the influence and power of

“What is going on today in the Arab countries is similar to the situation in Venezuela nine years ago. Yet, in some ways, it is different and this difference is the reason why they succeeded in the attempt and we didn’t. ” Francisco Toro Venezuelan Journalist

ideas shaped by the public cannot be denied.

He spoke to the establishment of internationally recognized norms of justice and how the protests in the Arab world have prompted many people with similar political climates to consider

their own governments.

“It brings about the question of what government can be legitimate in this world,” he said. “It is, after all, the 21st century.”

Francisco Toro’s blog can be found at caracaschronicles.com.

First Nations police defunded Community leaders rally on Parliament Hill

a result.

Of the 18 students living in the 12 rooms, all but one are now staying in the Delta Hotel at 475 President Kennedy. The other student is staying in another New Rez room.

The 12 damaged rooms have been filled with dehumidifiers and should be dry in about a week.

Porritt noted that the students in the Delta Hotel had been “very patient.” “[The rooms have] been stripped down to the studs. The dry wall has been removed up to four feet,” he said. “Beyond the 12 rooms, there’s at least a dozen [more damaged], and there’s damage in the hallways.”

Porritt said that, in a best-case scenario, it would take six weeks to fully repair the rooms, including the week spent drying them out. As a result repairs won’t start until May. Open flames are banned from McGill residences, a rule reiterated in an email sent out to all residence students that Tuesday afternoon.

Porritt also stressed that he was extremely impressed with the handling of the situation.

“The students in New Rez were actually quite amazing,” he said. “It was one of the fastest evacuations we’ve ever had.”

Mari Galloway

The McGill Daily

A

delegation of First Nations Chiefs and First Nations Police Chiefs of Quebec traveled to Parliament last Thursday to express outrage over Public Safety Canada’s announcement that funding for the First Nations Policing Program (FNPP) will be reduced by 19 per cent for the upcoming year.

Members of the delegation also challenged what they view as the federal government’s complete double standard: investing heavily in public safety services across Canada, while cutting funding for First Nations’ services.

“The pillars of their political platform – ‘you do the crime you do the time.’ These cuts are totally disrespectful and insulting in terms of policing service for First Nations communities. They are a total contradiction to the direction taken in terms of the rest of the country,” said Lloyd Phillips, chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and spokesperson for the Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) Public Security Portfolio.

Funding for First Nations police services is established through tripartite agreements between the

federal and provincial governments and First Nations. For the past two years the federal government has delayed the negotiation of a new tripartite agreement in anticipation of a comprehensive review of First Nations policing in Canada. In its place, the federal government has temporarily implemented successive one year funding agreements.

According to Phillips, First Nations police services are already extremely underfunded, especially in Quebec, which receives “the bare-bone minimum of funding required.”

“A 19 per cent decrease equates to about $2.8 million, and greatly jeopardizes the ability for people to do their job. Especially for smaller forces it means the possibility of laying off people. In terms of larger forces [it] jeopardizes the ability to carry out large scale investigations,” he said.

At a press conference on Parliament Hill, Shawn Atleo, chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), spoke of the need to create a more secure funding system.

“Currently, with the end of each fiscal year comes a threat to whether or not a community will be able to maintain its police services. Clearly we need to look at a different approach that would provide stable, multi-year agreements

with a proper funding base to avoid jeopardizing the safety and security of First Nation communities,” he said.

At the press conference Steve Launière, the president of the Association of the First Nations Chiefs of Police of Quebec, added, “If this decision materializes within the scope of the next budget, there will be serious repercussions. This decision will jeopardize the policing services in the communities and, as a consequence, it will have an impact on criminality and social peace.”

While in Ottawa, the delegation, had hoped to obtain a meeting with Vic Toews, the Minister of Public Safety.

“Several requests were made by regional chiefs and the community, but unfortunately Minister Toews has been extremely elusive,” said Phillips.

In an email to The Daily, Toews’s office wrote: “Our Government continues to support the First Nations Policing Program, which has made a significant contribution to improving public safety in First Nation and Inuit communities for close to 20 years.”

However the office refused to go into detail about funding cuts, stating, “We cannot speculate [on] the outcome of budgetary decisions.”

ADVERTISEMENT

AUS ELECTIONS

SPRING 2011

Jade Calver

Yusra Khan

Hey Arts students! My name is Jade Calver and I want to be your 20112012 AUS President! I have worked closely with the AUS for over two years, this year as AUS VP Academic and last year as VP External of CSAUS. My experience with the AUS will allow me as president to continue the reforms this year’s executive has implemented as well as implement new initiatives such as a nation-wide Arts conference. Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency are all things I have demonstrated through my work this year, and that I will continue to embody as next year’s president.

I have two commitments to the AUS that I hope to pursue next year: strengthening the relationship between students and faculty, and increasing the competitiveness of Arts students. I would like more engaging events organized with academic representatives from each departmental association to further cultivate student-faculty relationships. I will ensure academic services receive the support and publicity to become integral institutions within the AUS. I also hope to establish a working group that will research and advocate for ways to improve the quality of the Bachelor of Arts programs at McGill academically as well as in preparing students for careers.

AUS PRESIDENT

VP ACADEMIC

Marlene Benavides

Dylan Doyle

I LEARNED IN PSYCHOLOGY THAT USING CAPITALS GRABS PEOPLE’S ATTENTION. Hi! I’m Marlene and I want to be VP Finance. I have experience, passion, and ideas. This year, I was part of a departmental association, AUS, Financial Management Committee, and helped allocate over $225,000.00 of your fees in AUS’ Improvement Fund. I want to build on AUS’ success this year; keep detailed records and audits, and improve communication. I’ll make sure SNAX stays student run to provide you with great service and affordable coffee. Let’s keep moving forward, stop pointing fingers, and start lending hands. You can count on me.

Hello! I’m Dylan David Doyle, a U2 Political Science and History double major, and I want to be YOUR VP External.

Serving as the VP Finance for the Political Science Students’ Association and the Entertainment Coordinator for the PSSA Battle for the Charity has given me experience as a student representative at the departmental level, as well as event-planning experience. I pledge to advocate for ALL Arts students’ interests on SSMU, and to foster stronger relations with other faculties, the MiltonParc community, and Montreal at large. Forget about the ABCs – it’s all about the DDDs. Vote Dylan for VP External!

VP FINANCE

VP EXTERNAL Casey McDermott

Matthew Chung

Hi AUS! My name is Casey McDermott and I’m running to be your 2011-2012 Vice President Internal. Two years on the Political Science Students’ Association (this year as VP Internal) has given me experience liaising with other McGill associations and running large-scale events, such as Battle for the Charity and PSSA’s inter-departmental Ottawa Trip. I’m excited to implement new initiatives with Arts students as well as developing a new room booking system for departmental associations.

My platform is one of Accountability, Continuity, and Transparency. If you have any questions about my experience or platform, please contact me at casey.mcdermott@mail. mcgill.ca! Thanks/Merci!

I am a U1 Honours History and Québec Studies student. I currently serve as VP Communications for the AUS First-Year Arts Council (FEARC). On FEARC, I have strived to represent the interests of all first-year students to the AUS through such communications initiatives as a mid-year survey. My platform builds upon my experience with consultation and representation through communications: 1) promoting the AUS as a transparent and accountable institution 2) better integrating CÉGEP students into faculty life and 3) continuing to reach out to first-year students.

VP INTERNAL

VP COMMUNICATIONS

Devon Labuik

My time at McGill has been defined by its commitment to the AUS. As President of the First-Year Arts Representative Council, VP Internal of the Arts Environmental Council, and logistics co-ordinator of the PSSA language symposium, I have contributed significantly to the thriving academic and social communities at the University. Next year, as your VP academic, I hope to bring my vast experience to the executive council and utilize my fundamental understanding of its underlying apparatus to enrich student life.

Brian Farnan

I’m Brian Farnan, U1 student studying Political Science. Having experience stemming from Residence Council Molson Hall as VP Internal, I have had extensive experience organizing and running events, handling large budgets and conveying pertinent information from a council to a large student body. I look forward to innovating the position of VP external by integrating various organizations and clubs around campus into a winter charity event, increasing effective and captivating methods of communication between the AUS, SSMU and the student body as well as ensuring the demands and interests of students within our faculty are successfully represented on SSMU council.

Stephanie Marentette

I am continually impressed with the work of arts students, but what is all this hard work without reward? I will bring the publicity required to get attendance rates up at our events, giving more fun times to you party people (and party planners)! I seek to expand the communication circuit beyond the AUS listserv, bringing in social media and a more interactive AUS website--you will choose how you get your AUS updates. I will bring a great deal of enthusiasm to this position, and I look forward to my role as your VP Communications. Thanks for your support.

Debate: Wednesday, March 16th AUS lounge, at 6:30PM Vote online at ovs.ssmu.mcgill.ca

ADVERTISEMENT

March 10th: March 16th: March 17th: March 18th – 21st: Casey Adams

Hello Arts students, my name is Casey Adams and I want to be your next VP Events for the AUS. In the past I was a frosh coordinator, the Chief of Staff for McGill Model United Nations Conference (where we hosted DJ Earworm), and a Field Organizer for Obama for America (where we hosted Michelle, who is super tall). Going into this next school year, I want to use my experience to bring you more events in a more sustainable way. I hope you’ll come out and vote this year, no matter who you cast it for.

Campaign period begins Candidates’ debate Advanced polling begins Polling period Sean Handrahan

Sean Handrahan is a U2 Arts undergraduate student pursuing a double major in Political Science and Economics. He has five summers of hotel operations and catering experience and served as the vice president of his class at STJ Academy.

Much of Sean’s perspective comes from seeing operations play out on the ground and he thereby has a strong and balanced understanding of the requirements for a successful event. The aim of Sean’s VP Events platform is to provide fiscally responsible management while maintaining focus on developing an inclusive style that leaves AUS members feeling at home during every event we host.

Jason Karmody

I’m Jason, a third-year with major event-planning experience, approachable and enthusiastic to the max. Not only will I make Frosh incredible for the incoming class, but cost-efficient, and truly outstanding as our *Arts* Frosh. I’ve voted on million-dollar decisions, representing 50,000+ students (Ontario Student Trustee), coordinated res-wide events (MORE Council President), regularly serve at Bar des Arts, and reliably O-Staffed for Froshes, 4Floors, and Carnivals of all kinds. Stressing interfaculty cooperation, I’ll take Red&White, and every event, above and beyond, consulting more student groups, making creative, pragmatic choices for all Arts students.

VP EVENTS

Mark Bay

Isabelle Bi

Hi I’m Mark Bay and I’m running for SSMU Rep because I want to take the drama out of SSMU. We’re not the UN or a G7 economy, we’re a student union! Let’s do more things to make that more awesome.

I want to see more funding to the clubs that do amazing things and less going to waste, unclaimed or underutilized. Let’s have more initiatives for student creativity and involvement. I was a SSMU Councilor for the IRC last year and I’m back to put my experience to the work.

Hello, my name is Isabelle Bi, a third-year student studying Economics with some Political Science and Mathematics (just for fun). As your Arts Representative, I would strive to: be the proactive presence on SSMU council; moderate divisive issues within AUS and amongst the student body; listen to and ensure your voice is heard on pressing topics (ie. fee increases and campus sustainability). Over the years, I’ve been involved in various student clubs and this year, I’ve represented SSMU on a subcommittee. Next year, I want to be your Arts Representative to SSMU, so please vote Isabelle Bi.

Joshua Greenberg In my first year at McGill I’ve embraced my position as Molson VP Finance, and I’m hoping to take my skills and experience to the next level. I love tackling new challenges and I’m a clever and innovative problem-solver. When push comes to shove I can get things done, and with my attention to detail and hard work, I’ll get them done right. I genuinely care about representing my peers – my best interests are yours. If you believe that passionate leaders are the most effective, then I believe that I would do an excellent job as your representative!

Kirsten MacLeod As an Arts student, I understand it is often easy to sink into your studies and forget the institutions that govern you. Furthermore, as a first year, I understand that the first interactions with AUS play a key role in defining the nature of your participation within AUS, as an active voice, or an unaware coaster. Through social networking resources, I propose to create an ongoing conversation between the AUS, its students and staff, targeting first year students to get involved. Through passion, energy and tenacity, I promise to mobilize the masses and make the business of AUS everyone’s business!

Micha Stettin By voting for me, you endorse a clear, passionate, and motivated Arts Representative to SSMU. My experience as VP External of Omeq, a Middle-East dialogue group, and developed knowledge of student politics, provides the necessary depth to effectively address four areas of focus: sustainability, tuition, accountability, and collaboration. I will work to reshape the Five Year Plan for Sustainability and ensure that it becomes SSMU policy, fight for accessible education, hold the McGill administration accountable to students, and both build and strengthen relations within and between faculties. It’s time to revitalize and strengthen our student government!

Jamie Burnett I’m Jamie Burnett and I’m a U1 student studying economics and women’s studies, so I get a pretty broad view of the academic experience as an Arts student.

I’m running for Arts Rep to SSMU because I think our student union is an important institution, especially right now. We’re here at a time when undergraduate education, and arts in particular, are facing funding cuts, downsizing, and reengineering as hobby programs for the ultra rich. I think we need to defend and improve our education, and I think SSMU Council is an important place to do that.

Angus Ning Ever wonder what AUS is all about?

Ever wonder what its people are doing with their time? Well wonder no more! As Arts Representative, I will give you all the ups and downs, ins and outs of this society that’s supposed to help YOU. More importantly, this isn’t about what I want. It’s about what you want. I’m sure you have questions, from where your money’s going to where’s the chocolate fountain in Leacock. I will give you the answers you seek. In brightest day, through blackest night, no other Rep shall spread its light. Vote for me!

ARTS REP TO SSMU

Letters

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

10

Re: “On the offensive” | Sports | March 7

If there is anything I’ve learned this semester it’s that ignorance surrounds us and that everyone has their own unique opinion Kathleen Michaels U2 Biology

Long live student journalism Re: “It’s time to stop pretending” | Letters | February 14 After reading William M. Burton’s, “It’s time to stop pretending,” (which was in response to “In defence of the Prince Arthur Herald”) and all its subsequent online commentary, all I can say is: holy fucking mudslinging.

