The Fulcrum - Vol 77 Issue 19

VOL. 77 ISSUE 19

feb. 16, 2017

Tact over truth?

PG. 12.

In this week’s issue...

Disqualification debate P.4 Disqualified BOA candidate appeal to the board for reinstatement denied Make sure your next coffee trip is a victory P.7 Little Victories has opened their first coffee shop in Ottawa, find out if it’s worth your time A campus for all minds P.8 A look at the interplay between identity and political diversity, and how it affects academic experience Men’s basketball takes the long road to a winning weekend P.10 Gee-Gees overcome a rough start to weekend action to come away with two key wins How should Trudeau take on Trump?

P.12 Should Trudeau push for Canadian ideals, or avoid burning bridges?

The great porn predicament P.16 Di talks how to avoid guilt when indulging in adult entertainment Black History Month showcase P.19 Featuring historical figures you probably didn’t learn about in history class

NEWS

NEWS EDITOR

Graham Robertson news@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0061 @_grahamr

Unofficial 2017 SFUO general election results Voter turnout doubles, Hadi Wess elected president of the SFUO Graham Robertson news editor

O

n Feb. 11, the results of the 2017 Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) general election were released. The election saw a voter turnout of 14.6 per cent, doubling last year’s general election turnout of 7.8 per cent.

Hadi Wess, current vicepresident social of the SFUO and a candidate on the United slate, was elected president with 2,481 votes. A full summary of the results can be found at the end of this article.

In a statement to the Fulcrum, Wess discussed campaigning for this year’s election, the challenges he faced during the campaign period, and his current plans as president-elect.

“I’ve learned a lot from the previous two elections and the two last mandates that I have served as vice-president social of the SFUO,” wrote Wess. “I was able to bring my experience, knowledge, and skills to run a stronger and more successful campaign this year alongside my teammates.”

According to Wess, he “had the opportunity to speak to many students in classes and one-on-one” to “get input from (them), so that decisions made in the future represent different identities, opinions, and perspectives.”

Wess said that his social media presence reached over 25,000 people in 10 days, and while he was happy with the increased

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student engagement, there were still challenges during the campaign period itself.

“It is very sad that, often during elections, some people find that using the politics of fear, hatred, and bullying is what could get them elected,” wrote Wess.

“Because of that we see many baseless rumours and allegations with no foundations being spread out against some candidates.”

Despite these “rumours and allegations,” the new SFUO president is proud of his team for standing “strong, united, loving, and compassionate,” and of students for making “informed decisions and challenging those voices of fear, bigotry, and hatred.”

While Wess will not assume his new position until May 1, he said that in this interim period he will be “starting conversations and negotiations to build the foundation for a smooth transition and a successful mandate next year.”

However, come May 1, Wess said that he and the rest of the new executive will be “busy between projects like 101 Week organization, summer and fall U-Passes, budget preparation and presentation, the health plan, providing support to clubs, and running SFUO services and campaigns.”

Wess also said that he will be working on developing an SFUO office on the south-end of campus, as well as negotiating with the administration for more student spaces.

“For me, elections always serve as a reminder of how far I can push myself when chasing af-

ter something that I care about and believe in, and in this case, it is our campus and the student movement,” wrote Wess.

“One of the biggest lessons that I learned was that being a true leader does not necessarily require holding a title or assuming a role, it’s in our actions, behaviours, mentalities, and attitudes.”

“However, winning the election is the easiest part of the job, and I know that myself and the next executive team have a lot of work to do to fight for our 36,000 students’ rights, advocate on their behalf, and accommodate their needs.”

ouassi, also of United, was elected vice-president equity with 2,219 votes. Diyyinah Jamora received 2,010 votes.

In the election’s tightest race, Jeffry Colin of the Let’s Fix This slate received 2,250 votes for the position of vice-president of university affairs, while Axel Ngamije Gaga received 2,216 votes.

Rizki Rachiq was reelected as vice-president of finance, receiving 2,391 votes. He is also part of the United slate. Tanner Tallon, who ran as an independent candidate, received 2,072 votes.

Jonathan Chin-Fook of the Students First slate, running unopposed, clinched the position of vice-president social after receiving 3,197 “yes” votes and 939 “no” votes.

Kathryn LeBlanc of the Let’s Fix This slate, running unopposed, was elected for the position of

Election results Executive Hadi Wess of the United slate was elected president with 2,481 votes. His opponent, Francesco Caruso, received 2,095 votes.

Leila Moumouni-Tch-

vice-president of services and communications, receiving 3,493 “yes” votes and 667 “no” votes.

Board of Administration Matthew Boulden, Jordan Kent, Philippe Garcia-Duchesne, Gabi Ghannoum, Davis Schwartz, and Tala Kreidieh were elected to the Board of Administration for the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Samantha Gauthier, Tristan Lamonica, and Carly Kimber were elected for the Faculty of Arts.

Sara Mhidi, David Gallo, and Soukaina Tamtaoui were elected for the Telfer School of Management.

Laura Bassett was elected for the Faculty of Common Law, and Emily Prieur was elected for the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Ocean Ho, Arsa-

lan Ahmed Khan, and Ahmed Lamrani were elected for the Faculty of Engineering.

Brandon Jones was elected from the Faculty of Education.

Senate Candidates from all faculties were acclaimed, with the exception of the Faculty of Science which saw five candidates. Marwa Ibrahim was elected to the Senate for the Faculty of Science.

Board of Governors Jamie Ghossein was elected to the Board of Governors with 2,410 votes over opponent Jordan Kent, who received 1,761 votes.

Results will be made official by the board on Feb. 26 or Mar. 3, pending any appeals. For more information, please visit the SFUO website.

This year’s general election saw a 14.6 per cent voter turnout, compared to last year’s 7.8 per cent turnout.

Photo: Zainab Al-Mehdar.

NEWS | 3

Special Feb. 13 BOA meeting hears election candidates’ appeals

Disqualifications in 2017 general election based on threats of violence against CEO Graham robertson News Editor

Even though the 2017 Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) general election is over, there are still some lingering questions that remain unanswered.

Throughout the campaign, allegations were raised about some candidates, while others were disqualified from the race leading up to the Feb. 8–10 voting days.

The SFUO held a special Board of Administration (BOA) meeting on Monday, Feb. 13 to hear appeals related to these disqualifications.

Jeremy Russell appeal On Feb. 10, the SFUO revealed that five BOA candidates were disqualified from the race after complaints were brought to the elections office starting on Feb. 6.

These candidates were Jordan Kent (Faculty of Social Sciences), Michele Di Franco (Faculty of Social Sciences), Davis Schwartz

(Faculty of Social Sciences), David Gallo (Telfer School of Management), and Jeremy Russell (Faculty of Science).

All of these candidates belonged to the Students First slate.

Following appeals to the elections committee, Kent, Schwartz, and Gallo were reinstated as candidates, while Di Franco ultimately withdrew his Feb. 10 appeal to be reinstated. Russell’s disqualification was upheld until his appeal at the Feb. 13 meeting.

Mikayla Vattiata, a representative from the Faculty of Social Sciences and a member of the elections committee, told the board that while the committee had held individual meetings with each of the candidates initially disqualified, Russell did not provide enough evidence against the ruling of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to overturn this decision. For this reason, he was the only candidate not originally reinstated.

The case surrounded a group conversation on Face-

book between members of the Students First slate where, in a game of “most likely to,” Russell was voted “most likely to punch the CEO.” Screenshots of the conversation were presented to the elections committee by an unnamed source within the slate, and Russell was disqualified on the grounds of contributing to an atmosphere of violence and bullying. The other candidates were also disqualified for the same reason, but since this comment was only about Russell, they were able to provide enough evidence to make their case and be reinstated.

During Russell’s appeal, he formally apologized to the CEO, Qussai Abu-Naqoos.

Russell said he was unaware that endorsing these comments made about him regarding Abu-Naqoos constituted bullying and violence, and he said that he would not have endorsed such comments had he been priorly aware of their magnitude.

Abu-Naqoos then brought up comments from another group conversation between candidates in the Students First slate, where Gallo made further, more serious threats against Abu-Naqoos.

These comments made by Gallo inferred that he wanted to “have (Abu-Naqoos’) neck,” so that “his head wouldn’t be attached to his body.”

Russell said that while he was part of this group conversation, he was not aware of the comments made by Gallo until he was informed

by Gallo separately.

Abu-Naqoos said that he initially withheld these threats made against him, but highlighted his concerns over how someone else would have reacted to them, had these comments been made against another person.

Rizki Rachiq, vice-president of finance for the SFUO, asked Abu-Naqoos if he ever felt his safety was jeopardized, to which Abu-Naqoos said “yes,” highlighting that

men, specifically men of colour, are expected to not feel threatened by violent comments.

Abu-Naqoos then said he would be hesitant to have Russell and the other candidates on the slate who were involved in the conversation serve on the board in the coming year due to the ease at which they treated these comments.

The board then entered an in-camera session to discuss Russell’s appeal to be reinstated in the ballot count for the BOA’s Faculty of Science.

Following an approximately hour-long in-camera session, the board voted via secret ballot to uphold the elections office’s decision to maintain Russell’s disqualification.

The results of the vote were 14 in favour, two against, and four abstentions.

