Vol104iss5

Volume 104, Issue 5 Monday, September 29, 2014

Good tenants since 1911 mcgilldaily.com

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

Montreal’s favourite skateboarding park turns twenty page 16

Table of Contents 03

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

12

NEWS

Boycott Israel

FEATURES

Syrian refugees speak with The Daily on seeking asylum

Redmen football player arrested

14

People’s Climate March criticized SSMU Council supports climate justice

SCI+TECH

DIY digital sound-making

McGill’s century-old debt

08

16

COMMENTARY

SPORTS

Skateboards take over Peace Park

HeForShe campaign simplistic and exclusionary

CULTURE

Annual Poetry Jam tells personal stories of stereotyping What to check out this week

Keep calm about Ebola

Migrant domestic workers in Canada

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2

It’s not too late to cancel the SSMU lease

Replacing cars with creativity Jay Winston Ritchie’s new book of short stories: comforting and captivating

19

EDITORIAL

The Daily endorses a “yes” in the SSMU lease, and utilities fee referendum

20 COMPENDIUM! History students bemoan lack of rationality

McGill should fly the Hiawatha Belt Flag, and move the Hochelaga Rock

a SHMU-logy a crossword

Individuals with ICHTHYOSIS are needed for a research study in Montreal involving an approved topical treatment.

FEATURES

Reimbursement will be $300 for four visits.

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Professors argue for academic boycott of Israel Student group hosts panel on BDS, solidarity with Palestine Marina Cupido News Writer

O

n September 25, the McGill chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) hosted an informal panel discussion with three academics from the Institute of Islamic Studies – Associate Professor Michelle Hartman, Assistant Professor Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim, and Associate Professor Rula Abisaab – and the head librarian of the Islamic Studies Library, Anaïs Salamon.

The event – the group’s first after being inactive for a few years – was centred on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and also served to introduce students to SPHR and its activities on campus.

Representatives of the group opened the discussion with a brief explanation of BDS and its objectives. “It’s basically an anticolonialist call for solidarity with the human rights of Palestinian people in the OPT [occupied Palestinian territories], and with the diaspora as well,” said Nazim Elnur, an SPHR executive. “BDS espouses the tenets of non-violent political action in response to Israeli encroachment and transgressions against the life of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Similarly, BDS raises the call for solidarity with those Palestinians abroad [who were] expelled in the numerous periods of violent campaigns in the region and forced to migrate without the right to return.”

While the origins of the tactic can be traced as far back as 1945, when the Arab League called for a general boycott of the Zionist community in Palestine under the British Mandate, the BDS movement itself was initiated by Palestinians in 2005. Since then, the movement has achieved substantial international attention and support.

Elnur acknowledged, however, that BDS also has many detractors. “Some say the BDS movement works to delegitimize Israel and its

status as a nation. […] Others say that, although BDS is a non-violent organization, many of its protests have turned violent.”

“These [accusations of violence] are all deflecting the question,” said Abisaab, stressing the importance of contextualizing isolated incidents of violence, rather than using them as a basis to judge BDS as a whole.

“We cannot generalize that the movement itself carries the seeds of violence,” she said. “This is a nonviolent cause, it is a just cause, and it is the only way to go.”

BDS initiatives fall into three broad categories, according to the movement’s website: boycotts, which target “Israeli and international companies and institutions that profit from the violation of Palestinian rights”; divestment, which involves selling off business interests or investments linked to Israel; and sanctions, which aim to “mobilize government officials and bodies to denounce trade with Israel, and especially with firms located on settlement ground,” according to Elnur.

“When you don’t know much about the conflict, you tend to oppose two equal sides, without realizing that by doing that, you actually justify the Israeli occupation.”

Anaïs Salamon, head librarian at the Islamic Studies Library Elnur made a point of highlighting the relevance of BDS to McGill, noting the existence of “University investment portfolios profiting from corporations

Tamim Sujat | The McGill Daily directly involved in the Israeli occupation, more commonly [known as] the building of settlements internationally recognized as illegal.”

“I myself am torn over some of the issues,” said Ibrahim, discussing the moral complexity of the academic boycott. “I mean, how do you deal with Palestinians working at Israeli institutions? […] Those kinds of issues are difficult to resolve, but I think institutionally […] there is some collateral damage that will be done.”

The discussion was well-attended, exceeding the capacity of the room where it was held. “The mood was just fantastic,” said SPHR executive Anas Shakra. “It exceeded all our expectations.”

Hartman was also pleased that the event had attracted so much interest. “It’s so wonderful to see this many students […] from McGill at a meeting for Palestine solidarity.

For me, that’s so exciting.”

Addressing the frustrations toward the often slow progress of BDS and the struggle for Palestinian human rights, Hartman shared

grounds for optimism. “There is a momentum, which someone like me has seen over time, of a building of solidarity around the world,” said Hartman, who argued that there was a similarity between BDS and struggles against apartheid in South Africa. “It’s not nothing to say, well, we’re working on this little by little in places around the world.”

Hartman told participants that she is interested in the idea of normalization, which, in this context, is linked to a certain perception of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

According to Hartman, it implies a certain equity between the two sides, and depicts the struggle as inevitable and age-old. “To me, that isn’t really the right analysis for this situation of colonialism.”

Salamon elaborated on the issue, sharing her experience of life in the OPT. “I lived in Palestine for two years in the early 2000s and this was really the moment when I realized that something needed to be done,” explained Salamon.

“I actually lived the daily effects of the occupation,” Salamon contin-

ued. “It made me realize how genuinely pro-Israeli we were in France.

When you don’t know much about the conflict, you tend to oppose two equal sides without realizing that by doing that, you actually justify the Israeli occupation.”

One recurring theme was the actions McGill students should take in order to express their solidarity with Palestine and further the cause of BDS. According to Shakra and fellow SPHR executive Sara Ismail, one simple step would be to participate in the consumer boycott by avoiding Israeli products.

Another important demonstration of solidarity, said Hartman, is to seek information about the boycott.

She stressed the value of challenging people’s misconceptions about BDS and spreading the word about the movement’s non-violent stance in day-to-day life. This, said SPHR executive Arezu Riahi, is one of the key objectives of SPHR at McGill.

“Part of what we are trying to do is dispel this idea that resistance has to be necessarily violent. Awareness is a form of resistance.”

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Redmen football player arrested on domestic violence-related charges Player was serving ninety-day intermittent prison sentence for aggravated assault Janna Bryson The McGill Daily

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McGill Redmen football player, suspended from the team on September 24, was arraigned in court last Thursday after being arrested on charges of armed robbery, uttering threats, and assault the previous day. While the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) would not confirm the identity of the player, multiple outlets have reported that it is 22-year-old running back LuisAndres Guimont-Mota who is facing charges. “[On September 24] at 11:45 a.m. there was a 911 call concerning domestic violence inside an apartment block on Jeanne-Mance near Prince-Arthur and the 22-year-old man was arrested in that case,” SPVM media relations officer Danny Richer told The Daily. Guimont-

Mota was taken into custody after the incident and released on bail on September 25.

According to Richer, the victim was a 21-year-old woman who was told to seek medical attention at the scene. Richer confirmed that the two knew each other, and other outlets have reported that the victim was Guimont-Mota’s wife.

According to a February 2013 La Presse article, Guimont-Mota was in the process of serving a ninety-day prison sentence for aggravated assault, which the judge allowed Guimont-Mota to serve on Sundays so as not to interfere with Saturday games and training.

On September 24, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens released a statement announcing that the player had been suspended from the team pending the outcome of his case in court.

“The Office of the Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) will actively investigate the matter.

In line with the values and policies of McGill University, we will take any and all measures that are deemed to be appropriate,” read the statement.

In a statement released September 25, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executive reacted to the arrest. “[SSMU] is disturbed by the breaking reports of the charging of a member of the McGill Redmen football team with uttering threats, armed robbery, and aggravated assault relating to an incident of domestic violence.”

The University’s reaction to this case is much timelier than another recent case involving charges against McGill football players.

In July 2012, three players were charged with sexual assault – but

to the outrage of many in the McGill community, the University did not publicly acknowledge the charges until November 2013.

SSMU commented on the University’s response.

“McGill’s immediate suspension of the player reflects McGill’s willingness to suspend the assumption of innocence pending a final decision when charges are deemed adequately serious. SSMU would like to draw attention to the failure of the University to invoke these measures following the charging of three McGill football players with sexual assault last year.”

SSMU also noted that it is in the process of drafting the studentled Sexual Assault Policy. “The suspension is the first step toward reducing harm in the community, but [...] SSMU calls for meaningful proactive action now.”

Following SSMU’s statement

and additional coverage of Guimont-Mota’s past charges, Dyens released a second statement on September 26 that promised a reevaluation of regulations that outline varsity sports participation.

“There have been a few incidents in recent years where relevant information concerning football players was not dealt with appropriately at McGill. We take responsibility for those errors and are committed to preventing them in the future.”

Dyens told The Daily that it was too soon to specify an exact timeline for the review or who will be involved. “We will start the review very [...] soon, because this needs to be looked at.”

—With files from Drew Wolfson Bell This article is an updated version of one that was previously published online.

Activists give People’s Climate March mixed reviews Critics say march prioritized numbers over politics Jill Bachelder The McGill Daily

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n September 21, a group of about fifty people from McGill and Concordia joined more than 400,000 people who congregated in New York City for the People’s Climate March.

The march in New York was the main event in a global day of action, which saw nearly 2,700 solidarity marches all over the world, including in Montreal. This occurred in the days before the United Nations Climate Summit to send a message to world leaders about the importance of fighting climate change.

While many organizers had positive experiences at the event, the march and the organization behind it has faced criticism from various social organizers.

Student participation in the march in New York City “I think the march as a whole was really a way to show that something is wrong, and we need to do

something about it,” Ella Belfer, a Divest McGill member who was involved in organizing McGill’s presence in the march, told The Daily.

She added that the way in which the march attempted to prioritize “voices that aren’t very often heard in the environmental movement,” was unique.

“I think that’s been an ongoing struggle for us, and that’s something that’s obviously quite difficult when you’re organizing within a university context,” she said.

Anna Egerton, a second-year Arts and Science student who went to the march in New York, said that while it was at times hectic due to the sheer number of people, one thing she really appreciated was the wide variety of those who attended.

“Walking around the crowds, I was struck by the diversity of agendas that people had brought to the march and the huge number of organized groups that had come to the march,” she told The Daily.

She noted, however, that the distance the march covered, 3.2 kilometres, seemed a bit too long,

as by the time it ended much of the crowd had dispersed and many seemed to have lost the energy they had at the beginning.

General criticisms of the march Several community organizers have criticized the climate march.