If you think The Daily posts too much leftist commentary, write something in your own political bias. They may just publish it.

If you think the Herald posts too many blog-type posts, write a news article. They may just publish it.

We could continue to call each other vacuous, pretentious, socialist, or worse. Or we could get down to actually reporting the news. I’m all for open student discourse via the ever-heated commenting section, (rah rah free speech!) but if we can’t behave in a professional manner, we don’t deserve to publish news at all.

I’m reminded of what Rick Mercer said of Ezra Levant, whom he called, “Without a doubt, [one] of the most aggravating men on this earth” (see YouTube: “Rick’s Rant: Ezra Levant”), Publisher of a “completely nutty magazine.”

Mercer said that every time he complained to Levant, Levant said the same thing: “you should write your own column. I’ll publish it next week: word for word.”

Michelle Reddick U2 History and Art History Received March 5

Errata In “Mass transit is the future of Montreal” (News, March 10), it was incorrectly stated that Concordia’s Faculty of Public Affairs organized the “Are we there yet?” event. In fact, the panel was organized by the students in the School of Community and Public Affairs (SCPA) faculty.

Tom Acker and Niko Block, two Daily editors, resigned for the two-week elections period. It was an oversight that they were not removed from the masthead.

The Daily regrets the errors.

Don’t spout biased stats about bottled water Re: “The world’s water is being privatized” | Commentary | February 14 In the piece, Kaats based his objections to bottled water on information long confirmed as false – mythology typically found on anti-bottled water activists’ websites like the Polaris Institute.

The bottled water industry is not a significant factor in the global access-to-water debate: for example, agriculture uses 70 per cent of available fresh water, and the bottled water industry well less than 1 per cent.

In Canada, water is owned by the Crown, it is not owned by private interests. Management of Canada’s water source falls under several pieces of legislation, including the Great Lakes Water Compact. The Canadian bottled water industry uses just .02 per cent of permitted water compared to thermal power generation (64 per cent), and manufacturing (14 per cent).

When it comes to the quality, safety, or regulation of bottled water, they can get the facts by visiting the Health Canada website.

The idea that money spent on bottled water is an investment not made in municipal water and sewer infrastructure is illogical.

Canadians pay local, provincial, and federal taxes, partly so that government will invest in water and sewer infrastructure construction and maintenance. They spend their after-tax income on many consumer items, including bottled water. They do not spend money on bottled water at the expense of tap water.

If Kaats and others wish to protect this valuable resource for future generations, they should give consideration to calling on government to: 1. Make water and sewer infrastructure development and maintenance a priority; 2. Make residential, commercial, and industrial water takers pay their fair share of the real cost of water consumption; 3. Address the inefficient use of water by municipalities, agriculture, and industries; and 4. Require treatment of wastewater before it is returned to rivers, lakes, and oceans.

The Dark Motorcyclist returns!

Art should not be exclusive

Re: “Newburgh deceived Ivies” | News | February 14

Re: “Sht tht wll fck wth yr mnd” | Culture | March 7

Hello Daily, Hello All, Hello World!

This is the Dark Motorcyclist, here to unveil the latest truths about faded, washed up former heroes.

On this occasion I’d like to toast Zach Newburgh (the Apt Pupil) for his twisted aspiration to become the next (even more elitist) Mark Zuckerberg.

I don’t think David Fincher is in the mood for a biopic about a sad clown who valiantly attempted to take SSMU along on his demented quest for money and fame, his brains having been melted and reconstituted by the shadow-dwelling De Brabant.

One reads the articles in our cherished campus newspapers, and one wonders what it was like in all those strange hotel rooms on weekends, having told friends that there was yet another family gathering to attend... et cetera, et cetera.

Too bad about Jobbook. Who is this nefarious Jean De Brabant?

What was his real intention, whisking the impressionable, unsullied Newburgh from one seedy Motel 6 to the next? What kind of wild Charles Starkweather trip was he on, anyway?

I was surprised and dismayed to learn that Fridge Door Gallery’s most recent endeavor, MINDFCUK, is a one-artist exhibition. My feelings have nothing to do with the artist, Aquil Virani, or his obvious talent. Rather, they stem from the fact that The Fridge Door made the choice to run a solo exhibition.

Space and opportunities like the Fridge Door are few and far between in the academic-heavy landscape of McGill. The Fridge Door, funded by the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS), is a venue that “like[s] to give everyone a chance to express themselves in something other than a 12 page term paper” (as quoted from their website). The word “everyone” is glaringly obvious here.

I of course allow Fridge Door to exercise discretion with what sort of art they exhibit, yet I would hope that instead of promoting one artist they would attempt to offer this opportunity to more than one member of the McGill art community. I was not at all comforted by the quote in the Daily article as this being a “great way to show gratitude toward a talented friend.”

This sort of exclusivity is unacceptable. The focus has increasingly narrowed on this one person (see articles in Leacocks and The Daily), all the more increasing my discomfort with student fees being used to champion this single artist.

I feel there is a better way the Fridge Door could vary the nature of their events that does not include solo shows.

The Fridge Door only hosts two or three events a year. I hope that in the future they make decisions that better reflect the minimal opportunities McGill artists have to exhibit their art and find a better way to grant favours to dedicated members.

Yours Truly, The Dark Motorcyclist Devon Welsh U3 Religious Studies, Drama and Theatre Received February 14

Puck Bunnies are just as legit as Gold Diggers, guys Re: “On the offensive” | Sports | March 7 I am not impressed with Esmonde’s fixation on a certain demographic of hockey fans. If there is anything I’ve learned this semester it’s that ignorance surrounds us and that everyone has their own unique opinion. Each needs to be taken with a grain of salt. I don’t think anything is wrong with the use of the term “puck bunny.”

It defines a clear demographic.

Let’s call a spade a spade.

These women exist, it’s part of the sport’s culture. I don’t see the difference between “puck bunny,” “gold digger,” or “future Mrs. Bieber” being printed on a shirt. All allude to females objectifying themselves. I can only hope that the women who wear these shirts read them before they dress, they know what it means, know what they’re endorsing. In this case they are proudly displaying their support. If she’s watching, having fun, feeding the industry, why do you care what she’s wearing?

If her intent is to interact with the players after the game, whose business is that? I don’t think she’s setting a worse example than the fans yelling obscenities at the opposing players. I am willing to bet that the percentage of fans wearing “bunny” shirts against the ones wearing team jerseys is insignificant. Who are we to judge someone’s motivation? Women do not need to prove anything in order to be a fan: as long as the enthusiasm is there, why get so worked up about what we’re wearing? If anyone is using the term in a derogatory manner it’s simply an exposure of their own ignorance and does not deserve attention.

Kathleen Michaels U2 Biology Received March 8

Kerry Maguire U2 Biology and Philosophy Received March 8

Sincerely, John B. Challinor II Director of Corporate Affairs Nestlé Waters Canada Received February 14

The Daily always loves your feedback: send your letters to letters@mcgilldaily. com from your McGill email address, and keep them to 300 words or less. The Daily does not print letters that are racist, sexist, or otherwise hateful.

Commentary

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

11

Beijing, Beijing A city of contradictions Red star over Asia Ted Sprague

ted.sprague@mcgilldaily.com

Start spreadin’ the news, I’m leaving today I want to be a part of it: Beijing, Beijing

L

ast night I walked along Wangfujing street, a shopping district just a stone’s throw away from Tiananmen square. More than 100 international brand stores line the street to feed the appetite of the growing base of Chinese consumers. I asked myself: would Mao – lying not far away from here – be proud of this?

Last summer China overtook Japan as the number two global economy. While the whole world is still sluggishly recovering from the financial crisis, it registered 10 per cent growth in 2010. Not even the almighty Communist Party of China can doctor these economic statistics – the usual Stalinist practice in the past – when the Chinese economy is already so immersed in the world trade.

But China is not stopping there.

By 2025 it is projected to surpass the U.S. according to the World Bank, Goldman Sachs, and many others. It is true that its GDP per capita is only

one tenth that of Japan. However given where it started, once “a sick man of Asia,” China has climbed over – no, demolished would be more correct – the wall separating the third world from the first.

With two recent world exhibitions, the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 World Expo, China is flexing its muscles, showcasing its achievements to the world, as if to say, “Look at me!” And people pay attention as it grows by leaps and bounds, even in the deepest recession. China alone carries the whole world economy as others slump.

How could China rise at such maddening pace? It couldn’t be just because of the knock-offs and cheap labour. Indonesia, India, and Cambodia – to name a few – are also notorious for their sweatshops, yet they are far behind China in almost all respects.

If there is one difference, it is that China underwent a socialist revolution in 1949 that brought about a planned economy, albeit a deformed one, and one far from the conception put forward by Marx.

The remnants of this planned economy can still be seen in China’s economic policy: the pegged Yuan and the way China runs its state bank have caused the ire of many U.S. law- and policymakers. These are remnants because China is now a capitalist country, but it still carries

Tom Acker | The McGill Daily

marks of the origins from which it was born.

China is not a paradise. There are many social contradictions inside this behemoth. Here we have a so-called socialist country that treats its workers no better than many capitalist countries, where the ruling party cannot yet openly abandon socialist rhetoric and embrace capitalism like their counterparts in Russia. “Hold high the

banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” proclaimed Hu Jintao at the party’s 17th Congress; this is when multi-million-dollar capitalists are being born each second in the country.

The world is a different place now, for us in the West, and also for the hundreds of millions of Chinese peasants who for the first time see the glimmering light of Beijing and are then immediately stuffed by the

thousands into Dickensian factories. We are quickly moving from one epoch to the other, one filled with turbulence just like the bustling streets of Beijing.

But if you can make it here in Beijing, you can make it anywhere.

Ted Sprague is currently in China.

You can follow his adventure through this column or his blog www.redstaroverasia.wordpress.com

Pouring cash into snowbanks We’re great at snow removal, but increasingly, little else The character of community Adrian Kaats

adrian.kaats@mcgilldaily.com

I

was five years old when my father woke me up in the middle of the night insisting that I watch the wonder that is Montreal snow removal. Being that he’s from the Netherlands, and has an affinity for trains, my father was gaga over the monster machines, their precision, and the sheer magnitude of the operation. His enthusiasm was infectious. Decades later, and despite many misgivings, I still can’t help taking pause to admire the one thing we definitely do right in this part of the world: snow removal.

Instead of lauding what are increasingly embarrassing social programs like “education” and “health care,” maybe we should start touting our mind blowing ability to plow snow.

There is a whole lot wrong with the entire premise of snow plowing. Canada spends about $1 billion per year largely clearing the way for cars. In Montreal alone, it’s an annual average of $145 million. Most of that is spent making it easier for 1.3 million cars to circulate through Montreal’s streets every day. In the long run, it would be nice to get rid of most car traffic in the city, but until that day never comes, it’s a losing battle for pedestrians and cyclists who are left to navigate mountains of snow and lakes of slush created as the way is cleared for their vehicular enemy. The way we plow continues to support the primacy of the motor vehicle over all other forms of transportation.

The cars aren’t without complaint either. As the city of Montreal’s Snow Removal 101 website gladly informs us, snow removal occurs in four phases, only one

of which is actually removal. Until then, snow is simply pushed to the sides of roads and sidewalks so traffic can flow. Woe to you who might be parked – you are likely to find yourself digging out of a snowbank.

If not, then you’ve probably parked long enough to be towed in the process, and were the unhappy recipient of a $117 ticket.

Pollution is a problem too. In the name of fuel efficiency, the more than 2,500 machines performing Montreal’s snow removal are exempt from strict emissions regulations. The “melters” (largely salt) used to thaw ice and snow can contaminate fresh water and soil.

On top of all this, almost every year, a few people are put to pasture by snow plows – some of the accidents are gruesome, and most Montreal pedestrians have likely had a brush with death at the hands of some kind of deadly snow removing contraption.

Last but not least is the wide variety of property damage that plowing creates. In that category, the favourite perennial complaint is the pothole: the more and better our plowing, the deeper and deadlier are our famous craters.

Despite its many shortcomings, snow removal is, to some degree, a necessary public service, and we do it exceptionally well. I was recently in the Netherlands and it was pandemonium after only a few centimetres fell. The country’s traffic was crippled for days. They were so unprepared that they ran out of salt and the country’s roads turned into skating rinks. Even the militant bicycling culture was sidelined. When I tried to relay to my relatives how absurd this seems to a Canadian because we have such breathtaking plowing, they had no idea what I was talking about.

So, I’d like to nominate our snow removal for addition to the

list of things Canadians brag about to the world. Because our previously world famous social systems – health care and education, in particular – are being systematically dismantled and privatized, I’m not satisfied that all we’re left with is hockey, Tim Horton’s, beavers, politeness, our shitty climate, and not being American.

We need a solid public service on that list. Since the automobile and oil and gas industries evidently aren’t going anywhere, and climate change only seems to be making our winters more erratic, I bet our remarkable snow removal will be around for the long haul. So let’s secure our place as the goofy, backwards north, and start bragging about how we kick winter’s ass with remarkable speed and efficiency by pouring money into snowbanks instead of, well, everything else. We certainly don’t have much else to show the world at the moment. !

12Commentary

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Women in Egypt The case for a secular state Davide Mastracci Hyde Park

“I

t is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.” This quote, often misattributed to Che Guevara but belonging to Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, is quite a popular one. The message is certainly admirable, but most who trumpet it do not follow through. Yet now, throughout the Arab world, the demeaned and abused citizens who for so long were savagely dominated by oppressive dictators are rising up and resisting. Men and women together, fighting for their basic human rights, are unified and motivated. Their actions are courageous and should be applauded. However, a disturbing question looms over the masses of angry citizens. When

the dust settles, the dictators fall, and a new period in history begins, will the women who so bravely participated in the revolution be forced back to their knees?