Abu-Naqoos then brought forward an appeal to overturn the elections office’s decision to reinstate the four other disqualified candi-

Jeremy Russell’s appeal to be reinstated as a BOA candidate was denied.

4 | NEWS

dates.

By approximately 8:45 p.m., Faculty of Arts representative Jocelyn Cadieux proposed that, in the interest of time, the board should discuss this appeal at the next BOA meeting.

This motion passed.

Tanner Tallon’s complaint A motion was then brought forward by vicepresident of finance candidate Tanner Tallon regarding the incident at the Feb. 1 debate where Rachiq allegedly showed the audience Tallon’s timesheet, claims which Rachiq said were false.

According to Vattiata, Tallon brought this issue to the elections committee, but Abu-Naqoos concluded that there was insufficient evidence surrounding Tallon’s claims that Rachiq violated any rules.

Tallon then played a clip of the debate, quoted the Fulcrum’s coverage of the debate and Tallon and Rachiq’s statements regarding this incident, and read a number of laws regarding employee privacy rights.

Tallon said that while his own timesheet was not displayed, Rachiq publicly announcing his hours during the debate was a breach of his privacy rights as an employee.

Tallon went on to say that Rachiq had used formal SFUO human resource documentation as a candidate in the election, which was a violation of the election rules, and he ultimately called for Rachiq’s disqualification from the position for the coming year.

The board then entered another in-camera session to discuss the matter. Following this session, the board voted that the elections office would release an official statement regarding Tallon’s complaint against Rachiq.

Another special BOA meeting has been scheduled for Feb. 26 at 1 p.m., location TBA. Meetings are open to the public.

Photo: Marta Kierkus.

thefulcrum.ca

Ottawa community rallies for electoral reform

Event organizer believes reform is necessary to evade politics of fear Zainab Al-Mehdar Associate News Editor

On Saturday, Feb. 11, students and members of the Ottawa community held a day of action on Parliament Hill in response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to rescind his plans to implement electoral reform.

Despite the weather, the rally drew approximately 300 participants and lasted for two hours, featuring a line-up of 10 speakers including members of the public sector, as well as students.

The rally was hosted by Daniel Rae, a political science and philosophy student at the University of Ottawa, who told the Fulcrum that he hopes for a better Canadian political system that is based on negotiation and cooperation with citizens.

According to Rae, “the Harper government was a false majority that trampled on the opposition at will,

The Feb. 11 rally drew a crowd of approximately 300 people.

and the Obama administration was just full of obstructionism and fear mongering from the other side … we have grown up seeing the absolute worst that politics has to offer.”

“That is not going away unless we change the game,

because of that obstructionism and fear mongering trampling over everyone who isn’t in power today,” said Rae. Rae believes that this brand of politics is enabled by the first-past-the-post system, and “if we don’t get rid

On the Hill

—with Raghad Khalil Part two: The mayor’s office

In this week’s edition of On the Hill, reporter Raghad Khalil took to City Hall to meet with none other than Ottawa’s own Jim Watson.

With over 25 years of experience as a threetime mayor of the City of Ottawa, a former provincial cabinet minister, and press secretary to the speaker in the House of Com-

mons, Watson’s public service record dates back to his days as a Residence Students’ Association leader at Carleton University.

And while he cheers for the Ravens at the Panda Game and Capital Hoops, Watson has drawn favour amongst University of Ottawa students as well.

Raghad: One of the things students are talking about today is the election south of the border. What effect do you think this presidency will have specifically here in Ottawa, and do you think we need to be having a larger discussion about safeguarding Canadian values? For example, we saw over 8,000 people walk in the women’s march—many of them from the student population here

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

of it we will keep seeing that every four years.”

Speakers at the rally included Réal Lavergne, the president of Fair Vote Canada, who believes that electoral reform was a major selling point for many voters in the 2015 federal election.

“Ask yourself why citizens abandoned Stephen Harper and elected Justin Trudeau—they did it because they feared for our democracy, and felt that Harper had abused that democracy,” said Lavergne.

“The June 2015 speech turned things around in a major way for the Liberals— that’s why that promise is so important. I feel that (it’s) what got this government elected.”

Members of Parliament, including the New Democratic Party (NDP) and Green Party candidates for the upcoming Ottawa–Vanier by-election, also attended Saturday’s event, where they encouraged students and others in the community to get involved with the political process and vote.

“Don’t take anyone’s word for anything,” said Green Party member Nira Dookeran. “Be healthily skeptical— look at not only what we say

in Ottawa, in part as a response to the campaign rhetoric.

Jim: In a real sense, if President Trump comes to Ottawa it will have a tremendous impact on the city in terms of policing costs, because I suspect he will attract a lot of protesters—people not happy with the way he has conducted himself. From a more global perspective, my hope is that young people in particular are not turned off (of) politics because you have one individual who has acted badly, and that people are not lumping every political leader in the same boat as Trump. I think what he’s done is set a new low standard in terms of honesty and integrity. His own press secretary in the first press conference outright lied on a number of occasions and just seemed to make things up.

R: Alternative facts.

J: Yeah. It’s disheartening to see that.

We saw such a progressive, positive president in President Obama. At the end of the day, democracy allows the public to decide who they think is best suited. My hope is that some of the theatrics and the campaign rhetoric dies down and he actually rises to the challenge and governs in a statesperson-like fashion, as opposed to always looking for a disparaging comment about someone or some group.

R: When you were involved in student politics, what were the issues students were concerned about and what were you passionate about fixing?

J: A lot of the same issues that are still around today. The quality of food was a big issue, though it has improved im-

but look at what we do, look at who’s walking the walk.”

Aside from the rallies held in cities across Canada over the weekend, many concerned citizens took to Twitter on Feb. 8 to voice their concerns and called on Trudeau to provide proportionate representation and follow through with electoral reform.

At the Feb. 11 rally, Rae highlighted that a petition

by NDP MP Nathan Cullen, calling for electoral reform, has now amassed over one hundred thousand signatures.

Though Trudeau was not present, Rae addressed him nonetheless, saying, “you have a chance here with this petition to make amends, you can vote in favor of it … but I’m pretty sure you won’t do that. But you will be hearing from me and you’ll be hearing from us again and again and again.”

mensely when I go to the U of O or Carleton now. Making sure that transit was affordable; I remember when I started in City politics we had a referendum for the first U-Pass and the U of O unfortunately rejected the results, even though a majority of students voted for it. So ironically I was very pleased to sign the new pass agreement between the U of O and Carleton as mayor a few years ago.

R: Problems like food insecurity are still a big concern on campuses now— we’ve seen a rise in the use of food banks on campus. What can we do to fix these issues?

J: The challenge is that university has become substantially more expensive to go to than when I was there. Rising tuition has an impact on people’s bottom line, and the inability for people to find good-paying part-time jobs leads people to have to use social services like food banks.

We want to make sure that university isn’t just for the rich and privileged, but for everyone who can get in. I was pleased to see the provincial government bring in free tuition for people who are at a low income. That will help a substantial number of people who are probably using food banks.

Raghad and Mayor Watson also discussed his advocacy on social media, as well as what his next move in politics might be.

For the full interview, please visit the Fulcrum’s website. That’s all for this issue. Join us next time for On the Hill with Raghad Khalil!

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

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news | 5

A&C EDITOR Anchal Sharma arts@thefulcrum.ca

ARTS&CULTURE

(613) 695-0062 @imtherocks

Can you feel the diversity tonight?

U of O’s Intercultural Dialogue Institute holds Rumi-inspired concert for Valentine’s Day Iain Sellers

Staff Contributor

In a world filled with growing anxieties and racial tensions, it can be easy to conform and remain silent, something that Ottawa’s Intercultural Dialogue Institute (IDI) club is working to combat.

On Sunday, Feb. 12, IDI sought to end the silence with an evening of performances that ranged from poetry recitation and speeches to singing. Much of the festivities revolved around the historical figure Rumi, who was an Islamic poet, judge, and scholar in 13th century Persia, and is a bestselling poet in the United States today.

The idea for Rumi Concert Night was originally proposed by the national IDI, and this Sunday event was the first of its kind at the U of O. Despite a blowing snowstorm outside, the seats in Terminus were filled with over 70 people from every age and background.

Javid Moshahed, a thirdyear student and a coordinator within the IDI club, recited “Listen to the Reed Flute,” one of Rumi’s famous poems, in perfectly fluent Persian.

When asked about the motivation for his performance, Moshahed told the Fulcrum that he thought the poem was important because of the philosophical impact that Rumi’s work has on audiences. “(Rumi) is preaching for spiritual awareness so that others should become aware of the separation (between their souls and a divine being).

He gives humans a superiority over other things,” he shared.

Two of the recurring themes in Rumi’s work are love and dialogue, which, according to the IDI club, is one of the main reasons that they chose Rumi as their theme.

Julia Salven, a master’s student and communications representative for the IDI club, explains that “Rumi is all about love, so (we thought) why not

have a Rumi event close to Valentine’s Day?” Following Moshahed’s opening performance, the audience heard speeches about Rumi’s global influence from Angela Sumegi, an associate professor of humanities and religion at Carleton University, and Shehnaz Karim, a B.C.based expert on Islamic studies. They were then treated to an hour of Rumi-inspired music by a live band.

Connor Avery Grant, a third-year student and the master of ceremonies for Rumi Concert Night, first joined the IDI club because of his love for diversity.

