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News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

3

Tuition demonstration enters McGill campus Henry Gass

The McGill Daily

A

t around 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, the remnants of a 400-person demonstration against impending tuition hikes were milling around in front of Roddick Gates, wondering what to do next.

“Alright, we’re going into McGill!” shouted one protester in English.

With that, the crowd poured loudly onto campus, walking up to the Arts building as McGill Security reached for walkie talkies, breaking the seal on tuition protests this year at McGill.

The issue The march started almost two kilometres away in Square St. Louis, where students – predominantly from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and local CEGEPs – gathered and began marching south down St. Denis.

“It’s kind of a spontaneous movement which takes its root in the anger that students in Quebec felt about the high increase in [tuition] fees,” said Mathieu, a UQAM student who asked to be identified only by his first name.

“We think that as a project of society, we should push towards free education so everyone, from the poor to rich, have the same right to post-secondary education,” he continued.

Last March, Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand announced that tuition for university students will increase by $325 a year for five years starting in September 2012.

The McGill administration maintains that the increases are necessary to address the underfunding of Quebec universities.

By 2017, when the hikes end, Quebec tuition will still be lower than the Canadian average. The University has budgeted a $6 million deficit this year, with the goal of breaking even by the 2014 fiscal year.

However, students are concerned any tuition hikes could threaten accessibility. As the march entered Berri-UQAM metro station, chanting in French through various UQAM buildings, Andrée Bounbeau, another UQAM student, said she had already been hurt by hikes of $100 per year since 2007.

“I think that education must be free, it must be accessible to everyone. So I just hope that a demonstration like this can occur more often so we can put pressure on the government,” she said.

Bounbeau, who graduates at the end of the school year, said she was protesting as much for herself as for future university students who will have to pay the higher fees.

“When I talk to parents they tell me, ‘Oh, I’m so glad that you’re doing this, because you are doing this for our children, and we are very afraid we won’t be able to pay the fees,’” she continued.

Ariane Turmel-Chénaud, a student at the CEGEP du Vieux Montréal, said it’s the younger students about to enter university who will be impacted most by increased tuition.

“I am in CEGEP and I want to go to university next year. I have no idea how I will pay my tuition.

That’s how it goes. If there’s no way to go, well, poverty will not be a choice,” she said in French.

Not all students oppose the tuition hikes. As the demonstrators poured back outside, heading east on René Lévesque, André, an UQAM Business School student – who asked that only his last name be used – sat on a nearby bench going over class notes with a friend. “[Demonstrating], that’s mostly for the Humanities and the Social Science [students],” said André. “We are in Business, so we don’t vote for that.”

“I think [tuition increases are] a good idea, seriously, because I think we take the students for clients instead of to be the fixture of the society,” he continued.

Spreading solidarity It was on René Lévesque that green pins supporting the striking McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) began appearing. Dave Howden, Labour Relations Officer for the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE), attended the demonstration.

“I think it’s important to keep [solidarity] going in multiple directions and remember that students are struggling for cheaper and higher quality education at the same time as MUNACA workers and other workers at McGill are fighting for better working conditions and more access to means of existence,” he said.

“McGill and the government and various structures that we’re up against are always looking for ways to pit those interests against each other, but they’re not contradictory interests. We all share an interest in having a quality workplace, a quality learning environment for the students where we can all do without being crippled by debt,” Howden continued.

Marie Thomas, an administrative coordinator with Midnight Kitchen (MK), attended the demonstration after MK tried to organize a McGill contingent.

“I think tuition should be free for everyone,” she said. “I think the MUNACA issue is just part of a bigger issue of justice, social

justice issues, in the education system.”

Reactions to the protest In an interview with The Daily the next day, SSMU VP External Joël Pedneault – who was not present at the demonstration – said he saw it as “a really positive thing that they came up to campus,” but noted that it wasn’t the first time Quebec university students had come onto campus, giving examples of instances in 1968 and 1969.

Two engineering students, collecting donations for breast cancer research outside Roddick Gates, explained their reactions to the march turning up McGill Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily College and heading towards them last week.

Protesters marched from Square St. Louis to McGill campus.

“That’s a big-ass protest coming our way, and we’re kind of in tative to SSMU, was one of them. break anything and everything He addressed the demonstrators will be all right,” said one officer, the middle of it,” said one.

A recent McGill graduate who through a megaphone. who also said the SPVM had been “I want to say, first of all, that in contact with McGill Security. witnessed the protest, international student Ziyad Shukri, said he McGill is with you,” he said. “This isn’t Both Howden and Mathieu doubted the demonstration would about English versus French, because pointed out the correlation it’s more important than that.” be very effective. between the large police presPedneault said McGill students ence and tuition increases.

“I was a student at McGill, every year my tuition went up often don’t feel included in the issue “It’s about the choices the by five to eight per cent, and I because of either a lack of informa- government chooses to make, used to pay, it started off as $514 tion on the subject, or because of where they choose to cut money per credit, and it ended up being the language barrier in Quebec. and where they chose to invest “Hopefully [Tuesday’s dem- money,” said Howden. “We see $660 by the time I graduated. So tuition hikes are something real- onstration will] draw attention to police budgets rising, as an examwhat’s going to be a big fight in stu- ple that money could be going into ly normal,” he said.

Once the march crossed into dent action this year,” he continued. education or to lower tuition.”

McGill, student reactions were mixed.

“What do we want as a society, Michael Sherman, a U3 Arts stu- Police Presence more cops? Or more hospitals, dent also watching the demonstraAs the remaining demonstra- more school?” asked Mathieu. tion, said he wasn’t very familiar tors crowded the steps in front “[They say] ‘when you open with the student’s issues. of the Arts building, two offi- a school you close a prison.’

“I wish I knew more about what’s cers from the Service de police Actually the government is doing going on, because it seems pretty de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) the exact opposite. So we think intense,” he said. watched from a few feet away, to show our opposition that we As marchers gathered, chant- mounted on bicycles. should take out onto the street ing “McGill avec nous!”, few “This is a manifestation, so we to inform the government that McGill students joined the pro- are just following the manifesta- their position is not the only one test. Micha Stettin, Arts represen- tion to be sure that they won’t in society.”

4 News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Concordia reorganizes Board of Governors Secret ballot cuts undergraduate voting members by 75 per cent Kallee Lins

The McGill Daily

C

oncordia’s Board of Governors, the highest decision-making body of the university, is set to cut its membership from 40 to 25. This move, in response to criticisms of Board misgovernance, will see undergraduate student representation cut from four fully voting members to one.

Previously, there was one undergraduate representative for every 8, 805 students on the Board, but, with amended membership, a single undergraduate member will represent all 35,408 Concordia Student Union (CSU) members. The single representative of graduate students will remain on the Board.

After a week of pressure from the CSU before the vote, the Board included a second undergraduate student position on the board as an alternate governor. While occupying committee positions and exercising speaking rights at all meetings, this alternate governor has no vote unless the undergraduate representative is not present.

The university “felt that this was a good compromise to allow stu-

dents to have a voice,” said Chris Mota, the head of Concordia’s media relations, on the decision to add an alternate undergraduate governor to the Board.

The CSU is not satisfied with this inclusion of a non-voting student presence.

“We don’t want your sympathy, we want a vote,” said CSU president Lex Gill on the decrease of student representation. She sees the addition of an alternate governor as a sign that “they have acknowledged there’s a problem and found a completely inadequate solution.”

The university cites two documents as the impetus for changes to the Board’s membership.

Bill 38, a provincial bill that would mandate standardized restrictions on university governance across Quebec, including limited internal university representation. The bill, proposed in 2009, was quickly tabled after criticism from all levels of university governance, and shows no sign of being immediately brought back to the table for consideration.

The second document is the External Governance Review Committee report released earlier this year. Former McGill Principal Bernard Shapiro chaired this com-

mittee, charged with reviewing Concordia’s governance structures.

The recommendations to downsize the Board came as an attempt to increase governance efficiency.

Mota commended the changes for helping to bring the university’s governance in line with the governance structures of other universities across the province.

There are currently 25 members on the McGill Board, with one voting undergraduate representative – a similar composition to the proposed Concordia Board.

“The university feels that all of these measures are moving toward progress,” said Mota. Concerning the issue of decreased student representation, Mota told The Daily that “clearly the board felt that this was an appropriate move for the time, recognizing that students would not be happy.”

SSMU VP University Affairs Emily Yee Clare addressed the assumption that a smaller board will necessarily bring increased efficiency. “You may increase the efficiency in terms of time, but increasingly the overall dynamism of the group and the ability to represent one’s constituency is a different matter. It shouldn’t be a question of numbers.”

The vote on this motion to cut the Board’s membership numbers did not go unchallenged during the Board’s meeting on September 28. “We did everything procedurally possible to stop [the vote],” said Gill.

The chair of the board, Peter Kruyt, decided to call a vote by secret ballot, and, when challenged on this decision, Gill said that Kruyt decided it is not permissible to challenge the decision of the chair.

According to Gill, when a student gallery member challenged Kruyt’s actions as undemocratic, Rita de Santis, a Board member and member of the Ad Hoc Governance Review Committee – which authored the motion – responded, “We’ll talk about democracy later.”

This was the prelude to Kruyt’s telling Gill, “We’re done, we’re done, we’re done,” after she challenged the decision to hold the vote by secret ballot.

At this point, student representatives walked out of the meeting in protest.

The new composition of the Board is required to take full effect

by September 2012. In the meantime, positions will be gradually phased out throughout the year.

Engineering students withdraw motion supporting striking workers EUS concerned that supporting MUNACA would alienate constituents Henry Gass

The McGill Daily

A

fter an hour-long debate on Monday, a motion calling for the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) to stand in solidarity with striking nonacademic workers was withdrawn.

The McGill University NonAcademic Certified Association (MUNACA) has been on strike since September 1.

EUS representatives to SSMU Alex Kunev and Tariq Khan moved the motion, which called for a speedy resolution to the strike, as well as for “the EUS [to] organize a rally to pressure the McGill administration to put an end to the negotiations insofar as it favors the main demands of the MUNACA.” Wade Reda, Civil Engineering representative, was the first to speak against the motion.

“I don’t think it’s in our priorities to take a stand with MUNACA, because I personally see MUNACA right now as a kidnapper…you don’t negotiate with kidnappers,” Reda said.

“I think we should take a stance against MUNACA, keep pressure on them, instead of being against our own university,” he continued.

The debate soon split into two camps – one in favour of the motion, and one favouring no EUS position – with the majority of Council falling into the latter.

Connor Simpson, Mining Engineering representative, said it was in the interest of EUS to put pressure on both sides.

“Seeing as EUS has no allegiance to either McGill or MUNACA it seems kind of silly to side with MUNACA,” Simpson said. “I think all that’s in our interest is to have the strike end as quickly as possible.”

David Bailey, Mechanical Engineering representative, noted that, given the controversial nature of the issue, any position would alienate a large number of Engineering students.

“EUS can support one side or the other. It’s really not going to make a huge difference, and the internal divisions that it creates would be a far worse consequence.”

Kunev went on describe how a similar motion recently failed at

Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) Council.

“And we don’t want to be AUS Council,” he said.

EUS VP Internal Paul Novel, said that EUS should focus on issues that it has influence over, namely the EUS’ conflict with the administration over its use of the McGill name in its logo, and the administration’s unilateral reappointment of Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson.

“I think that these issues affect students a lot more, and we have a lot more power over them, and they’re within our mandate as the EUS,” he said.

EUS President Josh Redel said that he didn’t want EUS to “fall into the same hole” as SSMU, which recently renewed its blanket policy supporting worker’s struggles.

“Furthermore, when I’m sitting in my office and they’re holding strike updates outside of it, and they’re proud that they’re disrupting classes and delaying deliveries, I am never going to support that,” Redel said.

“It’s not just McGill that is not negotiating well. To be frank, if over – however many – 28 meet-

ings over four months, neither group can make any progress at any ways to reform, that’s not just McGill,” he continued.

The motion was withdrawn soon after a five-minute recess, in which many councilors took to debating outside the procedural constraints of Robert’s Rules.