This question is particularly important in Egypt. Mubarak was ousted at a remarkable pace due in part to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic fundamentalist organization. While the part the Brotherhood played in Mubarak’s removal cannot be denied, its potential role in the “new” Egypt should be viewed critically by all people, and more specifically women. The Brotherhood has a notorious reputation for its misogynistic views, in part inspired by its strict adherence to Islam. Makarem El Deiry, the only female candidate representing the Brotherhood in 2005, claimed, “We [the Muslim Brotherhood] oppose battling against men’s supe-

riority to women.” She also asserted that women in the West suffered from violence because they “have forgotten over there that men are superior to women.”

The likelihood of the Muslim Brotherhood controlling Egypt is uncertain, but it seems that if they are to attain power, Egypt’s legal system will most likely be made-up by Sharia law. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Company, when asked if “it is still the primary aim of the Islamic Brotherhood to create an Islamic state in Egypt based on Sharia law?”, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Kamal El-Helbawi, stated, “[The Muslim Brotherhood] will promote that aim and objective.” This is particularly hypocritical in relation to an earlier statement where El-Helbawi claimed, “We are after a society that is built on, and a political system built on dem-

ocratic values, freedom and equal social justice, equal opportunities and the dignity of human rights and the respect of human rights.”

A literal comprehension and application of Sharia law is not compatible with the type of society El-Helbawi describes nor with equality for women. Shaista Gohir, the British advisor on Muslim women, summed up the effect of Sharia law claiming, “Although Islam gives women numerous Islamic rights, many Muslim women would fear discrimination due to patriarchal and cultural reasons.”

This fear stems from laws seeking to cement women in submissive roles in society and in the home.

An example is the stance on female rape victims propagated by a fundamentalist interpretation of Sharia law which seeks for victims to be punished for their “adultery.”

In the 2008 movie Religulous, Bill Maher said, “It worries me that people are running my country... who believe in a talking snake.”

What Maher refers to is fundamentalists, and while it is foolish to view all people of faith as being unable to participate adequately in government, Maher’s paranoia of a state which bases its laws on the platform of fundamentalist lunacy born out of the belief in fables put across by religion is completely justified. The presence of a secular government in Egypt, while only a part of the overall solution required, would allow for women to move a few rungs up the menacing ladder of oppression that they have climbed on for centuries, toward equality.

Davide Mastracci is a U0 Arts student. He can be reached at davide. mastracci@mail.mcgill.ca.

Are you opinionated and funny?

Do your friends get tired of listening to you rant?

Have you ever thought of working for The McGill Daily?

Run to be a Commentary&Compendium! editor!

(There are 2 now!)

There are a few things you need to do first:

1. Make sure you are a staff member, which means that you have written/drawn/ shot 6 articles/illustrations/photos, or come in for 3 production nights, or some combination thereof.

2. Email commentary@mcgilldaily.com to set up a meeting.

3. Candidate statements are due by midnight on March 20.

4. Rundowns are on March 23, and candidate interviews and elections are on March 24.

Commentary

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

13

Against evolutionist theories of gender Problematizing the idea that our gender roles are biologically predetermined Diane Le Gall Hyde Park

F

rom time to time, I hear or read people wondering, “Where do differences between men and women come from?” and then emitting tentative explanations grounded in prehistory and evolution. These theories are what I call “evolutionist theories of gender,” and I find them deeply problematic. According to these theories, modern men and women are differentially determined by evolution. Aside from the fact that I have a tendency to be very suspicious of arguments grounded in biological determinism – since, for instance, they have been used among others to attempt to demonstrate racial inequality – I think that an evolutionist theory of gender shows huge and insuperable shortcomings from the points of view of biological and genetic sciences, anthropology, logic, and even paleontology.

I am told that women are endowed with such and such characteristics, such as being able to multi-task, being naturally capable of conversation and communicating, being focused on small things, and interested chiefly in domestic life. On the contrary, men are supposed to be able to focus on only one thing at a time, supposed to be straight-

forward, not so able to express feelings, and interested in public life.

I am told that this is so because of evolution and genetics. These arguments tend to refer to prehistory, and to behaviours that are learned over time. For instance, if I am able to multitask, it is because generations of women have done so before, thus transforming the female brain into an organ that is designed for multitasking.

However, I am deeply concerned when I hear people who are clever enough to know better endorse this type of argument.

First of all, from a biological and genetic point of view, I don’t see how gender-differentiated lineages could develop separately.

Do I need to inform my reader that for each individual who is born, a man and a woman contributed? As it is, for each of us, half our genome is transmitted by the mother, while the other half comes from the father. And to make things even more complex, those two halves are completely intermingled to produce a unique DNA. Genetically, the cerebral structure is the result of such an intermingling of the mother’s and father’s DNA. The brain is a highly plastic organ. In other words, it changes constantly during life, and is highly receptive to its environment – especially in the early years of childhood. Cutting edge research

Grace Brooks | The McGill Daily

in France shows that there is no such thing as a feminine or masculine brain in itself. It seems that children tend to develop different abilities according to their gender, because the social environment expects different things from them depending on whether they are boys or girls.

If those two arguments were a bit too scientific for your taste, please proceed to the third one, which is based on logic. How do we know how prehistoric societies were organized? How do we know that the picture we have of them – men hunting, women picking fruits – is not more the result of our present culture, which biases

the researchers, than an accurate representation of how things were? Though this picturesque view is seductive with its simplicity, it has been reassessed by modern prehistorians and paleontologists. The current trend is to estimate that the men-hunter and women-gatherer picture is simply not plausible. In brief, it is not very likely that hunting was a daily and male activity. It is more probable that it was a cyclical activity, in which the whole tribe would engage at definite times of the year, according to researcher Linda Owen.

To sum up, I find the statements on “natural” gender differences

The red herring of apartheid Muddying the waters of debate Greg Sacks

The Manitoban (Univ. of Manitoba)

W

INNIPEG (CUP) — Language can be a strangely powerful tool. A single word may reference a whole range of cultural phenomena and inspire happiness, shock, anger and everything else in between.

This is no secret. All the great orators in history understood the importance of infusing their prose with words that resonate in the human heart as well as mind. Nor is it a lost art. Even today, anyone serious about spreading a message knows that a careful choice of phrasing can make the difference between celebrity and obscurity.

Thus, I have no doubt that such ideas occupied the minds of those who decided on the name “Israeli Apartheid Week,” the annual series of events organized by groups opposed to the treatment of Palestinians by Israel. That’s not to suggest that IAW supporters don’t believe the analogy, but the use of an emotionally – and politically – charged word like “apart-

heid” was guaranteed to grab headlines, and there’s no way they didn’t see that beforehand.

Tried and true though the technique may be, I’m not comfortable with its use here. In fact, it’s a pretty irresponsible misappropriation of a word better left to the history books. It’s not that the plight of the Palestinians isn’t worthy of attention – they have had a pretty bad run over the past fifty some-odd years, though the issue is hardly one-sided. No, my objection lies more in the red herring that results when throwing such a contentious term into the ring.

Apartheid of course refers, in the narrow historical sense, to the racial policies implemented in South Africa by the Nationalist Party after it came to power in the late 1940s. It was an absolutely despicable chapter of history and the word now rightly conjures up images of racism, intolerance, and authoritarianism. However, in most minds it is still inextricably linked to South Africa, and this is where the problems begin.

IAW’s goal is to raise awareness about alleged human rights abuses occurring in Israel. However, in

choosing a name so rife with historical baggage, it inadvertently diverts attention away from the issue at hand and creates a meta-debate about whether the label is correct.

This has, in turn, allowed IAW’s opponents to sidestep tougher questions and substitute a much easier one: Does what is occurring in Israel qualify as apartheid, per se?

This is an simple thrust to parry – of course, strictly speaking, the policies are not, and can never be, apartheid, an Afrikaans word for a phenomenon exclusive, in that specific form, to South Africa. And because the term is so closely linked with that nation, the overwhelming majority of people are willing to accept such a conclusion.

In short, by using the word apartheid, IAW allows its opponents to avoid addressing any of their actual concerns.

The same thing occurs whenever people try to attach the term “Holocaust” to genocides other than that of the Jews under Nazi Germany. The allusion to that awful event is never lost, no matter how completely unrelated the referenced circumstances may be, and

it inevitably muddies the waters as people try and decide whether the ethnic cleansing of one group measures up to that of another – as though any genocide is better or worse than another.

Whatever the intention of those importing such loaded words into the vernacular, it invariably results in a linguistic debate overshadowing the actual problem at hand.

It’s a shame, because there is a lot in the Israel-Palestine conflict worth debating. I don’t come down strongly on either side, but I absolutely agree that there are some issues raised by IAW well worth addressing.

However, IAW’s insistence on the use of an attention-grabbing moniker greatly diminishes the chance of a serious and sober debate.

Instead, we are left with a lot of opinions on apartheid and few on anything relevant to the Palestinian situation, to the great advantage of those who would rather avoid a discussion at all. If those who believe that an injustice is occurring in Israel want to be heard by the world, they would do better to tone down the shock factor and start addressing their concerns head on.

based on evolution extremely dubious, and am disturbed that people who have access to information and apparently possess good analytical and critical skills stick to these obsolete theories.

Not because the short scientific explanations I have given are necessarily completely true, but because they seem sufficient to raise a more than reasonable doubt in regards to the accuracy of such theories.

Diane Le Gall is an L.L.M. nonthesis candidate in the Institute of Comparative Law. She can be reached at diane.legall@mail. mcgill.ca.

There are only 4 issues left!

Our Bodies issue is going to be one of the last special issues of the year.

Want to write about bodies and their politics?

Email commentary@ mcgilldaily.com!

14 Features

All illustrations Nicole Stradiotto | McGill Daily

“We are zombies” Sam Neylon delves into the brutal reality of Canada’s immigration system

“M

entally, this country breaks us,” says Arash Aslani, an Iranian who was detained at Laval’s Canadian Immigration Prevention Center for 11 consecutive months in 2004-2005.

Aslani arrived in Canada by boat in 2004, after he had been imprisoned and tortured in Iran for two years. “In jail I mean I was about two years and half I was under torture in Iran, so, I mean about 35 per cent of my body I lost it.”

His detention ended in a hunger strike, beginning on August 22, 2005. For 31 days Aslani consumed only water.

Although his stay in detention and his resistance were extraordinary (most are only detained for one to three months), what he spoke about was the way the system works people over. For him and many others, this is what it means to become Canadian.

Although the system is ostensibly about protecting Canadian society – about security – from the inside it appears as a series of filters. It didn’t seem like these barriers were filtering out “security threats” – Aslani said those interrogating him seemed to know nothing of Middle Eastern politics. Rather, they tend to ensnare those who want to “rock the boat” – fight for democracy in their home country, pursue their education, find a good job.

“They teach us, the first step is that they are better than us,” says Aslani. “Political refugee means a person who has enough balls to fight with the dictator in their country. Most of them are educated, most of them are very brave.”

The barriers to gaining status, Aslani said, give way once frustration sets in, once people acquiesce to the quotidian control that comes

with the system of detention.

Action Réfugiés is an organization that, for twenty years, has visited the immigrant detention centre and tried to give moral and legal support to those on the inside. They wouldn’t allow any of the refugees they are in contact with to be interviewed, fearing for their refugee claim proceedings.

This is why you can call it a system, a regime. It is not mistreatment by a particular agency, a hidden experience of brutality that must be exposed. Rather, it teaches people to exist a certain way – docile, and in fear.

This way of being reaches beyond the detention centre, beyond those deported back to their home countries. It follows immigrants around, making sure they check in every week. It looks at them suspiciously on the metro, and walking down the street at night.

It comes between them and their landlords or their bosses, creating fear of speaking out about mistreatment. It ensures that things run smoothly.

Detained upon arrival In the naming of the Laval centre, “detention” becomes “prevention.” What were called “deportations” are now called “removals,” and those that will not be staying in Canada, those that are subject to “immigration prevention” and “removal orders,” are called “inadmissible.”

Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) was passed on November 1, 2001, in the wake of 9/11. It is the primary legislation currently guiding Federal immigration policy.

The Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) manual for enforcement officers, stipulates that the power to detain permanent resi-

dents and foreign nationals meet the objectives of the IRPA by “protecting Canadian society.”

People are detained either because border officers aren’t sure of their identity, their documents are insufficient, they are a “flight risk,” or they are a “threat to security.” Those who are arrested at the port of entry – arriving by ship, car, bus, or plane – are treated, in Aslani’s words, as “absolutely criminal.”

“It’s like the Hollywood movies,” he says.

“In the Hollywood movies, what they do with the criminals – like with the psycho criminals.

Where there are very calm people but they put the chain on their hand, on their neck. …

They act like that with us.”

For many years, those who were able to get past the border with the documents they had were not detained, even after presenting themselves to the authorities. At some indeterminable point in the last few years, increasing numbers of migrants began to be detained even after successfully entering Canada.

“If you are not that good, if your passport is not good, if you didn’t pay enough to the smuggler, and your passport is false then you have to go to detention: this is the first punishment,” Aslani said.

On the streets Sarita Ahooja is a local activist, and a founding member of Montreal’s Anti-Capitalist Convergence, which was formed back in 2000 to build a resistance movement against the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.

She is also a founding member of No One Is Illegal, and part of the Solidarity Across Borders network, connecting several different organizations, refugees, and immigrants

who are fighting against deportations and for status for all.

Beyond that moment at the border, detention and deportation reach into communities – seeking out those with precarious status, those that might be “flight risks,” dangerous to the public. Ahooja has a lot of stories about those who are swept up in Canada’s immigration regime like this.

One woman in her community was detained after being robbed. When the cops showed up at her place and found that she was undocumented, they took her in. (She had been underground for eight years, but with the help of activists, was able to secure a work permit.) “They don’t care about the robber. Next thing we know she’s deported back to Bangladesh,” said Ahooja.

Racial profiling by Montreal police also sweeps people into the system. Ahooja recounted the story of a Latino youth who was deported after his ID was checked arbitrarily at a metro station.

Be they non-status migrants living underground, or permanent residents who have lived here for several years, anyone in this vast space of liminality can be arrested and deported with little more than a removal order from the Canadian Border Services Agency.