Amanda Lickers, an Indigenous organizer and member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, said that the focus of the march organizers was too broad and too centred on getting numbers. She cited the fact that 15 partners of the march are companies with strong ties to Israel, such as the Green Zionist Alliance, as an example of how blind inclusion can end up being inhibitory for marginalized groups.

“For me, that’s prohibitive for Palestinian participation,” she said. These sentiments have also been voiced by a number of local organizers, including Harsha Walia, a journalist and activist who founded the Vancouver chapter of No One is Illegal.

Similarly, Belfer said that the march didn’t have a set political focus.

“Because they were trying to be

so inclusive, to make it very ‘a march for the people’ as I mentioned, it wasn’t necessarily a march with a mandate or a march with a concrete purpose; it wasn’t necessarily an ask for the UN to do something specific, it wasn’t a common set of goals around which everyone’s marching, which would have been nice to see,” she said.

Lickers pointed out that the march had been organized for the exact same time as the African American Heritage Parade, the largest black parade in the U.S. according to their website, which takes place in Harlem every year to celebrate achievements in the black community and call for an end to racism.

“This just goes to show that they’re not looking at where they are – like if there’s this annual march in Harlem that has been done and their event is on the same exact day, it just shows right there what relationships are being made with the local community members, which is like, not very strong,” she told The Daily.

Montreal activist Jaggi Singh published a Storify piece in the days following the march that rounded up tweets from Bill McKibben, organizer at 350.org and one of the more visible faces of the climate justice movement, that claimed the march was “the biggest protest about anything in America in a very very long time.” Singh cited this as “social erasure,” claiming that in saying this, McKibben was ignoring the activism and struggle of other social justice groups, such as the 500,000 who mobilized in 2006 in Los Angeles, as part of migrant justice protests in the U.S..

To improve similar marches in the future, Lickers suggested that the organizers should completely rethink how they structure their movement.

“We have to try to look for contradictions within our own movements and within our own struggles, by ensuring that we’re building relationships with people who are directly impacted,” said Lickers.

An extended version of this article is available online.

6

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September 29, 2014 The McGill Daily | www.mcgilldaily.com

SSMU takes stance on climate justice AGSEM presents undergraduate unionization campaign to Council Lauria Galbraith The McGill Daily

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ast Thursday, the Legislative Council of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) convened for the second time this year. Council passed a motion regarding taking action in support of climate justice, and heard a presentation from AGSEM: McGill’s Teaching Union about its unionization campaign.

Council affirms support for climate justice The only motion brought to Council this week was a motion regarding climate justice at McGill. The motion asked for SSMU to “reaffirm their support for Divest McGill,” an on-campus student group that calls on McGill to divest from tar sands and fossil fuel companies, and to take actions to support climate justice through various means, like working to create clean energy internships, having climate justice campaigns, and bringing the issue to the Board of Governors.

Vincent-Pierre Fullerton, VP External Relations of the Law Student Association (LSA), said that the LSA took issue with Article 1 of this motion, which stated that “the VP [External] shall, in association with other student unions and student federations across Quebec, create a student coalition demanding that pipeline projects in Quebec be blocked.”

Fullerton stated that “while [the LSA believes] that it is Council’s place to take stances on things of principle, it’s not necessarily Council’s place to oppose specific projects.” He suggested taking the motion to the next SSMU General Assembly to get “more representation from the constituents.” He argued that “the pipeline is really outside of McGill and does not affect us personally as an institution.”

Engineering Representative Anikke Rioux also noted that “a lot of [Engineering students] get their internships [and] get their future jobs from these companies.”

Ultimately, Article 1 was struck from the motion and tabled until

the General Assembly for the student body to vote on it.

Arts Senator Kareem Ibrahim expressed his disappointment in the motion’s outcome. “We have been elected by our constituents to make these choices,” he said.

Plan to unionize teaching support workers Benjamin Elgie, the Teaching Assistant (TA) Grievance Officer for AGSEM and former Daily Publications Society Chair, gave a presentation before Council on the association’s plans to unionize teaching support workers at McGill, including markers, graders, tutors, note-takers, undergraduate TAs, and course assistants.

Elgie stated that while graduate TAs are already unionized, these other workers are not, and they are receiving “$12 an hour to do a job that I [a grad student] get $26.83 to do.” He also stated that working conditions and getting paid on time were problems for these teaching support workers.

Elgie approached Council to ask for its support and help with

SSMU Council meeting.

Tamim Sujat | The McGill Daily

outreach and distributing information about the campaign. He stated that AGSEM needs to get workers to sign memberships and if they reach a majority, they’ll have the legal means to unionize.

So far, the only response the campaign has received from McGill is that “[McGill Employee and Labour Relations Director] Robert Comeau told us not to put our post-

er on the AGSEM bulletin boards,” said Elgie.

VP University Affairs Claire Stewart-Kanigan also briefly spoke on the arrest of a McGill football player late Wednesday night, and said that she has been speaking to various media outlets about “student response and how it ties into the progress we’re making on the sexual assault policy.”

Situation continues to worsen for migrant workers Panel discusses experiences of domestic workers in Canada Myra Sivaloganathan News Writer

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our panelists, two of whom were migrant workers, spoke about the obstacles migrant workers face in Canada at a panel held at Concordia last Wednesday. The panel focussed particularly on the experiences of domestic workers.

Delia De Veyra, who was a migrant live-in caregiver from 2004 to 2009, shared her experience with the audience. De Veyra found her sponsor absent when she arrived in Canada. The recruitment agency looked for another employer, but she had to wait six months for her next job. De Veyra said that her next employer deliberately neglected the contract, and did not pay her overtime wage.

“I was like a commodity to them,” De Veyra said. “I would go there [...] take care of the kids, cleaning, cooking, and so on and so forth – ten hours, twelve hours a day, no overtime pay.”

De Veyra quit, but was also subject to abuse upon arrival at her following job, this time ex-

periencing psychological harassment. Her employer’s wife would constantly shout and swear at her, De Veyra explained. With the help of PINAY, a Filipino women’s organization in Quebec, De Veyra filed a complaint, but did not receive indemnity. Instead, the employer demanded an apology for the complaint she filed.

“I was like a commodity to them.”

Delia De Veyra, former live-in caregiver Soon thereafter, De Veyra attempted to become a permanent resident as provided for by Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program, but was rejected. She was advised to apply to become a permanent resident based on humanitarian grounds instead, and from 2006 to 2009 she worked on the application. This year, she finally received Canadian citizenship.

“Migrant domestic workers

are placed in a very precarious situation, as their workplace is in a private household, behind closed doors, out of the public eye, which renders them invisible,” said panelist François Crépeau, a law professor at McGill and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants.

In the presentation, Crépeau noted that domestic workers, who are largely migrant workers, work in the private sphere, and are thus often overlooked as part of the labour market. “They’re physically [...] isolated, which makes it difficult for them to take collective action or even get information, contact, or support,” said Crépeau.

Crépeau emphasized that migrant domestic workers must be ensured access to education, vocational training, health services, food, and shelter; they should also be made aware of resources available to them in the country of destination, and possess a written contract in a language they understand, he said.

“We must empower domestic workers to fight for their own

rights by ensuring that they have access to the information and protection mechanisms they need,” said Crépeau. “Nothing has ever worked better than empowering people to fight for their own rights.

Only by empowering migrants to speak for themselves can we hope to have their voices heard and their rights respected.”

Enrique Llanez, a Spanish anthropologist and an advocate of immigrant rights in Canada, also shared his experience as a migrant worker, this time with Canada’s ‘work-holiday’ program known as International Experience Canada.

According to Llanez, this program results in Spanish engineers, lawyers, and mathematicians emigrating to Canada, and leads to underemployment in Spain. Consequently, Canada has ready access to skill and cheap labour, as immigrant workers are often paid less than their peers.

The number of temporary migrant workers in Canada has grown by 70 per cent in the last five years, according to the Canadian Council for Refugees. “These people are

being abused from the moment they set their feet in the country, and forced to sign papers not even written in their native languages,” said Llanez.

Llanez was not very optimistic about the situation as it presently stands. “What’s being enforced is keeping temporary foreign workers’ heads down [...] an agency hasn’t been built to check that the conditions that these people live in are being respected.” He said that the situation for workers is becoming increasingly difficult, despite increased public awareness of the issues migrant workers face.

Audience members participated actively in the question-and-answer session that followed.

Maria Margarita Caicedo, a Concordia student involved with Journalists for Human Rights, found the panel illuminating.

“I thought it was really interesting from a human rights perspective [...] it’s a human right, as opposed to citizenship,” said Caicedo. “I really didn’t know anything about the migrants issue in Quebec [...] it’s shocking.”

News

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

7

Century-old federal debt not yet repaid to Indigenous community University refuses to acknowledge responsibility toward Six Nations Emily Saul The McGill Daily

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ast week, during a panel titled “Indigenous students at McGill: before and beyond graduation” that was held as part of the Indigenous Awareness Week, McGill graduate and Columbia University anthropology professor Audra Simpson spoke about a little-known aspect of McGill’s legacy: its link to a federal debt owed to the Six Nations of the Grand River Indigenous community.

“The common way of narrating the founding of McGill [is as one of ] Canada’s most important and illustrious universities that came into being because of this 1811 endowment from this Scottish so-called merchant from Glasgow, James McGill. In other commemorative accounts [...] that [detail] the financial problems of the first forty years of McGill, no mention is made of the crucial transfer of funds from the Six Nations of the Grand River in the 1850s that helped to save McGill from bankruptcy [...] in fact, helped the university stay open,” Simpson said.

In the mid-1800s, amidst a financial crisis, the pre-Confederation government of the Province of Canada loaned money to McGill.

The government funded the loan with money taken from the Six Nations’ Trust Funds, of which the government was the fiduciary trustee. The transfer of money was made without the permission of the communities of the Six Nations.

While McGill paid back this loan and a subsequent loan by 1881 to the federal government, the government never reimbursed the Six Nations’ Trust Funds. This was discovered by Philip Monture, previously the director of the Land Claims Research Office at the Six Nations of the Grand River.

“I was doing research into the history, and found out the government was misusing funds,” Monture told The Daily in an interview.

“Using the Indian Affairs’ own records of their trust funds, we were able to trace the transfer of money to finance McGill [when the university was] near bankruptcy.”

After the discovery, Monture began litigation for the government’s accounting with the funds, which, if returned with interest, would now amount to around $1.7 billion.

Acknowledging that the Cana-

Alice Shen | The McGill Daily dian federal government cannot afford the amount owed to the Six Nations, Monture has attempted since 1989 to form other arrangements to compensate for the federal government’s failure to repay the debt.