After the motion was withdrawn, Khan noted in his report to Council that he was disappointed by some “very hostile comments” he received from other councilors.

“I think we need to get united on many matters over here,” he said. “We fought for the Arch Café, we rallied, but what happened?

Nothing happened, because most of us, in our minds, thought that we students cannot do anything about issues going on on the campus.”

He concluded by saying that EUS should be idealistic and realistic at the same time, and that it was his and Kunev’s fault for not consulting further with councillors while drafting the motion.

“We will be re-drafting it, we will be rewriting together, and I encourage you all to work together towards it,” he said.

Macdonald Campus Council supports strikers right to peaceful picketing Daniel Smith

The McGill Daily

T

he Macdonald Campus Students’ Society (MCSS) Council met for the first time this year on Tuesday.

Objections were raised to a resolution opposing McGill’s recent court injunction limiting the campus picketing activities of the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) strikers.

The resolution, proposed by VP Finance Nicolas Chatel-Lamay, was amended to address the injunction while focusing primarily on support for “the right of McGill workers to express themselves through a peaceful picket line.”

Discussion revolved around whether picketing on the downtown campus had been conducted peacefully before McGill had won the injunction.

Chatel-Lamay noted a difference in tone between the MUNACA demonstrations downtown and those held on the Macdonald campus.

“What’s happening on this campus is security guards are smiling and taking coffee with the workers. That’s not happening downtown,” he said.

Hesitance to fully condone downtown strikers’ activities led Council to amend the resolution, which passed unanimously.

McGill originally sought the court injunction, which restricts the size, location, and noise level of pickets, on September 23. It has now been extended until October 13.

Two representatives from McGill Food and Dining Services (MFDS) won a unanimous MCSS endorsement for their sustainability policies, which include efforts to better incorporate local, organic, sustainable, and whole foods into their operations and increase purchasing from the Macdonald farm to supply both McGill campuses. Council agreed to endorse the policies, with a verbal assurance that student-run food operations would not be curtailed as long as they observed MFDS sustainability standards.

Darya Nanova, a representative for the Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union’s nationwide food drive effort, spoke about the initiative and requested space on the Macdonald campus. The group is organizing the food drive to raise awareness about the Holodomor famine of the 1930’s, which killed several million Ukrainians. Proceeds will be donated to local food banks in early December.

Council also reviewed and approved new club constitutions, club funding requests, and the fall budget.

Preparations were discussed for halloween celebrations and for the Thanksgiving Hoe-Down party, to be held in a barn on Macdonald campus over Thanksgiving weekend.

News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Injunction against MUNACA extended

5

What goes into the “30%”?

The McGill administration has claimed that MUNACA is demanding a 28.9% pay increase over the three years of the collective agreement. Here’s where this number comes from:

Victor Tangermann | The McGill Daily

Union “mulling over” possible conflict of interest from first ruling

3

%

+

BASE INCREASE in order to account for inflation. McGill is offering a 1.2% increase, the minimum mandated by the government.

6.64

%

INCREASE WITHIN PAY SCALE per year for MUNACA employees who have not reached the top of their scale.

25% of MUNACA workers are already at the top of the pay

scale – this means they will not be receiving this increase.

=

MUNACA picketers are limited to groups of 15 by the injunction.

Erin Hudson

The McGill Daily

T

he emergency injunction against the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) was extended on Monday for another ten days.

It now expires on October 13, the date of the next conciliation meeting between MUNACA and McGill.

The extension upholds the orders of the initial injunction granted on September 23 by the Quebec Superior Court. The injunction requires restrictions on picketers’ proximity to campus, group size, and noise level.

Vice Principal (Administration and Finance) Michael DiGrappa spoke to The Daily about Monday’s extension.

“My understanding is that both parties appeared – the union didn’t object to the injunction being renewed, so it was extended for a period of ten days,” he said.

Kevin Whittaker, president of MUNACA, explained why the union did not object to the injunc-

tion’s extension.

“If we object then we have to go to court and it becomes this long drawn-out thing, and it wasn’t worthwhile,” he explained. “We’re waiting until the next decision, which will be on the 13th, and that’s when we’ll be able to act.”

“Right now we know how to deal with the injunction and the limits that it’s imposed, and we’re willing to go through the next ten days with that, but at the closure of the ten days we will be reacting to any further action that McGill may be proposing.”

“It was noted that we did not agree to the extension – that was it,” Whittaker added. For him, Monday’s extension was “fully expected.”

“We had been planning for something like this. As we said last week, we changed our strategy.

We were picketing at some of the Board of Governors’ businesses, and we will continue to do different sites throughout this week,” he said.

On Monday, MUNACA workers picketed outside of the workplaces

of four members of McGill’s Board of Governors: Stuart Cobbett, Kathy Fazel, Martine Turcotte and Thierry Vandal.

The extension of the injunction was presided over by Superior Court judge Clément Trudell. Brian Riordan, a former McGill Fellow and a graduate of the University, judged the initial granting of the injunction.

Whittaker noted the change in judges; however, he told The Daily that Riordan’s ties to McGill did not affect the outcome of the judgment on September 23.

“The judgment was not unusual, that he [Riordan] gave us, so to say that it was favouritism is not an issue for us. We’re not thinking that at all,” he said.

“But it’s just a matter of, legally, are there any grounds or recourses that we can take because of that information, and we haven’t got a clear answer yet.”

Whittaker said that he is waiting on a report from MUNACA’s legal team, which is currently “mulling over” the viability of a conflict of interest case against Riordan.

9.64 Multiplied by

=

%

3 years

28.92

%

It currently takes 37 years for employees to reach their top salary, though the university claims it takes 32 years. The 6.64% is a result of the union’s restructuring of their pay scale to condense the time it takes to reach their top.

This total increase would translate to approximately $1.50 per hour more if you make $16 per hour.

Source: www.munaca.com/sites/data/strike/What%20 is%20MUNACA’s%20position%20on%20wages.pdf; (Douglas Sweet, Media Relations)

Alyssa Favreau | The McGill Daily

6 News

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Tar sands demonstrators arrested in peaceful protest on Parliament Hill More protests planned as Keystone XL pipeline undergoes public hearings in the U.S. Emily Meikle

The McGill Daily

A

pproximately four hundred demonstrators gathered on Parliament Hill on September 26 in a peaceful protest of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

In a symbolic act of civil disobedience, protesters crossed the security perimeter set up by the RCMP and sat down, holding hands. Although 117 protesters were arrested, witnesses from both sides said that the demonstration was calm and well-organized.

Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, was one of the first to be arrested for trespassing and obstruction of a police officer. However, charges for every person arrested were later changed to a $65 provincial trespassing fine.

“It was very moving, very peaceful, very joyful,” said Barlow, “but very clearly deliberate about why we were there, what we hoped to get from the day and...the determination that this was maybe a new phase in the struggle against the tar sands and against Canada’s terrible energy policy.”

Proposed by TransCanada

Corporation in 2005, the Keystone XL pipeline would transport 700,000 barrels of bitumen per day from northern Alberta to refineries in America. Bitumen is a dense form of petroleum found in a mixture of sand an clay known colloquially as tar sands. The tar sands extraction process has been heavily criticized in recent years for damaging the environment and the health of local communities.

The project was approved in Canada on March 11, 2010 by the National Energy Board, and is currently undergoing hearings in the United States regarding whether or not it would be in the best interest of Americans.

According to the CBC, the Canadian portion of the project will extend for 529 kilometres and cost $1.7 billion.

Canadian supporters of the pipeline, which include the Canadian government and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, claim the project would create more jobs in Canada.

It’s opponents have a different view, however. “It’s exactly the opposite... It’s taking jobs away,” said Barlow. “It’s leaving the pollution, but exporting the jobs.”

Daniel Kessler, communications manager for the Rainforest Action Network, helped plan the protest.

“People have been saying that the tar sands are an absolute blight to the country and that we’re becoming a sort of extraction colony that is only exporting natural resources,” he said.

According to participants, the protesters placed a strong emphasis on the symbolic nature of the demonstration.

Stephen McMurtry, a Sustainable Energy Engineering Masters student at Carleton University, told The Daily that, “When it came time for me to go across, I linked arms with the people beside me...and we just kind of walked towards the fence. It was a really low fence – it was a very symbolic thing. There were even a couple step-ladders over it so that people could cross more easily. It was all very pre-planned and not some sort of antagonistic thing.”

“We hadn’t gone for big numbers,” said Barlow. “We wanted a direct action and a particular kind of action and therefore we wanted people who would cross the line... we were very pleased with the number who came out.”

In a press release the same day,

Superintendent Luc Lemire, Officer in Charge of General Duty Protective Policing and Incident Director for the event, said he was pleased with the level of cooperation between the RCMP and protest organizers.

“From the start we were able to work together, which allowed the RCMP to fulfill its mandate and keep everyone safe on Parliament Hill while allowing the protestors an opportunity to express themselves in a safe and secure manner,” he said.

Kessler said another protest is being planned for November 6 in Washington, D.C., and that he expects between five and ten thousand people to attend.

“We’re going to be holding hands around the White House to show our solidarity with Americans who are saying one last time to [President Barack] Obama, ‘Take the right position here, do not allow this pipeline,’” said Barlow. “This will just continue and we’ll get more and more people...until people start to ask, ‘Why are these people doing this?’ When we can explain to them, ‘Well, we’re doing it for your health, and for your children’s health, and for the environmental sanity of our planet.’ More and more people will come on board.”

Missing and murdered aboriginal women remembered Sisters in Spirit march despite funding cuts Henry Gass

The McGill Daily

T

he sixth annual Montreal Sisters in Spirit Memorial March and Vigil went ahead Tuesday, almost a year after the federal government pulled the funding meant to support the nationwide event.

Bridget Tolley, whose mother was struck and killed by a Sûreté du Québec police car in 2001, has helped organize the annual marches since 2005.

“We need to support the families, and we want to do whatever is possible to help the families. So tonight is for them, and we’re going to continue and remember our missing and murdered aboriginal women,” said Tolley to the crowd of almost 300 people.

Sisters in Spirit, a group within the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), helped organize the marches every year until “My mother, when she was 18 years old trying to scrape by, would go into bars and write caricatures of the bar patrons just so she could have money to eat. One night she went in there and was raped by five men, and the cops told her, ‘I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have been there in the first place.’ ” – Irkar Beljaars

their funding was cut. The group also compiled data and research on missing and murdered native women in Canada. Until 1980, no such records existed in any form.

Today there are nearly 600 confirmed cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women.

Maya Rolbin-Ghanie, a member of Missing Justice – the aboriginal rights advocacy group that organized Tuesday’s march – said in an interview with The Daily that the government’s justification for pulling the funding was that “no more research was needed.”

The government has since folded the Sisters in Spirit database into a national database called Evidence in Action under the RCMP. Rolbin-Ghanie said the new database was “not in any way specific to native women.”

“And this is after the largest year of Sisters in Spirit vigils ever. Last year there were 86 – and even one down

in Nicaragua – and the name Sisters in Spirit was really becoming well known. And this is when the government decides to yank all the funding,” said Rolbin-Ghanie.

One of the government’s stipulations in removing the funding was that NWAC could no longer use the name Sisters in Spirit. In response, members of Sisters in Spirit formed the group Families of Sisters in Spirit, who continue to help organize events to promote awareness around missing and murdered aboriginal women. This year, 51 vigils have taken place.

Ellen Gabriel, former president of the Quebec Native Women’s Association, said the government’s decision to move the funding from NWAC to the RCMP was especially problematic. “[The RCMP are] the ones, the culprits, who have, through their apathy, done nothing to improve this situation,” said Gabriel.

“My daughter…was 16 years old when she went missing.

She went missing two years ago, on September 5. We found her November 13, buried in the woods. The man that did this to my daughter had been released from prison for violently raping the mother of his children. He was not rehabilitated. Why was he let out?… She was my only daughter. My house now is very quiet. You could feel that the life was sucked out of my home, and this man is getting more consideration from our courts than the victims. The victims, us, continue to be victimized.”