“I’ve noticed that there’s almost a lack of appreciation for (diversity) in a lot of people. We see it everyday but we never really stop to think,” shared Grant.

Grant’s thoughts were echoed by many of the performers throughout the night, who encouraged the audience to talk about and express their

love, not hate.

Following the last performance, the audience broke into a unified rhythmic clap with cheers for an encore.

Due to the success of the evening, Salven hopes

that the IDI club will be able to host another concert night sometime next year.

By organizing events like this, Grant says that the aim of the IDI is to help students feel safe and loved when they

openly talk about their culture.

“I also hope, as with all our events, that we get a deeper appreciation of each other’s values and a deeper appreciation of what makes diversity important.”

“ “I also hope, as with all our events, that we get a deeper appreciation of each other’s values and a deeper appreciation of what makes diversity important.”—Connor Avery Grant, a thirdyear student and the master of ceremonies.

The Feb. 12 event featured Shehnaz Karim, an expert on Islamic studies.

Photo: Marta Kierkus.

ALBUM REVIEW: Lupe Fiasco • Drogas Light | 1st & 15th Entertainment | 7/10 Parker Van Wyck fulcrum contributor

In its true form, 2016 was not kind to Lupe Fiasco. The Chicago MC got himself wrapped up in controversy after controversy, from delaying albums to announcing retirement. But despite having a strange year, the everanticipated Drogas Light has finally arrived.

Drogas Light is Fiasco’s first studio LP since 2015’s Tetsuo and Youth, a critically acclaimed and thematically dense opus. It is also the first of three planned releases in 2017. For these reasons the expectations are high for this project—expectations that are met, but not exceeded.

What’s immediately apparent is that Drogas Light is sonically all over the map.

Moving from trap beats, to disco, and then leaping to radio-friendly pop singles, it

6 | ARTS & CULTURE

fits into Fiasco’s discography as a modernization of his previous work—somewhere between Food and Liquor and Lasers.

Lyrically, Fiasco is as varied as his beats, and he doesn’t disappoint in his newest album. Whether he’s covering topics and themes like poverty and systemic racism in America, or personal moments about his mother and other relationships, Fiasco puts a ton of effort and thought into what he wants to say and how he is going to express it.

Take the single “Jump,” for instance. It’s one of the best tracks on the album, with a head bobbing baseline that’s complimented by a gripping narrative about car chases and shootouts.

It’s almost impossible to believe you are listening to the same album when the single

“Kill,”featuring Ty Dolla $ign, pops on. It’s another fantastic track, but for different reasons. It can only be described as a smooth and catchy seven-minute strip club ballad, complete with a conscious twist and a hilarious gospel outro.

However, despite the interesting and dynamic lyrics and high production values on this album, it is far from perfect. The main problem with Drogas Light is in the name: it’s a “light” album.

Fiasco himself admits this fact in a semi-joking tweet reviewing his own album, stating that he took “a very hands off approach” and that Drogas Light was more of a curation of pre-existing material.

While that is not intrinsically bad, the album does suffer in quality and consistency.

This is apparent in the song ”Promise,” which

sounds like a Drake rip-off with half-baked autotuned vocals, topped off with a throwaway string loop reminiscent of something a garage band would come up with.

Another offender is the interlude track “High,” which features awfully pitched vocals that rapidly outstay their welcome.

Furthermore, Fiasco hasn’t avoided his usual pitfalls and struggles with picking hooks, not to mention featured artists. A lot of the guest vocals sound overdone and belted out. Instead of complementing the track, most of his guest singers end up sounding like participants on The Voice. The vocals on “Made in America,” for example, could have been on a top 40 country hit and no one would have been the wiser.

Ultimately, Drogas Light is a mixed bag with more high-

Fiasco’s sixth studio album was released on Feb. 10.

lights than failures, remaining a worthwhile standalone listen for Fiasco’s veteran fans and newcomers alike.

Most importantly, it’s a statement that reads, “if you liked

this, get ready for what’s next.”

Drogas Light was released on Feb. 10 and is available on iTunes.

thefulcrum.ca

Little Victories Coffee opens up in Wellington West

Fulcrum Confessionals: Why feminist and gender studies is both the best and worst thing that’s happened to me

Ottawa duo tackles café scene with specialty brews

company had contracts with over a dozen small and independent coffee shops supplying top shelf coffee beans and training across the Ottawa Valley.

With the wind under their wings, Little Victories was poised to open their first standalone shop.

Staying true to their roots, the café has chosen to exalt all their efforts on their exclusively pour over coffee.

Even their basic latte possessed a complexity not often experienced in conventional coffee shops. The brew managed to be surprisingly full-bodied and tart while possessing a pleasantly sweet aftertaste, all the while maintaining a diverse taste profile that featured notes of wood and plum.

Dark roast coffee has become something of a black sheep in recent years, yet Little Victories managed to bring it back in style with a taste profile almost more reminiscent of beer than classic coffee.

But don’t be scared off by their highend portfolio. Little Victories manages not to break the bank, in fact, it won’t cost much more than your daily Starbucks.

Thompson and Bassett feel that the dominance of large chain stores in the Canadian market has created cracks where the little guy can slip in, and they’re prepared to fully exploit that.

The partners are aiming to open more stores in Ottawa while expanding their wholesale operations.

In a world where McDonald’s has a café menu and Starbucks serves beer, seeing a company with such singular devotion to their core product is a breath of fresh air. Little Victories makes coffee. And they do it with an expertise and nuance unheard of in the mainstream industry.

Eric davison

Staff Contributor Nestled in a nondescript storefront in Little Italy lies Little Victories, a café with an impressive history and an ambitious goal: to bring world class coffee culture to Ottawa.

The Wellington West location celebrated its grand opening on Feb. 3.

Although it was a pretty quiet affair, it represented a watershed moment for the company and is only the first of many events being hosted at their new permanent location.

Featuring baked goods from local Ottawa specialists, the event was an opportunity for fans and friends to celebrate the astonishing progress the brewers have made. To assist in their mission to bring high class coffee culture to Ottawa.

There are some downsides to the venue itself: you won’t find much by way of food, the location is not ideal—it shares space with a bike shop—and I accidentally walked into a marijuana dispensary on my first visit. However, they still make one of the best cups of coffee that I’ve ever had.

Little Victories is the brainchild of Jeremie Thompson and Andrew Bassett, two long-time coffee professionals who became disillusioned with the state of Canada’s café industry. After experiencing the incredible divide in coffee quality between Canada and other parts of the world they felt obligated to help Ottawa compete on the global stage.

Several global sourcing trips later, Little Victories Coffee Roasters began retail and wholesale operations across Ottawa. Within a year the fledgling

Sophia Callis Fulcrum Contributor Coming to the University of Ottawa, I knew I wanted to study something in the field of human rights.

Since I’ve always been passionate about social justice and the well-being of others, I found myself revisiting classes in the field of feminist and gender studies.

My decision was made after some trial and error, and soon all of the following semesters were filled with courses that would change not only my level of knowledge, but also my outlook on the world.

Learning about feminist studies went beyond women’s rights—it taught me about race, class, disability, sexual orientation, and more.

Moreover, it taught me the way in which those markers of social identities materialize in our social world.

I felt enlightened, and still feel as though it’s given me the ability to find answers to why things are the way they are in the world. It asks questions that no one else is willing to ask, and provokes a certain thought process that forces one to stray from their confines of reality.

That being said, my behaviour and thought process throughout the course of my undergrad has changed drastically. With this new insight, I’ve developed certain habits that have made living my everyday life slightly more difficult, and it goes beyond my cynicism of realizing how much change needs to be made.

I constantly find myself deconstructing my every action or thought and relating it back to theories that can explain them.

Whether I’m watching a TV show, movie, reading a book, or listening to music, I am hyper aware of how harmful it is in a greater context.

Long gone are the days that I could listen to Fetty Wap or go on a Sex and the City binge without that little voice making its way into my head.

But what’s become the most difficult is my interactions with others.

Although it is not my intention to undermine anyone’s intelligence, I do find myself harbouring slight judgement onto those that do not seek to understand issues surrounding social justice and, furthermore, those who refute the idea of feminism.

It’s almost unfathomable to me that certain people think in the way that they do, and carry out harmful behaviours towards others. Nonetheless, it is unfair for me to cast such judgement, as it is a part of my studies to understand that people’s experiences form their beliefs and perspectives.

I think what I’ve started to realize is that the goal is to find a balance in my mind. I’m starting to understand that I can turn off the over-analysis from time to time without compromising my stance on feminism, and allow myself to find happiness in my individual life.

To submit a Fulcrum confessional, email arts@ thefulcrum.ca.

Callis shares the way gender studies shaped her view of the world.

Little Victories held its grand opening on Feb. 3.

thefulcrum.ca

Photo: CC, PourquoiPas.

Photo: Marta Kierkus.

ARTS & Culture | 7

The diversity blind spot Are Canadian universities doing their part when it comes to encouraging debate and cultivating ideas?

Diversity is a good thing.

At least, that’s the message echoed throughout many Canadian universities, from the administration to the faculty to the students themselves.

on campus isn’t anything new, especially when the professoriate is concerned.

Back in 2012 this psychology professor from U of T decided to take anecdotal evidence about political uniformity in his own department and turn it into hard data.