“The Crown at the time was acting as our trustees – to do the best for the beneficiaries of our trust – and they failed,” Monture said. “In reality, they were using any revenues that were created from our lands and our resources to finance the country. We were the only bank in town. They were given the power of fiduciary trust, and they were fraudulent.”

“We tried to set up an arrangement with McGill where we could talk and perhaps set up a subsequent arrangement with Six Nations to be able to give [Six Nations community members] education there,” added Monture. “It was unheard [by McGill].”

Monture hoped the University would at least acknowledge that Six Nations funds saved the University from bankruptcy. “I feel

there’s a moral obligation to at least step up to the plate for the people of McGill to at least do something,” he said.

The McGill administration, however, disagreed. “[The loan was contracted] from the government, which was managing Aboriginal lands and proceeds derived from such lands, including rental and sale,” Vice-Principal (Communications and External Relations) Olivier Marcil told The Daily in an email. “McGill University has fully repaid its debts and owes nothing to the Six Nations.”

According to Social Work Academic Associate and Kahnawá:ke community member Michael Loft, there is little pressure or advocacy on this issue from within the McGill community. Loft said that while he had heard quiet musings about the conflict, no one he works with knows much about it, so “there’s no point in squabbling.”

Legal actions unsuccessful Since McGill contracted the loan from the government, the ma-

jority of legal effort in this case has been directed toward the Canadian federal government.

“I think that everyone knows about it. [They’re] denying it and delaying it, saying that ‘Canada should do that,’ and [then] Canada says ‘well, McGill benefits from that loan.’”

Philip Monture, former director of the Land Claims Research Office The Six Nations, represented by an elected council, filed a

statement of claim in 1995 against Canada and Ontario regarding the Crown’s handling of Six Nations property, money, and other assets before and after the Confederation.

In 2004, the Six Nations council put this action on hold, hoping that discussions with the government would be successful. They were not, and the 1995 litigation was reintroduced in 2009.

“The government of Canada has not made any public statements about this case, stating that these matters are in litigation and cannot be commented on,” Monture told The Daily in an email.

“I think that everyone knows about it – McGill knows about it, the Crown knows about it,” said Monture. “[They’re] denying it and delaying it, saying that ‘Canada should do that,’ and [then] Canada says ‘well, McGill benefitted from that loan.’ Whether it’s paid back, I don’t know. The only thing I know is that we don’t ever see that [money] coming back to Six Nations. We have never seen it come back.”

Commentary

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

8

Why not WeForShe? UN Women’s HeForShe campaign is simplistic and exclusionary Kai Ariac Commentary Writer

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he HeForShe campaign was launched on September 20 as a global solidarity movement for gender equality. Developed by UN Women, the United Nation’s entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, HeForShe encourages men and boys to speak out and take action against inequalities faced by women and girls – the ultimate goal being to mobilize “one billion men by July 2015.” In essence, the campaign is a global call to marshal men as untapped potential for the feminist cause. While it has received widespread media attention and praise on social media, the campaign is riddled with problems.

Since HeForShe fails to link raising awareness to quantifiable action, it will likely turn out be a hollow campaign that breeds “slacktivism.”

Neither will it reorder the status quo. To note its plus sides though, it does bring into focus the critical point that gender equality is not an issue that only concerns women, but a human rights issue that affects us all. This shouldn’t be up for debate – there is overwhelming evidence that when women are empowered, the whole of humanity benefits. As Harry Potter acress turned HeForShe advocate said on Twitter, “Gender equality liberates not only women but also men, from prescribed social roles and gender stereotypes.”

The economic benefits of gender equality are also significant. A series of reports by major banks in the past few years concluded that closing the gap between male and female employment rates would add significantly to the GDP of several Western countries, and even more so to the economies of the Middle East and North Africa. The implications of female empowerment for global development from the figures presented in the findings alone are astounding.

However, despite the overwhelming evidence of the social and economic benefits to female empowerment, the oppression of women persists globally. The media continue to sexualize and objectify women on a massive scale, and rape culture remains ever-present. Just last school year, the Montreal Gazette revealed that in April 2012, three Redmen football team players were charged with the confinement and sexual assault of a Concordia student, yet they faced no punitive measures and were allowed to play for the remainder of the sports season.

The facts point to men as the ones

Carmen Fenech | The McGill Daily perpetuating rape culture and domestic violence – one in six women have experienced an attempted or completed rape, compared to one in 33 men. This is why the goals of the HeForShe campaign matter. Men and boys must view themselves as responsible and capable agents of change who hold the potential to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women; this includes their responsibility as a social group to combat the economic inequalities and domestic violence faced by women.

There is a need for a campaign like HeForShe, but how does the campaign actually plan to engage men and boys to take action? It hopes to spark action by raising awareness; spreading the message at least gets the word out that gender equality is everyone’s responsibility. The hope is that through the campaign, the process of changing stereotypes and cultural symbols surrounding gender, identity, and rights will leap forward.

The campaign relies heavily on social media to disseminate its message. It urges men and boys to show their solidarity for HeForShe by posting a photo with #HeForShe, submitting “impact stories” about their experiences with empowered women, or participating in webi-

nars, Google hangouts, and ‘tweetathons’ organized by UN Women National Committees around the world. Metrics from such online participation will largely assess whether the campaign succeeds in reaching its goal of mobilizing one billion men by July 2015.

However, problems plague the campaign – it excludes those who are a part of with the LGBTQ communities. For example, someone whose gender presentation does not align with the gender binary may not know how to engage with HeForShe, since they might not identify completely as ‘he’ or ‘she’. A consequence of the campaign choosing a simple and marketable idea – engaging ‘he’ for ‘she’ – is that this campaign viciously reinforces the unrealistic male/female gender binary. A campaign titled ‘WeForShe’ would be more inclusive to all genders and sexes.

On top of this, when HeForShe engages with the mass media through celebrity endorsement, it is both patronizing to its audience and actually enforces the stereotypes it seeks to change – those of an unattainably ‘perfect’ masculinity and femininity.

Even the language of ‘he’ for ‘she’ implies that women are unable to release themselves from the shackles of their male oppressors, and that

men are the custodians of female campaigning makes it too easy for empowerment. HeForShe suggests men to show their support without that women can only be seen as hu- being held accountable. If HeForShe man when they are framed in relation is to positively transform the status to men, and that it is up to the ‘he’ to of women, it should launch concrete release the helpless ‘she.’ This cam- programs, such as youth education paign is asking for permission from workshops on how to identify and remen for female empowerment as port sexual abuse.

Gender inequality is connected to well as asking them to be partners in this endeavour. What’s problematic the deeply entrenched patriarchy that is that this doesn’t address the asym- surrounds us – and this will take cenmetrical power relationship between turies to change. Change will come men and women. A prisoner asking not by women asking the permission for partnership with their jailer is and partnership of men, but by all citrarely going to have their request ac- izens of the world beginning to view cepted – there is little guarantee that gender as a dynamic and complicated women asking men to help fight gen- spectrum of difference, on which all der equality is going to create change. individuals are to be treated as equals, Also, with much of the HeForShe by everyone.

Notwithstanding the exclusion of campaign focused online, the likelihood of it having any impact is re- those who identify with LGBTQ commote. Will HeForShe actually change munities, the HeForShe campaign the behaviour of men engaging in will garner attention worldwide normalized and endemic domestic about the responsibility men have in abuse? Unless UN Women plans to advancing women’s rights. Yet, if this set up working groups for men that awareness is not translated into conaim to change attitudes firsthand, the crete, measurable, and accountable action for men, something for which answer is almost certainly no.

The campaign’s emphasis on so- this campaign provides little opporcial media is a bone of contention too. tunity, the HeForShe movement will There is a high chance of HeForShe fail to change the status quo. becoming an exercise in ‘slacktivism,’ as men around the world will Kai Ariac is a pseudonym. To post, share, and ‘like’ the campaign contact the writer, please email without taking real action. Online commentary@mcgilldaily.com.

Commentary

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not too late to cancel the lease Second best is not good enough Laurent Bastien Corbeil The McGill Daily

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ike a recurring nightmare, the Shatner building fee referendum is back. Despite the embarrassing failure of last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vote, SSMU is once again asking students to cough up $5.78 per semester for its biggest blunder yet: the new Shatner lease. Incredibly, our student union is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy because of a largely self-inflicted wound. It negotiated a deal it couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even afford and now finds itself up to its neck in financial trouble.

If this is â&#x20AC;&#x153;the best deal we [can] getâ&#x20AC;? as the not-so-aptly named website â&#x20AC;&#x153;Save our SSMUâ&#x20AC;? claims, then what is the point of unionizing, anyway? Few, if any, other student associations in Canada pay rent for their student centre, and meanwhile, at McGill, the issue threatens to hollow out student life. The administration, it seems, can do as it pleases without a whimper of protest from student politicians.

Ripping a page from last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s playbook, the current executive has been quick to warn students of the consequences of voting the wrong way. Most of the campaign revolves around hammering home the message that a â&#x20AC;&#x153;noâ&#x20AC;? vote is bound to be followed by draconian cuts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; cuts which SSMU seems all too ready to implement. The website for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;yesâ&#x20AC;? committee reads like a litany of worst-case scenarios and fails to mention the absurdity of paying for a quarter of the build-

The Shatner building.

Tamim Sujat | The McGill Daily

ingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s utilities costs, on top of an already hefty rent. It almost seems as if the whole ordeal had been unavoidable from the get-go; the sky is about to fall on our heads, and there is nothing we can do.

It is the lease â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and not the fee â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that ought to be on the ballot.

Instead of talking blithely about our â&#x20AC;&#x153;love [for the] building,â&#x20AC;? as SSMU says, we should be looking into ways to terminate the agreement. A lawsuit from McGill is far

from certain, and if SSMU is probably willing to spend what is tens of thousands of dollars on the Tariq Khan court case, then it should consider setting aside a sum to fight the lease. I would rather pay for a yearly legal fee than settle for such a fundamentally bad deal. If nothing is done, then it is doubtful that SSMU will ever stop paying for the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s utilities, even if the University suddenly found itself in a less financially precarious position. Backing

out of the lease now might save us money in the long run.

Admittedly, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;yesâ&#x20AC;? campaign is right when it says that SSMU needs to be saved. It needs to be saved from executives who have so far failed to stand up for student interests and, more importantly, from an administration that is all too eager to impose new costs on students while chipping away at the quality of their education.

While I am not encouraging stu-

dents to vote one way or the other, a successful â&#x20AC;&#x153;yesâ&#x20AC;? vote should be no cause for celebration. The lease and the new fee will help cement a precedent that is becoming increasingly difficult to reverse: a shift in costs from the University onto students.