– Pamela Fillier

Harvey Michele, an indigenous rights activist from the Ojibway Nation north of Thunder Bay, Ontario, said that six years of marches and vigils had not had much of a concrete effect on the rate of missing and murdered native women in Canada.

“More financial and human resources need to… look at the policy development, policy review, and empower the aboriginal women’s groups to examine their issues,” he said.

Rolbin-Ghanie noted that media and other institutions are starting to note the systemic nature of the problem, not “just isolated incidents of violence.”

“The pillars of Canadian society, what we consider to be integral, like the court system, the media, the government, and the police forces are definitely still profound contributors to the problem in a number of ways.

So there’s still a lot of work to be done,” she added.

“This is my daughter…who was 24 years old, who was brutally murdered on April 29, 2002 in domestic violence by her husband, leaving three small children behind… I’ve brought my child’s remains with me today. Today was the last time I can ever touch my child’s remains, because now she goes out to Calgary, Alberta to be buried with her older sister Sherry.”

– Susan Martin

Three candidates for Bloc leadership announced Esther Lee

News Writer

O

n Tuesday, former Bloc Québécois MP Daniel Paillé declared his intention to run for leadership of the party, joining MPs Jean-François Fortin for the HauteGaspésie-La-Mitis-Matapédia riding and Maria Mourani for the Ahuntsic riding.

During the May 2 federal election, the Bloc – formerly known as the Federal Sovereigntist Party – lost 43 out of their previous 47 seats. With only four MPs remaining, the Bloc does not hold an official party status in the House of Commons.

On the night of the party’s defeat, former party head Gilles Duceppe announced his retirement from the Bloc’s leadership, a position he held for 14 years.

Regarding the Bloc’s current status in Quebec, Mourani said in French that support for the party was still “very much alive within Quebec.”

“The Bloc Québécois will continue to promote Quebec’s interest…it’s important that the party represents the voice of Quebec.”

But Quebec sovereignty no longer appears a central issue for many Quebeckers, especially the province’s younger generations.

Marc Olivier Brouillette, a McGill science student and Montrealer said that while there is a Quebec culture that needs to be preserved and promoted, “trying to become a separate country won’t accomplish anything.”

He also added, “It’s important to not have two separate governments, but to have one unified government under Canada.”

Another McGill student and Quebecker, Nick Wathier from St. Henri, spoke to the Bloc’s prominent advocacy for Quebec sovereignty.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s in the middle of the country; [why] split it in half?”

David Dubois, the Head of Communications for Québec Solidaire, a provincial sovereigntist party, spoke to the need for a reforming Quebec sovereigntism.

“The idea of sovereignty has always been present. [But] the historical sovereigntist movement is experiencing a crisis, it’s undeniable. Therefore, it is necessary to rethink the strategy…we believe that a winning strategy [should]… represent Quebec in all its components: regions, minorities, gender, et cetera,” he said in French.

In regards to the future of Quebec’s sovereigntist parties, Dubois continued that “Quebec’s march of independence cannot be used for resentment. It is therefore important to imagine a strategy where the actions for Quebec are… innovative socially and economically.”

Commentary

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

7

Excuse me

while I exude black femininity Christiana Collison explores the intersections of race and gender Tyrone Speaks Christiana Collison

tyronespeaks@mcgilldaily.com

W

ould someone care to enlighten me as to when conceptualizations of black femininity became saturated with generalizing, self-loathing, and essentializing stereotypes of the black woman? Apparently, I did not get the memo – because here I thought black women were multiplicitous and diverse, not a stagnant and uniform people.

It all began when I attended a talk at the University of Toronto in which the guest speaker – and reason for my attendance – was erotic novelist and black activist, Sister Souljah. As a lover of her books – having read two so far, The Coldest Winter Ever and Midnight, I came with the intent of hearing her response to one question and one question alone: why did Midnight, who was characterised as this beautiful dark skinned Sudanese, Muslim man, and embodied (and damn near, epitomised) black hypermasculinity and hypersexuality, choose a non-black female as his love interest?

Midnight was a necessary accessory to my budding womanhood at the time of our first meeting. I remember reading it in the twelfth grade and swooning over this fictional and almost mythological character of sorts.

However, in the same way that I possessed a literary crush on Midnight, I too detested him. For he, forcibly rejecting black women as his love interest, instead finds love in Akemi, a Japanese woman.

After long winded questions about other aspects of her novels, a spectator finally asked the question I was too scared to ask: why was Midnight’s wife not black?

But, as soon as Souljah answered the question, the response that I had long awaited became the response I wish I had not heard.

She argued that her reasoning for choosing a Japanese woman rather than a black woman was because black women, she claimed, act in manners that are

not beneficial to themselves. Our certain ways of speech, our ways of dress, and our attitudes are more abrasive than others. Using terms such as “militant” when describing how black women love, she seemed to denote that, implicit in black femininity, was hostility and anger (oh, how I love the essentialized notions of the “angry black woman”).

Well hot damn, I was – to say the very least – more than stunned. Without a single attempt to contextualize any of the claims she made, she denounced the character of every single black woman in that room.

But she is definitely not the first to make these claims. This construction – or shall I say, misconstruction – of black femininity has plagued the black woman for quite some time. This monolithic, misconstrued, essentialized and non-contextualized notion

of black femininity is, simply put, defamatory toward black women.

The gendered racialization of my mannerisms – for example, the fact that I like to speak assertively (and sometimes loudly) or use expressive hand gestures when I speak, that I enjoy challenging my peers (male or female) in witty repartee and discussion – are all unjust characterizations that have often been used as a framework for misguided rhetoric surrounding the racialised woman. Rhetoric that includes: claims to her fearful or nonreceptive self, her unapproachable exterior or, my favourite, the reason why the heterosexual black woman is finding herself alone and man-less time and time again in comparison to her nonblack female counterparts.

The essence of black femininity is not homogeneous. It is fluid and hybrid, crossing intersections of

class, shade, geographical location, sexual orientation, privilege and lack thereof.

Black femininity is a myriad of characteristics because the black woman is a myriad of persons.

She is a woman of different hues who is perceived and received differently by wider society. Her encounters with race and femininity differ greatly on many levels. For example, her geographical location compounded with her social class alters the way she adopts and performs black femininity. I, growing up in the lower class sectors of Toronto’s inner city neighbourhoods, received black femininity harshly and gave it back just as harsh. I was taught to be tough, strong, and fearless, relying solely on myself.

However, I am one black female, of one particular geographical location, belonging to one specific social class. Black

women span across geographical locations, residing in hoods and suburbs and gated communities or residing nowhere, possessing no homes or claiming no geographical locations.

They belong to middle classes, upper classes, and middle-upper classes to working classes, educated, and non-educated classes.

Hence, I, as a black woman, am in no way a universal being, nor am I an archetypal model of black women. I am me.

Thus, I repeat, black femininity is a myriad of characteristics because the black woman is a myriad of persons.

Tyrone Speaks is a column written by Christiana Collison on the subject of black feminism. It appears every other Wednesday in commentary. You can email her at tyronespeaks@mcgilldaily.com.

Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily

8 Commentary

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Don’t defame. Debate.

The hypocrisy behind the rhetoric of patriotism Richard Carozza

The McGill Daily

B

eing the politically conscious American that I am, I tuned into the Republican debate last week and saw a gay soldier in Iraq ask if any of the candidates’ potential presidencies would undo President Obama’s work to repeal the discriminatory Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. As reference, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell barred queer servicemen and women from being openly queer in the American armed forces. Before the candidates could even respond, the audience booed. This comes from a crowd at a debate hosted

by Fox News, a self-professing “patriotic” news station. It’s not that I expected more, necessarily, but it was such a slap in the

face to see a serviceman booed by those he’s fighting to protect.

In addition, he wasn’t defended, or thanked for his service, by any of the candidates. Among these candidates are some who‘ve said homosexual acts are “unconstitutional,” called Liberalism “unAmerican,” and labelled the head of the Federal Reserve “treasonous.” The rhetoric is bad enough, but the real issue I see with it is that it’s hypocritical.

Why? Because the ‘real’ American was the one man who wasn’t in the room during the debate. It was Stephen Hill, the guy on webcam, the American soldier. Well, you know what I say to you, ladies and gentlemen with Republican presidential potential? You are un-American.

Un-American for being complicit in the defamation of one of our country’s finest.

I get that the Republicans are passionate about their country and what they think is best for it.

It’s the land that they love. But it’s also the land that others love, and some of those individuals were booed and called un-American.

I remember being thought of as against core American values for believing in Obamacare.

I don’t appreciate being called un-American, especially when it comes to something like health care, taxes, and regulation. We’re not dismantling the fabric of American society – these are matters of economics, and it is simply a matter of what one thinks is best for the country. I don’t like that the desire to provide the uninsured with medicine became fodder for a campaign of plastering Hitler moustaches on our President. It’s in the same vein as jeering a loyal soldier. That, I

have to say, is un-American.

The Right is turning the general Washington debate – that they can’t win with hard logic, considering how Bush’s economic and foreign policies so miserably failed us not long ago – into the sort of culture warfare that has worked so well in the past.

Why debate something when you can just brand the other side treacherous? If we’re going to go down that path, then this is my rebuttal to your hypocrisy. It’s American to champion the basic human rights of everyone and claim the moral high ground over the terrorists who wish us harm; it’s un-American to hold prisoners indefinitely and torture them.

It’s American to let anybody worship or not worship whichever gods they like, two blocks from Ground Zero or in front of the White House; it’s un-American to

call this a Christian nation and stoop to rampant Islamophobia as a means to an end. It’s American to announce to the world that loving persons who love each other should be married, and if those people want to serve in our armed forces, they should receive a standing applause, not a cowardly booing hiss; it’s unAmerican to deny any of those rights. Remember the next time anybody claims a monopoly on the right to be American: acrimonious and misleading jingoism and vilification of this calibre is really what’s “un-American,” not anyone that serves their country, in whatever capacity.

Richard Carozza is a U2 Physiology student. He can be reached at richard.carozza@mail. mcgill.ca.

Kira Bruce | The McGill Daily

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9

What is a University?

An open letter to the McGill community Ruth Ainsworth Hyde Park

W

hat is a university? Is it a place where students come to learn and faculty come to research. A place where knowledge is produced and individuals trained? Or is it more than this: an ideal, a community founded on and embodying the belief that the full and free exchange of ideas has some fundamental value? My rhetorical construction of this question allows for only one answer, I admit. But I actually do want you to consider the question: what is a university? This is a question that has been on my mind since the McGill administration sought and obtained an injunction severely curtailing the ability of strik-

arcane. But the common thread animating the functioning of the otherwise unconnected disciplines housed by a university is a commitment to the open exchange of knowledge and ideas. Exchange of ideas necessarily requires more than a cursory commitment to freedom of expression. On the contrary, freedom of expression is the very essence of a university. It is written into its structure, as the basis of faculty tenure.

It is for this reason that I was shocked to hear about this injunction and to read its terms. For those of you who haven’t done so, these include: “TO CEASE AND ABSTAIN from impeding, obstructing or inhibiting the free circulation of pedestrian or vehicular traffic within 4 meters of the

McGill is not a business... It is a community with a social function and with foundational principles that it has an ethical obligation to uphold. ing MUNACA workers to picket.

The university is a unique institution in our society and fundamental to its unique identity, is a commitment to the search for knowledge. The character of this knowledge may vary from department to department, ranging from the practical to the abstract to the

entries and exits” of McGill property; “TO CEASE AND ABSTAIN from assembling in a group of more than 15 persons within 4 meters of the entries and exits”; “TO CEASE AND ABSTAIN from using a microphone, speaker, loudspeaker, stereo, or any other tool or machine used for the purpose of amplifying

voice or sound within 25 meters” of McGill property.

Regardless of how you feel about the strike, or about strikes in general, I ask you to think about this measure in the light of a university’s underlying commitment to the inherent value of free expression. In its weekly email of September 26, the McGill administration claimed that it sought the injunction because picketers were preventing the delivery of sensitive materials and endangering the safety of pedestrians. It repeated these assertions without further clarification by email on September 29. All I can say to these claims is that, in my experience, the picketers have always been courteous, respectful, and accommodating. These latest statements by McGill come in a line of misleading characterizations of the “threats” posed by striking workers, and I remain skeptical as to their truth value.