“Only people who find that environment congenial are likely to do well, pursue higher education to a post-graduate degree, and then become the next generation of professors.”

However, identity diversity also comes into play when we look at at the intellectual depth of the U of O’s research base.

And why shouldn’t it be?

After all, universities should serve as conduits to distribute knowledge and cultivate debate, a function which is further enriched with participation by students and faculty of varied races, genders, and sexual orientations.

But thanks to an increasingly divisive political climate, a lot of people are starting to question whether or not universities are staying true to their mission statement.

According to Statistics Canada, the Great White North is shaping up to be a lot less “white” in the coming decades, so it makes sense why the University of Ottawa, among other Canadian universities, is striving to make diversity a priority.

However, current research on the diversity of identities of students and faculty on campus shows that campuses in Canada are still predominantly white and male, and that strides in ethnic diversity have been slow.

But when it comes to intellectual diversity, identity diversity isn’t the only element we should be talking about.

This conversation is also relevant when it comes to political diversity. This topic often pops up when a controversial figure is protested, shut down, or disinvited from speaking on a university campus altogether. While this phenomenon is much more pronounced in the United States, the University of Ottawa has seen its fair share of incidents over the years as well.

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter withdrew from a speaking event on campus in 2010 due to a protest that was held outside the venue, and U of O English professor Janice Fiamengo was similarly shut down in 2014 when she tried to give a lecture about men’s rights activism.

Although these figures may espouse views that are far from mainstream, and students in minority groups may not speak to the “mainstream,” more privileged experience of education, universities are a place to wrestle with alternate viewpoints, whether we like them or not.

This is a function that these institutions cannot carry out with a homogenous staff and student body. This concern was even brought up by former U.S. president Barack Obama in his Jan. 10 farewell address.

So, is intellectual diversity on campuses really in dire straits? And if so, how does it affect professors, students, and the administration as a whole?

Faculty To Yoel Inbar, the conversation about a lack of political diversity

With his research partner Joris Lammers, Inbar surveyed 800 academics from Canada, the U.S., and Europe. To him, the results were hardly surprising.

Although conservative attitudes towards economic issues made a decent showing in the survey, the vast majority of these psychology professors considered themselves “liberal” or “very liberal” when it came to foreign policy and social issues.

However, for Inbar, the study did produce one surprising revelation.

“I didn’t think that we would get much when we asked people directly ‘Would you be willing to discriminate against a conservative researcher?’” he said. “As it turns out, a surprisingly high percentage of people said that they would.”

In a follow-up 2016 study, Inbar found that conservative professors were willing to discriminate at virtually the same rate as their liberal counterparts. But since studies show that university faculty have become increasingly left-leaning over the years, much more so than the general population, those numbers don’t bode well for aspiring right-wing academics.

This kind of data comes as even less of a surprise to John Robson who, as a staunch conservative, has been teaching history at various post-secondary schools since the late 1980s.

According to U of O law professor Amir Attaran, the university has not just failed to meet its diversity targets for research chair hiring, but has actually reversed their progress. In an 2016 interview with the Fulcrum, Attaran alleged that the U of O has a “systemic discrimination problem.”

Attaran’s statements align with the U of O’s hiring data, as they have failed completely to hire research chairs that identify as Aboriginal, or a person with a disability. They have also consistently fallen short on their targets for women and visible minorities.

Improving research performance is especially important given the U of O’s fall from grace in last year’s Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings. And according to Daniel Calto of Elsevier, a company that provides research data to THE and QS, identity diversity matters when it comes to research performance.

In fact, Calto says that “On average, work that has even one international author has on average 1.6 times the impact of papers written only by authors in a single country.”

But, despite the restricted state of intellectual diversity among the U of O professoriate, have U of O students been able to resist the draw of intellectual homogeneity?

Students

While Robson said his political views never caused any tension during his time teaching at the U of O, he’s definitely raised a couple eyebrows in the past.

“Even at the University of Texas I found that I was considered something of an oddball,” he said. “I did have one department chairman, years ago, tell me that they would not have hired me if they had known that I was so conservative.”

Robson believes that this kind of status quo was established during 1960s, where social revolutionaries flocked to university campuses and simply never left.

It turns out that this kind of uniformity isn’t relegated to the dimly lit offices of university professors.

According to U of O alumnus Hadyn Place, it trickles down to the student level as well.

Place believes this climate manifests itself in the realm of student politics, where student unions like the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) only cater to a small minority of students.

“The executives in the past are sort of blind to a lot of the diversity of opinion and thought at the school,” Place said in a 2014 interview with the Fulcrum, after announcing his candidacy for vice-president equity in that year’s SFUO election. “It’s sort of a one-sided, hardcore left-wing approach to what student government should be.”

Place admits, in retrospect, that his plans to cut cornerstones of the VP equity position—like the Women’s Resource Centre and Pride Centre—probably didn’t make him the most appealing candidate.

“It was more to prove a point,” he said to the Fulcrum in January 2017, talking about how he wanted to “give a voice” to the students who didn’t feel represented by the SFUO’s politics.

While Davis Whittington-Heeney, co-president of the U of O NDP, says that his values mostly align with the current SFUO executive, he admits that they need to do a better job of appealing to new students.

“It’s very clear that the SFUO needs to hit the reset button in terms of how it engages with students, and it’s currently failing at that,” he said. “They need to not be so insular and not only cater to people who, during the first year, know all the (progressive) lingo from Tumblr.”

According to Marisa Maslink, current president of the U of O Campus Conservatives, the limited scope of student government is a disservice to people of all political stripes.

Even though it’s an improvement over last year, the 2017 SFUO general election voter turnout still sits at around 14.6 per cent, which pales in comparison to our cross-town rival Carleton, who managed to get 37 per cent of the student body to vote in their last election.

“I don’t think it’s about running as a conservative. It’s about running as the person who will change things,” said Maslink. “If that person turns out to be a conservative then that’s even better, but it’s important to run as a person who recognizes the current problem and why we’re in such a state of apathy.”

Administration

Regaining some kind of balance

In Robson’s mind, one of the biggests faults of many university administrations is not an institutional or political bias. Rather, it’s their tendency to fold under pressure.

In terms of how universities can increase intellectual diversity on Canadian campuses, there is no one universal answer.

“They will cancel speeches rather than risk having security ensure that an invited guest is able to give a presentation. They will discipline a faculty member reflexively if anybody complains about them. And then they find themselves exposed to public ridicule and, in fact, the possibility of legal action because, in an amazing number of cases, they react without following their own due process.”

While Inbar still believes that most campuses lean in one direction politically, he knows that the desire to correct this imbalance is coming from all directions—left, right, and everywhere in between.

U of O engineering professor David Spinello says this situation is exacerbated by the fact that hiring practices have dramatically turned in favour of the administration for the last couple decades.

“If you look at the amount of administrative people that were hired in the past 20 years versus the amount of faculty members, there has been a boom in administrative people,” said Spinello.

Spinello argues that this change shifts the university’s focus away from its original intended goal.

“Universities are much more concerned with preventing anything from happening and doing damage control.

Unfortunately, this implies hiring many administrative persons dedicated to these kinds of activities rather than scholarly and academic activities.”

Spinello believes that this focus isn’t doing any favours for the vast majority of students who, in his mind, want to engage with uncomfortable ideas and prepare for life outside university.

In an email to the Fulcrum, Patrick Charette, director of institutional communications for the U of O, wrote that it’s premature to comment on the university’s priorities since they are currently in the process of figuring out how to mitigate their current deficit.

Whether or not this means a continued emphasis on the administration in favour of academics remains to be seen.

For this reason, academics like Inbar and Spinello are members of the Heterodox Academy, a bipartisan organization that boasts over 350 members and aims to, according to their website, “increase viewpoint diversity in the academy.”

“In the same way that we wouldn’t want a faculty that was all white men … we wouldn’t want a faculty that is all only left wing,” said Inbar.

Attaran thinks that intellectual diversity among professors could be preserved with more regulation on the Canada Research Chairs program from the government, and removal of funding in the cases where universities do not comply with their targets.

Spinello hopes that universities will, through hiring practices, refocus their attention on learning as opposed to bureaucracy and public relations.

Robson believes that a much better way to hold administrations accountable is to privatize all universities, as, in his mind, this move would help put students “in a better position to dictate to the administration when something stupid happens.”

Until a long-term solution is found, Inbar urges students, faculty, and administrators to keep an open mind when they are confronted with views alternate to their own.

“In the long run, I don’t think we’re ever going to get to parity. I think that seems ridiculous. But even having one or two profs (in each department) who are willing to argue for an alternative viewpoint can be super useful in keeping everybody honest.”

Illustration: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR Nico Laliberté sports@thefulcrum.ca

(613) 695-0062 @FulcrumSports

Women’s volleyball gets crucial win vs. Montréal Gees treat fans to thrilling victory in final home game of regular season the third, the Gees totally outplayed the Carabins, easily downing them 25–15.

Montréal was determined not to go down without a fight in the fourth set, and played the U of O close the entire frame. However, the Gees eventually came out on top, winning the fourth set 25–23.

After the game, head coach Lionel Woods praised his team’s character in coming back to win the entire match.

“To start the way they did, most teams would have packed up tents and gone home the way that first set went. We made adjustments on what it was that was causing that, and it took them two sets to trust us to do it. They did it, they bought in, they had the right attitude again, and we (won).”