Another man Ahooja knows, who was originally from Algeria, was stopped by police one night while walking through Outrement.

“Apparently there’s a rule that Algerians or Arabs can’t walk in Outremont. So he’s stopped – he’s taken in, he got accused of uttering death threats. So then he had a criminal record,” she says. “For some time he was barred and he was going to be deported, because if you get a criminal record here – it’s like one strike you’re out.”

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

three times a day.

“It was the most fun ever.”

The guards would line up the detainees and begin to count, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.” One of the detainees was not looking at the officer, so the officer starts over.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…” One of the detainees coughs, and the count starts from the beginning again.

“Maybe for two hours they would count us.”

Interrogation

In detention For Aslani, once in detention, you lose your humanity.

“I was 205 Delta,” he says.

Time and space in the detention center are strictly regimented; those detained are shuffled from one event to the next.

“Food is always on time, medication on time, doctor on time, sleep on time.”

Every morning, they would wake up at 6 a.m. The officers would walk down the corridors, going to each door in order, each room occupied by five or six detainees. Security would kick the door until everyone inside was awake: “Pow pow pow – Wake up! It was like the military.”

Fifteen detainees at a time would be given ten minutes to shower and shave and go to the bathroom. If they took longer than ten minutes they would be escorted back to their cells.

The officers would bring them razors, and once they were done shaving, they would take the razors back – in order to minimize suicide attempts.

While shaving, officers would stand within an inch of the detainees’ faces. “205 Delta, shave.”

By 6:30, all the detainees would be moved into the waiting room – “Everybody in the waiting room – they lock the door.”

After the detainees had sat, waiting, the guards would start yelling – breakfast is ready.

“They talk about the breakfast like the breakfast is the most beautiful thing,” says Aslani. “You just want to go have breakfast, and you start thinking, ‘Oh my god – if [the officers] were not here we wouldn’t have anything to eat!’”

They line up the detainees, 15 by 15, to get into the cafeteria.

“Mentally it makes you sick. Everything routine.” But, he says, “You cannot, we have expression, you cannot swim against the river.”

The security guard lines up 15 in a straight line. “Fifteen here!”

“They talk in their walkie-talkies, like a

Hollywood movie, like a kid.”

One guard will speak to another across the room into their walkie-talkie: “Fifteen is okay?” – “You are ready?” – “Yes, ready.” – “Okay open the door.” The detainees begin walking through the passage: “Un, deux, trois…”

As the detainees wait in line, some of them sit on the ground to rest: “NO! No sir! Don’t sit!”

Aslani waits in line at 6:30 a.m. “Goddammit I just want to eat something, fuck!”

It’s 7 a.m. Breakfast has finished, the detainees have been filed back into the waiting room. Security officers ring the entire perimeter of the room, guarding 100 detainees.

“And then you sit there… You have to sit until 11 – lunch time.”

One of the detainees’ heads begins to nod over and rest on their shoulder: “Sir, you are not allowed to do that.”

Another detainee folds their arms and rests their head in front of them: “Sir, you are not allowed to do that.”

Someone puts their feet up on an empty chair near them: “Sir, you are not allowed to do that.”

11 a.m. “Lunch time!”

“Oh my god, beautiful things happen! The world is exciting!” says Aslani in his ironic, theatrical manner.

Fifteen by fifteen.

“The food is absolutely jelly food, but thank God.” Eat it, and then go sit – until 4:30.

There is a courtyard the guards sometimes open. The detainees are allowed to go outside and walk.

“You cannot run, you cannot exercise, because you might bump into somebody else – you just walk. And for every two people – one security.”

They are led inside, and there is a TV room with videos – in English and French.

“There are about seven movies,” he says.

“Sixty-two times I watched Gladiator.”

The detainees were lined up and counted

Every morning, detainees are brought either to CIC’s offices at 1010 Saint-Antoine Ouest for questioning, or to court. The officers are given a list of names – some are going to Immigration, others to court.

(Since Aslani’s time in detention, the facility has changed from being run by CBSA officers to having guards from the private security company Garda.)

While all the detainees wait in line for breakfast, the names are called out. Someone forgets their papers in their cell. A guard is called via walkie-talkie to escort the detainee to their room. Everyone waits.

“This slowly gets under your skin. You hate yourself in front of the mirror. You hate everything,” says Aslani. “They play with your brain till you are ready to accept.”

The detainees going to 1010 or to court are brought into another room. The officers put handcuffs on the detainees one at a time. Another officer walks down the line, shaking the handcuffs, testing them. The first officer walks down the line again, grabbing the handcuffs and shaking them harshly – testing them again. Another officer walks down the line, connecting all the handcuffs to the same chain – and tests it again.

The detainees are then led into the back of a van. A metal barrier separates them from the drivers, and the door is locked. The van then drives from the Detention Centre in its desolate corner of eastern Laval into downtown Montreal.

Aslani described seeing the world through the small window in the back of the van.

“When you come out, it’s a miracle. It’s the most beautiful thing – you see kids, you see colour: red, green, blue. You see old women. You see people, and you start to cry. When am I going to be there?”

The detainees are filed out of the van and into a waiting room at 1010, where they wait to be interrogated, one by one,

15

by an immigration officer.

Inside the interrogation room, the officer puts Aslani’s file on the table and taps it with his finger: “Write where you were,” taps the file again, “No lies!” This is how the questioning process begins.

Aslani requests a translator. The officer responds, “We know that you know English, and that you know perfect French. Shut up, you don’t need a translator.”

The officer continues with the interrogation: “We found your fingerprints, we know you were in Saudi Arabia. What were you doing over there?”

Aslani, in fact, has never been to Saudi Arabia. It’s clear, he says, that the officer knows this too.

“I swear to you! No Saudi Arabia!”

The CIC’s enforcement manual elucidates their interrogation strategy. “Instability of the person associated with mental imbalance at the time of the examination may be a very important indicator in the assessment of the danger, and may point to future violent behaviour.”

This aggressive questioning, Ahooja explains, is systematic.

“They really try to crack people, make them have some kind of crisis or some kind of violent reaction which then gives them a pretext to deem them ‘inadmissible.’ And then we don’t have to deal with them at all,” says Ahooja.

“You’re being questioned about your story, again and again. Canada has a crown commissioner on the other side who is continually trying to trap you into somehow proving that you’ve lied. Detailed questions. ‘Do you remember where you lived three years ago – the address and the postal code?’ ‘Can you say it right now?’ ‘In October, 2005, where did you live?’”

Phrases like “I think” are taken to mean the detainee is lying.

16Features “They try to provoke you, they keep asking you questions to see if you’ll slip and change your story,” says Ahooja. “If someone violently reacted and was indignant about this poking and provoking, they’d get deported right away.”

As detainees are released, or their friends and family interrogated, the effects of questioning spread to the community.

“Within the community it is taboo to talk about ‘Oh, there is a deportation facing you.’

It’s blaming the victim, so that’s what communities start doing,” says Ahooja.

“There is an internalization of the criminalization, who’s good? Who’s bad? So then I want to be really good, and you don’t even defend your minimal rights in the workplace, in your house, in your apartment.

“So you live in abominable conditions because you’re so worried about not rocking the boat. In this neighbourhood, people live in apartments that are horrible – you’ve got mice infestation, cockroach infestation, typical ghetto situation – molding roofs, infiltration of water, holes in the door, air coming in, no Hydro – but people don’t say anything.

You don’t want to rock the boat, you don’t want to have trouble, potentially the cops coming in, checking your immigration, and then,” she snaps, “you’re in detention.”

Women and Children Women and children, and the elderly are also held in the Laval Detention Centre.

The CIC’s manual stipulates that “it is affirmed as a principle that a minor child shall be detained only as a measure of last resort.”

According to Ahooja, minors are treated much less delicately.

“We had a case where six kids were detained,” she says. “Two year-old, five yearold, six year-old, eight year-old, and seventeen year-old.” She adds that CBSA officers raided the family’s apartment at night, when both parents were at work.

The medical services provided in detention, according to Aslani, focus on getting the detainees to sleep.

“If the doctor writes ‘ten [sleeping] pills,’ you don’t have any choice to take them – the nurse is going to put them in your mouth.”

When detainees need medical services outside the Centre, they are never let off their chain. Those taken to the hospital, including pregnant women, are handcuffed to their beds.

In court Detainees are brought to two different courtrooms. One is a “detention review,” where the decision is made to release the detainee under certain conditions, or keep them in detention. The other is refugee court, where a decision is made as to whether the person can stay in Canada, or be subject to “removal.”

In order to keep someone detained, they must be brought before a court for a “detention review” after the first 48 hours, then seven days, and then every thirty days.

At a detention hearing there are two adversarial parties, the person who is being detained and the Minister’s counsel for the CBSA. Presiding over the court is a “member,” not a judge, from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB).

During his 11-month detention, Aslani was in and out of detention court many times.

These kinds of hearings seldom accomplish anything beyond maintaining the legal basis for detention.

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

At one of his refugee hearings, Aslani’s first lawyer sat beside him in court for five hours, not speaking, and then told the judge, “He’s a good boy.”

Aslani compared his time in Canadian court to Iran. In Iran’s military court, Aslani was given a lawyer who didn’t even have a high school diploma.

“For people like us, people fighting in third-world countries – we’re fighting for democracy right? We believe that in Europe and North America at least they know something about democracy. For us it’s important, like a movie you desire to watch.”

After his experience with these courts, Aslani said, “Oh, this is democracy! That’s cute. We’re not that different. Same shit.”

For him, the power dynamic in the courtroom was a big reason he was stuck in limbo.

As he explained, the IRB official presiding over the hearing was often younger than the CBSA counsel in charge of his case.

At first, Aslani was detained for identity reasons. Then, they might say something like, “we need another month, we need to translate some documents.” The fact that Aslani had already been detained was an argument, in the member’s mind, that he should be detained further.

As the CBSA counsel would lay out reasons to detain Aslani further, they would end by telling the member that “it was their decision.” Afraid of bringing some unknown horrors down on their head, signing Aslani into further detention made a lot of sense.

A trip through Europe As Aslani and his “big mouth” were sent back to detention month after month, the reasons for his detention began to centre around his time attempting to pass through what some call Fortress Europe – a continent which has become concomitantly more open for those with EU passports, while becoming more fortified against those people Europe does not want moving freely. What is striking about the Canadian authorities’ suspicion of Aslani’s route through Europe – using false documents and being detained for it – is how typical this experience is.

The member presiding over the courtroom told Aslani that he was suspicious because he had access to false documents in Europe.

“Europe is amazing,” says. “In Amsterdam, you can buy a passport for 60 Euros, maybe 100 Euros.”

Aslani explains how the only way to travel from country to country is through smugglers. “You don’t have any choice – you have to do that!” If the passport he got was bad, he would be detained in the next country he went to. He’d go to jail, and then be released.

“So you’re coming out, you lost your money, you lost your time, you were in jail.

You work in an apple orchard, you make money – 5 Euros per hour. Again and again you don’t eat anything – you keep [your earnings]. Another, stupid, nasty smuggler, you pay – passport – you go, you travel, they arrest you and put you in jail again you lose your money.”

Arash’s experience, he says, is not uncommon for migrants to Canada.

“This is the last hope, this country.”

Fewer refugees Within the framework of this system, there are many pressure points. If the government wanted to, say, reduce dramatically the

number of refugees coming into, and being admitted into Canada, they could change the law. But at every step in this process, the way officials interact with people is a place where immigration policy can unfold – where people can be squeezed out, frustrated into changing their lives to fit the government’s narrative.

The CBSA released an evaluation of their Detentions and Removals Programs on January 31, 2011. The problem areas, for them, were reducing costs, reducing inconsistencies in the application of detention and removal policies, and carrying out removals more “efficiently.”

Bill C-49, the “Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act,” is one of those legal changes. The legislation was first introduced by the Conservative government in October, and is now in its second reading in Parliament. According to the Canadian Council for Refugees, the bill could bring even more enforcement, detention, and discriminatory filtering into the lives of those caught up in this system.

Another legislative change, Bill C-11, was passed last June, and is expected to be implemented as of early 2012. Annick Legault, Aslani’s second attorney, is not optimistic about the new system.

“It’s absolutely hell. The whole idea is to be able to kick someone out of the country within a year.”

This acceleration of the deportation process takes place at several levels. In the new system, several steps that were done through a lawyer will now be done through an officer. Another important step is making more distinctions between “safe countries” and “unsafe countries,” or even parts of countries will be deemed “unsafe.”

This creates big problems with countries like Mexico or Israel, where, even though they are regarded by Canada as liberal democracies, persecution exists for large parts of the population.

These distinctions, Legault insists, destroy any illusion of due process. “You’re going to be able to apprehend losing.”

“It’s not normal when you’re going to court, you’re supposed to feel like there’s someone to listen, a due process, that everyone’s impartial, no one’s going to be pressured to render a negative decision – which – even if it’s not the truth now, it’s still supposed to give that impression. Whereas that new system doesn’t even give the impression.”

The last two forms of legal recourse that those with removal orders have are currently the Pre-removal risk assessment (PRA), and the Humanitarian and compassionate claim for permanent residence (H&C). The PRA is supposed to determine if the person to be deported will suffer torture or even death upon removal to their home country. The H&C is a statement claiming connections to the community in Canada, and requesting permanent residence because they have built a life here.

Ahooja explained that for a few years now, the PRA has seemed like a formality, with almost every applicant being rejected.

What is new, however, has been an increase in the PRA and H&C being decided at the same time. The problem here is that there are supposed to be two different organizations, the CBSA and CIC, and thus two different perspectives – one based on security and one based on community, making this decision.

According to Ahooja, the frustration this intransigence, this series of dead-ends, can create is very powerful.

“They realize at some point they might never be able to be heard or understood,” she says. “And that the person in front of them who has the power to decide over their life doesn’t give a shit about them.

Some people would rather take their lives here and not be deported back to what awaits them.”

Hunger Strike After seven months of going to detention reviews and a refugee hearing, Aslani found out he was not going to get refugee status, and would be kept in detention until his deportation.