Equally significant, however, was the additional justification put forth by the administration that the “noise level…was unacceptably high.” It is this latter complaint that particularly unnerves me. This justification proposes, essentially, that the inconveniences and annoyances suffered by one sector of the McGill community trump the rights to free expression of another.

Lest you object that this “noise” supposedly obstructing the research and teaching at this institution is simply that – noise, low-value speech – take a moment to consider the function of a picket for an oth-

erwise voiceless and invisible community. The administration sends us weekly emails outlining its position on the strike (emails I would ask you to read with a grain of salt, mindful of the partiality of the source).

stated that the raw production of knowledge has a greater value than the animating principle of this institution. This is not a position with which I can agree.

McGill is not a business. It

The ideal of free expresion is an abstract principle. It is sometimes an inconvenient principle but it is nonetheless fundamental to the very meaning of a university.

MUNACA workers have no such captive audience. They have their bodies and their voices, and the public spaces in which to manifest their presence. They have the strength of numbers and the ability to use this strength to remind us of their existence; to remind us that they are standing at the gate, waiting for a contract to be reached. This kind of noise is eloquent.

The ideal of free expression is an abstract principle. It is sometimes an inconvenient principle, but it is nonetheless fundamental to the very meaning of a university. If we do not hold to our ideals when they are inconvenient, they lose their meaning. In seeking such a dramatic curtailing of the free expression and assembly of MUNACA workers, this administration has essentially

has obligations deeper than the smooth and efficient functioning of the academic machine. It is a community with a social function and with foundational principles that it has an ethical obligation to uphold. This administration may have convinced the Court of the justice of granting an injunction; it has not convinced me of its rectitude in seeking one. This particular injunction expires on October 13. As a student and a member of the University community, I call on our administration to immediately cease from employing such tactics.

Ruth Ainsworth is a student in the Faculty of Law. She can be reached at ruth.ainsworth@mail. mcgill.ca.

The thirty-sixty pattern: a call to action Why students should embrace our roles as citizens Jacqueline Brandon Hyde Park

A

t a recent student-initiated MUNACA rally, a middle- aged woman took up the loudspeaker to describe a statement made by the administration. She stated that the University was not extremely concerned about student activism on the strike front, as there exists only a group of “between thirty and sixty radical students.” The other 34,940 need not be on their radar, unaware, and content.

Later, at the same sit-in, while the crowd was chanting “Join us!

Join us!” to onlooking students, I overheard an exasperated studentprotester mutter, “McGill breeds

apathy” under his breath. It was a sad realization. In that moment, looking at the students happily sprawled out on the grass in front of the James Administration building (probably all the more happy now that the injunction has ceased the disruptive protesting), others having a barbecue in front of McConnell Engineering, others mindlessly buzzing about campus, I saw a problem much more widespread than our campus.

Like the rest of you, I too grew tired of incessant MUNACA noise, half-guiltily crossing picket lines, interrupted classes, and delayed university services. I wish to see past these minor disturbances to a looming and urgent problem.

This woman and the administration both have a point: we are

accustomed to not caring. Our world is one of comfort. Living within a narrow scope is all too easy. It is not about this particular strike, it is about getting people to be curious. It took me nearly twenty years to realize that what mattered most was not five years from now, not in the past, but right in front of me, who is sitting next to me in class, assisting me at the library, and being inconvenienced or isolated by my behavior. It is all the details of daily life that we simply never question. It is the here and now, the components of our community that go unnoticed because we all too often live in our heads, in the future, and elsewhere.

We embrace our roles as citizens in an undemocratic democ-

racy. Oppression now happens behind closed doors, giving us a convenient excuse not to have an opinion. My path to activism, to the awakening of the real issues that are only becoming more and more serious, has only brought happiness and fulfillment.

The important and relevant issue is how we deal with the oppression we are faced with, how we come together to take back our campus. For instance, last week at SSMU’s General Assembly, the disappointingly small number of students who did choose to attend were not even able to have their votes counted because the required number of attendees were not present. We spend hours upon hours consumed with learning distant subjects, about inter-

national affairs, about established theories and formulas, about the past, yet we rarely seek to use our educations as a method of community building.

I do not aim to exclude people who don’t share my ideology, I simply want to foster a sense of connectedness. It is my hope that the comfortable students among us muster up the courage to question, join, and act.

The abuse of power is a universal trend that confronts us; we too often respond with apathy. The world has changed, and it is in our hands to do with it as we see fit.

Jacqueline Brandon is a U1 History student. She can be reached at jacqueline.brandon@ mail.mcgill.ca.

10 Features

ustice deferred J Why you don’t want to be wrongfully convicted in Canada

Farid Muttalib

Features Writer

I

n 1992, Kyle Unger was found guilty of murdering sixteen-yearold Brigitte Grenier, who was found beaten, strangled, and sexually mutilated in rural Manitoba two years earlier. Unger spent 14 years in prison before his lawyers found that there were serious issues with the evidence used to convict him. With the assistance of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDW YC), he filed for conviction review in 2005 and was finally acquitted in 2009. Despite this blatant miscarriage of justice, the Manitoba government has steadfastly refused to offer compensation or hold an inquiry into Unger’s conviction.

So, last month, he filed a lawsuit against the Manitoba provincial government, claiming $14.5 million for “grievous loss, damage, and expense.” It was the culmination of a nearly twenty-year nightmare for Unger.

Kyle Unger was wrongfully convicted for a number of reasons. The case against him was based on a hair sample found at the scene of the crime that was analyzed by police investigators using a technique known as “hair microscopy.” Hair microscopy – which involves comparing strands of hair at the crime scene with those of suspects – has recently been found to lack any scientific basis. The discrediting of the technique, combined with subsequent DNA analysis, eventually revealed that the hair used as key evidence against Unger was not his.

The prosecution also used the testimony of a jailhouse informant, Jeffrey Cohen, who claimed that Unger returned to his cell after a hearing and remarked, “I killed her and got away with it.” It was later found that it was impossible for Unger to have confessed when Cohen claimed he did.

The prosecution’s case was also based on a confession Unger made to police officers posing as drug dealers in a gang. This notorious technique, known as a “Mr. Big” operation, involves using the promise of money and gang membership to extract boasts of past crimes that establish the target’s “street cred.” In Unger’s case, RCMP officers posing as gang members hired Unger for menial tasks, before eventually introducing him to “Mr. Big” – the supposed ringleader (also an undercover police officer). After being lured into offering details about the murder, Unger lied about having killed Brigitte Grenier, going so far as to show the “gang members” a bridge near where he claimed to have killed her.

The bridge was not built until months after the murder.

It is not unusual for different errors and examples of police and prosecutorial misconduct to interact to wrongfully convict individuals such as Unger.

And, yet, his successful conviction review is the exception rather than the rule in Canada, where a deeply flawed system leaves many languishing behind bars. Wrongful convictions are widely considered to be the greatest tragedy of the criminal justice system. They are devastating on many levels:

for the crime’s victim, whose actual assailant escapes justice; for the system, which loses credibility; and, obviously, for the convict, whose life is forever changed and, in many ways, destroyed.

The criminal justice system, in its most basic form, involves the state harnessing its resources against the individual – in this respect, it is a violent and invasive tool. In recognition of the danger inherent in such a power imbalance, numerous legal protections exist to ensure fairness and reduce the risk of imprisoning the innocent. In addition to numerous rights enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Crown Prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Nevertheless, wrongful convictions have proven to be permanent fixture of our system.

In recent decades, they have been uncovered at a steady rate. The recognition and reversal of wrongful convictions has largely been propelled by the emergence of DNA testing and by an increasing awareness of the fallibility of police practices and forensic science.

Fortunately, a small but dedicated movement has arisen, aiming to stem the tide.

AIDW YC was founded in 1993 as a nonprofit dedicated to reversing wrongful convictions. A Canadian organization, its emergence paralleled the establishment in 1992 of the Innocence Project at the Cardozo School of Law in New York, an organization that quickly spread across the United States and the rest of the English-speaking world. McGill’s Faculty of Law is home to one of a number of Canadian university-based

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

chapters of the Innocence Network, an umbrella organization that includes the Innocent Project. These groups, generally composed of student volunteers and lawyers, assist applicants in the arduous process of reversing wrongful convictions.

(Full disclosure: I volunteer at Innocence McGill).

Since the 1980’s, numerous public inquiries and royal commissions have been established in the wake of some of the most egregious wrongful convictions, creating household names (in the legal community) out of people like Donald Marshall Jr., Guy Paul Morin, and David Milgaard, men wrongfully convicted for heinous crimes and later acquitted. These commissions, often led by distinguished judges, tend to focus on the specific miscarriage of justice and then extrapolate to wider remedies needed at various levels of the criminal justice system.

Partly as a result of their findings, the Criminal Conviction Review Group was established in 1994. Made up of lawyers from the Department of Justice, and working alongside a Special Advisor, the Review Group’s mandate is to receive and assess wrongful conviction claims. But the process was far from perfect.

In 2001, the Thomas Sophonow Inquiry Report was released. In it, former Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory suggested that “there should be a completely independent entity established which can effectively, efficiently and quickly review cases in which wrongful conviction is alleged.”

In response to shortcomings identified by the Sophonow Inquiry, the criminal conviction review process was reformed in 2002. Improving the independence of the Review Group was a key goal, and, as a result, it was physically moved out of the Department of Justice, ostensibly to establish distance. Still, the reforms have not proven satisfactory to most critics.

§

troubling given the requirements of the review process. Applicants must supply all documents related to trial proceedings, including transcripts, factums, material filed by both sides, and supporting documents. This must be done from the comfort of their prison cells, except in cases of applicants seeking post-release exonerations.

While the “new and significant” evidence requirement is not inherently costly, costs quickly add up when DNA tests and other expensive procedures are necessary. Groups like AIDW YC and the various chapters of the Innocence Project exist in part to compensate for the mobility and financial problems faced bypeople in jail. Still, these groups operate in a financially precarious context and do not have the deep pockets of a state-funded entity. The preparation of a conviction review application requires hours of careful legal work, and Innocence Projects often rely on lawyers working pro bono.

While a few tests or procedures would probably blow Innocence McGill’s entire budget, an even more challenging “cost” is finding lawyers willing and able to commit the requisite hours free of charge. It is inevitable, then, that organizations forced to make choices will opt for more “obvious” applications.

In Canada, several years are generally required to assemble a section 696.1 application and receive a response from the Minister of Justice. William MullinsJohnson, a Sault Ste. Marie man convicted in 1994 of murdering his four-year old niece, had his case taken on by AIDWYC in 2001. He was released on bail in 2005,

pending review of his case, but wasn’t acquitted until 2007.

There is perhaps very good reason for the process to be thorough – we are, after all, talking about convicted individuals who have already failed at successive stages of appeals. And, of course, releasing convicted murderers or rapists is never good politics.

Arguably, then, political actors, like the Minister of Justice, and government lawyers working in the Review Group are not well placed to review applications.

The Minister of Justice in particular might appear to not merit a role in the process, given the fact that their position as an elected official depends largely on public opinion.

Advocates of a body independent of the Department of Justice are generally inspired by the United Kingdom, which established an independent commission in 1997. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is a state-funded body staffed by lawyers and investigators and the creation of such a body in Canada is seen by many critics as a necessary reform to make the Canadian conviction review process quick, effective, and efficient.

First, the UK approach shifts the financial and technical burden from the applicant to the independent commission, which is empowered to investigate fully and undertake any necessary tests.

The CCRC is also able to receive and assess a large volume of applications, because of its permanent staff and fairly generous budget.

Second, the UK approach is remarkably quicker, with most applications receiving a response from the CCRC within a few months.

Last, and maybe most importantly, the UK system is truly independent. The Minister of Justice has no role in the process, ensuring that individual cases are kept out of the political realm.

The UK approach is not completely above reproach. Michael Naughton, law lecturer at Bristol University and chair of the Innocence Network UK, suggests that the CCRC is overly concerned with applicants whose convictions were tainted by technical errors, rather than applicants who claim factual innocence.