Fifth-year setter Kira Tome credited the Gees’ ability to come back in the second set to their “team-first mentality.”

“In the first set we just decided we

Nico Laliberté Sports Editor

After pulling off an impressive 3–0 victory against the Université du Québec à Montréal Citadins on Feb. 10, the University of Ottawa women’s volleyball team geared up for their final home game of the regular season the very next day.

The Gees fans were out in full force as they took on the first-place Université de Montréal Carabins, and the home team did not disappoint.

As has been the case a number of times this season, the Gees got off to a slow start, going down 16–5 in the first set. They did their best to come back, but still lost the set 25–17.

The second set didn’t start out much better, with the Carabins taking a 17–8 lead. But the Gees demonstrated a no-quit attitude that has become a trademark of the team, and fought back to win the set 25–22.

Carrying that momentum into

team showed that they are more than capable of competing with the Carabins.

“We can play toe-to-toe with them, as long as we’re putting our first contact somewhere in the circle to play with.

Tome said the focus going into the final two games of the regular season will be on continuing to grow together as a team.

“We’ll have to maybe adjust some things, but most of all (we want to focus on) just being together and enjoying it and having fun and keeping that atmosphere even when we’re down five, ten points.”

The Gees now sit in a four-way tie for second in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec with 18 points.

They have a double-header against Laval next weekend to close out the regular season.

The Gees’ final two regular-season games will take place in Laval on Feb. 18 and 19. The playoffs are scheduled to start on Feb. 24.

The Gees avoided being swept in their season series against UQAM with a 3–0 win.

Photo: Marta Kierkus.

can either look down and just give in to the game and let them beat us, or we can fight back,” said Tome.

“We knew we came down from a lot and really fought back. So I think we were feeling good going into the

second set knowing that we can play together and we continued that atmosphere all the way through.”

Despite the point difference in the standings (Montréal has 26 points to Ottawa’s 18), Woods thought his

Gees come away with two wins after sloppy start Men’s basketball recovers just in time with a big victory over Queen’s Gees led 39–29 heading into halftime.

After the break, the Lions put on a very solid performance, outscoring the Gees 17–12 in the third quarter to reduce the Gees’ lead to 51–46. Good defensive play and a poor offensive performance led to the Lions making the game increasingly interesting.

Head coach James Derouin was definitely not expecting the last quarter to be as close as it was, with both teams going back and forth throughout the final frame.

The Lions scored 13 points in the final 4:33 of play, but failed to score on a final buzzer beater, and the Gees escaped by the skin of their teeth with a 70–69 win. Presutti hit two key freethrows just before the buzzer beater attempt, an instrumental play to hand the Gees the victory.

Presutti and Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles were key offensively in this Friday match, with 18- and 15-point performances, respectively.

Much of York’s success was generated on the glass as they had a big 39–23 advantage on the boards, which could be a cause of concern for the Gees going into the playoffs.

zack goobie

associate Sports Editor The University of Ottawa men’s basketball team traveled to Toronto and Kingston to face off against York University and Queen’s University.

The Gee-Gees came away with two victories despite a lackluster start to the weekend.

York On Friday, Feb. 10, the Gees edged out the York Lions ever so slightly by the score of 70–69. The Lions, who hold a 4–14 record, almost caused a huge upset against the nationally third-ranked Gee-Gees.

The first quarter was evidence of things to come in the game. It took a late three-pointer by Adam Presutti to give the Gees a 20–19 advantage going into the second quarter.

The Garnet and Grey looked to take control of the game with a big drive at the end of the quarter, scoring eight points around the one-minute mark.

The Gees took their biggest lead of the game thanks to Gage Sabean’s clutch three-pointer with mere seconds left in the second quarter. The

10 | SPORTS

The Gees improved to 15–5 ahead of their final weekend.

Queen’s The Gees responded well to their shaky performance against the Lions with a huge 72–50 win over the Queen’s Golden Gaels on Saturday Feb. 11.

Matt Plunkett’s hot shooting from behind the line resulted in the Gees taking a 22–17 advantage in the first quarter. The U of O looked like a much better team compared to the day before, holding an eight-point lead with

The final quarter saw the Gees shoot an impressive 53.3 per cent from the floor and limit the Gaels to just 35.7 per cent on their way to a 18–14 advantage in the quarter, and a 72–50 win.

Overall, this match served as a great response to the Gees’ subpar effort the day before, which is even more impressive considering they were without their top scorer Caleb Agada, who was injured in the game against York.

The Gees were great rebounding the ball with a 46–31 advantage after being hammered on the boards, and Brody Maracle led the Gees with 15 points.

With the playoffs coming up, it’s very encouraging to see that the Gees are still capable of recovering from a bad outing within a 24-hour period.

The Gees’ final two home games will take place on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18 at Montpetit Hall against the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. Tickets can be purchased from the Gee-Gees’ website.

Photo: Courtesy of Greg Mason.

two minutes to go in the period.

The second quarter saw the Gees really take over the contest. Gage Sabean scored 12 points in less than a minute to help the Gees take a 39–27 lead heading into the second half.

The third quarter highlighted the Gees’ defensive power, as the team limited the Gaels to nine points and 23.1 per cent shooting from the field. At the end of the quarter the Garnet and Grey held a convincing 54–36 lead.

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Gees split last two games on the road before final homestand Besselink, strong defensive play continues to be driving force for the team zack goobie

associate Sports Editor The University of Ottawa women’s basketball team split a two-game series against two Ontario University Athletics rivals, the York University Lions and the Queen’s University Golden Gaels on Feb. 10 and 11, respectively.

York The Garnet and Grey pulled out a tight, hard-fought 62–54 victory on Feb. 10, with help from a great second quarter on the defensive side of the ball.

A tight first quarter saw the Gees trail from start to finish, although they never let the York Lions’ lead grow past six points. Julia Soriano hit a nice jumper just before the end of the quarter to trim the York advantage to 15–14.

Head coach Andy Sparks’ team came into the second quarter with a real defensive swagger, allowing the Lions to only score five points. The Gees forced five turnovers in the frame and got a huge boost

from Sarah Besselink, who scored eight points in the second half of the period.

At the half, the U of O held a 29–20 lead, with great work on the defensive end.

Julia Dostaler scored at 3:05 of the third quarter to get the Gees lead to 41–30, their first double digit lead of the game.

Jennifer Crowe converted a basket with 57 seconds left to close out the quarter and give the U of O a 46–36 lead.

The Lions reduced their deficit to five points at the eightminute mark of the game, but that was as close as they would get. Soriano hit a three-pointer with 3:05 to go to ultimately put the game to bed.

The Gees took the game 62– 54, despite shooting a poor 33.3 per cent from the field and 25 per cent from behind the arc.

Defense was key for the Gees, who forced an impressive 28 turnovers and converted on 25 points off the Lions’ miscues.

Veterans Besselink and Soriano combined for 25 points to propel their team on the offensive end.

The women hold an 11–6 record heading into their final home games.

Queen’s In their second contest in as many days, the Gees took on the nationally third-ranked, and undefeated, Queen’s University Golden Gaels and gave them a tight game for three quarters, before ultimately losing 55–44.

The first quarter saw the

Gaels lead from start to finish, going up 12–3 by the 5:01 mark of the period. An Isabelle Dion basket cut the lead to 14–9 with 27 seconds left in the frame, and that’s where the score stood going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter the Gees showed that they could

Photo: Courtesy of Greg Mason.

play with the Gaels. The U of O tied Queen’s on two occasions, but couldn’t manage to take the lead. Marianne Alarie scored ten points in the quarter for the Gaels, who led 30–25 at half.

In the second half, the Gees made it a one-point game off a basket from Brooklynn McA-

lear-Fanus with eight minutes to play in the quarter, but again couldn’t get ahead. The Gaels took a 42–37 lead into the fourth quarter.

The final period showed why the Gaels are nationally ranked third, as they played tight defense to limit the Gees to seven points on the offensive end. The Gees had five turnovers in the quarter and 16 on the game, which Queen’s converted into 17 points.

The Gaels took the game by a final score of 55–44. The Gees’ woes from beyond the three-point arc were showcased all game as they only converted on one of ten attempts.

Besselink lead the Gees with 13 points, and was the only player on her team to be in double figures.

The Gees’ final two home games will take place on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18 at Montpetit Hall against the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, respectively. Tickets can be purchased from the GeeGees’ website.

Gee-Gees blow early lead in third-period

Montreal comes from behind to take the game by a final score of 6–2 Kyle Darbyson managing editor

As the regular season comes to a close, the University of Ottawa women’s hockey team were on the road facing off against the Université de Montreal Carabins on Friday, Feb. 10.

Despite starting out strong the Gee-Gees fell apart in the third period, allowing the Carabins to score a flurry of goals that let them take the game 6–2.

While a final score like this usually indicates a complete blowout from start to finish, the first 50 minutes of regulation time showcased a very competitive match between both teams.

Unlike their Feb. 4 game against the Concordia Stingers, the Gees were able to generate some potent offense right off the bat, with forward Cindy Laurin scoring two goals

within the first ten minutes of the first period.

From there both teams engaged in rigorous back and forth play, with the Gees’ defence and goaltender Émilie Bouchard doing a great job at protecting their 2–0 lead.

However, the Carabins would score with just over a minute left in the first, which would signal the beginning of the end for the Garnet and Grey.