Laurent Bastien Corbeil is a U3 student in Political Science and a former Daily News editor.

He can be reached at bastiencorbeil@gmail.com.

Want to write about social justice, labour, or student politics? How about political issues at McGill, or in Montreal? Write for Commentary. commentary@mcgilldaily.com Ă&#x2020; Ĺ&#x201A; + $T &+ (Ă&#x2030;Ă&#x160; + Ă&#x2030; % Ă&#x2030; + $ +Ă&#x160; + %

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Commentary

September 29, 2014 The McGill Daily | www.mcgilldaily.com

Solidarity, not statements

SSMU supports action on Indigenous solidarity on campus Claire Stewart-Kanigan Commentary Writer

I

n March 2014, SSMU endorsed two proposals submitted to the University by the Subcommittee on Equity for First Peoples and the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group.

The first was to raise the Hiawatha Belt Flag on National Aboriginal Day; the second was the longstanding proposal to relocate the Hochelaga Rock to a more visible location on campus. SSMU’s constitution commits to demonstrating leadership in social justice, and we recognize solidarity with Indigenous peoples – especially on our own campus – as a key component of this leadership.

Both projects seek to educate McGill community members on Indigenous peoples and histories; build a welcoming environment for Indigenous students, staff, and faculty to engage with the academy; and strengthen relationships between McGill and Indigenous communities.

The proposals would fulfill a shared function. They would acknowledge the first custodians of the land, the Kanien’kehá:ka (‘People of the Flint,’ also known as ‘Mohawk’).

Also, Hochelaga Rock commemorates the Haudenosaunee (‘People of the Longhouse’) village of Hochelaga on which McGill is situated, while the Hiawatha Belt Flag has served as the representative symbol of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy for hundreds of years.

In speaking with Kanien’kehá:ka people on and off campus, the Hiawatha Belt Flag has been described as a symbol of peace, and an invitation of camaraderie between nations. The central tree depicted on the flag, representing the Onondaga nation, symbolizes the Great Tree of Peace under which the nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy –

the Seneca and the Cayuga to the left of the Tree, and the Oneida and the Kanien’kehá:ka to the right – buried their weapons after being united by Hiawatha and the Great Peacemaker.

The two lines on the Hiawatha Belt Flag extending outward on either side symbolize the outstretched hand of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, inviting other nations to join them in peace.

This summer, SSMU received word that the proposal for the raising of the Hiawatha Belt Flag had been rejected on the grounds that “while there is support for the spirit of [the Subcommittee’s] request to acknowledge Indigenous faculty, staff, and students, and express McGill’s commitment to greater inclusiveness, there remain questions about doing so by raising the flag.

People feel that we should more fully consider this request in the context of other community members who may have a similar interest in celebrating a particular group or tradition.” Additionally, not only has the Rock remain unmoved after over four years of requests, but all traces of its presence have been removed from McGill’s website.

This response denies the colonial history of this continent, and of the University. Any form of solidarity begins with acknowledging that Indigenous peoples have a relationship to the territory on which we are living that predates those of all others – a relationship that separates Indigenous peoples from being any “particular group or tradition.” Standing with Indigenous peoples means acknowledging this relationship, and that means acknowledging whose territory we are on through initiatives like the ones proposed.

Acknowledging traditional territory is a norm among student unions and universities across

Canada. These acknowledgements range from flying the Métis flag on ceremonial dates at the University of Saskatchewan, to stating an acknowledgement of territory at the beginning of every legislative council meeting at the University of Alberta Students’ Union and the University of British Columbia (UBC) Alma Mater Society. UBC even installed signs bearing the names of its various host nations across its campus. Universities across Canada are recognizing the inseparability of standing with Indigenous peoples and acknowledging territory, and McGill is dragging its heels in the push to catch up.

The final report of the Principal’s Taskforce on Diversity, Excellence, and Community Engagement, released in February 2011, commits McGill to “developing and sustaining long-term relationships with local Aboriginal communities,” as well as making “improvements in the support offered to Aboriginal students

[...] at McGill.” The report goes on to state that “an active process of inclusion [of Indigenous students] is crucial” for supporting student retention. The University’s reluctance to act on the initiatives proposed by the Subcommittee on Equity for First Peoples and the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group is a dismissal of these commitments.

Building relationships means work on both sides. Indigenous community members are working to consult their peers on and off campus; develop proposals to support Indigenous students, staff, and faculty; and mobilize support for these proposals. Building relationships means respecting Indigenous voices, listening to these proposals, and taking action. The commitment to “an active process of inclusion [of Indigenous students]” is hollow if the priorities of Indigenous community members aren’t taken seriously by McGill.

The historical relationship between the academic community

and Indigenous communities is fraught with exploitation, objectification, and paternalism. As participants in the academic system, McGill and non-Indigenous community members have a heightened responsibility to support and prioritize Indigenous voices at every opportunity. The creation of the Indigenous Studies program after a decade of pressure from Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, staff, and faculty is a step toward fulfilling this responsibility, but it is not an end in itself. Institutions across Canada have committed to moving past legal hurdles to build new relationships with Indigenous communities based on a shared acknowledgement of past and current colonial realities – so can McGill.

15), the author makes a distinction between Western and non-Western medicine and criticizes the Western approach for ignoring traditional methods. The Western/non-Western divide doesn’t exist. There is a division in medicine, but it’s between the medicine we know works, and the medicine we’re not so sure about.

Modern medicine is not hostile to traditional methods, it just needs to know that they actually make people better. Unfortunately, many

traditional methods haven’t been shown to do so. Modern medicine has not avoided these practices because of a lack of understanding, as the author erroneously claims, but because there is no evidence that they actually treat disease. Gambling on such unproven methods wastes limited resources and diverts patients from treatments that have a much greater chance of success.

In many cases where traditional methods have been found to be ef-

fective, they are carefully tested and eventually become standard in modern medicine. A favourite example is the antimalarial artemisinin, originally identified from a traditional Chinese herb. This life-saving compound is now produced and used more safely, effectively, and at greatly reduced cost, thanks to modern science and technology.

Modern medicine certainly has many problems. Economic factors have a corrupting influence on pa-

tient care. Paternalistic practices can prevent patients from receiving the best possible treatment. Medicine is largely reactive, treating illness rather than proactively promoting health.

However, introducing a false concept of “Western medicine” and dismissing all proven medical practice as neocolonial does nothing constructive to address these issues.

Jasmine Wang | The McGill Daily

Claire Stewart-Kanigan is SSMU Vice-President University Affairs. To contact her, please email ua@ssmu.mcgill.ca.

Letters

Submit your own: letters@mcgilldaily.com

Healing herbs We don’t talk about how Middle Eastern mathematics, with its cold and sterile zeroes, spread throughout the world because “scientists” said it was more effective, tragically displacing the traditional mathematics of the rest of the world. Yet somehow the same argument gets made when we talk about modern medicine.

In “Decolonizing Healthcare” (Commentary, page 9, September

– Shane Caldwell, PhD candidate in Biochemistry

Art Essay

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Etching techniques study, 2009 This etching is part of a series of couples joined at the hair and hands. I can imagine a daughter and her overbearing father (or grandfather?) who is always in her hairâ&#x20AC;&#x161; his hands reaching into her mind, and she feeling controlled by his plans for her, his rules and convictions. In the background, I also see subtle images that add a certain morbid and perverse tone to the piece.

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Jonathan Reid

Features

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Not part of this lost generation A conversation with Syrian refugees in Montreal Written by Yasmine Mosimann Border Illustration by Marine de Carbonnieres

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or a moment, the fogged windows, which temporarily blurred the distinctly North American suburban view, allowed me to forget where I was. Smiling down on all who walked into the Laval apartment, photos of a beautiful young bride on her wedding day hung on the wall of the dimly lit living room decorated in the typical fashion of an upper-middle class Arab. Those who have spent at least a bit of time in the countries hugging the eastern Mediterranean would surely receive a sense of déjà vu. Jassem Al Dandashi, who clearly brought a bit of home with him, sat in his armchair by the window and calmly launched into an epic monologue on his own accord.

One of the first Syrian refugee families of the current crisis who were sponsored by the Canadian government, Jassem moved to Canada with his wife and three sons this June, sponsored by the Canadian government. He and his wife live together in an apartment just off the island of Montreal, which their sponsor helped them find. Also arriving in June, Eiad Herrera and his newlywed wife moved here a month after the rest of his family arrived in Canada. Unlike the Dandashis, the Herreras are being given support by a sponsorship agreement holder, a private organization. While the two families are very different in terms of size, age, and religion – the Herreras being a young Christian couple without children from Syria’s capital Damascus, and the Dandashis a large Muslim family from the western city of Homs – the same sentiments seemed to be shared when asked about what it’s like living in Canada. The response was, “I feel like I’m human.”

The Canadian government has agreed to re-

settle 1,300 Syrian refugees by the end of 2014, following a call by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for countries to take in 30,000 Syrians by the end of 2014, the majority of whom are to be privately sponsored by sponsorship agreement holders (SAH). SAHs are usually religious, ethnic, service, or community organizations. As of this year, there are 85 such groups that received SAH status from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 72 per cent of which are associated with churches. These groups submit sponsorship applications to the government on behalf of refugees, and once the immigration order is approved, help support the integration and financial needs of the refugee. The government has committed to supporting 200 of the most vulnerable individuals, specified as children, religious minorities, homosexual people, and women facing sexual assault.

The government, however, has come up against heavy criticism by refugee advocates. The federal budget cuts to refugee healthcare and long bureaucratic delays in the handling of applications, are among the issues severely affecting SAHs ability to function. The system in place is inefficient and leads to a lengthy period for the processing of a sponsorship application. Previously, refugees and asylum seekers were covered by the Interim Federal Health Program, until they qualified for provincial coverage. Now that cuts have been made to this program, the SAHs are liable for the care of the parties they sponsor.

The report claims, “Approximately one-third of church-connected SAHs (32 per cent) report that their sponsoring groups have decreased or ended their involvement in the program as a result of the added liability for health costs.”

Additionally, the Canadian Minister of Citizen-

ship and Immigration Chris Alexander has been accused of not being transparent enough when responding to the question of how many Syrian refugees have arrived in the country since the Ministry’s promise to resettle 1,300. In a radio interview with CBC’s As It Happens host Carol Off, he stated that 1,150 Syrians “have received Canada’s protection,” but flat-out refused to answer precisely how many have actually arrived in Canada. Some refugee advocates go further, claiming that the stated 1,150 does not solely consist of those who have fled to countries neighbouring Syria and still face harsh conditions, but includes Syrian students and tourists who were already in Canada.