It was a week before the guards realized Aslani hadn’t been eating. Every time he refused a meal, a yellow slip would go in his folder. Eventually, a guard realized that his folder was overflowing with yellow slips.

“It doesn’t show how strong I am, it shows how frustrated I was. I was feeling that I was going to die, and I was ready for that.”

Aslani sat in his bed everyday, watched by two guards.

Maurizio Mannarino, then director of the detention centre, eventually confronted Aslani.

“The director came and said you are not allowed to [hunger strike]. I remember the director told me, ‘Here is Canada, here is not your country, where you can do anything you want.”

The doctor at the centre tried to sneak some chocolate to Aslani: “Eat this, I won’t tell anybody. At least keep your energy.”

Aslani responded that “I want to die, finish. I want to show the world that Canada is not that country they think – at least I can do that.”

Other detainees began hunger strikes in support of Aslani.

One of the other detainees, a friend of Aslani’s, sent a fax to the Red Cross. A piece was published in the Montreal Gazette, and a few Iranian newspapers picked up the story.

At his next detention review, a crowd of supporters filled the gallery.

Other detainees were inspired by Aslani to hunger strike in solidarity.

Aslani credits his eventual release to his new lawyer – Annick Legault. Aslani was released on $15,000 bail and condition that he report to 1010 Saint-Antoine Ouest every week. He did so every Tuesday from September 2005 until January 2011, until his lawyer sent a request and he was able to stop.

“If you miss it, the next day, they’re at your house – they arrest you, you’re in detention, forget about it,” says Aslani, who spent that time working, making the various appeals, fighting off a deportation order, marrying, and starting a family in Canada.

“Monday to Friday, working, Saturday and Sunday go to Casino. I know that I’m not one of the Canadian guys… I’m the stranger forever.”

Acceptance into Canada, he says, has broken his will.

“When you are absolutely frustrated and disappointed, you say ‘so what, fuck that.’ then you are welcome. But if you have something to say, or you are creative, or you are a fighter, they don’t like it: ‘calm down, calm down’” says Aslani.

“We are all zombies. I’m saying if we are like that, it’s not because we are bad people. It’s because of what happened to us. This is what they want. They don’t listen to news, when the news is talking, they’re washing dishes.

Sports

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Going green

17

Gabriel Ellison-Scowcroft for The McGill Daily

Madeleine Cummings examines efforts to lower the environmental impact of sports

A

typical Montreal Canadiens fan parks their car outside the Bell Centre at 6:30 p.m., orders a couple of beers, watches the game, discards their waste, and then gets back on the highway. From an environmental standpoint, one fan’s half-litre of gas and handful of plastic garbage isn’t a big deal. The problem, of course, is that there are many Canadiens fans. The Bell Centre, with the highest capacity of any NHL arena, can seat over 21,000 of them on any given night. Individual actions add up, and the environment suffers.

It’s not surprising that leagues and teams have begun to recognize the impact their businesses have on the environment, or that they’ve decided to do something about it.

Implementing eco-friendly policies allows companies to cut costs and boast about it – going green has become one of the defining trends of our generation, and professional sports franchises are jumping on the bandwagon.

The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an American organization dedicated to sustainability and combating climate change. With 1.3 million members and activists around the world, NRDC tackles environmental issues of all kinds, including the impact that the professional sports industry has on the environment.

According to their website, the NRDC aims to educate teams and leagues about the effects that they have on the environment, to help them make changes, and to spread

awareness on the importance of environmental issues throughout the industry. The NRDC’s first collaboration with professional sports began in 2004 with Major League Baseball. The success of this partnership led other professional leagues to approach the organization. Today, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, the National Football League, and the U.S. Tennis Association have all partnered with NRDC, hoping to “go green.”

Jessica Esposito, a research fellow at the NRDC, defines the “greening” process as, “a colloquial way of saying we are working to reduce an organization’s environmental impacts by reviewing and improving their supply chain and day-to-day operations.”

She stresses that discovering a team’s impact is the first step in the process.

“When working with teams, leagues, and events,” said Esposito, “we always convey that the first step to improving your operations is identifying your impacts and collecting baseline data on your operations – data on your energy use, water use, waste diversion, purchasing, et cetera – so you can assess your current practices and procurement and develop measurable goals to reduce your impacts.”

Energy audits at facilities can provide a team with the data it needs to start becoming more efficient. MLB has successfully created software that collects and analyzes league-wide data, measuring things such as energy and water consumption, and paper usage. It is the first and only profes-

sional league to complete such a project, but other leagues are working to develop similar systems.

Because leagues and teams differ in the number of spectators they cater to, and the ways in which their businesses operate, it’s difficult to create general industry regulations or come up with one policy that works for all. Once a team is aware of its impact, it can then turn to the NRDC Greening Advisor – a customized environmental resource guide, which can be found online. The guide provides stadium operators and team representatives with environmental advice that is tailored to their sport and location, and includes case studies and sample policies.

“Working with sports organizations is a powerful way for the NRDC to mobilize influential cultural forces in our society to promote environmentalism,” said Esposito. “While less than 20 per cent of the population pays attention to science – including the science related to global warming – more than half the population says it regularly pays attention to sports.”

Because of its broad appeal, professional sports teams have a tremendous opportunity: to persuade fans that environmental issues are important, and to encourage fans to make environmentally-conscious decisions at the stadium, at the arena, and at home.

The Vancouver Canucks are the only Canadian team involved with the NRDC, but other teams across the country have made considerable and comparable efforts to reduce

their impact on the environment.

The Canadiens have been working on an ambitious project – now called The Goal is Green! – since May 2007, and hope that the initiative will position them at the forefront of the industry’s “greening” efforts.

The Canadiens, working with Société de Transport de Montréal, now offer a shuttle bus service between the Bell Centre and the West Island for each home game. The bus makes only three stops (in Dorval, Pointe Claire, and Fairview) and the cost is normal bus fare – $3.00.

The Bell Centre also now recycles 85 per cent of its residual waste and has met International Organization for Standardization ISO 14001 standards – for planning and carrying out environmental management systems, Ici on Recycle Level 3 recognition from the Quebec government, and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for existing buildings. The latter is a significant achievement considering the Bell Centre had to meet 50 LEED criteria in order to receive this certification. After reducing its carbon gas emissions, installing more efficient toilets, and upgrading its recycling program, the Bell Centre can proudly call itself 35 per cent more efficient than most similarly sized sports facilities.

The Air Canada Centre in Toronto has invested $5 million as part of an environmental initiative that includes waste diversion and a complete reengineering of the facility’s mechanical and electrical operations.

Another aspect that activists are addressing in sports is the unavoidably frequent travel of any professional athlete. To combat NHL athletes’ high level of carbon emissions, the David Suzuki Foundation has organized the National Hockey League Players’ Association Carbon Neutral Challenge – a competition that encourages players to purchase emission-neutralizing carbon offsets. Robyn Regehr of the Calgary Flames was one of the first NHL players to sign up. Today, he’s joined by over 500 other NHL athletes.

Obviously, some efforts are more long-term and substantive than others. Distributing coupons for the Green Living Show in Toronto during a Maple Leafs home game isn’t going to make a staggering impact.

Neither is the Canadiens’ allocation of three prime parking spots at the Bell Centre for hybrid cars.

But we’re beginning to see leagues dedicating time and money to address problems of sustainability, and develop programs to deal with these problems.

Esposito is confident that pro sports can play an influential role in the process of saving our environment. “By harnessing the unparalleled visibility of professional sports in the service of ecological progress, we are shifting the debate within the industrial and political sectors away from whether or not global warming and other ecological issues are real threats, and toward implementation of real and effective solutions.”

18Sports

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

4,000 miles for change

McGill student Allison Gilmartin prepares for a transcontinental bike ride in support of cancer research Jessica Lukawiecki The McGill Daily

A

s we approach the time of year when most students are busy scrambling for a summer job or internship, McGill student Allison Gilmartin is spending her time differently – training and fundraising for a 4,000-mile (around 6,500 kilometre) bike ride that will take her across the United States in support of cancer research. As part of a university based initiative called 4K for Cancer, she will be one of ninety students giving up two months of their summer for the long distance bike ride, in an effort to unite communities and foster hope in the lives of those touched by cancer.

A former member of McGill’s rowing team and an active philanthropist both in her sorority and in her home town of New York City, Gilmartin found herself immediately attracted to the idea of a major athletic event for charity. “The combination of community service, philanthropy and something active: that’s the perfect marriage of activities for me,” she told The Daily in an interview. “It wasn’t so much the cycling that attracted me, it was the nice combination.”

4K for Cancer began in the fall of 2001, when a group of five undergraduate students from Johns Hopkins University decided to realize their dreams of cycling across the country while fighting to raise money for cancer research. It took seven years for 4K to become an established nonprofit organization, and it has con-

tinued to grow and expand ever since. With three separate rides comprising thirty riders each, 4K will raise at least $400,000 this year, with this money going directly toward testing and cancer research initiatives.

Gilmartin’s adventure will start on the East Coast in Maryland and take her all the way to Portland, Oregon. Along the way she and other participants will be staying in dorms, community centres, and camping in national parks. All of their accommodations and even their state-of-the-art long distance bikes will be provided through donations. “I’m excited to meet the people and to see the places I’m going to see,” said Gilmartin.

“We’re biking through the Rocky Mountains, sleeping in Yellowstone Park…and we’re going to see things that you wouldn’t notice if you were in a car or bus.”

More than just a transcontinental ride for charity, the athletes will be spreading awareness as they undertake one of the greatest physical challenges of their lives. Riders will be stopping in various towns en route to visit cancer patients, hospitals, and cancer centres in an effort to spread hope and gain inspiration for their challenge. They will also be hosting presentations, offering cancer screenings, and helping communities in need to spread awareness and support in the struggle against cancer.

Gilmartin has been preparing for the challenge since January by training physically, spreading awareness, and gathering donations. Having already raised $1,400, she has come

to understand that one of the most difficult parts of the enterprise is spreading the word about what she is trying to do. Having already made efforts to spread the cause online and by word of mouth, she also plans on organizing an event in the near future at a local bar in order to get more students involved, and to discuss the issue.

Though raising money is a challenge on its own, perhaps the most difficult part of preparing for the 4,000-mile cycle is physically getting in shape. Personal trainer and McGill basketball coach Andrew Barr explained to The Daily what someone would have to do to prepare for such a feat of endurance.

“Throughout training and the event the athlete would need to be getting regular manual therapy and work on flexibility and mobility while trying to manage joint pain and inflammation,” said Barr. “A massive increase in caloric intake would be required during her training, between five and ten thousand calories a day. Because of the stress on your body, you would need elevated levels of all vitamins and minerals to ensure optimal immune function. Water intake would also have to increase drastically – as high as ten litres a day.” Gilmartin explains that she has been preparing by logging hours on the bike daily, doing yoga three times a week, and boxing.

Like many people, Gilmartin’s life has been heavily impacted by cancer, with three grandparents and an aunt having already passed away from the disease. “This is all for research, so at this point, what I’m doing is for me,

Courtesy of Kathryn McEvilly

Allison Gilmartin trains for her bike ride across America. my sisters, my friends, anybody… so I feel like it’s something I have to do,” said Gilmartin. “What was really attractive to me was that it’s just cancer research – not just prostate, not just breast cancer – so it’s something that everyone can associate with on some level.”

If you’re interested in donating to Allison or 4K for Cancer you can access her donation page at http:// bit.ly/gilmartin, or visit http.cycleinspireunite.org. You can also keep track of the cycling team’s progress online, where they will be updating their blogs regularly.

Campus Eye On Sunday March 6, the McGill Redmen hockey team beat the University du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes 6-1, winning the OUA Eastern Conference finals and advancing to the CIS National Championship tournament.

—Eric Wen

Redmen win OUA Eastern Conference finals Photo by Victor Tangermann

Sports

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

with

the tax experts

I GOT MY MONEY’S WORTH

Canadian ace Milos Raonic is attracting a new national audience to tennis Olivia Lifman

Sports Writer

M

H&R Block offers students like me special student pricing. I take advantage of it every year. Best of all, they’ll get me back an average refund of $1,000.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW SOLIDARITY TAX CREDIT with help from H&R Block

STUDENT TAX PREP

29

$

95

And FREE SPC card* hrblock.ca | 800-HRBLOCK © 2011 H&R Block Canada, Inc. *$29.95 valid for regular student tax preparation only. Cash back service included. To qualify for student pricing, student must present either (i) a T2202a documenting 4 or more months of full-time attendance at a college or university during 2010 or (ii) a valid high school identification card. Expires December 31, 2011. Valid only at participating H&R Block locations in Canada. SPC Card offers valid from 08/01/10 to 07/31/11 at participating locations in Canada only. For Cardholder only. Offers may vary, restrictions may apply. Usage may be restricted when used in conjunction with any other offer or retailer loyalty card discounts. Cannot be used towards the purchase of gift cards or certificates.

Run for Sports Editor !"# $%&'# (%)*+,# -./'0*/)1# 20)*. s p o r t s @ m c g i l l d a i l y. c o m

19

ilos Raonic is a name that you should learn.

Quickly.

Widely touted as the next star of men’s tennis, this twenty year-old has rocketed up the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings over the past two months – from 152nd place to 37th. His impressive early 2011 results – which include a round of 16 Australian Open finish, the San Jose title, and a nail-bitingly close Memphis final against Andy Roddick – have stunned the tennis community worldwide.

The only thing more surprising than Raonic’s meteoric rise: his nationality – this tennis phenom is a Canadian.

Prior to Raonic’s success, the Canadian tennis identity existed in obscurity. Canada’s other “notable” singles players – namely, Frank Dancevic and Peter Polansky – rank lower than the 200 mark and rarely find their way out of qualifying draws, let alone enjoy exciting tournament runs. Indeed, Raonic’s Australian Open result is the best singles performance by a Canadian at a Grand Slam in over a decade.

Moreover, his win in San Jose ended Canada’s embarrassing 16-year title drought on the singles tour.