Even though Mélodie Bouchard’s return to the lineup on Friday breathed new life into the Gees’ offense, penalty trouble provided Montreal with another goal halfway through the second period, which tied up the game up at 2–2.

The major turning point in the game came halfway through the third period, where a lazy tripping penalty from Julie Lévesque put the Carabins on the power-play yet again. Not only did Montreal forward

The Gees head into their final game of the regular season with a 9–10–1 record.

Jessica Cormier score as a result of this penalty, but she also buried the puck with a stellar slapshot minutes later to make it a 4–2 Carabins advantage.

At that point the Gees’ offence dried up, and the

team only managed three shots on net the entire period. Not even an extra attacker could generate any substantial scoring opportunities for the Garnet and Grey, while Montreal managed to score on the

Photo: Marta Kierkus.

empty net to make it 5–2.

To add insult to injury, Cormier found the back of the net yet again with a single second left in the game, securing herself the hat trick and 6–2 victory for the Carabins.

thefulcrum.ca

“We need to play a better team game, as we did in the first period,” said head coach Yanick Evola, looking ahead to their final game in the season. “I think this is the direction we’re trying to head in right now and I have confidence that we can bounce back.”

With the playoffs rapidly approaching, Evola said that his team needs to step up their game and play more consistently like they did in the front half of the season.

“We’re still working towards that great peak we had at some point during the season. We know we can do it, we’ve played some really good hockey, so we need to be ‘superstars’ now.”

The last game of the Gees’ regular season is a rematch against the Carabins on Friday, Feb. 17 in Montreal.

Playoffs are expected to start during reading week.

Sports | 11

OPINIONS

OPINIONS EDITOR Eric Davidson

opinions@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0062 @eric_davidson93

How should Trudeau handle Trump?

Should PM push Canadian ideals or be wary of economic consequences?

Justin Trudeau was elected in Canada on the promise of embracing diversity and inclusion. On this point, and several others, Trudeau’s viewpoint stands in stark contrast to the newly elected United States president Donald Trump and his tendency towards isolationism.

So, in the wake of his first official meeting with Trump on Monday, Feb. 13, how should Trudeau tackle this diplomatic minefield going forward?

Doing more to fight Trump would be a mistake

When Donald Trump won the U.S. election in November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement that said he looked “forward to working very closely with President Trump.” But after Trump’s first month in office, during which he introduced legislation to carry out many of his shocking election promises, Trudeau should no longer turn a blind eye.

During his time in office, Trudeau has demonstrated over and over again that he can be eloquent. But offering an infinite amount of praise to Canada for not being like the U.S. does not take the place of real action.

Trump’s recent executive order barring U.S. travel for people from seven Muslim majority countries, as well as temporarily blocking refugee resettlement, is one of the most impactful and unexpected actions so far.

Trudeau responded to this order with a tweet: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”

This message sounds nice and was retweeted over 428,000 times, but it has not lead to any policy changes to date.

When asked by Thomas Mulcair during Question Period on Jan. 31 why he would not denounce the travel ban, Trudeau hid behind his concern for the economy: “We need to make sure that we are protecting Canadian jobs by having a constructive working relationship with our most important trade partner and ally.”

Of course the economy is important, but is it worth sacrificing our values in order to pander to our southern neighbour’s erratic leader?

According to the U.K. and Germany, the answer is no. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the travel ban “in no way justified” and British Prime Minister Theresa May publically expressed disagreement with the ban as well.

The massacre at a Quebec City mosque last month, as well as numerous reports of hate crimes happening across the country, has forced Canadians to face the fact that hatred exists here too. And when we have a prime minister who has not publically denounced the discriminatory rhetoric growing south of the border, it contributes to the normalization of xenophobia and racism in the Great White North.

There’s a lot of opportunity for the government to act. The New Democratic Party has proposed that the government offer a home to refugees bound for the U.S., raise its 2017 cap on privately sponsored refugees, and suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement.

Canadians are known as a people who are overly polite and don’t like to offend others, but Trudeau needs to gather his courage and speak out against this bully.

The drive to define our country’s patchwork culture is a constant challenge, but it’s arguably our diversity that unites us. We don’t have much that ties us together, and if we lose these values there won’t be much left.

As Mulcair told Trudeau during Question Period last month, “it is always the role of the Canadian Prime Minister to stand up to racism and hatred.”

Trudeau needs to fulfil this role.

—Janoah Willsie, Staff Contributor.

Soon after Donald Trump was elected President, Trudeau issued an invitation for him to visit Canada.

For many Canadians, Trump’s election alone has been enough to make them gag, and the idea of him visiting our country is nauseating. Some even feel that this goes against the principles and Canadian values that Trudeau has espoused.

Additionally, the recent shooting in Quebec has many Canadians nervous that Trump’s rhetoric may be seeping into the national consciousness. Many believe he should have been officially uninvited.

So, what is the best way for Trudeau to address these concerns going forward?

Well, firstly, it’s important to note that Trudeau is dealing with approximately $541 billion in American trade, a number has been rising 4.5 per cent annually between 1993 and 2016. As cited by Global Affairs Canada, there are 3.3 million Canadian jobs tied with American trade, comparable to nine million American jobs tied with Canadian trade. There are literally millions affected

by Canada’s relationship with the U.S. The United States and Canada have an intensely interwoven relationship that far predates Trump, and there is no quick fix to extricate ourselves from American ties. It’s unfortunate, but Trudeau can’t just close the door on the U.S. altogether.

Secondly, Trudeau doesn’t get a say in American policy. Clearly, the greater issue for many isn’t the economy—it’s a clear question of human rights. Some Canadians want Trudeau to issue a strong stance that Trump’s divisive rhetoric will not be tolerated. Fair enough. After all, there are legitimate reasons to fear Trump, and we need a leader who will stand up against a potential fascist.

But let’s review what’s already happened. On Jan. 28 Trudeau tweeted “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength. #WelcomeToCanada.” The tweet is diplomatically worded, but is unmistakably a response to Trump’s Muslim travel ban.

After Fox News falsely reported that the Quebec shooting was done by a Moroccan, they publicly apologized and deleted the report after Trudeau’s office issued an overtly furious letter.

“These tweets dishonour … the memory of the six victims by spreading misinformation, playing identity politics, and perpetuating fear and division within our communities.”

Through actions like this, Trudeau has not been silent in the face of recent events. He has made Canada’s position globally known and in direct opposition to Trump’s fear-mongering politics.

The unfortunate truth is that as long as Trump has a passport, he can visit Canada. In the meantime, Trudeau can only manage Canadian interests.

It is his responsibility to maintain our values through his own actions, not Trump’s. It’s also his responsibility to ensure we remain strong as a country economically.

The prime minister may be dreading the idea of shaking Trump’s short-fingered hand, but you’d have to be a fool to swat at a nesting eagle without an end game.

—Erica Endemann, Fulcrum Contributor.

12 | OPINIONS

POINT

COUNTERPOINT

Trudeau needs to push back harder against Trump

thefulcrum.ca

Junos need to highlight success of women in the music industry Staggeringly few females have been nominated as engineers and producers Eric Davidson Opinions Editor

In the lead up to the 2017 Juno Awards, indie-pop duo Tegan and Sara called out this year’s ceremony for the low number of women nominees. And the numbers back them up—not just for this year, but in years past as well.

This year, the single of the year, artist of the year, and album of the year categories each feature only one woman each.

There are several options available to increase the number of women highlighted at the Junos, from looking at the selection process within the Junos, to how the Canadian government controls what content is played on commercial radio stations.

But before prescribing solutions, we need to look at the numbers and see what the real trends are. Because it turns out that the underrepresentation of women at the Junos goes beyond singles and album awards.

Over the past ten years, men have been more likely to get most of the big Juno awards than women. For example, since 2007, men have won 38 singles of the year and 43 albums of the year, while women won 16 and 13 respectively.

Already we’re seeing serious underrepresentation, but the really surprising numbers come in the producer of the year and engineer of the year categories.

Women have only received nine nominations for producer of the year

Indie-pop band Tegan and Sara have called out the Junos for featuring too few women.

over the past ten years, and no nominations at all for engineer of the year. Men won 53 and 55, respectively.

While there is a very stark contrast here, you might ask why these categories are so important.

It turns out that producers and engineers aren’t just soulless automatons who press buttons and dial in the auto-tune.

They have a clear voice in how a musician’s sound is created. Producers especially are known

Photo: CC, Justin Higuchi.

for helping to shape an artist’s music.

So if all the producers and engineers are being drawn from only one half of our population, we’re missing out on a lot of talented people who could be shaping

our music in a positive way. This is especially important in the Canadian music industry, which is always struggling to distinguish itself from the American musical behemoth.

Not only are the roles of producers and engineers important for shaping the industry, but they’re stable, fulfilling, and potentially lucrative careers. If a large swath of the population isn’t getting involved, we should be trying to figure out why.

Canada is not alone on this issue. Over the years, the producer of the year category at the Grammys has been equally dominated by men. But maybe in our smaller industry, it will take less effort to turn things around.

Shopify shouldn’t be forced to drop Breitbart

We can’t coerce businesses to impose political consensus, despite toxic climate Nicholas Robinson staff contributor

It’s not often that Ottawa is the centre of a heated political debate that doesn’t involve Parliament. So it must come to some of our politicians’ relief that, this time, the big story has to do with Shopify, an Ottawa-based business.