In the past, Canada has been hailed internationally for opening its doors to those persecuted or fearing persecution. The SAH program itself was founded as a Canadian response to the 1978 Southeast Asian ‘boat people’ crisis. However, figures show that 2012 saw a 14-year low in the number of refugees resettled in Canada. Despite this obvious regression when it comes to providing a safe space, the government in Ottawa continues to proudly advertise its track record, having taken in one of every ten resettled refugees worldwide. The United Nations Refugee Agency released a statement earlier this year that said it wishes to resettle 100,000 Syrian refugees between 2015 and 2016.

If Canada would like to continue this trend, that would mean taking in 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next two years.

Eiad Herrera was a journalism student at the University of Damascus, completing the third year of his undergraduate degree when the unrest began in 2011. Spending most of his time af-

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Features

ter high school living between both Dubai and Syria, Eiad said he knew he had to permanently leave his home country when the revolution began what he classified as the second phase, or the “armed revolution.”

In Arabic, Eiad described his second-to-last class lecture at the University of Damascus.

“There were battles around the university, bombing here, bombing there, and your desk shaking [...] And you can hear nearby the sound of shooting [...] you can see the military and the intelligence members checking the people, checking the students. [...] It was so stressful and scary.

You could see the smoke in the sky. That was the last day.” He left for the relative safety of Lebanon the next day.

Before leaving Syria, in what he calls the “first stage of the revolution” – or the peaceful demonstration part – Jassem says he participated in journalistic activities under a pseudonym. This was his way of rejecting the “lies and propaganda” propagated by the state’s news medium, which he says is not actually media, but “play.”

He describes the protesters as willing to put their lives on the line for their cause, saying, “[The protester] is going to die and he knows.” All the same, he said he was proud of them, because of the courage it takes to go up against the the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. Ever since their coming to power over forty years ago, Eiad says nobody had any freedom of speech, illustrating it through a Syrian analogy: where nobody can ever open their mouths unless theyw are at the dentist’s clinic.

The final straw for the Dandashis was following the detainment of their eldest son, Mohammed. Mohammed, who is described as “liking freedom” by his father, was picked up by the Syrian government army and kept in a military prison for forty days. Never coming back from university, the family did not know his whereabouts for 25 days.

“It was very difficult for us [...] I didn’t sleep, I don’t think,” said Jassem. Finally, Mohammed managed to send word about his condition and location through a fellow detainee that was released. “At that time I was very afraid for my life,” explained Jassem, who shortly after his son’s release had his family leave their home in Syria and cross the nearby border into Lebanon.

The Dandashis spent the next two years living on Lebanon’s northern border with Syria in the province of Akkar. Living on the border town of Mashta Hammoud, Jassem said, “Every day for the two years we were there, they [the Syrian army] fired on us [...] in Lebanese territory.” Despite this, Jassem said arriving safely in Lebanon

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

“felt like heaven. Of course after we left to Lebanon, [the government] robbed our house, emptying every room, except for my library.”

Like many of the other 1.5 million Syrians (1.1 million registered with UNHCR, and another estimated 500,000 unregistered Syrians) taking refuge in the neighbouring country, the family had few occupational prospects in Lebanon, and continued to face danger and hardships.

The population of this coastal country skyrocketed in the last three years with the influx of over a million documented Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands more undocumented ones. As is, only around four million Lebanese live in Lebanon. This increase in the country’s population has put significant strain on public institutions, such as the education and health systems. Many lower- to middle-class Lebanese are also unable to find jobs, as employers can hire Syrians for lower wages. As Eiad puts it, “Syrians cannot do anything in Lebanon. They are only [there because they are] running away from the war in Syria.”

“I will not forget the moment when they called us to the flight on [May 29, 2014]. It opened up a lot of doors for the family, especially for the children’s education. We are very happy, because we are the first Syrian refugee family to immigrate to Canada [since the start of the uprising], sponsored by the government,” exclaimed Jassem.

Customary to resettlement, the travel was planned for them and paid for. Jassem says after receiving their acceptance, the move and integration into Canada was smooth, with people helping them at every step of the way. The family was met at the airport by government workers, who drove them, their ten suitcases, and five carry-on bags to a hotel where they stayed for ten days at the expense of the Canadian government. During these days the family was helped by a government worker who was fluent in Arabic with the paperwork needed for a social insurance number, health insurance, registering in school, and finding furnishing for their apartment. The family will be supported until they become self-sufficient. In the meantime, the Dandashis study French at Montmorency College in Montreal.

Mohammed, who was in his third year of university in Syria studying architecture, was unable to complete his degree because he had to flee the country. The same goes for his brother, Jawad, who spent a year in business school in Lebanon prior to arriving in Canada.

Flipping between Al Jazeera Arabic and a soccer match on the television, Jawad described be-

ing so cold at school the day before and not being able to move his hands. “Isn’t it only September?” he exclaimed.

They told me they both hope to improve their English and French enough to finish their schooling at McGill or Concordia. “I will challenge myself to learn French, just only to express my thanks and my gratitude to Canadian people and Canadian government [...] because you are [improving opportunities] for my family,” Jassem said.

Eiad is also taking the required French courses at Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne. He too wants to finish his degree, but he says he must improve his English to do so because of his plan to study journalism at Concordia. “I am thirty years old and I feel I lost a lot of things. I feel I should be here from fifteen years ago, maybe from the beginning,” says Eiad, who said he feels a heavy burden to catch up.

In Canada, Syrian refugees are still affected by the ongoing civil war in their home country. Eiad, who calls and Skypes with his friends and cousins every day, said he felt his correspondents are scared to articulate over the line what is happening to them and the country around them.

“They don’t need to tell the state of affairs in Syria. No need to tell me, because I can hear what is happening there. Actually you hear the sounds of the fighter planes, and you can the rockets [...] you can hear the bombing.”

When asked if they think they will ever go back to Syria, both Jassem and Eiad had the same response. “Under this regime, no,” says Eiad, referring to Bashar al-Assad’s government. Each family said they could possibly visit after they have settled down, if there is peace back home and the Assad regime is no longer in power.

Currently, Mohammed Dandashi would need to face trial for opposing the regime if he returned. Nonetheless, both families are hopeful of their new start. Eiad described Canada as his “second homeland.”

Unfortunately, the Dandashis and Herreras are not the typical story. The Syrian revolution, which has broken out into a full-out civil war and caused the exodus of the country’s people, is continuing into its third year. Two and a half million Syrians are in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, often in semipermanent refugee camps, as the host countries cannot afford, do not have the infrastructure for, and do not want to fully resettle them themselves.

Despite this astronomical number, the West is falling behind on its promises to provide safe havens to these people. The Dandashis and Herreras will be the among the anomalies that do not apply to Syria’s lost generation.

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Sci+Tech

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Ebola hysteria demystified Friends of Médecins Sans Frontières host awareness event Zapaer Alip and Alice Shen The McGill Daily

O

n September 25, Friends of Médecins Sans Frontières at McGill hosted an event titled “Ebola 2014: Curbing the Epidemic” to raise awareness and address misconceptions about the infectious disease.

The event had a turnout of more than 150 students. The two speakers at the event were Jean-Baptiste Lacombe, who worked as a MSF logistician in Guéckédou, Guinea on a one-month emergency mission, as well as Cedric Yansouni, an associate professor at the McGill Faculty of Medicine and a researcher for the J.D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases.

In recent months, Ebola has been portrayed as a serious epidemic in West Africa. According to the presentation, the epidemic was declared last March, and the first cases were reported in Guinea. After this, the epidemic spread rapidly throughout Guinea and to the surrounding countries. Since then, the outbreak has affected Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Liberia, and has killed more that 3,000 people, causing panic in West Africa and raising international concerns.

Lacombe addressed the Ebola scare created by media outlets, which have been exaggerating facts and spreading paranoia ever since the outbreak started. At the time, the healthcare system of the region was extremely weak, which is why doctors from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) had already been established and working in West Africa for some time. Lack of knowledge about the virus as well as misconceptions about its contagiousness led to widespread fear – the local media in Guinea even stated that contracting Ebola would result in certain death. “Fear and incomprehension led to patients not going to treatment centres, hence spreading the virus further, and causing cases of contact [to be] hidden, as well as the ostracization of the survivors,” said Lacombe.

While there is no cure for Ebola, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) the mortality rate of Ebola can vary between 25 and 90 per cent. Lacombe explained supportive treatments, such as maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure, making sure the patient is hydrated, and keeping their electrolytes balanced, can greatly increase the survival rate of the disease. This shows the essential need for treatment centres in affected regions.

The recent outbreak came as a shock to many as it occurred on a larger scale than previous ones. Ad-

Number of deaths in 2014 Liberia Guinea Sierra Leone Nigeria

Data for infographics from WHO and WebMD dressing this shock, Lacombe stated that in addition to “fear of the disease, there are also cultural implications and operational implications.”

Time reported that cultural practices that involve physical contact such as burial rituals largely account for the increase in cases of people contracting Ebola, as the virus is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. In addition, there is a limited number of deployable medical teams. On this note, Lacombe also mentioned how the high turnover rate of international medical and logistical staff created a lack of institutional memory over time in dealing with the outbreak.

“We need to find new ways to communicate about the disease [...] and to improve our understanding about it.” Realizing this, MSF has since changed its approach to the disease, tackling it as a social rather than a medical problem. The organization been meeting with local community leaders to provide them with information on Ebola, as well as increasing transparency by giving patients

cell phones so they can communicate with concerned relatives. They have also filmed raw footage to show what happens in treatment centres, all in an effort to counter misinformation, false perceptions, and panic.

Yansouni spoke about the harm in taking too many medical precautions, and warned how the hysteria in trying to contain the spreading of Ebola is raising concerns about the preparedness and ability of the healthcare system here in Montreal.

“A lot of the time more protection gives you either a false sense of security, or it displaces your attention

Alice Shen | The McGill Daily to where you really need to be careful,” he said. For example, in the case of Ebola, taking the extra precaution of assuming it is airborne could lead to accidental transmission by bodily fluids, which is actually how the virus is transmitted.

The crux of the issue in Montreal lies in the worry that people from affected regions are at risk of having the disease and potentially spreading it. This belief has a significant effect on the way Montreal hospitals treat people from West Africa. In an overwhelming number of cases, the patients may not have Ebola, but may

have something else like malaria or leukemia. But because of the recent West Africa outbreak of Ebola, anyone who has visited the region is automatically suspected of Ebola. Yansouni warns that a false assumption could lead doctors to inaccurately diagnose patients and recommends everyone take reasonable precautions.

Although it remains to be seen whether or not this recent Ebola outbreak will transmit to Canada, it has served as wake-up call to our healthcare system and sparked questions on how it deals with infectious diseases.