Although Canadian Daniel Nestor dominates the doubles’ circuit, those outside of the profession would be hard-pressed to place him. Nestor’s accomplishments are remarkable: he has earned an Olympic gold-medal, won seven Grand Slams, and owns 72 career titles. Yet his achievements go largely unrecognized. The sad truth is that tennis glorifies singles play; doubles is lost in the sports pages and rarely televised.

It is not surprising, then, that Canada’s chance to watch their Davis Cup team this year owes not to Nestor’s wins, but to Raonic’s. Rogers Sportsnet and Tennis Canada told the Montreal Gazette that the decision to broadcast these matches – for the first time since a one-off broad-

cast in 2003 – was prompted by Raonic’s spectacular start to the season.

Raonic’s rapid rise to prominence is most often attributed to his serve. This season, he is the ATP tour leader in aces and has hit the fastest serve. Consistently reaching 230 kilometres per hour, Raonic’s serve sounds like a clap of thunder; it causes centreline judges to duck and dive in the interests of safety, and players to swing at thin air.

His serve’s speed puts Raonic in the company of the game’s best: the existing record for fastest serve belongs to Andy Roddick, at 249.6 km per hour.

Unlike Roddick, however, Raonic has just begun his career; when he grows into his six-footfive frame, his serve will likely become even better.

Besides its blistering speed, Raonic’s serve is also well disguised.

While most players vary their toss depending on the type of serve they wish to hit – flat, slice, topspin, or kick – Raonic always tosses the ball in the same way. This strategy forces his opponents to wait just a split-second longer before reacting; they cannot anticipate the spin or location of his serve, so aces add up.

Hopefully, Raonic’s future will be more predictable than his serve.

His name – which comes with its own memorable Seinfeld reference – is now frequently coupled with phrases like “can’t miss top-ten,” or “future number one.” A couple of months ago, such praise for a Canadian tennis player seemed unfathomable.

For Canadians, the buzz surrounding Raonic is especially exciting. He has captured the attention of not only tennis fans, but of the whole country. Raonic’s ranking guarantees him entry into all of this year’s Grand Slam events, and he will likely also play on home soil, when the ATP tour comes to Montreal for the Rogers Cup in August. Now Canadians can look forward to seeing one of their own truly compete among the world’s best.

And Raonic agrees. When asked at an Australian Open press conference which top player he would like to beat, Raonic grinned and answered: “All of them.”

34567/'#)#0"%#8)9%#:)"./.)'%#,')'%7%"'#'0#coordinating@mcgilldaily.com#6;#7/."/9<'#0"# =)*:<#>?

3@5".0A",#)'#BC??#8D7D#/"#'<%#=:E/11#F)/1;#0GG/:%#0"#=)*:<#>H 3-1%:'/0",#)'#BC??#8D7D#/"#'<%#=:E/11#F)/1;#0GG/:%#0"#=)*:<#>I 3-7)/1#sports@mcgilldaily.com#G0*#70*%#/"G0

Healthy Lean Men

JOIN US! THE

The McGill University Health Centre is recruiting subjects for the study on the effect of insulin on protein metabolism.

DAILY

IF YOU ARE: 2 $! '.$1 0!%#$.

2 1! ,- *" #!

2 )*) -(*&!,

Want to be a part of the 2011-2012 editorial board?

INVESTIGATO ,,*' ,'%-- McGill Nutrition and Food Science Centre Royal Victoria Hospital Length of study: 2 days

*, (*,! %)"*,( .%*) +'! -! *). . .$! !-! , $ **, %) .*, *) .* ,/)!..% .

FACULTY OF ARTS Moyse Travelling Scholarship

Europe: Have You Done It? $200 Europe Air Credit Exclusively with Contiki Holidays.

Applications are now being accepted for the Moyse Travelling Scholarship. One scholarship for distinction will be awarded to a student in the Faculty of Arts. The scholarship is intended to support a year of advanced study, preferably in a British or European university, but not to the exclusion of other institutions approved by the Faculty of Arts.

Value: approx. $10,000 Application instructions and full details of the scholarship are available in Ferrier Bldg., 442

DEADLINE: Friday, APRIL 1st, 2011

To place an ad,

Classifieds

via email: ads@dailypublications.org â&#x20AC;˘ phone: 514-398-6790 â&#x20AC;˘ fax: 514-398-8318 in person: 3480 McTavish St., Suite B-26, Montreal QC H3A 1X9 Cost: McGill Students & Staff: $6,70/day; $6.20/day for 3 or more days.

General public: $8.10/day; $6.95/day for 3 or more days.

150 character limit. There will be a $6.00 charge per contract for any characters over the limit. Prices include taxes. MINIMUM ORDER $40.50/ 5 ads. Lost & Found ads are free. Other categories include: Movers/Storage, Employment, Word Processing/Typing, Services Offered, For Sale, To Give Away, Wanted to Buy, Rides/Tickets, Lost & Found, Personal, Lessons/Courses, Notices, Volunteers, Musicians, etc.

Employment SUMMER CAMP JOBS

Activity Heads & Instructors: Swim, Waterski, Dance (Pop), Hockey, In-Line Skatepark, Rock-Wall Climb, Windsurf, Kayak, Canoe, Arts & Crafts, Guitar, Photo, Pottery, Nursing Students (2nd yr+) to assist camp docs. www.mishmar.com

MASTER SCHOOL OF BARTENDING

Bartending and table service courses Student rebate Job reference service 0 514-849-2828 www.Bartend.ca (online registration possible) Have you had a

â&#x20AC;&#x153;LAZY EYEâ&#x20AC;?

since childhood? McGill Vision Research is looking for study participants. Please call Dr. Simon Clavagnier at 514-934-1934 ext.

35307 or email mcgillvisionresearch@gmail. com for further information.

More at

www.mcgilldaily.com/classifieds

Lessons/Courses CANADA COLLEGE www.collegecanada.com Any Language Course: 7.00$/hour TESOL Certification Recognized by TESL Canada.

TOEFL iBT, GMAT, MCAT, TEFaQ, TEF preparation.

Studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visa, Visa renewal.

514-868-6262 info@collegecanada.com 1118 Sainte-Catherine West, #404, Montreal, QC

Services Offered Montreal Therapy Centre www.montrealtherapy.com Individual, couple and family therapy. Sliding-fee scale rates. (514) 244-1290, info@ montrealtherapy.com

FREE housing classifieds!

Email us with your name, McGill ID number and classified text at addesign@ dailypublications.org and we will add it to our online classifieds page free of charge. mcgilldaily.com/classifieds

Submit a 1 page candidate statement to coordinating@ mcgilldaily.com by midnight on March 20 Rundowns on March 23 at 5 p.m.

Elections on March 24 at 5 p.m.

Come in or call today.

McGill University, 3480 rue McTavish

voyagescampus.com 514.398.0647

Get a $200 air credit when you book any Contiki Budget and Camping Tours 10 days or longer or any Superior Europe Tour 12 days or longer. Must be booked Feb 14- Mar 31, 2011 for travel any time before Dec 31, 2011. Air must be booked with Contiki Holidays. $200 deposit required at time of booking for Contiki land tour. Airfare payment terms may vary according to airline booking terms. Not combinable with any offer or discount. Some restrictions may apply. See travelcuts.com for details. ONâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;4499356/4499372 | BCâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;33127/34799/34798 | QCâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;7002238 | Canadian owned.

Must be staff to run

Science+Technology

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

21

Let there be (less) light The fight to reduce light usage in Montreal Jessica Lukawiecki The McGill Daily

W

Edna Chan | The McGill Daily

Life after a star’s death The extraordinary world of neutron stars Prose Encounters of the Nerd Kind Andrew Komar

andrewkomar@mcgilldaily.com

I

f you have trillions of tonnes of fuel burning at millions of degrees for billions of years and you suddenly run out, what happens?

Stars in the twilight of their lives are doomed to different fates depending on exactly how much stuff is in them. In the case of sunlike stars, they will die by puffing up into red giants (with a radius bigger than earth’s orbit around the sun) and eventually ejecting much of their stardust to form so-called “planetary nebulae” that can span dozens of light-years across.

If the star in question is bigger and hotter than the sun, it performs the much more dramatic exit from the cosmic stage known as a supernova. When the last of the available fuel runs out, the fusion reaction providing the counter-force to the ridiculously immense gravitational forces at the core of these stars is cut off. Without any counterbalance to gravity, the entire star falls in on itself, compressing the core and bouncing back out – tearing the entire star apart in a colossal shock wave explosion that can be seen clear across the universe.

The energy provided by supernovae is sufficient for the creation of heavy elements such as the ones that make up rocky planets and the little ape-things that live on them. In the words of Carl Sagan: “We are all stardust.” Not all of the stardust is ejected, though, the compressed cores of the dead stars – which can become either black holes or neutron stars – are among the strangest and most inexplicable objects in the entire universe.

Black holes are what happen when there is simply too much mass in that compressed core – at least ten times the mass of the sun. The remnant of the core collapses into a single point of infinite density, warping space-time so severely that not even light can escape from the area. If the core is below that critical mass, the object that forms may be a neutron star. A neutron star contains about 1.5 times the mass of the sun (about 500,000 Earth masses) compressed into a ball with a radius of just 12 kilometres. That is about the same density as the entire human population squished into the volume of a sugar cube.

The gravitational pull is so intense that the electromagnetic repulsion between protons and electrons is not sufficient to keep them apart, which forces them together and creates neutrons.

Neutron stars conserve the rotational energy of their progenitor stars in the same way that the speed of a spinning figure skater increases as they bring their arms to their body. With the extreme difference in radii, neutron stars have been spotted rotating more than 1,000 times a second! In these conditions of extreme gravity, heat, and spin, astronomers have been stymied in their attempts to adequately model their interior workings.

In 2009, theoretical astrophysicist Dany Page at the National Autonomous University of Mexico championed a new, if bizarre model to explain the inner workings of neutron stars. He predicted that the conditions within the interior would cause the neutrons present to collapse together into the lowest possible quantum energy state, called a Cooper pair. This process would result in the formation of

neutrinos (particles that are virtually without mass and can freely pass through just about anything) that would carry energy away from the star, thereby lowering its temperature. Matter bound up in Cooper pairs behaves essentially as a macroscopic quantum particle, conventionally known as a “superfluid.” Flowing superfluids perform as superconductors, meaning electricity flows through them without energy loss, and superfluids flow without friction. If superfluid was put into a glass back here on Earth, it would climb up over the walls of the glass and escape.

Page’s model was awaiting evidence to support its strange physical predictions. Luckily for him, astrophysicist Craig Heinke at the University of Alberta has found compelling new evidence in data collected from the Chandra X-Ray telescope. They observed a supernovae remnant named Cassiopeia A (Cas A), located a mere 11,000 light years away, over a period of years.

The first light from the supernova reached Earth 330 years ago, which is exceedingly young in terms of stellar evolution. According to Heinke, we’ve got “ringside seats to studying the life cycle of a neutron star from its collapse to its present, cooling off state.”

Heinke’s team has found that Cas A has cooled off by 800,000 degrees in just ten years. This cooling rate was impossible to account for without including the mechanism first proposed by Page, which was the conclusion that both Heinke and independent researchers at the University of Southampton in the U.K. came to. The two teams jointly announced their findings in papers that will appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

hat differentiates the starfilled skies of cottage country from the night skies of downtown Montreal, where perhaps even on a clear night one can hope to find five or six stars at best? Why do we have to escape the confines of the city to witness such awe-inspiring sights as Orion’s Belt and the Milky Way? It seems that we have made it our mission to undo all that existed in our natural way of life. We are no longer confined to being active during the day and resting at night: business as usual can continue for 24 hours. Night lighting has become a permanent feature of our lives, and this modification of the natural light environment has led to light pollution and the many unexpected complications, including sky glow, glare, urbanization of nocturnal landscapes, and the uncoupling of ecosystems.

Sky glow is the most obvious and remarkable form of light pollution, disrupting the work of astronomers, depriving city dwellers of the night sky’s delights, and reducing our night vision – which means that almost 97 per cent of all stars are not visible from major cities in the world.

Light pollution also has devastating effects on the environment, disrupting biological rhythms by resetting the internal clocks of animals and plants. Many nocturnal animals attempt to escape light at night, and often the illumination of nocturnal environments will lead such organisms to retreat from otherwise suitable habitats. Millions of birds are killed each year as artificial lighting disorients their migratory flights and leads them to collide with large structures like bridges and skyscrapers. And although it may seem like an advantage, the billions of insects killed by their deadly attraction to illumination disrupt food chains from the bottom up.

In the late 1970s, astronomers began understanding the alarming effects of the pervasive use of artificial lighting, which served as catalyst for the Dark Sky Movement. In 1988, the movement gathered momentum with the establishment of the International Dark Sky Association, an American not-for-profit organization whose mission statement is “to preserve and protect the nighttime’s environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting.”

As Johanna Duffek, outreach and education manager of the International Dark Sky Association, explained to The Daily, public awareness has grown immensely over the past decades with regard to light pollution. However, many seem to still be confused about its exact effects and solutions. “Many people think a dark sky friendly lighting ordinance

is going to require them to turn off lights or remove them,” said Duffek.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. Our position has always been: use the light when you need, for as long as you need, and only use enough to complete the task.”

Similar developments have been taking place in Quebec, which has been criticized for being one of the most light polluted regions in the world. The largest astronomical observatory in eastern North America, the Mont Megantic Observatory near Sherbrooke was opened in 1978 in an effort to promote research in astronomy and public awareness. Covering 5,500 square kilometres, the observatory’s dark sky preserve curbs next to all light pollution on its land, providing one of the few places where the full potential of the night sky can be seen.

Many political groups have taken on the challenge of reducing light pollution, including Richard Bergeron’s Projet Montréal, a municipal political party created by environmental activists in 2004. As stated in their goals on the party’s website, the group is aiming to “develop and implement a policy to reduce unnecessary lighting and require that all downtown buildings turn off lights in empty rooms.”

However, the motives behind these efforts should be questioned.