The commission is also subject to the vagaries of government funding, and has faced severe cuts in recent years.

But, flaws notwithstanding, the British system remains a more effective, efficient, and transparent system than the one we have in Canada.

§

The conviction review process begins after a convicted person has exhausted all appeals through the court system. This means that the person has lost at the provincial Court of Appeal and either lost or was refused a hearing by the Supreme Court of Canada. From there, any convicted individual can assemble a “section 696.1” application (named after the provision in the Criminal Code) and apply for formal review by the Review Group and, finally, the Minister of Justice.

In their assessments, the Review Group looks for information that meets the “new and significant” criteria. Information is considered “new and significant” if it was not presented in court, is reasonably capable of belief, is relevant to guilt, and could have affected the verdict. Examples include witnesses who have recanted, DNA proof of innocence, or information establishing an alibi.

If they find compelling “new and significant” evidence, the Group undertakes an investigation, where it inquires into the substance of the applicants’ claims, often interviewing witnesses, conducting forensic tests, and reviewing evidence presented at trial. When the investigation is wrapped up, applicants are given a hard copy of the investigation report, and are able to make comments on it.

The final investigation report, the applicant’s comments, and advice and

Illustrations by Alex Chalk for The McGill Daily recommendations from the Special Advisor are then submitted to the Minister of Justice. The advice and recommendations are confidential and are never revealed to the public or the applicant. (The official reasoning behind the confidentiality is that solicitor-client privilege exists between the Minister and the Special Advisor, although this explanation fails to account for the possibility of waiving privilege.)

Upon receiving the final report and the recommendations from the Special Advisor, the Minister can opt to do nothing, order a retrial, remit the case to the Court of Appeal, or ask for a court reference to clarify any unclear issues. The final decision rests with the courts and not the Minister, although ministerial interventions in Canada generally result in the acquittal or exoneration of the applicant.

The establishment of the Review Group – and its subsequent reform – was widely acknowledged as a step in the right direction. Still, many critics think the group falls short. Canada’s process is expensive, tortuously drawn-out, and continues to involve political actors – whose positions are tied to the pressures of public opinion – playing a role in decisions of guilt and innocence.

The current system imposes a high financial and logistical burden on applicants, who are often already indebted or from disadvantaged communities.

A 2008 article by the Toronto Star concluded that 70 per cent of inmates have not completed high school and have unstable job histories. This is especially

11

In 1923, American judge and legal theorist Learned Hand said that “our procedure has been always haunted by the ghost of an innocent man convicted; it is an unreal dream.” There is little doubt that Hand would be as wrong today as he was in 1923. The Kyle Ungers of the world attest to that. As recently as 2007, a commission established to investigate the case of James Driskell, another Manitoban wrongfully convicted of murder, suggested that an “independent inquisitorial body” would be best suited to determine whether miscarriages of justice have occurred.

Canada is still well short of this goal.

Wrongful convictions continue apace. It seems more important than ever to make sure that our country’s criminal justice system weaves a net strong enough to catch its own errors.

Health&Education

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12

The realities of female genital mutilation A case study in Ethiopia opens up discussion about FGM Warning: This article contains graphic and potentially upsetting subject matter and descriptions. It may be triggering.

Health&Education Writer

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Oles Chepesiuk for The McGill Daily

ighty to ninety per cent of women and children in eight different African countries undergo Female Genitalia Mutation (FGM). This practice is not restricted to Africa but is also prevalent in developed, Western countries such as the UK and France, and over two million girls around the world are at risk of becoming survivors of FGM. Asresash Demissie, director of the Women’s Affairs Office at the Jimma University in Ethiopia and renowned specialist in Women’s Rights, gave a seminar at McGill’s Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (IGSF) on the topic. She revealed details of the procedure and presented a first-hand account from a victim’s perspective.

Demissie began her story by showing us a photo of a young woman, crumpled desolately against a dusty road, crying. The pain of this woman was palpable, though her face could not be seen.

A silence passed through everyone in the room. Born into poverty, she was said to have suffered from depression her whole life.

When she was seven years old, her mother told

her that she didn’t have to go to school that day. She was thrilled.

Her mother then instructed her to take a shower and put on the nicest dress she had; this made her even happier. Then the grandmother came to their house and told her that today she was going to become a woman. With those words, the grandmother performed FGM on her. The grandmother and mother tied her legs together and proceeded to deny her food and water so that she didn’t need to go to the toilet. She survived the trauma, grew up, and got married. On her wedding night, her husband produced a razor blade and sliced her open so as to penetrate her. Nine months after that, she delivered her baby and when the baby came out, the majority of her own organs spilled out too. She also developed fistula, a condition where a woman loses control over her feces and urine.

What is FGM? Female Genital Mutilation is often confused with circumcision, but to make that comparison would be a mistake. For one, the cutting is far more extensive than in circumcision, and a blunt instrument is often utilized in the process. There are four types of FGM, each more mentally and physically scarring than the last. The first level of FGM is a removal of the clitoral hood.

Upon the preference of the guardian of the child, or at the discretion of the cutter, part or all of the clitoris is cut off. The second level consists of complete amputation of the clitoris and of the labia minora; both of which are body parts used for sexual stimulation, and the lack of which reduces – if not completely denies – female arousal. Eighty-five per cent of women who are subjected to this practice undergo the procedure of either level one or two of FGM. The third type of FGM is called infibulation and consists of the elimination of all of the external genitalia. The girl is then stitched up in such a manner that the vaginal opening is narrowed so as to leave only a small hole for urine and menstrual bleeding. Infibulation leaves a girl facing a lifetime of pain, where intercourse is almost unbearable and giving birth can be fatal. The last form of FGM is unclassified and entails all other operations on the female genitalia – from burning, scraping, piercing and stretching to introducing corrosive substances into the vagina. While the majority of girls in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Eretria and Kenya are victims of FGM, 15 per cent of them are subject to infibulation and unclassified operations. These practices are not removed from us in the West: 6,500 girls in the UK between the ages of 4 and 14 are also at risk of undergoing this treatment.

What are the short- and longterm effects?

The short-term effects felt by FGM often translate into long term effects. The most common effects felt are intense pain and uncontrollable bleeding that can lead to

Kira Bruce for The McGill Daily

Claire-Marine Varin

haemorrhaging, which often induces shock during the procedure and after.

The haemorrhaging can also lead to anaemia. In addition to the gruesome list of short-term effects are the high risks of infection, in particular tetanus – an infection that attacks the nervous system and causes muscle spasms – due to the blunt and unhygienic tools sometimes used during the procedure. Damage to adjacent organs resulting from unskilled cutters and urine retention caused by the swelling of a blocked urethra are also common. Very rarely is the girl put under anaesthesia, and the experience in it of itself can be traumatic to say the least. It is therefore no surprise that most girls who are forced into this procedure suffer from depression.

The long-term effects are even more devastating.

Fistulas and painful or blocked menses are the most recurrent symptoms, but an equally common and fatal consequence is the risk of contracting HIV from unsterilized instruments.

The highest maternal and infant mortality rates in Africa – particularly in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Eretria and Kenya – are found in FGM-practicing regions. The real number of deaths directly linked to FGM is unknown as they are often unreported.

Why is FGM practiced?

Culture and deep-rooted tradition, dating back to ancient Egypt, are the main reasons for this ongoing practice of FGM and infibulation. It is often considered a rite of passage into womanhood, without which the woman is not considered marriage material. In Ethiopia, it would be assumed that there is something wrong with an unwed woman above 30 years of

age. There is, therefore, a saying in Ethiopia, roughly translated as, “It is better to go through FGM than to be stigmatised within society.” A woman who has been through FGM is also likely to receive better marriage prospects as it reduces her promiscuity and “preserves her virginity.” This is because the excessive scar tissue after the procedure creates acute pain during intercourse, which can reduce a woman’s desire to have multiple sexual partners. The excess and often swollen scar tissue makes sexual penetration very difficult, and sometimes impossible without the aid of tools. Frequently, the husband uses a razor blade to make an incision through the scar tissue and occasionally even resorts to corrosive materials before penetration is possible.

These reasons lead to the conclusion that FGM benefits nobody but males, while the women receive only pain and no pleasure.

There are several ongoing efforts around the world to reduce the widespread practice of FGM, the most active of which are institutions such as UNICEF and new reinforced legislations within nations that attempt to punish the offenders. The increase in universal education has also been vital in fighting FGM: in a case study done by UNICEF, among 15,000 women who have received secondary education, a relatively low 25.5 per cent continue the tradition of FGM. It can, therefore, be asserted that increasing the accessibility of education is key to fighting FGM and eliminating the practice from the culture.

The battle against FGM is daunting but not impossible; through the help of education and domestic and international involvement, the practice of FGM may be reduced or even stricken out entirely.

Health&Education

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

13

Whipping male hormones into a frenzy Roxana Parsa

Health&Education Columnist Over 100 million women worldwide take an oral contraceptive pill every day. Although the pill has given women the freedom to take control of their bodies, it has also taken much of the burden of reproductive planning away from men.

While male contraception exists, no option has proven itself to be better than the female birth control pill. Condoms are often less reliable and not as safe, with a failure rate of two per cent with perfect use.

Vasectomies, on the other hand, are an invasive surgical procedure – one that many men do not want. The lack of male contraceptive options perpetuate the view that contra-

ception is still a woman’s responsibility. According to the U.S. Centre for Disease Control, rates of female sterilization and hormonal methods are still higher than condom usage (34 per cent versus 10 per cent of women who use condoms in the U.S.). However, in recent years, there has been a resurgence in research to try to develop a male alternative to hormonal birth control.

Though there is currently no male equivalent of the birth control pill, potential methods are being explored. One researcher has developed a pill that interrupts sperm maturation, leading to the production of “nonfunctioning” sperm; another method involves applying a testosterone gel to block sperm production. According to an article published in the New York

Times, several of these hormonal methods have, in fact, been effective with a large majority of men.

Side effects such as changes in skin, weight, mood, and sex drive have been found, but none of these differ largely from what many women are already dealing with. While none of these methods have been fully developed, the impetus is now there to try to find a method that will work. However, the question still remains: why has it taken so long to begin looking for a male equivalent of the birth control pill?

One of the key issues seems to be the general lack of interest from the public – as well as the pharmaceutical industry – in the development of these options. Although a survey by the International Male Contraception Coalition showed

that roughly 40 per cent of American men would be interested in a pill, there are still many who argue that men would be unwilling to take any form of hormonal contraception.

Side effects are often stated as a concern – another survey found that 20 per cent of men believed taking a pill would “decrease their masculinity”. This isn’t really surprising, especially when looking at the current state of sexual education. A recent study based on the US National Survey of Family Growth found that female teenagers were far more likely to have received instruction regarding birth control and safer sex methods in high school than their male counterparts. They were also more likely to have discussed these options with their parents and peers. Although the topic of sex

and birth control may be discussed with young boys, it is clear there is much more emphasis placed on girls regarding being responsible for one’s actions.

Despite numerous medical advances, many believe there is little chance of a male birth control pill being approved any time soon. It seems that to even begin thinking about such an option, we have to change the way sexual responsibility is approached. There needs to be a shift in the current paradigm of sexual education to teach males to take a more active role in the contraception process. Of course, it’s impossible to predict how a male alternative would be received, but, hopefully, if these issues start being discussed, the development of a male birth control pill will be warmly welcomed.

Myth #3: Med students don’t have a life outside school.

Myth #4: Every med student likes to wear a stethoscope all the time and act like a boss.

Med School Confidential A second year student reveals the ins and outs of med school Paulina Kyriakopoulos

Health&Education Writer

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number of anticipated changes have accompanied my transition from science undergrad to med student. Terms like diabetic nephropathy and thyroglossal duct cyst have become part of my everyday vocabulary. Concepts such as professionalism, differential diagnosis, patient interview, and empathy have been clearly defined and applied.

And no part of the human body, from the thalamus in the brain down to the adductor hallucis muscle reaching the big toe, is mysterious to me.