Infectious Rate: the average number of people that will get infected per infected person.

Sci+Tech

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Building your own sound machines DIY audio electronics art workshop at POP Montreal Erica Jewell Sci+Tech Writer

“

It’s an empowering thing once you learn how to build electronics, because it feels like there’s so much mystery around it,” says Rebecca Baxter, a Halifax-based multimedia artist whose work “Sound Machines” was exhibited as part of the POP Montreal International Music Festival. Not limited to concerts, the festival also included art exhibitions, film screenings, and symposium discussions featuring artists from around the world. On the last day of the festival, Baxter led a workshop on do-it-yourself (DIY) audio electronics in which she demonstrated that building and modifying electronic instruments at home is both accessible and affordable.

Baxter is a graphic designer by trade who recently became interested in designing sounds and building her own synthesizers. Since then, she has built various electronic instruments, created interactive pieces for shows in Halifax and Montreal, and joined a space rock band called Meteoroid in which she plays her own machines, an electronic musical instrument known as the theremin, and other circuit bent sound-makers. In the workshop, she lent her knowledge and experience to other aspiring creators, showing first-hand the methods used to build the ‘sound machines’ that were on display at the festival.

While many novices interested in making electronic music turn to digital environments for sound generation out of affordability or ease, they may be unaware that DIY electronics can actually be quite inexpensive and, after a basic understanding of electrical circuits, straightforward.

For musicians, building physically tangible electronic instruments may be a refreshing change from manipulating objects on a computer screen.

“Physical hardware elements will always remain in music,” says Baxter. “The software is changing, and the tools you have to work with are evolving, but some things will always remain.” With more widespread access to technology, Baxter is optimistic about the future of music creation. “Inexpensive tools, digital or analog, put power in people’s hands to do things that they couldn’t do before, and we end up with more experimentation and a greater range of types of things produced.”

Baxter taught workshop participants how to build multi-voice oscillators, ‘sound machines’, which generate sound waves that are processed and combined to create different

Erica Jewell | Illustrator synthesized electronic tones. Inside the casing of the small machines are six separate resistor-capacitor (RC) oscillators created by adding resistors and capacitors to a Schmitt trigger circuit, which converts analog input to digital output. The sound waves produced by the circuit can have any ratio of frequencies, depending on the values of the resistors and capacitors, which interact with each other to create beats.

A simple multi-voice oscillator can be built for as low as $10. Capacitors, resistors, diodes, and chips can all be purchased for under $1, while the most expensive parts are generally just the knobs and the casing.

Scavenging for parts among discarded electronics can make building instruments at home even cheaper.

With this model as a starting point, “you can make whatever sounds you want to make, you can design any sort of instrument,” Baxter explains.

“In my band I use these machines for sweeping sounds, and a lot of them are used for drone-style stuff, where you get an interesting sound wave and add layers on top of it.” Even if building synthesizers does not inter-

est you, you can certainly find other musical applications for DIY electronics. “You can spend $100 [to] $300 on a guitar pedal just to find out later that you can make a simple fuzz pedal for nothing,” Baxter says.

If you missed Baxter’s workshop, getting past the initial knowledge barrier and beginning to build your own electronics may seem intimidating, but there are many resources online and in print for those who are curious. Baxter recommends Handmade Electronic Music by Nicolas Collins, Practical Electronics for Inventors by Paul Scherz, and websites like Music From Outer Space and Instructables. Locally, workshops are posted and proposed on the Facebook group “DIY Analog Synth Montréal,” where you can find advice and inspiration from Montreal’s own DIY audio electronics community.

After learning the fundamentals by following instructions to build a simple introductory project comes the most exciting part: experimentation. “As you go along learning, you understand more about the components involved and what’s

happening in the circuit, and then you can experiment and use them in ways that may not be what they were originally intended for,” explains Baxter. “Sometimes you’ll surprise yourself and be like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know I could make that sound.’ It’s cool to explore.”

Baxter’s own explorations in sound were displayed at her “Sound Machines” exhibit in the POP Montreal headquarters building on St. Urbain and Sherbrooke, where a simple white table was set with four metal boxes of varying colours and two pairs of headphones. Putting on the headphones, the listeners would find that the excited chatter of the festivalgoers in the building was drowned out by a single pulsing tone.

At the turn of one of the many unlabeled buttons and knobs, the pulse of the sound could speed up; turning another might distort the sound; turning a third, a second tone might appear that would interfere with the first and create a new rhythm. Baxter explained in the workshop that some of these effects were created by mixing oscillator outputs with resistors and capacitors of differ-

ent values, or by using diodes to link multiple oscillator outputs to a main output jack, causing the oscillators to interact and distort and produce a ring modulation effect.

While playing with these ‘sound machines,’ people must be very focused on the sounds they hear, and turn each knob gently to discover its function. The result is an overall heightened sonic awareness. “There are no labels on the oscillators, so it forces people to pay attention and listen,” Baxter says. “The most basic purpose of the machines is to invite people to create, to collaborate, and to experiment even if they have no idea what they’re doing.”

Baxter’s workshop communicated a similar theme: even if you have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to electronics, you can quickly and affordably explore the potential that technology has for art by learning to create and experiment at home. “It’s great that people have the tools they can express themselves with,” adds Baxter, “and music is a powerful art form that has the power to affect people emotionally so quickly.”

Sports

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Peace Park turns twenty Dreams of legalized skateboarding close to reality Sonia Larbi-Aissa Sports Writer

S

katers look at the world differently. Where most people see a ledge, skaters see a world of possibilities. It’s this view that transforms an average park into a utopia and a staple for the local skate community – Philadelphia has Love Park, Washington has Pulaski Park, and Montreal has Peace Park. The minimalist public space on St. Laurent between Ste. Catherine and René-Levesque is a skateboarding landmark for Montreal, as well as a home to a diverse community that includes homeless people, drug users, and sex workers. The area has received a lot of negative attention from the city, which perceives it as a threat to the development of the surrounding neighbourhood, the gentrified Quartier des Spectacles area.

For twenty years, the city has ignored the needs of the Peace Park community with a hardline approach of keeping the park empty to make it look clean.

One of the Peace Park regulars who has been speaking for Montreal skateboarders for years is David “Boots” Bouthillier. Boots is one of many skateboarders who have found a home in the park since its inception, racking up countless fines for illegal skateboarding.

Peace Park’s high granite ledges and surrounding trees create the optimal environment for skateboarding, contributing to its popularity as a meet-up spot for local skaters – even though skating in the park remains illegal.

For twenty years, the city has ignored the needs of the Peace Park community with a hardline approach of “[keeping] the park empty to make it look clean,” as summarized by Boots. This approach has

only succeeded in hindering the very social force necessary to help improve the situation – a force now provided by the skateboarders.

Skateboarders have become a part of the Peace Park community.

Boots has “known these people for twenty years. If I don’t know them, more importantly, they know me.”

Boots is uniquely situated as a liaison between the people of the park, the skateboard community, and the city of Montreal due to this mutual acknowledgement.

While Boots distances himself from the personal business of Peace Park regulars, he works closely with the surrounding community to legalize skateboarding in the park. The 20th birthday celebrations, held on September 21, were the culmination of a six-week pilot project temporarily legalizing skateboarding in Peace Park – a landmark decision made by Montreal mayor Denis Coderre. Boots was instrumental in getting this decision passed by repeatedly lobbying City Hall.

Boots organized a skate competition with cash prizes; a vegan spaghetti dinner; local hip-hop, reggae, and soul performances; and a showing of Peaceful Moments, his ever-evolving documentary on the history and politics of the park.

Volunteer organizations CACTUS Montreal and Spectre de rue, who work toward limiting the amount of blood-borne and sexually transmitted infections through education and harm reduction, were present to educate the public about their services. Amnesia, a local skateboard store and one of many sponsors for the event, promoted its winter coat donation and distribution initiative. The gathering brought the community together in a place that has received a large amount of negative attention. Seeing this gathering stands as indisputable evidence for the positive influence of legalized skateboarding.

However, the probationary period wasn’t without its problems. Boots emphasized that skateboarding in Peace Park is only made possible with the consent of Montreal police. “If the police didn’t like the skaters, this wouldn’t have happened,” Boots said. Yet relations between law enforcement and skateboarders remain strained. “The us/them [dichotomy] is what [skateboarders] are used to. Kids have been chased out of the park. Kids have been jailed for skateboarding in the

Nadia boachie | The McGill Daily park. Tickets were $600. Obviously, you’re like ‘fuck the police,’” explained Boots. According to Boots, moving away from this mindset is hard, but not impossible. “If two countries are at war, and all of a sudden there’s peace, it’s not like you’re suddenly [friends]. The police understand that, and that’s what we have to build on.” The next step for Boots, regardless of legalization, is a detente between the police and the older generation of skaters who have a history of antagonism. Talks between key actors in the skateboarding community and law enforcement have

already taken place, as well as overt efforts on the part of Boots to be seen publicly engaging with the police during the 20th birthday celebrations.

Nonetheless, changing this mindset is difficult to impose on skateboarders who still face the very real threat of fines or jail time when skating in Peace Park. Boots hopes that law enforcement will tolerate skateboarding in the park as they had in the weeks leading up to the decision to implement the pilot project. As of now, it’s up to Boots and others within the community to convince City Hall to le-

galize skateboarding permanently.

According to Boots, if Montreal decides to publicly sanction skateboarding in Peace Park, “it shows that the city is willing to use innovative solutions to try to solve some of the problems in the park. Kids all of a sudden don’t feel rejected or detached from society. [They feel like] they’re being accepted into the Quartier des Spectacles and the park.” That, for Boots, is what’s most important. “The locals, the lifers, people in the park – they’re happy about [the prospect of legal skating]. It’s a better look. It’s just more positive.”

Culture

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Slamming stereotypes

Black Theatre Workshop’s annual Poetry Jam intertwines theatre, poetry, and politics Audrey Carleton and Aviva LeShaw Culture Writers

“

Does everyone know what a poetry jam is?” Montreal singer and poet Jonathan Emile prompted the audience at the Montréal, arts interculturels (MAI) theatre this past Sunday evening. “No, it’s not a lyrical confiture,” Emile joked to the fifty or so spectators gathered around small tables, setting the pleasant atmosphere for the Black Theatre Workshop’s 12th annual Poetry Jam. Emile, the evening’s host, got the ball rolling with a performance of his own work, weaving song with performance poetry, and encouraging the audience to clap along with him as he sang, “All I wanted was a hero, I’m a hero, you’re a hero…” Over the course of the evening, seven spoken word artists stepped onstage to become heroes in their own right as they shared their poetic interpretations of the competition’s theme, “Smashing Stereotypes in the Media.”