For those of you who don’t know, Shopify offers e-commerce platforms for other companies’ online stores. One of those other organizations is none other than Breitbart, an American far-right news site. As the far-right rises in the United States and around the world, so does the reaction against it, and Shopify has come under strong pressure to stop selling to Breitbart.

There is a very strong argument to be made for dropping Breitbart, since they make a habit of ped-

A petition has been circulating for Shopify to drop Breitbart news as a client.

dling, to put it mildly, utter neo-Nazi alt-right rubbish. It pushes an agenda that is racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, to name a few—not to mention that that it also pushes a plethora of conspiracy theories. With all the hate and fear that’s circulating in the world

right now, it would be the decent and responsible thing to do to deny these extremists a platform from which they could further their agenda.

That’s what the debate is fundamentally about: corporate responsibility.

But do businesses have any responsibilities be-

Photo: Parker Townes.

yond following the law?

And if they do, what are those responsibilities?

A business is essentially a bunch of people who get together and work to sell a product and/or service.

A business like Shopify is also private, and sells their service for a profit.

So what responsibilities

does a private, for-profit group have towards the greater public?

The answer is simple: the only responsibility a business has towards the public is to not unfairly damage stuff or people that isn’t the property of the business. In other words: the business’ freedom to swing its arm ends at someone else’s nose.

So the question is whether Shopify’s hosting of Breitbart is hitting someone’s nose. On the one hand, Breitbart is contributing to a poisonous political climate. On the other hand, a forced political consensus is also damaging. Whether Shopify has a responsibility to stop hosting Breitbart or not basically comes down to a decision over which option is less damaging.

In my mind, a forced political consensus is worse.

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Of course, it doesn’t seem obvious when Breitbart is the outlier, but remember that the consensus will always change. It wasn’t that long ago that slavery was deemed acceptable by a large portion of the population. Assuming that businesses have a responsibility to follow the political consensus, no matter how much sense that consensus makes, is dangerous.

Ultimately, Shopify has the right to host Breitbart—that’s their choice.

And that’s the beauty of the free market: choice.

We, as customers, have just as much right to not buy from Shopify or from any other business that uses their services. And now that this Ottawabased company is hitching its wagon to organizations like Breitbart, it might not be a bad idea to exercise that right.

OPINIONS | 13

World in desperate need of “Leo level” Oscar win

Academy pressured to select rich, good looking actor everyone can rally behind kyle darbyson Managing editor Now that the 2017 Oscars festivities are only days away, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is hoping to provide an uplifting, underdog narrative that can unite the world in perfect harmony.

“It’s going to be tough to top Leo’s big moment from last year,” said Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, recalling how actor and sentient man bun Leonardo DiCaprio finally snagged a Best Actor award back in early 2016.

“It’s not everyday that a rich, handsome actor with millions of worldwide fans gets the recognition he deserves.”

The Academy’s decision to award DiCaprio with an Oscar for his beardy performance in The Revenant was met with widespread praise and celebration across the globe, from the sweltering streets of New Delhi to the basement of the

Laurier Avenue Royal Oak. And with today’s political climate being more divisive than ever, Isaacs said repeating this unifying event is not just a welcome distraction—it’s a necessity.

“When people are in need of spiritual fulfillment and guidance, they always turn to Hollywood for help,” she said. “The acting community has already solved big problems like global warming, so this year we’re hoping that whoever wins brings everyone together on contentious issues—like whether or not we should put pineapple on our pizza.”

While the Academy usually picks its nominees for major acting categories by drawing names out of a hat, Isaacs reveals that this year’s lineup was selected with a specific “underdog” quality in mind.

“In show business terms, a lot of these guys are kind of slumming it,” she said, noting that none of this year’s nominees were able to crack

This year’s ceremony will have a lot to live up to following Leo’s miraculous Oscar win in 2016.

Illustration: Anastasiia Cherygova.

Forbes’ list of the 30 highest paid actors in the world.

“I mean, look at Andrew Garfield.

He’s never been the same after he stopped getting those Spider-Man cheques. These days, he’s forced settle for a life of semi-luxury by

flying first class instead of taking his own private jet, just like most people.”

But money isn’t the only determining factor in the Academy’s search for a new man or woman “of the people.”

Isaacs said that physical attractiveness is also taken into consideration, which is why she thinks that mostly good looking actor Ryan Gosling could be a dark horse contender for his performance in La La Land.

“Ryan’s got it pretty rough,” she said. “Did you know that he’s never been voted People magazine’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive?’ Plus, some people make fun of him because his eyes are a little too close together. These are classic foibles than almost anyone can relate to.”

While some film critics and press outlets are reluctant to embrace Hollywood’s new version of the “scrappy average joe,” Isaac said that the Oscars have to evolve with the times in order to remain relevant.

“If the recent U.S. election is anything to go by, people’s idea of what constitutes a true ‘underdog story’ is way different from what it was in 2015.”

Weather Network gives up trying to predict Ottawa’s forecast Nation’s capital defies meteorology, soothsayers, and pleas to ancient gods Eric Davidson Tomato Editor The Weather Network has officially announced that it will give up on trying to cover Ottawa.

“We’ve tried our hardest to predict the weather in this fine city, but it’s time to throw in the towel,” said Patrick Graham, a spokesperson for the Weather Network.

During Graham’s press conference outside of City Hall, the freezing February wind came to a halt and the temperature soared to around 10 °C. According to some onlookers, it almost appeared like the ancient weather gods were relishing in their triumph over mere mortals.

Graham went on to say that Environment Canada had tried every available option to nail down those pesky Ottawa temperatures.

The Weather Network has officially thrown in the towel in Ottawa.

Photo: The Weather Network. Edits: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

“We started with the usual mathematical models, but it was clear early on that that wasn’t going to work,” he said. “Then we got creative, analyzing tea leaves, hiring a soothsayer, and praying to the Greek god Apollo—but nothing worked.”

“We even tried a rain dance once,” he added sheepishly.

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Graham’s press conference came to an abrupt end when he was struck in the face with a volley of hail five minutes later. He was heard muttering “curse you, Ottawa,” as he was rushed off to the hospital.

“Let’s be honest, not much will change now that the Weather Network has abandoned us,” said

Ottawa resident Thomas Bilton.

“Are any of us surprised when the weather shifts from frosty to tropical over the span of our lunch break?”

Head of the Weather Network, Mateo Rologist, could not be reached for comment. Sources say he’s been rocking slowly back and forth for the past week whispering “they’ve broken it.”

“I think it adds character to the city,” said Betty Kelly, a denizen of downtown Ottawa. “I mean, where else do you have days in February that feel warmer than some days in September?”

The City of Ottawa has also been embracing the new “anything goes” weather forecasts.

Last week it advertised the canal as “Canada’s longest skating rink … or swimming pool. Depends on the day really.”

Throughout the month of February, the City has also warmly

welcomed visitors to “Winterlude/Waterlude maybe,” where guests can expect “beautiful ice sculptures or, if you’re lucky, dazzling puddles.”

Organizers are staying proactive, prompting tourists to “dress warmly to stave off frostbite. But you should also be ready to cast off your winter clothing to avoid heatstroke.”

Mayor Jim Watson is trying to use Ottawa’s infamous weather to boost the city’s image. His stated goal is to turn Ottawa from “the city that fun forgot,” into “the city that took down the Weather Network.”

Graham said that this setback will let the Weather Network focus on other important projects.

“The extra time and resources will allow us to more accurately predict the one sunny day in Vancouver this year.”

THE TOMATo | 14

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DISTRACTIONS Dear Di,

Dear Di

FEATURES EDITOR Alexa-Eliza Carter

features@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0062 @aecart043

Dear Di,

I’ve been dating this guy for the past couple weeks and I’m ready to have sex with him. The only catch is that he mentioned how he doesn’t like tattoos on women, and I have tattoos on my chest and back. I haven’t told him yet because I’m scared I might drive him away. What should I do?

I’ve recently found myself watching porn a lot more, and I don’t know why. Most of my female friends talk negatively about porn, so I feel a bit guilty as a woman who indulges in it on the regular. Is there something wrong with me?

-Guilty Pleasures

-Tattooed and Timid

Dear TT,

Dear GP,

Tattoos and piercings can often create some tension in the bedroom. While some people hate them, others are wildly turned on by them.

When it comes to your partner, the more obvious solution to this dilemma is to talk with him. As with all potentially volatile situations, communication is key and might help you avoid that awkward moment when he finally lifts up your shirt and he sees your tats.

Before you have sex with him, you might want to subtly ask him why he doesn’t like tattoos, and try understanding his point of view. There’s a chance that once he sees your ink in the flesh he won’t mind them at all, but it’s best to work that out before you start stripping.

What’s most important is that you feel confident in your own skin. Someone you are intimate with should enjoy your body, with or without tattoos.

If you are starting to feel less attractive because of your ink, then he is not the right person for you.

If your partner will not accept an integral part of your body and personality, he’s gotta go. Personal preference is one thing, but feeling uncomfortable because of your looks is another.

Not to worry. I can assure you that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. The adult entertainment industry has slowly started trying to appeal more to women. In fact, according to the Independent, more than a third of women watch porn weekly.