But, anyone can tell you that with more education comes more knowledge. It’s the world of med school itself that is often misunderstood. Now, as a second year, I feel I have enough insider experience to dispel a few rumours about med students that made me worried before I saw for myself what goes on in their natural habitat.

Myth #1: After one year of studies, med students know everything and can address all of your health concerns.

False. We actually know very little. As second year med students who have yet to transition from classroom to hospital, we are cursed with the inability to be useful – although we want to be and

feel we ought to be by this point.

Don’t get me wrong. We’ve learned a lot. Even if you take into account that approximately 70 per cent of what entered our brain before any given final is lost, the remaining 30 per cent is still the equivalent of thousands upon thousands of pages of information. However, if there is one thing med school teaches you, it’s that, regardless of how much information you absorb, you still won’t know very much. And, anyhow, what we get are cold facts that don’t quite yet translate to real-life. I may be able to name the muscles in the back, but that won’t help me explain why Aunt Vicky is having back pain.

I may theoretically know about antihypertensive drugs, but my answer is always “I don’t know” when Uncle Tasso asks me if his doctor prescribed him the right stuff.

Myth #2: We’ve come a long way since high school and undergrad.

False-ish. Until you enter the hospital, med school – at McGill at least – is somewhat a continuation of any science undergrad experience: you go to class, go to the library, sleep when you can, live on caffeine, and fear, but still complete, multiple choice exam questions by the hundreds. However, to give us med students a little more credit, our dutiful filling in of scantron sheets is

balanced by learning clinical skills – such as how to interview patients and perform certain steps of a physical exam. Not to mention that we’ve been warned by upper years that we have it easy. Long working hours in the hospitals are the next step.

But, for now, med school sometimes feels like high school all over again. We’re in class at least five hours a day, we see the same people, and everybody knows everybody else’s business. We may pretend that cliques are a thing of the past, but we still quickly learn who sits where with whom. At the front, you’ll find the most diligent people in a class composed of extremely studious and focused individuals. The professors’ questions never make it past those first few rows as these keeners (the so-called “gunners”) robotically spit out the answers without a second’s delay. The rest of us sometimes roll our eyes in frustration, but, often, we just let out a sigh of relief at being let off the hook. But when looking to size up the competition, we never dismiss those sleeping in the back left corner of the amphitheater. These cool kids (known as “snipers”) may have spent last night drinking heavily, but their undergrad degrees in physiology or anatomy, and the secret hours they spent studying before going out, ensure that they already know exactly what the professor is going on about.

False. Before I began med school, I had feared this would be the case. I had convinced myself that entering that classroom on the first day of school would automatically strip me of any right to a social life. I felt ready to make the necessary sacrifices. Little did I know that you could have it all. Somehow, just like in undergrad, you end up planning your studying around your social calendar and not the other way around. (Correction: This does not apply for the week to a week and a half leading up to any final, when life gets put on hold and your only wish is that your brain cells could magically multiply.)

Not only that, but I was surprised by how much we are encouraged to lead a balanced life. We’re told to define ourselves outside of medicine by having hobbies and friends so as not to only be branded as the ‘medical student’. We are also pushed to take care of our physical and mental health. Looking around at my classmates’ food during lunch hour makes me hide my chocolate bar in shame. Also, the gym is the place to be seen: classmates chat, organize squash tournaments, train for half marathons, lift weights, and practice guessing each others’ BMIs.

Catch our disease...

False. We may have to order stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs in the fall of our first year, but, contrary to popular belief, we do not accessorize all our outfits with them. Yes, stethoscopes do come in many fun colours and they do grab our attention, but they are actually just collecting dust in our closets for the time being.

We do think they’re awesome and occasionally take them out of their boxes to impress friends or family, but the truth is that we don’t quite know how to use them properly yet.

We can’t risk wearing them out to the bar and attract attention were someone to choke on the olive in a martini. It’s safer to leave the bling at home until we can at least properly perform the Heimlich maneuver.

In my experience, rare are the individuals who let the title of medical student get to their head. The rule of thumb is that, to be in this program, you have to be hardworking and caring, with only a tiny dose of neurosis.

There you have it, the reality of med school. So, next time you encounter any of us, feel free to quiz us on the twelve cranial nerves. We’ll like that. For help with that migraine, though, please wait a bit longer. Our professors have promised we’ll get to that sometime in the next three years.

Write for Health&Ed email healthandeducation@mcgilldaily.com

Letters

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

14

I then ask you, Mr. Di Grappa, what about the noise caused by McGill’s multimillion dollar renovation and construction projects that are being carried out all over our campus?

Pria Patroni U3 English Literature and Religious Studies

It’s time to move on Re: “The SSMU executive was decadent and depraved” | Features | September 29

Tadamon!’s defence of Hezbollah is wrong Re: “Tadamon! responds” | Commentary | September 26

Dear McGill Daily, Dear McGill Daily, I found the latest feature in the McGill Daily “The SSMU executive was decadent and depraved” to be an example of exactly what it was attempting to criticize. As a current Vice President of the students’ society in question, I welcome criticism of the student union and, in fact, encourage it, as I feel, like the article’s author, that many students are too apathetic about who represents them at SSMU. However I find that this article indulges in the decadent practice of SSMU Executive gossip, and without a clear purpose. If this were meant as a retrospective of last year’s executive, it is too late and it is time for the campus press to move on. There was very little analysis in the article, other than the statement that there was an ideological divide between members of the executive, which was obvious. I am also concerned as the Daily’s Statement of Principles mandates its coverage to focus on that which is not covered elsewhere, and usually Features give a new perspective to an issue in Montreal or the region, rather than narrowing in on petty (and outdated!) student politics. I would expect to see a broader coverage of issues in future Features. Finally, the article gives an inaccurate description of the SSMU and, more specifically, the executive’s job descriptions.

For example, Jack Layton actually lost the election to be VP External, and the VP Clubs and Services, as the name suggests, does more than “deal with clubs,” as the portfolio encompasses clubs, services, and the management of the Shatner building, as well as overseeing the production of the SSMU student handbook and events such as Activities Night and Culture Shock.

Please note that the views expressed here are my own, not the SSMU’s.

Tadamon! states that Hezbollah plays many roles in society, like providing daycare services to poor families. I can think of a few more roles, such as using women and children as human shields, and firing rockets from densely populated areas. Hezbollah has planned and been linked to hundreds of terror attacks around the world including the truck bombing in 1983 that killed two hundred US Marines, hijacking of the TWA flight 847 in 1985, attacks on Jewish synagogues, embassies, and community centres around the world killing hundreds, not to mention dragging Lebanon into a war with Israel in 2006 after abducting and killing two IDF soldiers in northern Israel and firing 4000 rockets. Tadamon thinks Hezbollah should be delisted as a terror group because it donates money and medical supplies to gain support from the local population who otherwise reviles it? Forgive me for suggesting that Hezbollah is on the terror list for a reason and Tadamon!’s defence of Hezbollah’s human rights record shows extremely poor judgment.

Michelle Whiteman Quebec Regional Director HonestReporting Canada

Hampering students’ ability to study? What do you call construction, then?

Dear Vice Principal Di Grappa, I just finished reading your most recent update on the MUNACA strike, and as a student and member of the McGill community, I take issue with several of the statements you make. I speak on behalf of myself and many other students who enter the campus grounds every day when I say that I have never once felt threatened or impeded by the MUNACA workers picketing at the entrances of the university.

You state that “the noise from the picket was hampering [students’] ability to study and get their classwork done.” I then ask you, Mr. Di Grappa, what about the noise caused by McGill’s multi-million dollar renovation and construction projects that are being carried out all over our campus? These projects not only inhibit my ability to hear my professors and fellow classmates during seminars and lectures, but they also block my access to certain entrances, not to mention the fact that they create a prison-like atmosphere on our campus. If we can deal with these kinds of temporary inconveniences for the sake of the greater good and “beautification” of our campus, why can we not deal with the grievances of MUNACA workers who form the structural backbone of this institution? Their protest, too, is for the greater good of our university, is it not? And while their work is not visible in the same way as the newly cleaned façade of the Redpath Museum, we are seeing the effect their absence everyday when we encounter delays in essential services and when we are faced with difficulties in accessing information and conducting research. It is this absence of MUNACA workers in the university – not their presence on the picket lines – that is the real issue affecting students and staff in the McGill community.

Bringin’ out the big guns

Hypocrisy at its best

Dear McGill Daily,

Hello Mr. Di Grappa,

Last June, we and our colleagues carried out a historic filibuster in the House of Commons against the back-to-work legislation that would force locked-out postal workers to return to their jobs -– with a salary that was less than what the employer originally offered. For many of us, the debate around this draconian law boiled down to a fight for the right of Canadian workers to collective bargaining.

Let us not forget the gains and improvements in quality of life that the union movement in our country has given us. We could go through the list of the things that have been accomplished by trade unionists over the years. Most of them were negotiated, perhaps in labour contracts to begin with, but became sufficiently popular with all Canadians that they became law.

Some examples include weekends off, health and safety committees in workplaces, and maternal leave.

We stand in solidarity with you in your efforts to secure a wage increase for your members which reflects the increase in their living costs and to secure your benefits and pension pan. We think that yours is a conflict among many others which will determine the future of Canadian workers. The standards set for workers now will determine the quality of life of young workers who will be entering the workforce – this is why we would encourage students who are a part of the McGill community to support MUNACA as well.

Not so long ago, MUNACA workers played a front-line role in our daily lives as McGill students.

Given the kind of work that these workers carry out, we have difficulty believing the McGill administration when they claim that their absence simply means “business as usual”. Effective labour relations in this country rely on good faith, and it is our hope that both sides negotiate with this in mind.

In response to your message concerning the strike sent out on September 29, if at all possible please mention crippling funding cuts to regional studies such as Russian and Slavic Studies and East Asian Studies when stating “there is no place where the exchange of divergent views is more important than in the context of the University.” Surely it would seem disingenuous to argue McGill, as a University, valorizes the “exchange of divergent views” when the mechanisms that promote such are being stripped away.

Sincerely, Carol Fraser U4 German and East Asian Studies SSMU VP Clubs and Services

In solidarity, Pria Patroni U3 English Literature and Religious Studies

Laurin Liu M.P. for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles Charmaine Borg M.P. for Terrebonne-Blainville Jamie Nicholls M.P. for Vaudreuil-Soulanges Matthew Dubé M.P. for Chambly-Borduas Mylène Freeman M.P. for ArgenteuilPapineau-Mirabel

Best, Joseph Henry U3 Joint Honours Art History and German Studies Former Daily Health&Education Editor (2009-2010)

Can we all just stop talking about Zach Newburgh now?

Re: “Newburgh requests SSMU members list” | News | October 3 Dear McGill Daily, Because when we talk about Zach Newburgh, we talk about his website. And when we talk about his website, people go to it. And when people go to it, Zach makes money.

We really ought not to reward people who use elected positions to benefit themselves financially with attention (and money).

Will Vanderbilt B.A. & Sc. ‘11 Environment Former Daily Design Editor (2007-2009) Former Daily Online Editor (2009-2010)

Science+Technology

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The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Coding, coffee, and concrete innovation Montreal Hackathon brings techies together for a weekend of program development Shannon Palus

The McGill Daily

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here is a greystone house that sits on the corner of Clark and Sherbrooke. A can of cigarette butts rests on its front stoop, and a sign that indicates free wifi in the window. This is the Notman house, and, on Saturday September 30, techies – students and professionals alike – spent 10 hours programming in the Ikea-carpeted living room for the Hackathon.

The event, co-hosted by Montreal group Startupifier and the McGill group Tech Think Tank, invited the Montreal community to come together to develop web applications. After a brainstorming session on Friday night, programmers and designers formed ten teams of two to five people. They reconvened on Saturday at 9 a.m. to start their day of developing.

Marc Beaupre, current member of Startupifier and former McGill student, and his team met each other at the event pitch session the previous Friday night.