The Black Theatre Workshop (BTW), the oldest black theatre company in Canada, is predominantly known for its professional theatre, rather than performance poetry. “[This event is] a nice way to bridge the gap,” explained the company’s artistic director Quincy Armorer. “A lot of times, the different genres of performance are segregated, and a lot of people who are used to going to spoken word events might not go to the theatre events.” It’s not hard to see why audiences might prefer one over the other – theatre and spoken word are hugely different in both their development and performance.

Poetry slams have none of the dialogue, scenery, costumes, or choreography of theatre. Spoken word is raw

in both presentation and content, and poets have limited time to jam-pack their message into their performance.

Theatrical performance may seem drawn-out to spoken word enthusiasts, while spoken word may come across as intense and overly concise to theatre-lovers.

The performances at the slam, however, satisfied theatre and poetry enthusiasts alike. Most readings were in the fast-paced, fervent recitation typical of spoken word, some with fluid rhythm approaching rap, and some so smooth and personable it seemed the poet was speaking to the audience like a close friend. The crowd was responsive, snapping along to Emile’s opening song, nodding in agreement with lines of poetry, and clapping after each piece.

Though this spoken word style was miles away from formal theatre, the content was accessible and relatable for any kind of art enthusiast.

Brefny Caribou, an actor, first-time slam poet, and recent graduate of Concordia’s theatre program, interpreted the “Smashing Stereotypes” theme from a personal perspective, incorporating her own past experiences. In an anecdotal piece, Caribou told the story of being questioned about her specific ethnicity while on the job as a store clerk, quoting one customer’s invasive, “What are you?”

“This poem had been in my back pocket for a really long time,” Caribou said. “It was just floating around and I was really into it, but never had a platform for it.” For Caribou, this year’s BTW Poetry Jam was the perfect opportunity to have her poetic voice heard for the first time. “For me, it was just getting the content of what I had written out there into the world somehow.”

Patrick Ohslund, second-place

The Black Theatre Workshop’s 12th annual Poetry Jam. Lily Rafizadeh | The McGill Daily winner of the jam and current McGill graduate student in the Faculty of Education, also used past experience as fuel for his poem. Telling the story of his own sexual assault in high school, Ohslund addressed the horrors of peer pressure and homophobia in the social dynamics between high schoolers. “It was such an emotionally impactful experience in my life,” Ohslund explained to The Daily.

“Being able to transform that into something positive can be a source of transformation for myself.”

The jam’s first-prize winner, Svens Telemaque, used the stage as a medium to voice frustrations over racial stereotypes in the media throughout history. When dealing with such socio-political topics, however, sometimes a poem may not

feel like enough. “I feel like I got my message across,” Telemaque told The Daily, but went on to reveal that given the complexity of his content, he sometimes has trouble saying everything he wants to. “A speech would do it justice [...] if someone were to look into the content of what I was saying, it would be more enriching.”

Telemaque’s statement raises questions with regard to the effectiveness of slam in comparison to other scripted artistic mediums. A lengthy speech provides more factual information, whereas slam poetry will likely provoke emotional responses from the audience. While theatre can more easily straddle these two methods, there is a crucial difference in that the material is often not written by the performers themselves. Caribou, an

experienced actress in the Montreal community, finds this to be the biggest change in switching to performing poetry. “As an actor, you get a play [...] you are doing a production of something,” Caribou said. “But there is a whole level of vulnerability and intensity that comes along with performing your own words [...] this isn’t a character [...] it’s just me, it’s my words.”

At the end of the night, three talented poets left the building with cash prizes, while audience members left as newfound poetry fans, or future theatre-goers. Events such as BTW’s Poetry Jam allow personal stories like Caribou’s to reach a wider audience than the spoken word community, demonstrating the importance of using individual experiences to dismantle systemic problems.

Fleece and The Market Cooperative Weekly culture picks from The Daily Rosie Long Decter The McGill Daily Fleece A collaboration between McGill and Concordia students, Fleece has only been playing together since last November, but the group is already carving out its own distinct sound.

A cross between Grizzly Bear-esque indie and ambient jazz, their music will soundtrack a relaxing Friday at

Cagibi. The members hail from Toronto and Vancouver, and emphasize their do-it-yourself approach to writing and recording, which led to the release of their self-recorded and selftitled demo album, Fleece. For a band that’s been together for less than a year, they work pretty fast. If you’re looking for some good music vibes, this is definitely a show to check out.

Plus, who doesn’t like a good saxophone solo?

The Market Cooperative The Market Cooperative Arts Fair will be filling the SSMU Ballroom next Wednesday with the crafts, clothes, zines, and artwork of over forty local artists and artisans. Founded in January 2013, The Market Cooperative is an organization that “strives to create a cultural change in consumption” by promoting and connecting small Montreal art-

ists, specifically in the McGill and Milton-Parc communities.

The Arts Fair happens once every two months, and features hidden gems from around the city. This may be the perfect opportunity to get that quirky birthday present you’ve been looking to find for your sister, or maybe to finally purchase some art for the empty walls of your new apartment. And even if you don’t feel like making

any purchases, it’s always fun to browse through one-of-a-kind artifacts and chat with the artists who made them.

Fleece is playing at 9 p.m. on Friday, October 3 at Le Cagibi, 5490 St. Laurent.

The Market Cooperative Arts Fair is Wednesday, October 1 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the SSMU Ballroom (third floor).

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Culture

September 29, 2014 The McGill Daily | www.mcgilldaily.com

Kicking out the cars PARK(ing) Day turns Montreal parking lots into creative spaces Siobhan O’Connell Culture Writer

F

ifty years ago, Joni Mitchell first sang “they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.” Now, Montreal has an annual event that brings a little bit of paradise back to the parking lot.

This year’s PARK(ing) Day took place on September 19, kicking over 200 cars out of their regular spots.

Taking their place were arcade games, libraries, fruit stands, barbecues, musical acts, drum sets, and a variety of other interactive installations and activities.

PARK(ing) Day takes place in 162 cities around the world, with the goal of transforming spaces usually taken up by cars into fun, productive, and artistic environments.

By showing the multitude of different events that can occur in just one parking spot, PARK(ing) Day explores both the endless potential of the streets of Montreal and the immense amount of wasted space taken up by parked cars.

This year marked Montreal’s third PARK(ing) Day, an event which first took place in San Francisco in 2005 when Rebar – an art

and activist organization – created a two-hour public park in a metered parking spot. Now the event is organized locally by the Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal, an organization concentrated on the protection of the environment and promotion of durable infrastructures in Montreal.

PARK(ing) Day encourages people to rethink how our public space is used, while simultaneously promoting public transit.

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) directly supported the latter goal, handing out free oneday metro passes and fake parking tickets promoting “Car Free Day” on September 22. As the representatives of the STM explained to passersby, one bus is equivalent to fifty cars and can save around three blocks of space that cars would otherwise occupy. STM’s installation featured a lounging area with couches and games, a mini library, and a fruit stand with free apples and plums.

The reclaimed spaces spanned many neighbourhoods and featured creative activities and activism from many of Montreal’s nonprofits. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness

Society took up two parking spots, promoting the preservation of Canada’s wilderness. Blouin Tardif Architecture-Environnement, a Montreal architecture firm, set up tubes of various sizes and provided drum sticks for people to create music together. Projet Sainte-Catherine Ouest created a photo gallery featuring streets in different cities around the world, where gallery organizers encouraged people to submit ideas for how to change St Catherine to optimize roadway space.

Also among these installations was the McGill Spaces Project, a student organization that strives to draw attention to the often-overlooked value of public spaces, while also reshaping underused spaces on campus into fun and spontaneous ones. The organization transformed parking spaces by the Milton Gates with simple feats like a game of bocce ball, a chalkboard for sharing ideas, wooden chairs to paint and decorate, and free hot dogs, providing a space for relaxation amidst the bustle of students travelling to and from class.

Living in a city means dealing with limited amounts of space, whether that means being stuck

A PARK(ing) Day installation. Tamim Sujat | The McGill Daily in traffic, waiting in a long line, or living in close quarters with other people. PARK(ing) Day demonstrated the importance of using space in productive ways, and also promotes the engagement of all residents in urban planning and environmental activism. Both interactive and accessible, the event

provoked attendees to imagine how urban communities can be reconstructed to be environmentally friendly, artistic, and spatially conscious. PARK(ing) Day doesn’t simply ask us to better conserve space – it pushes us to expand our view of what an urban community can look like.

Fame, fortune, and first year A new book of short stories captures the young musician experience Lauria Galbraith The McGill Daily

T

he tale of the troubled twentysomething artist is not exactly untold (go watch Girls if you disagree), but Jay Winston Ritchie’s new book Something You Were, Might Have Been, or Have Come to Represent brings a fresh, thoughtful, and local frame to the familiar story.

Ritchie’s collection of short stories surrounds the loss and reclaiming of identity that young artists experience in the turbulent years of their early independence, set to a Montreal backdrop.

Ritchie, a Concordia-affiliated Montrealer and the editor-in-chief of The Void magazine, combines comedy and poignancy in this collection of stories with which many young people can easily identify.

Ritchie explores the frustration of young musicians trying to reach fame through a lens that Ritchie claims is “more about being a person with creative urges, so being a person in general.” One story

follows the existential crisis of a first–year university student faced with the task of introducing herself to a new world. Another depicts a teenager’s struggle to find his place when he realizes he is the most uninteresting person at a party. Some stories are about established musicians trying to maintain a career, but most stories feature characters just trying to write a song, with their identity crisis at odds with their creativity. The tale of a budding musician who works at a call centre may strike a chord for readers about to enter the workforce, alluding to that eternal struggle between doing what you love and earning enough to live. All of Ritchie’s stories bring up these sorts of important questions, subtly bringing the fears of a generation to light.

For a young student living in Montreal, Ritchie’s Something You Were, Might Have Been, or Have Come to Represent may invoke feelings of belonging, but also of nostalgia. Ritchie’s stories are mainly set within the familiar streets of Mon-

treal, creating a rich but recognizable setting. From the perspective of a musician seeking fame, Ritchie describes Montreal as “unique since there seems to be so many different places to play shows. Like no matter what sort of music you want to make you can probably find a place that would be receptive to hearing it.” There’s a sense of intimacy with the Montreal that Ritchie describes, his sprawling murals and graffitied depanneurs all too familiar to a local reader. Reading his rendition of Montreal and being able to acutely visualize his scenery allows a surreal immersion into the stories.