Light pollution has given legitimacy to groups whose real interests could arguably lie in the gentrification of city boroughs by allowing them to take an “environmental” position. Jacques Seguin, one of the co-owners of the new Nouveau Palais – a restaurant in Mile End – explained that as a result of a bylaw imposed to reduce light pollution, the restaurant has had trouble keeping their famous neon sign.

When asked about the motivation behind this bylaw, Seguin stated “I’m not sure of the spirit of this law, but we feel this sign has historical significance.” It seems large discrepancies exist between the imposition of such laws and the spread of awareness with regard to what they actually stand for.

As Frederic Fabry, professor at the McGill School of Environment said in an email to The Daily, “almost all discussions of light pollution that I have heard of in the public sphere related to the Mont Megantic Observatory and not about other issues (energy waste, pollution, et cetera). I do not believe people or decision makers make a link between light pollution and environmental pollution.”

It is undoubtedly necessary to spread awareness on the issue of light pollution before resorting to the hard hand of the law. Only by spreading knowledge, through initiatives like the Dark Sky Movement and the Mont Megantic Observatory, can we hope to see any legitimacy placed behind such environmental laws. Regardless of motivation, the message remains the same: it is only in striving for darkness that we can hope to see a brighter future.

22 Science+Technology

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

SCI+TECH ESSAY

The need for alternative fuel Alexander Kunev

The McGill Daily

U

ntil the middle of 19th century, animal force was the driving source of transportation. The industrial revolution that followed was sparked by the invention of the internal combustion engine, promising to deliver autonomous power to individual vehicles, thereby releasing their owners from the need to use livestock. But with the current challenges imposed by climate change, and the amount of carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere by burning gasoline through the engine of a car, our current modes of transportation no longer seem like realistic ways to live sustainably.

However, getting rid of a system of distribution that encompasses a large network of filling stations and refineries is far from the most efficient way to ensure that more vehicles will be powered by carbon-neutral sources.

The natural successor of gasoline is the still relatively new biofuel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; fuel derived from biomass, such as agricultural crops â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that can be used in current combustion engines with no need for modifications. Recently, researchers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed genetically engineered switchgrass in an effort to produce a plant with a higher energy density and a simpler conversion process.

Most biofuels, like ethanol, are produced by releasing sugars from

stored starches in agricultural products such as corn or sugarcane.

This is accomplished by the method of enzyme digestion, which breaks down polymeric macromolecules into their smaller building blocks. The sugars are left to ferment, and then distilled and dried â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a long process requiring a lot of energy. The Oak Ridge researchers were able to limit the amount of lignin â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a chemical compound found in the cell wall of plants â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by encoding a piece of RNA that would limit three quarters of the lignin production and placing it into the switchgrassâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DNA. Since lignin is the main element that keeps the cells together, decreasing the production makes it easier to access the sugars that are trapped inside plants. As a result, the conversion rate from biomass to fuel shoots up significantly, with up to a 40 per cent improvement.

But is it possible to completely replace the fossil fuels used in transportation with biomass products? Risks associated with the conversion to biomass include a potential change in biodiversity, since a bigger portion of land would need to be used to cultivate the appropriate plants. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, converting land for biofuel production would translate into a massive burst of greenhouse gases. The conversion of a hectare of prairie land could liberate up to 300 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and this number goes up to 1,000 tonnes if a forest is removed to

Did you know?

tion.

The challenge of creating ecosystems with genetically modified crops can seem daunting, as there have been many cases of regular crops being contaminated by GM ones. This might then put the entire biofuel market in the hands of a couple big producers of genetic crops who have patented the ligninreducing technology.

In the coming years, ethanol and other biofuels will inarguably be a part of the alternative energies explored for use in the

transportation industry.

Biofuel production does have the ability to distribute energy sources geographically, but given the initial carbon emissions associated with converting land into biofuel crops â&#x20AC;&#x201C; along with the decrease in space available for food production â&#x20AC;&#x201C; another fuel source may need to replace biofuels as frontrunner in the alternative energy race.

Do you like science?

Do you like technology?

Then run for Sci+Tech editor.

Flora Dunster | The McGill Daily

t $BSNJOF UIF SFE EZF GPVOE JO DIFEEBS DIFFTF TUSBXCFSSZ JDF DSFBN BOE SVCZ SFE GSVJU KVJDFT JT NBEF GSPN UIF TDBMF JOTFDU $PDIJOFBM t 5IF EZF JT FYUSBDUFE CZ CPJMJOH UIF ESJFE JOTFDUT JO XBUFS

make room for biofuels.

Then there is the question of the energy efficiency of biofuels. For certain agricultural products, the energy savings can vary from about 25 to 70 per cent, and for others â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as corn â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there are no energy savings when compared to traditional gasoline. Ethanol, on the other hand, is usually mixed with gasoline because its energy density â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the amount of energy stored in a unit of volume â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is 34 per cent lower, but this is made up by its higher octane rating, which makes it overall more efficient.

Another major factor in choosing a biofuel replacement will be its ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There is a 75 per cent net reduction in emissions when using ethanol instead of gasoline, and a 90 per cent reduction when compared to diesel emissions.

But according to the International Energy Agency, the biofuels would need to account for 26 per cent of global fuel produced in order to limit the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide to 450 parts per million by 2050.

When it comes to genetically modified crops, the controversial nature of GM foods undoubtedly becomes a factor, and many farmers are still proceeding with cau-

Tom Acker | The McGill Daily

When biofuels and genetic engineering meet

contact scitech@mcgilldaily.com for more information

Culture

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

23

And when they leave?

Documentary presents the varied consequences of charity missions Jessica Lukawiecki The McGill Daily

I

n the isolated community of Los Pereyra in northern Argentina, a powerful story emerges from the contradictory nature of charity work in poor communities. In his debut film A Place Called Los Pereyra, Andrés Livov presents a hopeful yet chilling documentary centred on the village’s school children as they await for the anticipated arrival of their “Godmothers.”

Regarded with mystical reverence, the so-called Godmothers are young women from urban private schools that sponsor annual weeklong charity missions for poor rural villages, providing supplies, education, and perhaps the villagers’ realization of their own poverty.

The venture began five years ago when Livov first came up with the idea of telling a story about the sponsoring of schools and communities, a common practice in his native country of Argentina.

Lacking adequate funding – an all too common problem for independent filmmakers – Livov decided to go through with filming the project and deal with financial issues later. “Later” became three years of scrambling for sponsors and donations so the film could finally be completed.

The film turned out quite differently from what Livov had originally expected, as he struggled to capture the complexity of the charity issue from the perspective of those

being helped. Capturing both sides of these young women’s work, the film rips the viewer from any commonly-held beliefs about the absolute good of charity efforts. On the one hand, the girls help by encouraging the children to learn, providing supplies for schools and food for families, yet they also create a cycle of dependence which only reinforces the barriers between the privileged and the poor.

As producer Hugh Gibson wrote in an email, he hopes the documentary gets people to “consider the topic of charity and the notion of inherent colonialism.” Despite their good intentions, the privileged status of the Godmothers contrasts markedly with the community of Los Pereyras. The film documents the community’s harsh realization of their own isolation and poverty compared to the wealth of the seemingly mythic land from which these Godmothers hail.

The community comes to rely on their annual visitors in order to sustain them throughout the year, granting the women an elevated status for the gifts they bring and the fact that they are from the city.

In subtly provocative ways, the film forces the viewer to ask oneself compelling questions about the consequences of such well-intended actions.

When it was screened for the first time at the Montreal RIDM Festival in November of 2009, Livov realized that the story he had captured was not unique to the remote Argentinean community

Courtesy of Andrés Livov

thousands of miles away. “I chose Los Pereyra because it was so isolated, but while screening the film in different parts of the world I came to learn that sponsoring is more of a universal thing,” he told The Daily in an interview. “Here in Canada, many schools also send their students to Africa, Costa Rica, Nicaragua… I realized it was more of a universal story, a local story with universal repercussions.”

Of course, during the time Livov and his crew spent filming in Los Pereyra, the Godmothers weren’t the only interruption into the quiet lives of the community

belief that charity work is a pure and noble act. “Enormous amounts of foreign aid are committed to developing nations, vast resources are put in motion, and Canada is one of the most charitable nations,” said Gibson. “It’s uncomfortable to question the effectiveness of that charity, or the existing mechanisms or methodology, yet it’s an extremely important global topic to address.”

members. “There’s no such thing as a harmless camera, but we tried to work in a way so that they would get used to me, the camera, sound crew,” explained Livov. “But of course I fall into the same trap as the girls, because I go and I make this film and I also affect the people, and then I leave and also never go back.”

The producer of the documentary, Hugh Gibson has seen a mixed range of emotions in reaction to the story, from laughter and tears to complete outrage. The film has upset some people by shattering the foundation of the strongly held

A Place Called Los Pereyra screens at Cinéma Parallèle, 3536 St. Laurent, March 11 to 17, 5 p.m. $8.50 for students with I.D.

nomic repercussions.

During the Q&A session after the screening, it became apparent that while the film has been well-received by a younger audiences, these viewers suspect it will be difficult to convince older generations of the logic of the film’s argument. As the film explains, Hydro-Québec’s hydroelectric damns were once profitable.

However, after years of exploiting Quebec’s premier resources, these dams have become much less economically sound, making alternative sources of energy a more sustainable option. This financial perspective is particularly salient – when HydroQuébec earns less profit, the burden falls on its customers to make up the difference. In his campaign to nationalize the company, former premier René Lévesque coined the slogan “Maitres chez nous”

(“Masters of our own home”), promising that incorporating Quebec’s private energy producers into government-run Hydro-Québec would offer Quebeckers the lowest prices possible. As many viewers expressed during the Q&A session, while the film itself was compelling, some may still be tempted to label the filmmaker’s as “uneducated Leftists” who denied the profitability of Hydro-Québec while downplaying its nationalist significance.

Apart from its political and economic importance, Seeking the Current provides intriguing insights into the potential for alternative sources of energy across Quebec. Though it may not present its argument with any particular panache, concerned viewers will appreciate the thorough education it has to offer.

Hydro-nomics The economic case for alternative energy sources in Quebec Abby Plener

Culture Writer

T

his past week, Montreal hosted the English world premiere of Seeking the Current, a film that examines Hydro-Qubec’s Romaine project, as a part of the third Festival de films sur l’environnement. Narrated by Québec actor Roy Dupuis, the film follows directors Nicolas Boisclaim and Alexis de Gheldere on their 2008 journey down the Romaine River, which soon after the film was made became the home of four hydroelectric damns.

While the footage of this journey provides a narrative thread for the film, its focus is in fact much larger. Between the sporadic scenes

documenting the filmmaker’s travels, the audience also accompanies Boisclaim, Gheldere, and Dupuis on a fact-finding mission to prove that Hydro-Québec should explore more renewable energy sources to generate the province’s electricity.

The film’s team carefully considers the benefits of solar, bio-gas, wind, and geothermal power as alternatives to building hydroelectric damns like the ones found on the Romaine River. After consulting various experts including scholars, architects, entrepreneurs and former Hydro-Québec engineers, the film ultimately proves that these alternative energy sources make more economic sense for consumers than Hydro-Québec’s current methods.

Unlike other environmental documentaries, Seeking the Current

does not rely on dramatic gestures to strengthen its argument – a strategy that is in part a consequence of its narrow focus. Popular films like An Inconvenient Truth and The 11th Hour charge themselves with the task of awakening an international audience to the global climate crisis and seek to foster a sense of urgency by evoking images of natural disasters, citing startling statistics, and using celebrity charisma to present these issues with a sufficient amount of style. While many have praised films like these for reinvigorating the environmental movement, Seeking the Current effects its audience with a much more honest and straightforward approach. It resonates with viewers, not through plays on their emotions, but primarily by addressing a cause that is close to home, and has immediate and tangible eco-

L’achat de cigarettes de contrebande coûte plus cher qu’on le pense : il alimente d’autres activités criminelles comme le trafic d’armes et de drogues. Les individus pris en possession de cigarettes de contrebande s’exposent à de graves conséquences, allant de l’amende jusqu’à l’emprisonnement.

consequencesdelacontrebande.gc.ca Buying contraband cigarettes costs more than you think. It fuels other criminal activities, such as the trafficking of drugs and guns. Individuals caught in possession of contraband cigarettes face serious consequences ranging from a fine to jail time.

contrabandconsequences.gc.ca

Culture

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Getting fired up

25

Curator of controversial exhibit “Hide/Seek” speaks on censorship and funding risks Alex Borkowski Culture Writer

J

onathan D. Katz was already renowned in the academic community for his scholarship in visual art and queer studies when he skyrocketed to public attention last fall as co-curator of the exhibition “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture” at the National Portrait Gallery, an affiliate of the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. In a lecture at Concordia on March 4, he discussed the controversial removal of Fire in My Belly (1987), a film by artist and gay activist David Wojnarowicz, from the exhibition as an act of censorship and part of the widespread “aggressive policing of queer representation” – as Katz called it during his lecture – in the museum system.

“Hide/Seek” is described on the National Portrait Gallery’s website as the first major museum exhibition to focus on themes of sexual difference in the representation of modern America. Katz explained that until this landmark exhibition, the museum system has been willing to acknowledge sexual difference as a biographical fact, but not as a significant influence on artistic production. The exhibit thus sought to consider the works of queer artists as active producers of meaning within the culture of sexual difference of their time. “Hide/Seek” included paintings, photography, and films from the late 19th century to the present, by such artists as Thomas Eakins, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and Keith Haring.

The exhibition was open to the public for one month before Fire

in My Belly became the source of outcry. Wojnarowicz’s film consists primarily of raw footage of corpses and religious icons that accompany the rituals of Day of the Dead ceremonies in Mexico. He combines these striking extant images with footage of himself of sewing together a loaf of broken bread and stitching his lips shut to create a profound meditation upon the disturbing omnipresence of death in the world around him. With permission from the artist’s estate (Wojnarowicz died of an AIDS related illness in 1992), Katz added a score of chanting from a protest held by AIDS activist group ACT UP in order to emphasize Wojnarowicz’s powerful imagery as emblematic of the experience of living with AIDS under Reaganism.