The application that they were working on was called, “Snap to Vote,” which he described as a “+1 button for the real world.” (In Facebook language, that’s a “like” button.) The app allows people to print out QR codes – those futuristic 2-D barcode squares that you may have seen – and stick them on things. This allows smartphone users to snap a picture of the barcode, thus registering a vote for that object, whatever it is. Beaupre explained that the Hackathon provides a space to have fun and explore a project: “You pare your idea down to the core; figure out the central utility, so that you can complete it on time.” The event is judged by a panel comprised of individuals from various Montreal startups. At the end of the event Snap to Vote won the title of “Most Accomplished in a Single Day.”

Ian Murphy | The McGill Daily Other groups went into the coding session with a fullyformed team already assembled.

Wikinotes was one such group, and their plan was to revamp their existing McGill note sharing site with a special focus on making the site more accessible for all students to share lecture notes, since, right now, it’s mostly admins that contribute. They started the project one year ago, and it originally ran on free Wikipedia-style software, beginning as a way for them to share notes for a couple of courses that the group members had in common. They ended up snagging the title “Good Citizen Award,” along with a spot in the top three, an honour that also rewarded them with free web

hosting services. The group members said that they welcomed the opportunity to spend ten straight hours working on their site, and drinking free coffee. Although they’ve come up against some resistance from the administration – particularly with regards to copyrighted material from course lectures – they were all smiles when I spoke to them a few days after their win, explaining that it was nice to get recognition from the judges for their work. “We feel that students should be able to share notes and help each other.”

“We believe that information should be free, and collaboration should be possible,” says Wendy Liu, a U2 math and computer science student.

Tech Think Tank was co-founded last spring by Jon Volkmar, a U3 Computer science student at McGill.

Volkmar described the group’s purpose as gathering students interested in technology at McGill to collaborate on events like the Hackathon, and even to explore projects beyond McGill. Volkmar’s group worked on a Facebook game application called, “Coolspace,” which received a nod for “Most Creative.”

“You learn a lot of stuff that you won’t learn in school,” Volkmar says of events like the Hackathon.

Software programming is something he plans on pursuing once he finishes school, an ability proven by his internship at Microsoft this past summer. He describes it as a surreal experience – navigating the

infrastructure of such a huge organization was nothing like the startup like environment at the Notman house. Volkmar added, “I find the idea of bringing up your own project that means a lot to you, and that you have a lot of input and control over, and that really builds community to be a really attractive idea.

But there’s good things for working for corporations also.”

The next Hackathon will be hosted at the Notman house on January 20 to 21, 2011.

Snap to vote can be found at snaptovote.com. Learn more about Tech Think Tank at tt.cs.mcgill. ca. Email admin@wikinotes.ca to learn more about or colloborate with the Wikinotes team.

Do you also enjoy coffee, coding, and innovation?

We’ll throw in good company for good measure.

scitech@mcgilldaily.com

Culture

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The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Future POP A reflection on the natural evolution of POP Montreal Joey Goodman

Culture Writer

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he annual POP Montreal festival recently took place from September 21 to 25, drawing unprecedented crowds.

POP was founded as a music festival and continues to identify as such – however, having embraced the hybridity of the contemporary scene, the festival has grown to encompass music, fashion, film, poetry, photography, and new media art forms. It has also grown in numbers: over 100,000 people attended the outdoor Arcade Fire show, performed in the Quartier des Spectacles outside the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

While this year’s festival saw corporate involvement on the rise, POP does not equate sponsorship with “selling-out,” nor should they.

Founded as a non-profit organization geared towards promoting local artists in the community, POP continues to adhere to such foundational mandates. The only real change is that, with continual involvement of sponsors, artists, and volunteers, POP has grown from a grassroots movement to an international event.

In the weeks following the festival, I had the opportunity to chat with creative director Dan Seligman about the history and future direction of POP. Before starting POP, Seligman attended McGill as an undergraduate. When he began brainstorming about POP, Seligman was working as the manager of the band Stars – his brother Chris is the bassist – in New York. He started his career in music by tour managing, organizing promotion in Montreal, and helping out on the road.

According to Seligman, POP “began in a coincidental way.” He was on a train from Toronto to Montreal, with a bag full of records he bought there, when POP cofounder Peter Rowan sat down next to him. As it turns out, Rowan was also living in Montreal managing bands, including Julie Doiron and the High Diles. Having seen the success of music festivals in the Eastern Townships, the two thought up the possibility of bringing something of that sort to Montreal.

The initial platform was the product of a series of meetings with local promoters, artists, and journalists. It turned out people were keen on getting involved rather quickly, putting the first festival was together in a mere six months. Noel Sorbara, a friend of Seligman’s from McGill, also decided to get involved on the managerial side of things, having recently returned from China where she lived for a few years. Through fundraising, partnerships, and bookings, Seligman, Rowan, and Sorbara pulled off the first POP event with alacrity.

Ten years later, 2011’s POP festival drew over 100,000 people.

Alongside corporate sponsors, the City of Montreal provided economic support and additional benefits – festival administrators received parking permits from the city, and the team worked with special fire inspectors at each venue who verified capacities, fire hazards, and alcohol permits. Seligman does not consider the involvement of the city and the generous donations from sponsors as an impediment to the festival’s cultural authenticity. Regarding the Arcade Fire show, Seligman concedes that it “wouldn’t have been smart to not do the show. The band is certainly careful and aware of corporate sponsorship and did their best to work with local rather than mega sponsors”.

The Arcade Fire are “obviously incredibly popular and it was an opportunity to do an event for thousands of people who had never heard of POP. POP has worked with the band and always wanted to do a free outdoor show, so it was a good opportunity to include it as part our tenth anniversary.” Although the event was a huge success and garnered a massive crowd, Seligman says that such large-scale productions “won’t be a regular occurrence.” While POP gained exposure from this year’s production, the event took a lot out of work organizationally. For Seligman, it was a “good learning experience to be involved with such a massive effort”.

But the massive effort will certainly be sized down. As regards the future direction of the festival, the primary vision is to “keep it more

Oles Chepesiuk for The McGill Daily grassroots.” Seligman stresses that the festival should undergo “natural evolution”, since it is a “living, breathing thing” and no one at POP wants there to be “unnatural growth”. The administration and the team wish to keep the festival true to Montreal’s underground community.

Keeping the festival true to its identity seems important not only when booking bands, but also when determining broader programming. According to Seligman, Fashion POP and Film POP were part of the festival’s natural evolution – “Art does not exist in a

vacuum. The first festival had one film, so it was natural to overlap with other disciplines. While music is probably the most popular art form today, there is still a lot of crossover in that respect.”

Film directors, curators, photographers, and artists of other mediums began approaching POP with ideas, and the directors opened the festival’s agenda.

The festival’s subterranean roots are the most important aspect of its identity. After all, POP is a non-profit organization – so the benefits are intended to sup-

CULTURE CULTURE

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Come write for culture. We meet on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. in Shatner B-24

port the local community of artists and musicians. Seligman hopes that POP will continue to evolve without becoming “too big”, and this local focus, on both the artistic and the practical sides, will keep this hope at the forefront. The intention is to keep it grassroots and work on improving organizational capacities since, whatever size it grows to, a festival like POP is a “huge undertaking with a small staff and a ton of work”.

For more on POP Montreal, visit their website at http://popmontreal.com.

Culture

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

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Strangers in the night Deep dark secrets revealed at Parisian Laundry’s current exhibit Victoria Lessard Culture Writer

M

arigold Santos’ installation “Haunted/Talisman,” – on display until October 8 in the bunker of the Parisian Laundry gallery – creates an unnerving and evocative atmosphere. The bunker of the gallery is the perfect backdrop for the artworks, transporting the viewer into a folkloric world. Santos explores the theme of fragmentation, and examines the struggle within one’s mind between different aspects of one’s own self.

Walking through the exhibit, an eerie feeling descends over the viewer, who may leave the exhibit feeling truly haunted by these strange and fascinating works.

When the viewer first descends into the basement, they are presented with a large mirror. This forces them to confront an image of their own self as they walk into the installation, and beckons them to compare their own body with the fragmented bodies presented to them. They then proceed into a small corridor, enclosed by a low ceiling. Here they are faced with three small works, the small space forcing the viewer to leave behind the “respectful distance” encouraged by most galleries.

Courtesy of Guy L’Heureux for Parisian Laundry The three works are portraits of women, who all seem to have mystical qualities. Titled “Secret Signals 1, 2 and 3”, each figure is fragmented in some way. Most significantly, each creature’s hands are separated from the rest of their bodies – as though they are no longer connected to the world, and can no longer participate in physical reality through touch. As one intrepid gallery viewer, Laura

Linden, noted; “All of their eyes are smudged out, as well as their mouths – all of their senses are erased.” This leads the viewer to question whether the figures are lost, disconnected to the physical world, or if they are signaling to us from another place – a fantasy world of the imagination. Are these creatures the lost ones, or, are we separated from our creativity in a society that emphasizes

being realistic and sensible?

Progressing through the small corridor and entering into a large, dark room, the viewer is confronted with the most haunting work in the installation – Santos’ figure titled “Asuang”. A single overhead light illuminates this mysterious piece. The figure of “Asuang” is explained to the viewer in a statement about the show as a “frightening creature of Filipino

folklore,” who splits into multiple selves to hunt during the night – leaving those pieces behind that do not return by dawn. Santos’ figure is hidden behind its long dark hair – we cannot see the creature’s true face, increasing its mysticism and further separating this piece from reality. One of its feet is separated from its body and is placed on a crystal a few feet away. This is a piece of the “Asuang” figure that was left behind at dawn, a piece that will now remain separate from the figure. Through this Filipino legend, Santos explores the fractured self, and the different selves we all have present in our own minds – and how these selves can yearn for different things, leading to a disconnect within our consciousness, as we struggle with different choices and paths.

Santos’ installation “Haunted/ Talisman” is meant to evoke curiosity in the viewer. Are these figures Filipino myths, or representations of our inner conflicts and disorientation? When finally emerging from the dark bunker into the daylight, it’s easy to feel as though a dark, mystical world has been left behind – one that is not often allowed to be glimpsed.

“Haunted/Talisman” runs until October 8 at Parisian Laundry, 3550 St-Antoine Ouest.

Art Essay

Grace Brooks

18 Culture

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Dim lights and open mics People open their minds and mouths Thursday nights at L’Escalier Meagan Potier

The McGill Daily

F

or many students, Thursday nights in Montreal are usually reserved for one of the city’s many cheap drinking options (dollar beer night anyone?). But, for the sake of branching out, the open mic night at L’Escalier proposes you try something different.

L’Escalier is an unassuming cafe and bar conveniently located at 522 St-Catherine St. Est – 30 seconds away from the Berri UQAM metro.

The venue is a cute conglomeration of several rooms – a couple with low tables and large throw pillows, and another with a bar and a smattering of wooden tables and chairs surrounding a small stage.

The night’s proceedings began around 9 p.m., with the announcement of the event, “Dim Lights and Open Mics,” and the passing around of a notebook that became the set list for the evening.

Organizationally, the evening is kind of haphazard and casual – which is probably the best aspect of the event. Anyone and everyone can speak – the guidelines are sim-

ple: “Share your artistic light,” be it in English or French, in the form of a poem, speech, or song.

Given that L’Escalier is in the Latin quarter near a French-speaking university, one might assume that the demographic would be primarily Francophone. However, the performances on September 29 proved that the patrons were about half and half. In addition, one performer (an obvious regular) gave a particularly moving performance, in both English and French, about acting upon your ideals as oppose to just preaching them. Not all of the performances touched on such issues of self-betterment, but they spanned a wide range of subject matters, from religion to feminism, from local and global politics to pop-culture.

On this particular evening, the performances were mostly spoken word – although the MC mentioned that there is often a musical component. One of the more interesting pieces included a series of poems referring to what the artist, Shayne aka “avec i grec”, called the “Anthropocalypse.”

Mainly, the “Anthropocalypse” was a pop-culture satire of society’s infatuation with, and simul-

taneous inability to accept, the idea of dying and the concept of revelation. Kudos to the artist for the Gil Scott Heron reference – “the revelation will not be televangelized.” Indicating a sense of the spectrum of performers, another inspiring piece was a lecture given by a visual artist and musician on the importance of the arts in the Montreal school system, and the key role they play in keeping young students from dropping out of school.