Though the industry itself is far from perfect in its treatment of women, watching porn can be an easy and safe way to discover what turns you on.

It allows us to explore sexual activities that we might otherwise not be comfortable doing ourselves. The myth that women only watch porn in order to better please their partner has thankfully been debunked. According to a survey done by the American magazine MarieClaire, only 12 per cent of women claim that they like porn because it helps them understand what their partner likes.

Another reason why you might be enjoying porn is because you spend a lot less time consuming than actually having sex. Almost three-quarters of women agree that the main reason why they watch porn regularly is because it’s a quick road to an orgasm.

If you aren’t experiencing any sexual disinterest toward your boyfriend, then your porn-watching habit shouldn’t worry you too much.

Adult films might just be helping you discover what you like in bed, and, more importantly, how to please yourself.

Love, Di

Love, Di

16 | DISTRACTIONS

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Feb. 16–Mar. 2, 2017

THRYLLABUS

MUSIC arts Sports

FUN Thinking

Thursday, Feb. 16

Sunday, Feb. 19

Thursday, Feb. 23

Sens Rink of Dreams skating, Winterlude, Marion Dewar Plaza—10 a.m.

Disney On Ice, Canadian Tire Place—10:30 a.m.

Friday, Feb. 17

Snowtime! (FrenchCanadian animated film presented in 3D), Winterlude, Canadian Museum of History—10 a.m.

Winter Brewfest, opening day, Lansdowne Park—6 p.m.

Blue Rodeo (with The Sadies), National Arts Centre—8 p.m.

Gee-Gees women’s basketball vs. University of Toronto, Montpetit Hall—6 p.m.

Gee-Gees men’s basketball vs. University of Toronto, Montpetit Hall—8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 18 Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival, Dow’s Lake— 11:15 a.m.

Gee-Gees women’s basketball vs. Ryerson, Montpetit Hall—6 p.m.

Gee-Gees men’s basketball vs. Ryerson, Montpetit Hall—8 p.m.

Amy Schumer, #SchumerTour, Canadian Tire Centre—8 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 20 E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Mayfair Theatre—10 a.m.

Extreme Aerial Acrobatic and Trampo-wall Show, Winterlude, JacquesCartier Park—11:30 a.m.

Ottawa 67’s vs. London Knights, TD Place—2 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 21 Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts 2016, ByTowne Cinema—7:10 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 22 Paterson (starring Adam Driver), ByTowne Cinema—9:15 p.m.

Ottawa Boat Show, EY Centre—11 a.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25 Winter Market, Shenkman Arts Centre—10 a.m.

Blind Witness, A scar for the Wicked, Held in Secret, Fractures & Outlines, Hybridreams, Ringwraith, Mavericks—6:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 26 The OOPS Avengers, Shenkman Arts Centre—2:30 p.m.

The 89th Academy Awards Pre-Show & Ceremony, Mayfair Theatre—7 p.m.

Thursday, Mar. 2 Harry Potter Trivia, must pre-register, LIVE! on Elgin—7:30 p.m.

Infinity, debut of local playwright Hannah Moscovitch, National Arts Centre—8 p.m.

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DISTRACTIONS | 17

18 | LETTERS

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Volume 77, Issue 19, feb. 16, 2017 Talking SFUO shenanigans since 1942.

Phone: (613) 695-0061 | Fax: (613) 695-9006 631 King Edward Ave. Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Recycle this, or we’ll steal your Oscar.

Savannah “Charlotte E. Ray” Awde Editor-in-Chief editor@thefulcrum.ca Kim “Langston Hughes” Wiens Production Manager production@thefulcrum.ca Kyle “Crispus Attucks” Darbyson Managing Editor content@thefulcrum.ca Graham “Marsha P. Johnson” Robertson News Editor news@thefulcrum.ca Anchal “Claudette Colvin” Sharma Arts and Culture Editor arts@thefulcrum.ca Alexa-Eliza “Michelle Obama” Carter Features Editor features@thefulcrum.ca Nico “Jesse Owens” Laliberte Sports Editor sports@thefulcrum.ca Eric “Barack Obama” Davidson Opinions Editor opinions@thefulcrum.ca Jaclyn “Rosa Parks” McRae-Sadik Visual Editor visual@thefulcrum.ca David “Emmett Till” Campion-Smith Social Media Coordinator social@thefulcrum.ca Zainab “Tupac Shakur” Al-Mehdar Associate News Editor associate.news@thefulcrum.ca Zack “Jackie Robinson” Goobie Associate Sports Editor associatesports@thefulcrum.ca Jodie “Diana Ross” Coté-Marshall Associate Features Editor associate.features@thefulcrum.ca Marta “Angela Davis” Kierkus Staff Photographer photographer@thefulcrum.ca Lucas “Michael Jordan” Ghosn General Manager manager@thefulcrum.ca Shanèl “Beyoncé” Dear Advertising Representative ads@thefulcrum.ca Reine “Viola Desmond” Tejares Webmaster webmaster@thefulcrum.ca

Contributors

Sophia “Mary Ann Shadd Cary” Callis Iain “Laverne Cox” Sellers Parker “Serena Williams” Van Wyck Eric “Carrie Best” Davison Rowan “Janet Mock” Markovich Janoah “Anne Cools” Willsie Erica “Josephine Baker” Endemann Nicholas “Hattie McDaniel” Robinson Parker “The Notorious B.I.G.” Townes Anastasiia “Eddie Murphy” Cherygova

Board of Directors

Mackenzie “Isis King” Gray Kate “Tyra Banks” Murray Jonathan “Stevie Wonder” Rausseo Raghad “Jackie Joyner-Kersee” Sheikh-Khalil Will “Portia White” Hume Niharika “Ella Baker” Namulla Thivya “Patricia Bath” Naganathan Julia “Louis Armstrong” Miraflores Fadi “Billie Holiday” Azzi Spencer “Kwesi Mfume” Murdock Maggie “Mary McLeod Bethune” Gollish Cover: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

EDITORIAL

Black History Month showcase: In celebration of those who changed history in the shadow of racism Ida B. Wells: A journalist for justice

In modern-day journalism, we often see media conglomerates shy away from investigative stories that challenge preconceived notions of those in power. This is exactly why the work of journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells is so important to remember and revive, as she used the power of journalism to expose the ugly truths around slavery in American society.

After contributing to various newspapers, Wells made a trip to the south for two months where she gathered information about lynching incidents.

After she penned her editorial on the wrongful deaths of African-Americans by lynching, a mob of white people stormed her news office and destroyed her equipment. She was told that if she returned to Memphis, she would be killed.

Despite the threats, Wells’ journalistic research made waves, and she translated the story into a political movement by leading an anti-lynching protest in Washington D.C. Though both the U.S. and Canada have made huge strides in treatment of our Black communities, there’s a long way to go in combatting racism. And without good investigative journalism that questions the power norms and discriminatory customs in society, these types of improvements will not come easily.

Wells’ journalism was not only fearless and direct, but enriched by her lived experience as a marginalized person. Being born a slave, and having to fight for her rights in an era of segregation in America, made for journalistic work that deviated from the mainstream lens, and captured more attention as a result.

This is another lesson we can learn from Wells—there is strength in ethnic diversity, and without giving marginalized groups a platform to tell their stories, journalism will suffer.

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Jennifer Hodge de Silva: Screenings for social change The CBC recently published an article about African-Canadian female filmmakers. One of the women featured in this article is Jennifer Hodge de Silva (née Hodge), who was born in Montreal and was the first black filmmaker to work with the National Film Board of Canada and the CBC. According to Library and Archives Canada, Jennifer was “among the first Black pioneers” in Canadian film and television.

Jennifer spoke French, German, and Italian, having completed her secondary school overseas in Switzerland, and attended York and Ryerson Universities. Her most famous film is a documentary called Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community (1983), which drew attention to the marginalized black communities and the tension with the Toronto police in the early 1980s.

With her husband Paul de Silva, she founded the production company Jenfilms Inc. around this time, and produced numerous films about the first-hand experiences of Canadians in various communities.

These works focused on subjects like the Second World War, Black communities, Chinese immigrants, and prison reform. In 1989 she died from cancer at the early age of 38, but her legacy remains as a trailblazer for shedding light on real stories and struggles of communities across Canada.

Trey Anthony: Prime-time pride When it comes to the television, movies, music, and other entertainment in Canada, oftentimes it seems as though we are dominated by content that is produced in the United States. Very rarely do we find quality material that reflects the diverse stories of Canadians, specifically content that is produced by people of colour and other minority groups.

Trey Anthony is one woman who has dedicated her life to changing that. A playwright and comedian, and the child of Jamaican immigrants, Anthony is the first black Canadian woman to have her own prime-time show on a Canadian network. ‘da Kink in my Hair, adapted from her play of the same name, was also the first Canadian written and produced play on a major stage in Canada. The show follows the Caribbean-Canadian owner of a hair salon as she navigates her relationship with her online boyfriend, as well as facing her own goals and aspirations.

Anthony said she was inspired to write the story after coming out as a lesbian to her family. These days she is also a motivational speaker, discussing issues such as her queer identity and the relationship between migrant mothers and their daughters. Anthony is also the recipient of a number of awards, including the Egale Canada Queering Black History 2009 Award, which celebrates the work of Canadians fighting for LGBTQ+ rights.

EDITORIAL | 19

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