Not only do the experiences and settings in Ritchie’s stories resonate, but the broader world he creates for them rings true as well. Ritchie doesn’t try to isolate his stories from modern society; instead, he embraces this generation’s obsession with pop culture and social media, and explores how this affects musicians searching for fame. This choice serves to strengthen his characters and their struggles, ground-

ing them in a world that readers can easily sympathize with and understand. Twitter and Instagram pop up throughout the narratives; Pitchfork and Vice also get the occasional name drop. One story even ends with a surprisingly touching Mean Girls reference. Social media has a reputation for creating a disconnect from the world around us, but Ritchie doesn’t try to push any sort of agenda with his representation of social media. This lack of judgement from the author is a refreshing change from the ever-present pro- or anti– social media debate. Ritchie simply portrays how these digital networks have become intertwined with our social networks as unavoidable facts of a young person’s life (whether they like it or not).

Ritchie’s writing itself uses intimacy and immersion to make these stories a lovely read. The prose draws his characters into a languid state by using long, hazy descriptions of parties or leisurely narratives that span across days, but then abruptly speeding into a sharp, and

often harsh, look into his characters’ subconsciouses. These sudden switches in tempo mix dream-like states with stark reality. The effect is stunning.

This deft prose allows the characters in Something You Were, Might Have Been, or Have Come to Represent to unfold and transform, to lose parts of themselves and regain something different.

Ritchie uses music as a medium for expressing this transformative experience. “I can identify who I was or what I was thinking...” he says.

“I hear a song or an album that changes my life and I think I’ll never have an experience so profound or life-altering again, but of course I do. There’s always something else to discover. “ As the new school year begins and many students try to transform themselves (or find themselves), this book might be a helpful resource for reaching that formative epiphany. Or perhaps simply as a comforting reminder that you are not alone in the confusion.

Editorial

volume 104 number 5

editorial board 3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-24 Montreal, QC H3A 1X9

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Yes to the building, no to the lease

phone 514.398.6784 fax 514.398.8318 mcgilldaily.com coordinating editor

Dana Wray

coordinating@mcgilldaily.com coordinating news editor

Janna Bryson news editors

Jill Bachelder Emma Noradounkian Igor Sadikov commentary & compendium! editor

Emmet Livingstone features editor

Hannah Besseau science+technology editor

Zapaer Alip

Alice Shen | The McGill Daily

sports editor

Drew Wolfson Bell culture editor

Rosie Long Decter multimedia editor

Alice Dutrut photo editor

Tamim Sujat illustrations editor

Alice Shen copy editor

Molly Korab design & production editor

Rachel Nam web editor

Arielle VanIderstine community editor

Diana Kwon le délit

Joseph Boju

rec@delitfrancais.com cover design Tamim Sujat contributors Kai Ariac, Audrey Carleton, Laurent Bastien Corbeil, Marina Cupido, Lauria Galbraith, Erica Jewell, Sonia Larbi-Aissa, Aviva Leshaw, Yasmine Mosimann, Siobhan O’Connell, Emily Saul, Myra Sivaloganathan, Claire StewartKanigan

L

ast week, The Daily endorsed a “yes” vote for the University Centre Building Fee question. While the approval of this fee is vital for SSMU’s ability to run and meet its mandate, the endorsement of the fee should not be mistaken for an endorsement of the lease that necessitated it.

The new lease, signed in March after four years of negotiation with the administration, includes a $20,000 increase in rent – indexed to increase a further $5,000 per year until 2021 – and $100,000 in utility costs which were previously covered by the University. The lease’s terms dictate that McGill can evict SSMU from the building if it doesn’t pay; after signing the lease, SSMU’s options were to go bankrupt, be evicted, or increase student fees. In insisting on a lease that forces SSMU into a choice between bankruptcy and a fee levy, McGill has shown blatant disregard for student space on campus, for student-run clubs and services, and ultimately, for the student body as a whole. While SSMU did sign the lease with McGill, it is unreasonable to assume that student executives have the same sway in the negotiation process as a team of lawyers hired by McGill.

Despite the draconian terms of the lease, it is signed and binding. Without the student fees to support it, SSMU will be forced to make drastic changes; potential proposals include cutting building hours, raising prices at Gerts and the Nest, charging clubs for room bookings, and foregoing essential building

renovations, just to name a few. SSMU’s constitution mandates that it provide services to “strengthen the educational, cultural, environmental, political, and social conditions” of its membership – the fee is required for it to do so.

While a “no” vote might look tempting to some because of the lease negotiation process, the actions of last year’s SSMU executive, or the re-introduction of a referendum question, students must resist the urge. The lack of information from last year’s executive about the fee referendum is certainly a point of contention. The Daily also concedes that it did not explicitly endorse the fee in the last referendum period, and thus failed in its role in keeping the student body informed. However, the impact of a $5.78 per semester fee for full-time students, or $2.89 for parttime students, is not proportional to the impact of the building’s loss on the student population.

This referendum question is ultimately one of the most important in McGill’s history in terms of direct impact on students. The Daily’s endorsement of the fee question is not an endorsement of the lease, nor of McGill’s negotiation tactics. Students should be angry about the lease, but a “no” vote is self-destructive and fails to penalize those who failed students the most: the administration.

Readers should note that The Daily holds an interest in the outcome of the referendum as its office is located in the SSMU building.

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

The article “4th annual Indigenous Awareness Week” (News, page 7, September 22) incorrectly stated that the event “Holding the academy accountable: Indigenous studies and community inclusion” was hosted by SEDE. In fact, the event was co-hosted by both SSMU and SEDE. The Daily regrets the error.

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dps board of directors Joseph Boju, Juan Camilo Velásquez Buriticá, Dana Wray, Ralph Haddad, Rachel Nam, Hillary Pasternak, Thomas Simmoneau All contents © 2013 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.

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Compendium!

September 29, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Lies, half-truths, and a crossword. It’s objective too.

Academic ambivalence Two undergrads with a strong view of the future... and the past Mathilda C. Quimms The McGall Weekly

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s the trees of our fair downtown campus lose their fresh and vibrant summer hue to the warm, glowing radiance of autumn, the passage of time becomes an inevitable presence in the minds of all who pass beneath them. At least, it seems that way to U2 History Major Rand Trilby, a tall, pale, rangy fellow in dark clothing, who smells of pomade and cigarettes.

He meets me one cool, windy day on the terrace outside the library.

“I just don’t know what to think of my department’s direction,” Trilby says, squinting out over the railing. He sighs, removing his round-framed glasses and polishing them clean on a handkerchief from the pocket of his black pea coat. “I’m just sick of this lack of confidence in modern history, you know?” When asked to clarify, Trilby cites his recent homework assignment, Emmanuelle de Savoie’s Li-Brie-té, Égalité, Fraternité: Cheese Production and the French Revolution, a book

whose author made frequent use of such phrases as “it is believed” and “some evidence suggests” to modify her historical claims.

“I found my trust in the author completely compromised. I need to be taken confidently into the past. What is she trying to accomplish by questioning herself at every turn? What is she trying to convey to the reader?”

“If the writer doesn’t believe his words, how am I supposed to?” Rand makes careful eye contact with your humble McGall Weekly correspondent as he says this, plainly striving to endow his statement with the deliberate selfassurance he sees as lacking in his chosen field of study.

Trilby stares out over the ledge once again, scratching thoughtfully at a constellation of short, scrubby hairs upon his chin that might politely have been called a beard, were he seven years younger. He believes that de Savoie’s style of “wishy-washy” writing is only a symptom of larger problems within the field of history, many of which he has been tracking for

nigh-on two years. He bemoans a fractured, impotent discipline with no focus, no thrust, no energy. Some of his ideas meet with approval, especially those that involve confident statements of fact – birth and marriage rates, publication dates, et cetera. But too often he feels pressured to apply one of several ideologies (he says this word the way most people say “cockroach”) to said facts and figures, which he feels is an affront to his carefully neutral viewpoint.

What use is Marxism or queer theory, even the very concept of intersectionality, to one so triumphantly objective?

“It’s like they’re trying to make us all feminists or something. And there’s always someone who tries to bring race into things…” Rand heaves a sigh, heavy with the weight of rational detachment. “Stuff like that just makes things complicated.”

Rand smiles to himself, as if at a private joke. “This is beside the point, but I also found de Savoie’s prose a tad too meandering. That didn’t do anything to earn my sup-

port. Is it too much to ask that we all own a copy of Strunk and White? Read a little Hemingway, maybe? No one reads Hemingway these days.”

“I shouldn’t have even come to university,” he continues, wistful longing evident in his voice.

“What am I learning here? I should have sailed around the world or learned to hunt or started a brewery or something. Shit, man, I should be living.”

Many of Rand’s opinions are shared by fellow scarf enthusiast Anne Oubliette, a U3 student pursuing a double major in History and Literature. She joins us at our perch at the railing about halfway through our discussion, and is kind enough to provide her own perspective on the current state of Arts education at our fair university.

“The romance has just gone out of history,” Oubliette laments. Just this past week she was required to read several papers focusing on figures who weren’t of noble blood.

Not even a drop.

A self-described “old soul,” Oubliette has read, at her estimation,

Beauty and the beast: a crossword

upward of two dozen historical fiction books about Anne Boleyn, and a similar number focusing on Cleopatra. She had a masqueradethemed party for her Sweet 16, and keeps a detailed list of historical figures with whom she’d like to “have a torrid two-week affair.”

Said list includes but is not limited to Lord Byron, Mark Antony, and Henry VIII, but like, when he was young and looked like Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

“I’m just glad that McGall still has such a strong European history focus. It’s great that they keep that at the forefront. If I went somewhere else, I might have to study, I don’t know, Asia or something.”

Oubliette joins Rand at the railing as he rolls a cigarette, casting her eyes upward, to the leaves slowly losing their chlorophyll. “I’m worried about this generation,” she says, sounding every bit like the person who believes themselves to be an old soul I know her to be. “In these uncertain times, if we don’t have a strong vision of our past, how will we face the future?

A SHMU-logy Sperrys McBlazer II The McGall Weekly

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oday we gather; whether it be at a keg party, or model UN meeting. From the Education building, to 688 Sherbrooke, we are all overcome with grief by the passing of a dear friend. A friend that was always there for us (between the hours of 7 a.m. and 1 a.m.), one that provided a warm place to hide from the cold, and as much secondhand smoke as one could handle. I can say that I have gained a true appreciation for SHMU. One thing that stood out to me the most was the affordable and diverse food options. I’m a vegan, and I was always able to find food options in SHMU other than Organic Campus, which has too much of a third-wave cafe vibe for me. SHMU, it’s been a hell of a time. I will never forget when one time at “4 Floors,” I got too drunk and peed on your floor – you still forgave me. So let’s lift a glass at Gerts and say goodbye to more than a building, but a monument to how bad McGall’s architects were.