At the beginning of the night, the MC made a point to present himself in both English and French, and invited everyone not only to participate, but also to appreciate one another. During performances people in the crowds snapped their fingers and clapped.

Often, following a performance, artists further discussed the topic of their performance with other performers or people in the crowd. The wonderful thing about this kind of environment is not only its diversity, but also its celebration of this diversity.

In Montreal, we are so often bombarded with a variety of differing languages and opinions. It’s rare to find a space to enjoyably experience this variety while simultane-

ously focusing on the importance of having different opinions. The importance of events like open mic night in this city’s cultural geography should not be undercut. When people talk about language debates and cultural issues in Montreal, there is usually an undertone of discomfort, or a bitter reference to

a past referendum or language law.

At L’Escalier, however, no bitterness exists, only open discussion.

One can only hope that through events like open mic Thursdays at L’Escalier, discussions will only grow broader, and acceptance of linguistic and cultural differences become more widespread.

Steppes When I was a child, I wandered the lip of a hole in the earth.

Overhead, the black web of electrical wires hummed with a subdermal vibration, The quiet sound of grinding teeth.

(breathed in and out—)

I was tightrope walker, circus freak, sparrow on a string.

So careful not to trip on the unearthed pipes, glinting like iron-capped teeth in that black, yawning jaw;

‘Til death do us part Maisonneuve’s magazine launch to hold literary battle Fabien Maltais-Bayda The McGill Daily

I

f you ask me, there has been a serious lack of violent competition in Montreal’s cultural landscape of late. Thank goodness for Maisonneuve magazine, who have stepped forth to fill the void, teaming up with Literary Death Match for the launch of their upcoming issue.

Maisonneuve is a Montrealbased quarterly magazine, which publishes a diverse range of news and arts coverage. The launch for their latest issue, which will be held at La Sala Rossa on October

11, promises to be an exciting event. It will break the typical mould of what we’ve all come to expect from a magazine launch.

Subdued recitations will be traded in for seven-minute power readings, and polite applause will be replaced by the pointed critiques of a three-member judging panel.

This is all a part of the LDM (Literary Death Match) model.

LDM began in New York City and has since expanded throughout North America and Europe.

The first round of the competition sees the participants judged based on the quality of their performances. But then comes

the finale, which, according to a press release from Maisonneuve, is “a culmination of all things funny and ridiculous.”

But you’ll have to show up to find out just what these audacious antics will entail. If all this intrigue isn’t temptation enough, perhaps the promise of a free issue of the magazine with your ticket will help to pack the house with the literarily-inclined.

The Literary Death Match Maisonneuve Issue 41 Launch takes place at 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday October 11 at La Sala Rosa (4848 St-Laurent). Tickets are $7 in advance, or $10 at the door.

Blackened like the black dirt, the soil of the little city.

(Dirty, shitty, poor city; gutted remains of the USSR. And the fortune tellers said it had no future, that little city

The surrounding countryside was farms, And ghosts wandering the desiccated corpse of the yellow steppes, In all directions, stretched like the hide of a drum.

And when the black rain fell, it beat a tattoo on that sad land; the echo of horse hooves.

Under my feet, that damned hole was an empty eye in the earth,

Culture’s callin’!

– Leave now! Move away!)

Just watching the sky.

– Amina Batyreva

WRITE A COLUMN. Send a letter of intent describing what your column would be about along with two samples columns to culture@mcgilldaily.com by midnight, Sunday, October 8.

Inkwell

19

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com EDITORIAL

Breeding better policies

volume 101 number 10

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

Joan Moses

coordinating@mcgilldaily.com coordinating news editor

Henry Gass news editors

Queen Arsem-O’Malley Erin Hudson Jessica Lukawiecki

The recent seizure of over 500 dogs from a rural Quebec dog breeding facility has brought the province’s poor animal rights record to the forefront. Earlier this year, the Animal Legal Defense Fund in California named Quebec as “the best province to be an animal abuser.” Quebec has become notorious for its puppy mills, which produce dogs in an industrial manner for sale to pet stores. Puppy mills usually lack hygienic living spaces or adequate food and water, putting these puppies at high risk of developing internal parasites and contagious diseases. This practice is an embarrassment to the province of Quebec.

The reason for the growth of puppy mills is twofold, stemming from issues of supply and demand. Suppliers in Quebec take advantage of both lax policy enforcement and loopholes in puppy mill classifications. Bill P-42, the current Quebec animal rights legislation, states that those found guilty of operating a puppy mill face fines of $15,000, while Saskatchewan has fines of up to $25,000. Futhermore, the current legislation fails to give clear descriptions of puppy mills, leading to the law rarely being enforced. New legislation is forthcoming, but without large fines as well as distinct definitions of puppy mills there is little reason to believe that the problem will be stemmed.

features editor

Eric Andrew-Gee commentary&compendium! editors

Zachary Lewsen Olivia Messer culture editors

Christina Colizza Fabien Maltais-Bayda

science+technology editor

Jenny Lu

health&education editor

Melanie Kim sports editor

Andra Cernavskis

While the producers are no doubt morally culpable for their actions, those who purchase animals, without adequate knowledge of their origins, create a market for the breeders. Toronto recently banned the sale of puppy mill dogs in pet stores to avoid creating a market for the mills; Montreal and other Canadian cities should follow in their example. With so many pets in need of adoption, and so many talented small-scale dog breeders, there is no reason to buy from a pet store.

Currently, there is a huge demand for volunteers to assist with rescued dogs. The Humane Society International was involved with the seizure and holding the more than 500 dogs and puppies in an undisclosed facility in the Montreal area. While the legal process is underway, and while the future of the dogs is still uncertain, there is a need for volunteers who can clean cages, feed and groom animals, and be good human companions. If you are interested, please get in touch with Humane Society International at info@hsicanada.ca.

photo editor

Victor Tangermann illustrations editor

Amina Batyreva production&design editors

Alyssa Favreau Rebecca Katzman copy editor

Peter Shyba web editor

Shannon Palus le délit

Anabel Cossette Civitella rec@delitfrancais.com cover design

Amina Batyreva Contributors Ruth Ainsworth, Jacqueline Brandon, Grace Brooks, Kira Bruce, Alex Chalk, Edna Chan,Oles Chepesiuk, Christiana Collision, Naomi Endicott, Joey Goodman, Kaien Gu, Matthew Hunter, Paulina Kyriakopoulos, Victoria Lessard, Esther Lee, Kallee Lins, Claire-Marine Varin, Emily Meikle, Farid Muttalib, Ian Murphy, Meagan Potier, Daniel Smith

Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily 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 Geneviève Robert Mathieu Ménard

advertising & general manager

sales representative ad layout & design

dps board of directors

Marie Catherine Ducharme, Joseph Henry, Tyler Lawson, Sheehan Moore, Joan Moses, Aaron Vansintjan (chair [at] dailypublications.org), Debbie Wang

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

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

Printed by Imprimerie Transcontinental Transmag. Anjou, Quebec.

ISSN 1192-4608.

Errata

The Daily article “The human wrongs in ‘human rights’” (Culture, page 18, October 3) incorrectly attributed quotes to Martha Nandorfy. They were in fact co-written by both Nandorfy and Daniel Fischlin. The authors were also misquoted as saying “we always suspected that knowledge [held] more hope of any real change than all the theorizing and legal instruments.” The authors were not referring to

knowledge in general; rather, “knowledges of the South.” In addition, they were quoted as saying, “few presses publish such books on colossal social problems and equally colossal visions of how to overcome them.” This quote misleadingly indicates that they are referring to their book alone as colossal; in fact, they were referring to “the cumulative effect of so many books, so many voices” . The Daily regrets these errors.

Co m p e n d i u m !

The McGill Daily | Thursday, October 6, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com

Lies, half-truths, and thanksgiving break!!

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Send your funnies into compendium! Make us fall fo r

D.B. Mooter

The McGill Daily

T

he Federated Students of McLennan and Redpath won an injunction against the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning (McGill University) after a protracted series of court hearings. The injunction, granted by the Quebec Superior Court, curtails noise levels during study hours in the McLennan and Redpath libraries.

“This is a huge victory,” said Federated Students’ Viceroy, Daniel Chalmers. Chalmers cited

numerous instances of drilling in areas adjacent to the library as well as the excessively loud conversation of professional movers as they passed through the Redpath Library complex.

U5 Arts student Bohdan Bohdan corroborated: “Just when a good idea came to you, the real crux of your argument, the sounds of power tools arrived and drilled your thesis away. I had to move to Ferrier.”

The University rejected the Québec Superior Court’s decision. “This was emergency maintenance,” said Vice-Principal Moe Tron. “It’s just how organiza-

tions operate. Although annoying, students should understand that this work is in there best interest. The injunction really hampers our ability to maintain those libraries.”

Chalmers was dismissive: “some of this work was going on in the heart of last semester’s exam season.”

Then, he adopted an air of magnanimity: “despite the court delays, I’m truly vindicated. We had trouble organizing the petition at first because we were all so busy with exams. But, students can now study in peace.”

Or maybe not. “We’ve still got a long way to go,” he mused. “We could go after Frosh’s activities on

u ... yo

Aggrieved students win injunction against McGill

compendium @mcgilldaily.com Lower Field next. Or people who talk in the stacks.”

One commentator alluded to the movement’s ultimate significance: “perhaps this signals a sea change in the university’s student movement. We have this idea of young student leaders focused on the social or the political – pubnights or protests, essentially. The Federated Students of McLennan and Redpath mark a return to the basic problems of academic life in troubled economic times.”

Whatever the case, January’s influx of drunken Carnival students may prove to be the Federated Students’ next litmus test.

FUCK “APOLITICAL” STUDENT POLITICIANS

A

US, I’m looking at you, but this is for everyone: fucking inform yourselves, fucking understand what’s happening on campus, and show some fucking initiative. Don’t wait for students to say something – inform them, get them riled up, make them be a part of this.

There are 1,700 McGill employees, like 200 fucking students, and over 70 profs marching around out there screaming for shit to change and you’re trying to act like this doesn’t affect us, that we shouldn’t get involved. FUCK THAT. Every association, from SSMU down to individual departments, needs to be endorsing the hell out of MUNACA. They are the people running your departments. They get you into full classes and help you book rooms for your bake sales and make sure shit doesn’t fall to pieces. They like you! By not taking action, you’re siding with the administration – there is no such thing as “apolitical.” The administration does not give a fuck about you, just your parents’ money. This is really really simple. Students: if you give even the slightest shit about this, email SSMU, your faculty association, and definitely your departmental association to let them know. They’re using your silence as an excuse for inaction. FUCK THAT.

USE YOUR FUCKING BRAIN

T

his happens almost everyday. When you’re leaving a large lecture hall (like 100 plus) at the end of a class, and the kids from the next class are piling in trying to get seats for their next class, which doesn’t start for the next 10 minutes! They slow down the whole fucking process of the class-change over. YOU ASSHOLES. USE YOUR FUCKING BRAIN. Your class ISN’T GOING TO START until the students from this class are out of the room. YOU’RE NOT GONNA MISS ANYTHING. What do you need to get into your seat so early for? What are you gonna take notes on? THE SOUND OF YOUR OWN FUCKING THOUGHTS? Fucking NERDS. Go get a drink of water, go to the bathroom, smoke a cigarette, just get THE FUCK out of the way. Have you ever ridden the metro? You let the people off before you get on! Learn to live in the world!

Fuck This! is an occasional anonymous rant column, and the barrel’s been a bit dry lately. Please send your diatribes to fuckthis@ mcgilldaily.com!!!

FANTASTIC WEATHER THIS WEEKEND! Nelly Furtado wrote an opinion piece for The Globe and Mail Autumn spice muffins have hit Tim Hortons Herman Cain calls queer people “godless” Thanksgiving break!!

PLUS 60 EVEN PLUS 60 MINUS 35 PLUS 50

MUNACA’s injunction ends soon!

PLUS 22

TOTAL

PLUS 107

How’s your life been lately? Email compendium@mcgilldaily.com, I’d love to hear from you!

Coloured Pencil Baby Meerkats