The Catholic League – whom Katz described as “widely known as a hate group” – raised objections to Fire in My Belly, specifically to an 11 second image of ants crawling across a crucifix that had been dropped on the ground, calling it a deliberate act of “hate speech” against Catholics.

Katz, however, rejects the claim that their objections had anything to do with art or religion: “it’s about raw meat politics...an ascendant Tea Party flexing its muscles,” he said in his lecture. Indeed, the Catholic League’s objections were rapidly taken up by numerous Republican representatives who criticized the display as a misuse of tax payer money and called for a reconsideration of the Smithsonian’s budget. The film was removed from the exhibition within three days of the Catholic League’s protest.

Katz discussed the censorship at his Concordia lecture, referencing both the exhibition itself, and

Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily

Ants crawling on a crucifix was one scene in Fire in My Belly that provoked the Catholic League’s ire. the overall trend of policing content in museums. While Katz, who was not consulted in the removal of Wojnarowicz’s work, condemns the decision as an act of “cowardice,” he still praises the museum for “breaking the blacklist” on queer representation in major museums by mounting the exhibition in the first place: “they knew they were doing something dangerous and did it anyway.” He claims that this is even more remarkable due to the National Portrait Gallery’s status as a public institution that relies on government funding. As was demon-

strated, by choosing to exhibit progressive material, public institutions are exposed to the very real threat of losing their financial livelihood.

In Katz’s experience, privately funded institutions are even more unwilling to mount potentially controversial material, even though they face fewer potential consequences.

He described the numerous rejections he faced from prominent private institutions when proposing “Hide/ Seek,” blaming the fact that museums are “increasingly an extension of private capital.” The operations of major art institutions are increasingly

dominated by the dictates of the market, rather than a mandate of public service and social progress.

According to Katz, “Where queer scholarship meets the public [is] the museum world, and that is foreclosed.” While the exhibition of “Hide/Seek” in a major public institution is indeed an important and progressive move, the National Portrait Gallery’s willingness to submit to a blatantly intolerant and misguided criticism of Wojnarowicz’s work indicates that the fight for queer representation is far from over.

Peter Punchkiss was a man who looked exactly like my father Peter Punchkiss was a broad-strokes painting of a two-bedroom house with lots of windows.

Peter could touch an open flame, but only with that soft patch of skin between the thumb and forefinger.

Late at night, when he needed to think, he would go on long drives, only to stop in a well lit area and pull his car across both lanes of the street— just to instill a little calm. which is also how he met his first wife, now that I think about it.

Peter Punchkiss was all of the world’s right angles.

When he spoke, it was like listening to six or seven people talking in the next room.

It’s hard to explain it better than that.

Peter always sat in the first chair he came upon when he entered a room and then said, usually to me, If you do not settle you cannot rest And this is actually how he met his second wife.

I remember being in the car. It’s dark out and the tires are making such a noise.

I keep my hands cold pressing on the glass of the window.

Then I’m in a room full of beds. I’ve strung my sheets from the innumerable crags in the ceiling so they look like sails.

I sit and watch our old neighbourhoods float by.

The last time I ever saw Peter Punchkiss went something like this: I’m in a car and the tires are making such a noise. We’re driving through the country. It’s too late, really, but Peter is in one of those moods. Suddenly we’re blocking the road in front of an all-night diner. We sit.

I think about how I’ve often heard Peter in his room at night talking to his mother— the receiver to his ear, the phone unplugged He thinks about how there are four meals he can cook that I will never, ever, tire of.

In my head Peter puts his four-ways on and we speed off, but really, we just keep waiting and after a long while Peter turns and says, I’m sorry I’m not your father anymore.

I close my eyes right as the light comes up over the mountains. Just that much light gets in.

—Tim Beeler

One time he asked me if I ever thought about my father.

I know he always put his hazard lights on when he was speeding.

Inkwell

COMPENDIUM!

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Lies, half-truths, and sassy teddies

26

New group offers SSMU election not all happy Campus Bro rep unanimously rejected by student body some event Janvier Larochène The McGill Daily

T

he Libertarianines yesterday announced a new initiative to raise awareness of their cause. According to their Facebook event page, “McGill’s First Libraterianan Event” aims to bring people together and unite them against the opponent cause.

“We will offer a number of activities to appeal to the broad spectrum of the student body,” said Liberanian Society member Dete Poherty.

The slush – currently at biblical proportions1 – is not expected to impede the event, although the overwhelming oppression caused by Leftist ideology may render event organizers too downtrodden to leave their beds.

“I’m always trying to tell them, I’m one-eighth Romanian,” Poherty pointed out. “But no one sees beyond the colour of my skin. I’m barely even white! I mean, look at these freckles. Look at them, man.

I’m, like, orange, or something. I’m a new race. That should be a beautiful thing. But it just…”

The vague specificity of Liberanity has caused problems in the Society’s publicizing, Poherty commented. “People aren’t really sure what we are,” he mused.

Before he had a chance to answer a request for elaboration upon what he actually does, Poherty was distracted by something behind this reporter’s left ear. While try-

Marie Josèphe-Vaugeois

ing to obtain spiced peanuts with the mysteriously-obtained quarter, he continued, “I just want to, you know, make people aware of, fuck, they’ve run out. No, I don’t want shitty gum. Stupid machine.”

While the future of Liberia remains uncertain – as, indeed, does the present – it is clear that through the valiant efforts of Poherty and the fellow group members he may find through his planned tabling at Activities Night (“I’m going to bring Twinkies!” he enthused) the spirit of Ism remains something somewhere or something.

The McGill Daily

A

s over one hundred students celebrated the SSMU election results in Gerts Friday night, one candidate was left alone in a corner, having been unanimously voted down by the student body.

Sammie Shakedowan, the U4 Management student who ran acclaimed for Campus Bro representative to SSMU, was dismayed at the student response.

“I mean, I ran because no one else was standing up and taking the lead in the Bro cause on campus,” Shakedowan said. “Everyone told me I was a shoe-in, that I couldn’t lose, but, like, even they voted no, man.”

According to Elections McGill officials, it is completely unprecedented for a position to be rejected with 100 per cent of the vote.

When the results were announced by Chief Electoral Officer Chase Deal, the room fell into a state of stunned silence as students glanced from side to side, realizing they had been caught in their vote.

“Well, when everyone votes no, it’s kind of hard to pretend like you didn’t,” admitted U1 Arts student Tammy Wolzer.

“Sometimes, the democratic process is great,” Shakedown said.

“Sometimes, your bros turn around and use it to punch you in the face.”

1. Genesis 7 :17-23 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits. Every living thing that moved on land perished – birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

Goodness cretaceous!

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21 23

27

28

25

38

26

33 39

34

35

36

37

54

55

56

57

40

42

41

43

44 49

13

30

29 32

48

12

22

24

31

47

11

45

50

46 51

52

53

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

Sammie Shakedowan ponders loss alone in Gerts.

Across

The Crossword Fairies 1

Bikuta Tangamann | The McGill Daily

1. Ancient Andean 5. Class 10. Bamboozles 14. Slap on 15. Suffix with libr 16. Bypass 17. Led the Jews to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile 18. The time being 19. Long, for short 20. Bank deposit 21. Deck out 22. Mortise and ___ joint 23. Competition with clay pigeons 27. Indigenous mode of transport 30. Cut 31. Iroquoian language 33. “Is that ___?”

34. Forbidden: Var. 38. Long-toothed dinosaur?

41. The “E” of B.P.O.E. Lodge 42. Batman and Robin, e.g.

43. Anise-flavored liqueur 44. Left-hand page 46. Back in 47. Dinosaur found in Colorado 52. Indigenous Northern Canadian 53. Country to the south of us 54. Do damage to 58. Rein in

59. Exposed 61. Sundae topper, perhaps 62. Any Goidelic (Gaelic-related) language 63. Eyes, to Caesar 64. Speech problem 65. Observes 66. Bas-relief medium 67. Anniversary, e.g.

Down

34. Liminal space 35. “If it ___ broke ...”

36. Crude dude 37. Annul 39. Both mine and yours 40. Andean land 44. Dog doc 45. Blackbirds (Var.) 47. Cubes 48. Accustom 49. Care for 50. Feelings 51. AM/FM device 55. “Pretty Little Liars” protagonist 56. Medical advice, often 57. Brood 59. Impede, with “down” 60. Trick taker, often

1. Bad day for Caesar 2. Germany from 1933-1945 3. Way to style hair 4. Slaughterhouses 5. He knows when you are sleeping 6. Regiments 7. Dinosaur from Mount Ying 8. Lake, to Pierre 9. Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir.

Solution to “And the award goes to...”

10. Cleanser brand 11. Muscat native A P S E A M P L E M A S H C A R A T O L I O S E E R 12. LBJ’s successor C R O W E S N E S T A R C O 13. Lead singer C O R A L P I T T S T O P of The Police I N N O G H A S T L Y 22. Little piggy C R U Z C O N T R O L 24. Change R E B E C R I N D F L U 25. “Stop right there!” O D E S S C O N E P E A S 26. Lowest deck O U Z O F R A M E P O R 27. Dog command C R A P S H O O T E R N O A H S T A R T E R 28. Second stage A E R I E H A M M I T U P of psychosexual B A S E S H I F T S G E R E development P U R E R I R E S S E A T 29. Adam’s apple spot A M A S S T O D O Y E N S 32. Type of snake

27

The McGill Daily | Monday, March 14, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

volume 100 number 38

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

Emilio Comay del Junco coordinating@mcgilldaily.com coordinating news editor

Henry Gass news editors

Rana Encol Mari Galloway Erin Hudson features editor

Niko Block

commentary&compendium! editor

Courtney Graham

coordinating culture editor

Naomi Endicott culture editors

Fabien Maltais-Bayda Sarah Mortimer science+technology editor

Alyssa Favreau

health&education editor

Joseph Henry sports editor

Eric Wen

photo editor

Victor Tangermann illustrations editor

0livia Messer

production&design editors

Sheehan Moore Joan Moses copy editor

Flora Dunster web editor

Tom Acker cover design

Nicole Stradiotto

EDITORIAL

Don’t play politics with refugee’s rights Last October, Conservatives introduced Bill C-49, ostensibly meant to target human traffickers who “abuse Canada’s immigration system.” The bill, if passed, would allow the federal Minister of Public Safety to designate certain vessels bringing migrants to the country as “mass arrivals.”

Whether the migrants involved are refugee claimants or other immigrants, Bill C-49 would allow for automatic detention of up to a year to allow the government to evaluate and process the claims. While human trafficking is a problem, this bill does not address the issue so much as it incriminates refugees based on their mode of arrival, ultimately punishing both smugglers and passengers. This true aim is masked by Conservative rhetoric which seeks conflate the difference between immigrants and refugees, thereby criminalizing and further restricting refugees seeking asylum.

Though seemingly proposing to keep Canada’s immigration policy equitable and fair, Bill C-49, at it’s heart, is confused. By addressing all human trafficking with the same measures, it vitiates any and all distinction between refugees and immigrants. The differences are vital – refugees arrive here fleeing real and imminent danger, while immigrants apply from their home countries and are evaluated based on education, employment, and a host of other criteria. Whatever one’s position on immigration policy, the fact that Bill C-49 criminalizes refugees is huge cause for concern. There may be a queue for immigrants, but there isn’t for refugees, and nor should there be.

One of the primary reasons asylum seekers turn to smugglers is that the government makes it exceptionally difficult to arrive in Canada as a refugee.

The government hand-picks around 8,000 pre-approved refugees a year – for everyone else, getting approved for a visitor visa to make it to Canada can be a challenge if one aims to claim refugee status once here. Given this fact, it’s unfortunate, but also inevitable, that a handful of refugees resort to smugglers as they flee harmful political and economic conditions in their home countries. If the government really wants to address human smuggling, it should make it easier, not harder, for those in crisis to arrive in Canada.

When public safety minister Vic Toews announced Bill C-49 last October, he held his press conference in front of the Ocean Lady, a ship intercepted off the coast of British Columbia in October 2009 carrying 76 Tamils fleeing the aftereffects of war in Sri Lanka. From the beginning, the Tories have used Bill C-49 as a way to score political points, especially among immigrant communities who feel they have come here through “legitimate means.”

le délit

Mai Anh Tran-Ho rec@delitfrancais.com Contributors

Queen Arsem-O’Malley, Tim Beeler, Alex Borkowski, Grace Brooks, John B. Challinor, Edna Chan, Christina Colizza, Madeleine Cummings, Gabriel EllisonScowcroft, Adrian Kaats, Jane Gatensby, Andrew Komar, Alexander Kunev, Diane Le Gall, Zach Lewsen, Olivia Lifman, Jenny Lu, Jessica Lukawiecki, Ali Mackellar, Kerry Maguire, Davide Mastracci, Valerie Mathis, Kathleen Michaels, Abby Plener, Michelle Reddick, Greg Sacks (CUP), Ted Sprague*, Nicole Stradiotto, Adrian Turcato, Devon Welsh *Pseudonym

The Daily is published on most Mondays and Thursdays by the Daily Publications Society, an autonomous, not-for-profit organization whose membership includes all McGill undergraduates and most graduate students.

3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-26 Montreal, QC H3A 1X9 phone 514.398.6790 fax 514.398.8318

Boris Shedov Letty Matteo treasury & fiscal manager Pierre Bouillon ad layout & design Geneviève Robert Mathieu Ménard

advertising & general manager

sales representative

dps board of directors

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 © 2010 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.

Even after all three opposition parties promised to vote against the bill in Parliament, the Harper government continued to play up the necessity of its measures. At this point, there’s no chance of the proposals being enacted, but it has created the opportunity for our government to label the Liberals, Bloc, and NDP as soft on human smuggling and “queue jumping,” even though that is equivocally not their stance.

Bill C-49 may have no chance of becoming law, but as Liberal MP and immigration critic Justin Trudeau put it, it’s not stopping the Tories from “playing politics on the backs of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.”